The Education Department has opened a Title VI investigation into Chicago Public Schools over allegations of race-based discrimination.   The Trump administration says the Chicago district is accused of discriminating against students on the basis of race with its 2023-2024 “Black Students Success Plan,” which focused on measures to help Black students struggling in school.   “Chicago Public Schools have a record of academic failure, leaving students from all backgrounds and races struggling and ill-prepared to meet the challenges and enjoy the rewards of contemporary American life,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.   “Rather than address its record honestly, CPS seeks to allocate additional resources to favored…

The Department of Education will not renew $1 billion in mental health funding for schools, citing concerns about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the contracts.  The funding came from a bipartisan gun violence bill signed by former President Biden that gave schools the money to hire mental health workers and counselors for students.   “These grants are intended to improve American students’ mental health by funding additional mental health professionals in schools and on campuses. Instead, under the deeply flawed priorities of the Biden Administration, grant recipients used the funding to implement race-based actions like recruiting quotas in ways that have nothing to do with mental health and…

Columbia University student and Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during what was supposed to be a naturalization interview, was released from his detention Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ruled the green-card holder, who had been held in the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, Vt., should be set free after weeks of detention, denying the federal government’s request for a seven-day stay on that release. In his ruling, Crawford said it is in the public interest for Mahdawi to be released, citing First Amendment concerns. “His continued detention would likely have a chilling effect on protected speech, which is squarely against…

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that could greenlight the first openly religious charter school funded by taxpayers, with sweeping implications for both private and public schools moving forward. The St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma is looking to become the nation’s first religious charter school after its creation was ruled unconstitutional by the state’s highest court, which sided with parents and civil rights groups who see it as a clear-cut violation of the separation of church and state.  “The government should not be creating public schools that indoctrinate students in any religion, even my own; doing so violates our religious freedom. Children…

Harvard has vowed to make changes after two internal reports regarding antisemitism and Islamophobia were released, causing the president of the school to apologize for the campus culture.  “The 2023-24 academic year was disappointing and painful. I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a message to the community.   In response to the reports, one of which focused on antisemitism and the other on students who experienced anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian or anti-Arab bias, Harvard will be reviewing its admission policies, appointments, curriculum and orientation and training programs. The school also wants to…

Columbia University student and Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during what was supposed to be a naturalization interview, says his arrest should be “a red flag” to Americans who value their freedom as much as he does. “Before coming to this country, freedom was just a concept. But the actual experience of freedom of movement to travel among 50 states, freedom to breathe the breeze of the ocean, and to feel your toes in the sand. This is the first place I have experienced this freedom of speech where I will not be actually retaliated against or punished for saying my mind,”…

Harvard University is revamping its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) office amid its ongoing fight with the Trump administration, which it has sued for cutting its funding when it refused to make administration-demanded changes. Those changes included eliminating DEI, among other policy reforms. The office will now be called Community and Campus Life and will focus on how to build a culture of belonging at the school, work to have students engage across differences and support first-generation and low-income students, Harvard said. Sherri Ann Charleston, chief Community and Campus Life officer, said that in a recent campus survey, a smaller percentage of students created relationships with people that have differing…