Education category, Page 41
Florida education commissioner skips forum on criticized Black history standards
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Hundreds of lawmakers, teachers, school board members and parents crowded into a South Florida church Thursday evening for a forum on Florida’s new standards for teaching Black history, which have drawn harsh criticism for requiring teachers to instruct middle-school students that enslaved people “developed skills which,...
Paper exams, chatbot bans: Colleges seek to ‘ChatGPT-proof’ assignments
When philosophy professor Darren Hick came across another case of cheating in his classroom at Furman University last semester, he posted an update to his followers on social media: “Aaaaand, I’ve caught my second ChatGPT plagiarist.” Friends and colleagues responded, some with wide-eyed emojis. Others expressed surprise. “Only 2?! I’ve...
Hempfield high school project plan is millions of dollars over budget, must be revised
Contract bids for the first phase of the Hempfield Area Senior High School renovation project are millions of dollars over budget, and the project must be revised before construction can begin. That’s what architects from SitelogIQ told the Hempfield Area School Board at a public meeting Wednesday afternoon. The architects...
Penn State gender pay gap is among worst compared to public Big Ten schools, federal data show
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. STATE COLLEGE — Penn State is facing at least one allegation of wage discrimination, while salary data show the university’s gender pay gap is among...
Hempfield Area to review 1st round of high school renovation bids this week
Hempfield Area School Board members will discuss bids for the first phase of a $132 million high school revitalization project at a public meeting Wednesday. The special session will be at 3 p.m. in the administration board room at 4347 Route 136. In addition to identifying the lowest bidder, the...
River Valley administrators visit White House as part of 2 national programs
The U.S. Department of Education invited River Valley School District to the White House twice this summer. In July, the district was recognized as part of the Rural Community of Practice as an exemplary school district that reimagines how the nation’s high schools prepare students to thrive in the workforce....
Free speech group says Penn State’s funding cut to student newspaper suggests lack of support for free expression
A group that advocates for speech and press freedoms is criticizing Penn State University’s decision to eliminate funding for its student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, saying the cut suggests the university does not truly support free expression. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression registered its concerns in a letter...
Penn State works to trim deficits that have placed it in ‘vulnerable state,’ president says
A plan to phase out funding for The Daily Collegian over the next two years is part of a broader financial belt-tightening to address deficit spending at Penn State and its branch campuses. “As an institution, we have been spending more money each year than we bring in, which has...
When is the 1st day of school 2023? Here’s the schedule for Western Pa.
The beginning of the school year around Western Pennsylvania starts in less than three weeks. Among public school districts in six counties, the earliest start date is Aug. 21, with three districts — Allegheny Valley, McKeesport Area and North Allegheny — opening their doors on the Monday that week. Only...
More teachers are quitting their jobs. Educators of color often are more likely to leave
HARRISBURG — Rhonda Hicks could have kept working into her 60s. She loved teaching and loved her students in Philadelphia’s public schools. As a Black woman, she took pride in being a role model for many children of color. But other aspects of the job deteriorated, such as growing demands...
Hempfield Area parents, board members debate book policies ahead of upcoming vote
Occasional cheering and applause rose on Monday as Hempfield Area School District residents and parents reviewed book challenges and bans. A policy governing the process awaits a final vote by the school board in two weeks. During Monday’s school board meeting, several residents talked about the proposed policies, and some...
West Virginia board revokes private university’s ability to award degrees amid staggering debt
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The board overseeing West Virginia’s four-year colleges and universities voted Monday to revoke a small Baptist university’s ability to award degrees, in response to its staggering debts. Alderson Broaddus University will be prohibited from awarding degrees starting Dec. 31, the state Higher Education Policy Commission announced during...
Biden administration rolls out new income-driven student loan repayment program
Students hoping to reduce or even eliminate their remaining student debt can now enroll online in the Biden administration’s new income-driven student loan repayment plan called Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE. It may take some patience, though, because the website application containing the SAVE enrollment option — active...
High school history retold through Hempfield Project archive
A Spartan pennant from the 1960s, rescued from between the pages of a yearbook. A school handbook from 1962. A seat cushion from the 1970s. A mug from the Cotton Bowl, where the district’s band performed in 1971, and a football program from the 1980s. Hempfield Area teacher and English...
Penn State eliminates funding for well-respected, student-run newspaper The Daily Collegian
Terry Mutchler, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer and former Daily Collegian writer, likened Penn State University’s elimination of funding for its storied student newspaper to “ditching the Creamery,” another mainstay on the University Park campus. “Am I aware of it? I had to double my blood pressure medication,” quipped Mutchler, a...
Pitt to raise in-state tuition for undergrads on its main campus by 2%
The University of Pittsburgh is increasing its base tuition for in-state undergraduate students on its main campus by 2% this fall, but will freeze tuition on its branch campuses in Hempfield, Johnstown, Bradford and Titusville. Out-of-state undergraduates will see increases of 7% on the main campus, while graduate students from...
Point Park University names Chris W. Brussalis as president
Trustees at Point Park University Tuesday evening removed the “interim” from Chris W. Brussalis’ title and made him the institution’s ninth president, six months after he stepped in following the departure of Don Green. Brussalis, 59, a North Hills resident, is a known entity both on campus and in Pittsburgh....
Seton Hill names Keisha Jimmerson dean of students, diversity officer
Keisha Jimmerson left her home in Virginia in 1993 to pursue a communications degree at Seton Hill University. Now an employee of the university for 25 years, Jimmerson said she has stayed because of the people who have shown her grace — inside and outside of the classroom. “There’s something...
Pa.’s latest attempt to regulate cyber charter schools would lower tuition payments, increase transparency
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A bill making its way through the Pennsylvania legislature would cap the amount of money public school districts send...
Penn State tuition to increase by 2% for in-state University Park students
In-state undergraduate tuition is going up this fall and next by 2% on Penn State University’s main campus, but will be frozen for Pennsylvania undergraduates both years on branch campuses statewide. University trustees, meeting Friday at Penn State Behrend in Erie, locked in 2023-24 and 2024-25 tuition schedules for the...
Tuition remains frozen for Pennsylvania-owned universities
For the 85,000 students attending a Pennsylvania state-owned university who have hoped for relief from rising prices, the news is official. Tuition will remain unchanged for the 2023-24 academic year, now that the State System of Higher Education approved a fifth consecutive tuition freeze across the 10 institutions. By a...
Pennsylvania-owned universities could see 5th year of tuition freeze
State System of Higher Education administrators plan to recommend Thursday that the system’s governing board freeze tuition for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year across Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities. The board of governors is expected to vote on the proposal at its quarterly meeting in Harrisburg. An affirmative vote would keep...
Pitt’s new chancellor begins her tenure with some questions for students, staff
College and university leaders who are new in their job almost always arrive on campus promising some form of a listening tour to take the pulse of the place. At the University of Pittsburgh, Chancellor Joan Gabel is taking things a bit further in her first week. She emailed Pitt’s...
Allegheny College’s new president says campus can overcome tough higher education market
Allegheny College didn’t have to look far to find its 23rd president. Ron Cole, 58, already had been named interim leader and then president with a short-term contract after Hilary Link announced her departure in September. Prior to that, he had been Allegheny’s provost since 2015 and a geology professor...
Children, relatives of alumni no longer have admissions edge at Carnegie Mellon, Pitt
For decades, Carnegie Mellon University viewed whether a student applicant was related to alumni as an “important” or “considered” factor in admissions decisions. But it appears that legacies, as children or relatives of alumni are called, no longer have an edge in admissions decisions at the highly selective university. In...
