Department of Education news stories on Newser

Romney on Taxes: I'd Kill These Deductions

Mark Russell — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:32:00 CDT

Having pretty much wrapped up the GOP nomination for president, but still months away from the party convention, Mitt Romney used his "spring break" for fundraising—pulling in a hefty $2 million in events yesterday alone, reports MSNBC . Yesterday afternoon, a reception at the $14 million home of investment company...

Feds Open Inquiry Into Penn State

John Johnson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:04:47 CST

Penn State's unfolding scandal is now a federal case, too. The Education Department is investigating whether school officials broke the law by failing to report the alleged abuse, reports the AP . Colleges are required to report crime stats, and the Office of Financial Aid has opened an inquiry. In today's...

Obama to Let States Out of No Child Left Behind

Kevin Spak — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:19:05 CDT

Barack Obama is today offering states a deal: If they adopt his preferred education reform policies, he’ll let them waive some of the more stringent and unpopular provisions of the No Child Left Behind law—most notably the 2014 deadline for making all students proficient in reading and math. “Our...

Planned Parenthood Is 'LensCrafters' of Abortion: Bachmann

Rob Quinn — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:46:41 CDT

Republicans trying to woo conservative Iowans are likely to find Michele Bachmann a hard act to follow. The Minnesotan, speaking to a conservative group last night, slammed "liberal policies" on abortion, same-sex marriage, and health care reform, the Des Moines Register reports. She labeled Planned Parenthood the "LensCrafters of big...

Virginia Tech Fined $55K Over Shooting Rampage

John Johnson — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:10:01 CDT

The Education Department has fined Virginia Tech the maximum allowable amount—$55,000—over how it handled the 2007 shooting rampage that left 33 people dead, reports the Richmond Times Dispatch . Federal officials say the university didn't warn the campus quickly enough: The school learned that two students had been...

Va. Tech Could Lose Millions Over Shooting Response

John Johnson — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:00:05 CST

The feds delivered a harsh rebuke to Virginia Tech yesterday, saying the school failed to issue a "timely" warning about a campus gunman in 2007 who eventually killed 32 people and himself, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch . As a result, the school could lose nearly $100 million in student financial aid...

DC Schools to Fire Hundreds of Teachers

Kevin Spak — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:54:00 CDT

The Washington, DC, schools are giving hundreds of teachers the ax because of their low scores in the district’s tough new evaluation system. Chancellor Michelle Rhee says 241 teachers are being fired for poor performance, the Washington Post reports. Another 737 were rated “minimally effective,” meaning they have a year...

9 Indicted for Snooping on Obama Records

Rob Quinn — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:20:00 CDT

Nine employees of a contractor for the Education Department have been indicted on federal charges of illegally accessing President Obama's student loan records over a 2-year period beginning in the summer of 2007. The accused, including a supervisor at the Iowa consulting firm, face up to a year in jail...

Del., Tenn. Only States to Qualify for Education Stimulus Prize

Will McCahill — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:17:00 CDT

With $4 billion in stimulus funds up for grabs in an initiative to improve US schools, only two states of the 41 that applied scored high enough to get a piece. Delaware and Tennessee will each get $600 million, from the “Race to the Top” program, the Department of Education...