Trump Cleaves Student Loan and Special Education Services From Education Dept.

President Trump announced Friday that the Education Department would no longer manage the nation’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio or oversee special education services in a major shake-up of an agency he has sought to eliminate. Student loans will move under the Small Business Administration, while special education services, along with nutrition programs, will move … Read more

Who’s Against Banning Cellphones in Schools?

Well before political leaders were taking action against cellphones in the classroom, the superintendent of schools in Schoharie, N.Y., a rural district about 40 miles west of Albany, was well along on his crusade against Big Tech’s commandeering of the adolescent mind. By the beginning of the school year in 2022, David Blanchard, who had … Read more

Pro-Palestinian Activists Sue U.C.L.A. Over Encampment Attack

Pro-Palestinian activists are suing the University of California, Los Angeles, accusing it of allowing pro-Israel counterprotesters to terrorize and assault people at an encampment set up on campus last spring. The pro-Palestinian camp became a major flashpoint in the conflict over the war in Gaza and over how universities responded. The demonstrators have accused the … Read more

Can Trump End the Department of Education?

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that directs the federal Department of Education to come up with a plan for its own demise. Only Congress can abolish a Cabinet-level agency, and it is not clear whether Mr. Trump has the votes in Congress to do so. But he has already begun to dismantle … Read more

How the G.O.P. Went From Championing Campus Free Speech to Fighting It

As conservatives fought against cancel culture on college campuses, they developed a particular fondness for the First Amendment. It was un-American, they argued, to punish someone for exercising their right to speak freely. Today, however, many of those same conservatives, now in power in state and federal government, are behind a growing crackdown on political … Read more

Why Trump’s Ultimatum to Columbia Could Upend Higher Education

It was an obscure, 44-word demand toward the end of the Trump administration’s ultimatum to Columbia University this month ordering a dramatic overhaul of admissions and disciplinary rules. But it could prove to have consequences for colleges and universities nationwide. With $400 million in canceled government grants and contracts on the line, federal officials ordered … Read more

Republicans Once Championed Free Speech on Campus. Now, Not So Much.

As conservatives fought against cancel culture on college campuses, they developed a particular fondness for the First Amendment. It was un-American, they argued, to punish someone for exercising their right to speak freely. Today, however, many of those same conservatives, now in power in state and federal government, are behind a growing crackdown on political … Read more