Education News category, Page 13
Podcast: College students voice fear, anxiety over visa revocations
A rising wave of fear and uncertainty is spreading among international students in Pittsburgh and throughout the United States, as visa revocations become more frequent under the Trump administration. Some students who have not violated any immigration rules are choosing to stay in the U.S., during college breaks, rather than...
Trump administration sues Maine over participation of transgender athletes in girls sports
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Wednesday it is suing Maine’s education department for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex....
‘I have not even stepped out of the house’: 2 Carnegie Mellon students testify to keep federal exchange status intact
Two international Carnegie Mellon University graduate students, whose ability to study in the U.S. was terminated under a crackdown by the Trump administration, testified Tuesday in federal court as they sought to restore their status and complete their education. The students said their appearance in a Downtown Pittsburgh courtroom marked...
Hempfield Area School Board considers shifting school start, dismissal times
Hempfield Area School District’s students might get home earlier next academic year. The school board will vote next week on whether to make an adjustment to the district’s arrival and dismissal schedule. The adjustment would place the high school and middle school students on the same schedule — shifting the...
Building projects, staffing among priorities for Hempfield Area’s school board candidates
Renovation projects. Teacher recruitment and retention. Student performance. Open communication with the community. These are the priorities for the five candidates running for four open spots on the Hempfield Area School Board this year. Two candidates are incumbents — Jerry Radebaugh and Scott Learn. The newcomers are Cory Thoma, Lindsay...
Faced with a perfect storm, small local colleges try to navigate the future
“If you build it, they will come” was not the way to go about higher education in Pennsylvania, experts say. Declining birth rates and rising tuition costs are combining with other economic factors to make it harder — especially for smaller campuses — to fight enrollment declines and survive. “It’s...
Greensburg Salem Food launches food program through Ashley Kertes memorial fund
Christina Gongaware Noga knows her late sister would be proud that money raised in her memory is helping combat food insecurity at Greensburg Salem’s Hutchinson Elementary. Gongaware Noga launched the Ashley Gongaware Kertes Fund last year on behalf of her sister, who died unexpectedly at age 36 in March 2023....
Local administrators give job interview practice to Pitt-Greensburg education students amid statewide teacher shortage
A smile still comes to Alex Murray’s face when he recalls the words his Beaver County high school art teacher told him two days out from summer vacation. Murray spent four weeks creating a face mask inspired by characters from book-turned-film “Pan’s Labyrinth” — a task his teacher once told...
Seton Hill students pitch business ideas, solutions in ‘Shark Tank’-style contest
Seton Hill student Nora Ozimek knew in high school she wanted to pursue a career in science. But even Ozimek, a junior studying biology and chemistry, admits that reading through research papers and journal articles is not her favorite task. The aspiring research and development scientist was one of a...
Carnegie Mellon students tense and anxious amid visa revocations
Skand Vijay won’t attempt to visit his home in India until he graduates from Carnegie Mellon University. He’s too nervous about the possibility of not being allowed back into the United States. Vijay hasn’t done anything to jeopardize his visa. Still, as fellow international students are having their visas revoked,...
Trump administration freezes $1.8 billion for Cornell and Northwestern
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and about $790 million for Northwestern University while the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at the schools, the White House said. It’s part of a broader push of using taxpayer dollars to...
‘I only have a semester left’: Carnegie Mellon student among those whose visas were terminated
Jayson Ma received the same email as everyone else at Carnegie Mellon University on Monday afternoon. The message, sent by the provost, announced the federal government had terminated the visas for two of Carnegie Mellon’s current international students, making them ineligible to continue studying in the United States. “I was...
Are you smarter than a 6th grader? Western Pa. middle schoolers compete in Civics Bee
Which unmet constitutional standard did James Madison and Thomas Jefferson cite in their arguments against establishing a national bank? If your answer to that query was not the “Necessary and Proper Clause,” you may not have performed well against the 18 middle school students who competed in the Civics Bee...
Trump administration halts $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell, $790 million for Northwestern
WASHINGTON — More than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and around $790 million for Northwestern University has been frozen while the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at the schools, the White House said. It’s part of a broader push to use government funding to get major...
Federal crackdown on foreign students hits CMU, Pitt, Penn State
The U.S. government in recent weeks has terminated the visas of international students at universities across Pennsylvania, including in Pittsburgh, as part of a national crackdown on foreign scholars. Students have been targeted at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, the University of Pennsylvania and elsewhere....
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit to host interactive technology walk for students, families
The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit will host a Tech Trek event for families with students in grades three to eight from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 2. Educational technology company CodeJoy will engage attendees in a live robot television show, where students will learn to write code and control real...
Quaker Valley School District no longer accepting tuition students
Quaker Valley School District is no longer accepting tuition students. The school board unanimously voted on March 25 to update the district’s policy on nonresident students, including terminating the section that permits them to attend Quaker Valley if they pay tuition. The district currently has four tuition students, all in...
Brown University to see half a billion in federal funding halted by Trump administration
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to halt more than half a billion dollars in contracts and grants awarded to Brown University, adding to a list of Ivy League colleges that have had their federal money threatened as a result of their responses to antisemitism, a White House official...
Pitt, CMU, among 20 schools Forbes dubs ‘New Ivies’
The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon are among the country’s finest schools of higher education, according to a new list from Forbes that identifies 20 colleges as “New Ivies” — schools that produce quality graduates without the pretension and liberal political baggage that comes with an Ivy League pedigree....
Penn-Trafford Drama Guild to perform ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ musical
Penn-Trafford High School’s upcoming performance of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” has taken senior Isaiah Cordera back to his childhood. Having grown up watching the film, Cordera is excited to bring the character Charlie to the stage during the show’s debut weekend, April 4 to 6. “It’s a really fun...
First draft of Burrell School District budget proposes roughly 4% tax increase
Burrell School District’s draft budget for next school year has just under a 4% real estate tax increase for property owners. The draft budget totals close to $37.7 million, which is a 3% increase from this school year’s budget, said Business Manager Jennifer Callahan. The real estate tax increase included...
Letter calls on Carnegie Mellon to denounce higher-ed actions by Trump administration
A letter signed by more than 150 Carnegie Mellon University faculty, staff, alumni and students calls on the university to denounce what it calls the Trump administration’s “punitive withholding of federal funding and detainment and deportation of international scholars.” The letter also asks Carnegie Mellon not to comply with federal...
There’s a new push to put whole milk back in school meals. Here’s what you should know
More than a dozen years after higher-fat milk was stripped from school meals to slow obesity in American kids and boost their health, momentum is growing to put it back. Federal lawmakers have revived bills that would allow whole and 2% milk to be served again in schools, in addition...
Trump task force to review Harvard’s funding after Columbia bows to federal demands
WASHINGTON — Harvard University has become the latest target in the Trump administration’s approach to fight campus antisemitism, with the announcement of a new “comprehensive review” that could jeopardize billions of dollars for the Ivy League college. A federal antisemitism task force is reviewing more than $255 million in contracts...
New Oakland Catholic principal was on faculty of Murrysville, McKeesport schools
The new principal of Oakland Catholic High School has more than three decades of experience as an educator and has proven leadership skills, said Pittsburgh Catholic Bishop David Zubik. Karen Kolenik will start the job on July 1. “She is not only a strong academic leader, but also a faithful...
