Education News category, Page 43
Pittsburgh Public Schools to expand anti-violence, mentorship program with $2M grant
A program aimed at reducing youth violence in Pittsburgh Public Schools will use more than $2 million in state grant money to expand. The Safe Passages program, operated by Pittsburgh-based Operation Better Block, brings adult community leaders into schools to mentor students, help curb problematic behaviors and mediate potential conflicts,...
Pitt students frustrated after being told following commencement they were short of degree requirements
College students trying to understand what precise combination of courses they need to graduate generally take it on faith that if they follow a campus adviser’s instructions, they will get their degree. But what if the adviser gets it wrong? What if they needed more courses than they were told...
Hempfield Area School Board may vote on book-challenge, acquisition policies at next meeting
After nearly 18 months of meetings, debates and changes, Hempfield Area School Board members sent two controversial policies back to their policy committee for additional tweaks. The policies are centered around the purchase of resource materials, with a particular focus on books available in the district’s libraries, and the procedure...
Pitt committee approves $120M in construction for biomanufacturing facility in Hazelwood
A University of Pittsburgh trustees’ committee voted Monday to approve the $120 million construction of the core and shell of a planned cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility in Hazelwood. In a separate vote, the trustees’ Property and Facilities Committee authorized leasing space within the facility. Officials hope it will...
Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf residence program prepares students for what’s aheadVideo
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on residency at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. Interviews were done with the help of an interpreter. Many students’ last names have been omitted at the request of the Western...
Backlash prompts Bishop Zubik to cancel Mass planned in solidarity with LGBTQ+ community
A Sunday Mass at Duquesne University’s chapel that had been planned in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Catholics was canceled at the request of Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik because of an angry backlash including threats, officials confirmed Friday. The Mass on the Catholic campus was arranged by Catholics for Change in...
Taylor Swift expert? This Carnegie Mellon class tests your knowledge
Taylor Swift isn’t just a music and pop culture icon. She’s also the subject of an elective three-credit course at Carnegie Mellon University. “Taylor Swift Through the Eras” was a spring semester offering through CMU’s Student College (StuCo), which allows students to develop and teach academic courses on topics of...
Hempfield high school project cost rises to $132 million
“Hyperinflation” has driven the Hempfield Area High School revitalization project to an estimated cost of $132 million, according to new details shared by school officials and engineers at a town hall meeting. Originally estimated in January 2022 to cost between $97.4 million to $109.9 million, the project aims to keep...
Colleges and universities moving away from standardized tests in admissions decisions
More than eight out of every 10 colleges and universities that award bachelor’s degrees no longer require or do not consider standardized tests in admissions decisions, according to a national survey released Wednesday. The latest tally from FairTest, an Arlington, Mass., group that has long been critical of the SAT...
Head of Carnegie Mellon’s music school leaving for job at Northwestern
Jonathan Bailey Holland, the head of Carnegie Mellon University’s school of music for less than a year, is leaving to accept the music deanship at Northwestern University. He begins his new job Sept. 1. Holland’s appointment to the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music was announced on Northwestern’s website....
Conservative group says Pitt violated free speech rights of organizers of transgender debate
A conservative group representing organizers of an April transgender rights debate at the University of Pittsburgh claims that Pitt violated the organizers’ free speech rights by charging an $18,734 security fee to quell raucous student protests outside. The Alliance Defending Freedom made the accusation in a letter to the university...
As conservatives target schools, LGBTQ+ kids and students of color feel less safe
NOLENSVILLE, Tenn.— The first encounter with racism that Harmony Kennedy can remember came in elementary school. On a playground, a girl picked up a leaf and said she wanted to “clean the dirt” from Harmony’s skin. In sixth grade, a boy dropped trash on the floor and told her to...
La Roche’s Center for Lifelong Learning to be named for late President Sister Candace Introcaso
La Roche University will name its Center for Lifelong Learning after its late president, Sister Candace Introcaso, who died last month. The center, established in 2021, offers a variety of classes, workshops and community programs for adults 50 and older, youth and professionals at various stages of their careers. A...
USW petitions state labor board to unionize Pitt staffers
Monday’s petition by the United Steelworkers for a state-supervised election to unionize thousands of University of Pittsburgh staff is rooted in years of preparation, said Jesse Dubin, a program evaluator in Pitt’s school of pharmacy. Though the path to a vote could be complex and prolonged staff will benefit from...
Oklahoma school board approves what would be the 1st taxpayer-funded religious school in U.S.
OKLAHOMA CITY — A state school board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve what would be the first publicly funded religious school in the nation, despite a warning from the state’s attorney general that the decision was unconstitutional. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the application...
Pitt, Slovakian government officials look to expand academic collaboration
Not every college classroom rates a visit from a European country’s ambassador and his entourage. Then again, not many settings for teaching Slovak culture and language quite compare to the University of Pittsburgh’s Czechoslovak Room, one of 31 renowned Nationality Rooms on a campus that is home to the only...
Duquesne grad student studies intersection of ‘craft, church and a life of faith’ in Appalachia
When Gwendolen Jackson was growing up in Bridgeport, Ohio, across the river from Wheeling, W.Va., along the northwestern edge of Appalachia, it seemed like everyone she knew did some sort of crafting. She also grew up in a churchgoing family, and that seemed to go hand in hand with crafting....
CCAC tuition to go up 3.3% next school year
Tuition for full-time students attending the Community College of Allegheny County is going up 3.3% for the 2023-24 school year. Tuition for students from Allegheny County will go from $1,830 to $1,890 per semester. Students from other Pennsylvania counties will pay $3,780 per semester in tuition, up from $3,660. Out-of-state...
United Steelworkers seeking vote to unionize thousands of Pitt staff
The United Steelworkers said it intends to file paperwork Monday calling for a state-supervised labor election that could unionize more than 5,000 workers at the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus and four branches. The USW already represents about 3,000 full- and part-time faculty on Pitt’s main campus in Oakland and...
Senate passes GOP bill overturning student loan cancellation, teeing it up for Biden veto
WASHINGTON — A Republican measure overturning President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation plan passed the Senate on Thursday and now awaits an expected veto. The vote was 52-46, with support from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana as well as Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,...
U.S. companies, nudged by Black employees, have stepped up donations to HBCUs
Natalie Coles will never forget receiving an unexpected phone call in 2020. On the line was Virginia-based Dominion Energy, offering to give money to Wilberforce University, the small historically Black college where she is in charge of fundraising. The company’s $500,000 donation went in part toward laptops and hot spots...
40 Pittsburgh schools to shift to remote learning Thursday due to heat
Pittsburgh Public Schools plans to temporarily close 40 district schools in favor of remote learning Thursday because of anticipated high temperatures. For a list of the affected schools, which officials said do not have sufficient air-conditioning, click here: www.pghschools.org/Page/6250. Students from those schools will receive virtual instruction on Thursday and...
Teachers leaving their jobs at an accelerating rate in Pennsylvania, new study finds
HARRISBURG — Teachers are leaving their jobs at an accelerating rate in Pennsylvania, amid fears of a nationwide exodus of burned-out teachers and a collapse in enrollment in recruitment programs that is making teachers increasingly difficult to replace. A new analysis by Penn State’s Center for Education Evaluation and Policy...
Pa. plans to train teachers to be ‘culturally relevant.’ A conservative legal group is suing over the guidelines
Aspiring Pennsylvania teachers are due to soon be trained in “culturally relevant” education, under a new state standard requiring teacher preparation programs to incorporate instruction in the subject. The standard, which was adopted last year and also applies to professional development programs, comes as education officials have voiced concern about...
Franklin Regional seniors headed to national Future Business Leaders of America competition finals
Franklin Regional students Augusto Butkewitsch and Jacob Toniolo can add three more words to their word-based video game — “Pennsylvania,” “state” and “champions.” The seniors from Murrysville came out on top in the computer games and simulation programs category at the statewide high school competition organized by the Future Business...
