Our weekly roundup of education news and happenings may make you uncomfortable, but please don't ban our inconvenient truths.
A Mississippi district bans To Kill A Mockingbird
The classic 1960 novel was
pulled from a junior high reading list
New Mexico restores science education standards
The state of New Mexico
announced
Black graduates, especially, struggle to repay student loans
The typical African-American who took out student loans in 2003-2004 owed even more money, not less, after a dozen years. Nearly half of all African-American borrowers ultimately defaulted on their loans, compared with just 29 percent of all students. The defaulters included 75 percent of African-Americans who left for-profit colleges.
Those are the stark results of an
analysis of new federal student loan data
They found that even when black students earn a bachelor's degree, on average they make no progress at all paying down their loans for more than a decade. Loan balances can balloon in this way because of missed payments, penalties or times when payments are suspended because of economic hardship.
Ben Miller of the Center for American Progress added that the latest numbers may be even worse than the period covered by this data.
17 states and D.C. sue Betsy DeVos over for-profit college rules
In a
suit filed Tuesday
Previously in July, a similar group filed suit over the secretary's rollback of the "borrower defense to repayment" rule. Both rules were aimed at predatory or fraudulent for-profit colleges.
- The "gainful employment" rule sanctions individual programs at colleges and universities based on how many students are able to pay back their loans.
- The "borrower defense to repayment" rule smooths the way for students to get their loans forgiven if their college is found to engage in fraudulent behavior, a situation that has befallen tens of thousands of students at Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute, among others, in the last few years.
Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a statement: "This is just the latest in a string of frivolous lawsuits filed by Democratic attorneys general who are only seeking to score quick political points."
New Education Department appointee is a foe of federal regulations
Politico reports
Florida declares a state of emergency over campus appearance by white nationalist
Richard Spencer, who was a headliner at the alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., that turned deadly,
rented a hall for a speech
Spencer has
similar upcoming appearances
Newark schools have improved, says Harvard study
A new analysis says
reading scores have risen for fourth- through eighth-graders
Library fines erased for New York City children
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