Education News category, Page 15
Trump orders a plan to dismantle the Education Department while keeping some core functions
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to take apart an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives. Trump has derided the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, completing...
Trump will order a plan to dismantle the Education Department, advancing a campaign promise
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives. Trump has derided the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However,...
Carnegie Mellon, Reed Smith subjects of federal DEI crackdown
Two venerable Pittsburgh institutions are among those caught in the crosshairs of a governmentwide crackdown on efforts to provide equal opportunities for people. And unless they can credibly attest their efforts at inclusion are part of a plan to compensate for past discriminatory practices, they may be in violation of...
Trump administration suspends $175 million in federal funding for Penn over transgender swimmer
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over the participation of a transgender athlete in its swimming program, the White House said Wednesday. The Ivy League school has been facing an Education Department investigation focusing on in its swimming...
Moviemaking club encourages student collaboration at O’Hara Elementary
It’s lights, camera, action for a group of O’Hara Elementary moviemaking students celebrating the release of their latest student-led short film. The O’Hara Elementary Movie Making Club recently completed a whimsical, Olympic-themed short movie that includes chocolate milk-loving alien cats. At the creative helm of the after-school club is fifth...
State police to ramp up presence for IUPatty’s weekend
With IUPatty’s weekend quickly approaching, Pennsylvania State Police announced an increased presence of troopers and liquor control officers in Indiana The three-day celebration is thrown by students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. This year’s festivities will take place from Friday through Sunday. State police said there will be increased traffic...
Objection to Pine-Richland School Board candidate petition alleges forged signatures
A legal objection requesting a judge set aside an election petition for a Pine-Richland School Board candidate alleges that several signatures appearing on her Democratic primary petition were falsified. To register for the Democratic primary, candidates must acquire 10 signatures from Democrats in their election region. The objection, filed on...
Hempfield Area parents, students raise concerns about potential changes to high school gifted program, pool
As Hempfield Area administrators consider changes to the high school gifted education program and renovations to the district’s pool, parents and students laid out their concerns to the school board. Three parents and two middle school students spoke during a board meeting Monday night about changes being considered for the...
Harvard makes tuition free for families making less than $200K
Harvard will offer free tuition to students whose families make less than $200,000 per year beginning next year, the school announced Monday. Additionally, the entire school experience — including housing, food and other costs — will be free for students whose families make less than $100,000, university leaders said. “We...
Grove City College names its 10th president
Bradley J. Lingo will serve as Grove City College’s next president following a unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees. In July 2025, Lingo will replace Paul J. McNulty, who served since 2014 as the school’s ninth president, following his retirement at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. “Brad...
Education Department staff cuts could limit options for families of kids with disabilities
WASHINGTON — For parents of kids with disabilities, advocating for their child can be complicated, time-consuming — and expensive. Changes at the Education Department are likely to make the process even more difficult, advocates for kids with disabilities say. When a parent believes their child is not receiving proper services...
Students in North Hills school districts continue to organize against hate ahead of upcoming conference
Students throughout Pittsburgh’s North Hills have persisted in organizing events and countering hate in their communities as they prepare to convene for a conference later this month at Acrisure Stadium with more than two dozen schools. The event is a follow-up to last October’s Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh,...
Some universities are freezing hiring and laying off staff as Trump cuts federal funding
Universities across the country have announced hiring freezes, citing new financial uncertainty as the Trump administration threatens a range of cuts to federal contracts and research grants. Some have announced layoffs. Johns Hopkins University said Thursday it is eliminating more than 2,200 workers because of a loss of funding from...
Federal student loan site experiences outage, a day after layoffs gutted Education Department
WASHINGTON — An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency. Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were...
Greensburg Salem School Board moves to reduce livestreaming only to voting meetings
The Greensburg Salem School Board will only livestream its voting meetings, following board action Wednesday night. The board voted 6-3 in favor of reducing its livestreaming to one of its two monthly meetings. Board members Lynn Jobe, Kacey Byrne-Houser and Emily Miller opposed. This is the first time the board...
Western Pa. school leaders uncertain how Education Department cuts will affect them
Leaders of Western Pennsylvania school districts reacted Wednesday to the sweeping job cuts announced at the U.S. Department of Education with uncertainty, saying they did not yet know how the cuts might affect their programs or budgets. While Trump administration officials have said the latest job cuts won’t affect federal...
Baldwin-Whitehall will rename district offices to honor former superintendent
Baldwin-Whitehall school directors will rename the district’s administration building to honor longtime superintendent Charles H. Faust, who filled the role from 1986-2004. Current Superintendent Randal Lutz said Faust, a native of Ruffs Dale in Westmoreland County, was fully dedicated to his job at Baldwin-Whitehall, and even recalled seeing Faust sit...
Trump wants to dismantle U.S. Education Department. Here’s what it does
President Donald Trump has said he wants his education chief, Linda McMahon, to “put herself out of a job” and close the Education Department. McMahon, after being confirmed by the Senate on March 3, told employees it was the department’s “final mission” to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the...
Education Department plans to lay off 1,300 employees as Trump vows to wind the agency down
WASHINGTON — The Education Department plans to lay off over 1,300 of its more than 4,000 employees as part of a reorganization that’s seen as a prelude to President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency. Department officials announced the cuts Tuesday, raising questions about the agency’s ability to continue...
Pitt freezes all hiring amid funding cutbacks
The University of Pittsburgh has instituted a hiring freeze of all faculty and staff that takes effect immediately. It will remain in place at least for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, the university said. “In response to a shifting federal landscape and in order to...
Trump warns that arrest of Palestinian activist at Columbia will be ‘first of many’
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump warned Monday that the arrest and possible deportation of a Palestinian activist who helped lead protests at Columbia University will be the first “of many to come” as his administration cracks down on campus demonstrations against Israel and the war in Gaza. Mahmoud Khalil,...
Lawsuit aims to strike down LGBTQ antidiscrimination protections in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Two public school districts and several parents have sued the state in a bid to undo antidiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Pennsylvania, saying that the two-year-old regulation is illegal because it goes beyond what lawmakers intended or allowed. The lawsuit, filed in the statewide...
Safer schools: Pa. program has intercepted over 120 weapons in schools before they could be used
Thirty-five weapons were intercepted before they could be used to commit acts of violence in Pennsylvania schools last school year, as officials credited the anonymous safety reporting system Safe2Say Something for preventing catastrophes. Since the program’s inception six years ago, at least 123 weapons — including guns and knives —...
Quaker Valley’s Black Student Union teaches valuable lessons to elementary students
Quaker Valley High School senior Olivia Jordan said maintaining traditions is important to her. An older brother, Malcolm, founded the school’s Black Student Union in 2019. Another brother, Noah, later became president of the group designed to empower Black students and create a comfortable environment to share stories, experiences and...
Facing Trump’s threats, Columbia investigates students critical of Israel
NEW YORK — Columbia University senior Maryam Alwan was visiting family in Jordan over winter break when she received an email from the school accusing her of harassment. Her supposed top offense: writing an op-ed in the student newspaper calling for divestment from Israel. The probe is part of a...
