Schools Could Get Relief From Charges for Internet Service
The U.S. Supreme Court has paved the way for some schools to potentially find relief on internet charges.
In a unanimous decision, the court rejected arguments by Wisconsin Bell, an AT&T Corp. subsidiary, that the $4 billion E-rate program is entirely privately funded through payments from telecommunications companies to a private administrator and thus not subject to the False Claims Act. The high court’s ruling enables the case to go to trial.
Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the court, said the statute covers any false or fraudulent “claim” if the federal government has provided any portion of the money requested.
“We hold today that the E-rate reimbursement requests at issue satisfy that requirement because the government provided (at a minimum) a ‘portion’ of the money applied for,” she said.
The fund, which is privately administered by the Universal Service Fund, is generally financed by quarterly payments from telecom companies.
Kagan noted that another case on the court’s docket, Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research, raises broader questions about “the precise relationship” between the FCC and USAC.
In that case, the court will review a decision by a federal appeals court that the funding mechanism for the E-rate and related universal service programs was an unconstitutional “delegation” of Congress’ power to tax the FCC and in turn an unlawful “subdelegation” of that power to the private administrator.
In the case of the AT&T subsidiary, a private party claimed that Wisconsin Bell did not comply from 2008 through 2015 with the E-rate program’s requirement that schools be offered the “lowest corresponding price” for services. That resulted in some Wisconsin schools being overcharged for telephone lines and internet connections, the underlying lawsuit alleges.
Court papers give examples such as a Milwaukee high school that was charged $1,100 per month for a digital circuit, while a nearby school was charged $743 for the same product.
AT&T said the decision “simply means that, in our case, the government provided a small portion of the funds at issue; it does not change the underlying fact that [the plaintiff’s] allegations are wrong. We have always complied with the rules of the E-rate program and we will continue to defend ourselves at ... trial.”
Some School Staff Members May Be in Need of New Measles Vaccination; Outbreak Grows
A large, deadly measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico continues to grow. And while experts say the biggest risk is to unvaccinated people, some who were vaccinated decades ago may need updated shots to ensure they’re protected—teachers and school staff among them.
Most people who are vaccinated against measles are thought to be protected for the rest of their lives. But from 1963 to 1968, a version of the measles vaccine was available that was later found to be less effective and later withdrawn.
Experts say people who received that vaccine should get a new vaccination to bolster their protection against the disease.
Although the number of people who received the less effective vaccine is believed to be very small—estimated at 600,000 to 900,000 in the United States—some teachers and school staff could be in that group.
About 17 percent of public school teachers were 55 or older in 2020-21, according to federal data, and about 10 percent of superintendents were 60 or older in 2024, according to AASA, the School Superintendents Association.
The Texas outbreak had grown to more than 120 cases as of Feb. 27, and one child, who was unvaccinated, has died, according to health officials. It’s the largest measles outbreak in the United States since 2019 and the country’s first measles death since 2015. Nearly all the confirmed cases have been among people who were unvaccinated and primarily occurred among school-aged children.
The measles vaccination is about 97 percent effective when both doses have been administered, and about 95 percent effective with one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is recommended that children receive the first dose when they are 12 to 15 months old and the second between the ages of 4 and 6.
Gaines County, the epicenter of the West Texas outbreak, has one of Texas’ highest rates of exemptions from school vaccine requirements.
Nationally, vaccination coverage among kindergartners decreased in the 2023-24 school year for all reported vaccines from the year before.
Both Major Teachers’ Unions Now Contesting Legality of Federal DEI Directive and Portal
The nation’s largest teachers’ union is asking a federal court to halt the U.S. Department of Education’s enforcement of a directive that threatens to pull federal funding from schools that have race-based programming, arguing that it violates constitutional rights and laws that prohibit the federal government from interfering with curricula.
The lawsuit, which the National Education Association filed along with the American Civil Liberties Union last week, is the second to challenge the department’s Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter to school and college leaders.
The American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association sued the department over the letter on Feb. 25, similarly arguing that the memo infringes on the Constitution’s First and Fifth amendments.
The NEA lawsuit also asks that the Education Department’s recently launched “End DEI” portal be declared unlawful. The portal asks members of the public to submit reports of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools.
Legal experts argue that the letter can’t undo existing civil rights laws, but they worry educators may comply anyway to avoid investigations. A follow-up, nine-page FAQ document does not dispel concerns over its alleged constitutional infringements, according to the lawsuit from the NEA and the ACLU.
The suit argues that the original memo is too vague for educators to interpret and may cause a quandary for some who have to choose between following the memo as they interpret it or following conflicting professional rules and using best practices.
“Our members are scared and are seeing that schools and colleges are reacting to the threats by the Department of Education,” said Alice O’Brien, general counsel for NEA. “We believe it’s incredibly important for schools and colleges and universities to be able to teach students about the world as it is. And the world as it is a multiracial, very diverse place.”
The lawsuit comes just days after Linda McMahon was confirmed as secretary of education. “The Department of Education’s role in this new era of accountability,” she said right after being sworn in, “is to restore the rightful role of state oversight in education and to end the overreach from Washington.”
Trans Athlete Ban Falls Short in U.S. Senate Vote
Legislation that aimed to bar transgender girls and women nationwide from participating in school athletic competitions designated for female athletes failed to advance last week in a divided U.S. Senate as Democrats stood united.
A test vote on the bill failed to gain the 60 votes needed to advance in the chamber as senators stuck to party lines in a 51-45 vote tally.
The bill sought to determine Title IX protections “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” The vote came as Republicans have homed in repeatedly on the social cause, casting it as an issue of ensuring athletic fairness for women and girls. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month giving federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.
Still, Republicans in Congress have set their sights on enshrining that policy into law by amending the 1972 Title IX law, which protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
“Around the country we have seen men—biological men who identify as women—take up spaces and medals in athletics meant for actual women,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune. “This is a matter of fairness and equality.”
The House had already passed similar legislation with only two Democrats in support, but the setback for the bill in the Senate showed the steep climb for any legislation that targets LGBTQ+ people. Democrats slammed the bill as both a distraction from more pressing issues and a federal overreach into local school decisions.
“What Republicans are doing today is inventing a problem to stir up a culture war and divide people against each other,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a floor speech.
AP’s Popularity Increases, Along With Performance
More and more high schoolers are being drawn to Advanced Placement courses. The College Board program, which offers students a chance at earning college credit while still in high school, is not only growing in participation but performance as well.
New data released Feb. 25 show that the number of public high school graduates who took an AP exam grew from 32.8 percent of the class of 2014 to 35.7 percent of the class of 2024.
Within that same timeframe, the number of traditionally underrepresented students—including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students—who took at least one AP exam by graduation grew from 154,000 in 2014 to more than 460,000 in 2024.
“This data shows that students, their teachers, school leaders, and policymakers not only see the value and benefits of AP but also recognize that almost all students can be AP students,” said Trevor Packer, the head of the AP program.
Another key area of growth: the number of students who got a score of 3 or above in at least one AP exam, thus making them eligible for college credit. About 19.9 percent of graduates in 2014 met that goal. That number grew to 22.6 percent in 2024.
One data point that didn’t change: the most requested AP exams. Students still favored AP courses in the humanities, which easily outpaced math and science exams.
Leading the way among the top 10 requested AP exams as of this past November was English Language and Composition at 599,764, followed by United States History (510,910), English Literature and Composition (415,245), United States Government and Politics (342,972), and AP Psychology (333,649).
Science and math didn’t show up until the No. 7 spot with Calculus AB (290,459). Biology came in at No. 8 (287,030), and Statistics took 10th place with 264,262 registrations.
And another humanities course, Human Geography, squeezed in at No. 9 with 273,922 registrations.
