Mark Walsh

1 week ago | edweek.org | Mark Walsh

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law banning certain gender-transition treatments for transgender minors, in a decision with potential ripple effects for other state-level restrictions on transgender rights in education, including bans on transgender girls’ participation in school sports. Two justices, in fact, sent a signal that they believe states have wide authority to regulate sports eligibility and access to restrooms for transgender students.

1 week ago | empirecenter.org | Mark Walsh

New York has an education problem that no one really likes to talk about: it spends more than any other state or country in the world yet achieves mediocre results at best. This might come as a surprise, especially since some politicians and pundits tout New York as a leader in education. New York is definitely a leader when it comes to spending money. Based on the Empire Center’s report on recent school district budgets, next school year educating one K-12 student will cost taxpayers $35,000.

2 weeks ago | edweek.org | Mark Walsh

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with students with disabilities, overturning a lower-court ruling that had required them to meet a more stringent standard of liability when suing their schools under two key federal disability-discrimination laws. The unanimous decision in A.J.T. v.

3 weeks ago | edweek.org | Mark Walsh

The Trump administration on Friday filed an emergency application asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the lawsuit challenging the layoffs of roughly 1,400 U.S. Department of Education employees. The administration asked the high court to undo a May 22 preliminary injunction by a federal district judge in Massachusetts ordering the department to reverse the layoffs and reinstate all affected employees.

1 month ago | edweek.org | Mark Walsh

A federal appeals court ruling will make it more difficult for library patrons to challenge book removal decisions, with the decision involving a public library in Texas but likely applying to school libraries as well. In its 10-7 decision on May 23, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, ruled that a library’s decision to remove books may not be challenged under the First Amendment based on library users’ right to receive information.