Aug 25, 2020, 3:38 PM
(From Forbes) A federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from enforcing a controversial rule that directs states to give private schools a bigger share of federal coronavirus aid than Congress had intended. In a lawsuit filed by the state, U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein slammed the Education Department for arguing that states would not suffer irreparable damage if forced to implement the rule and said there was cause to put a preliminary injunction on the rule while the broader issues are worked out.
Congress expected that the aid package would be distributed along the same lines as Title I, a common policy tool for aiming dollars at disadvantaged students. But the department rule claims that it “resolves a critical ambiguity” by apportioning aid to all students. This leaves less assistance for the disadvantaged students in public schools, the lawsuit states.
(From NPR) Following weeks of debate around the controversial Florida mandate to open all brick and mortar schools for in-person instruction, a Florida judge has ruled against the state's order, putting the decision-making power in the hands of individual districts. In a 16-age decision, Circuit Judge Charles Dodson called the order “unconstitutional” to the extent that it arbitrarily disregards safety, denies local school boards' decision making with respect to reopening brick and mortar schools, and conditions funding on an approved reopening plan with a start date in August. "Schools should reopen when the local decision makers determine upon advice of medical experts that it is safe to do so," he wrote.
(From Inside Higher Ed) Yesterday, on the first day of classes for many colleges and universities, the popular videoconferencing app Zoom crashed at approximately 9 a.m. Eastern time in major markets, widely impacting the East Coast and European customers. Even if it occurred for just for a brief time, the impact on the first day of classes for many students cannot be understated, argues education thought leader Ben Stoviak. Without backup plans in place — or secondary tools organized in advance — the disruption left many instructors, students, parents and administrators facing error messages instead of curriculum.
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