Fewer People Are Going To College. That Could Be a Good Thing.

“If I would have gone to college after school, I would be dead broke,” one high school graduate told the A.P.

“Why do I want to put in all the money to get a piece of paper that really isn’t going to help with what I’m doing right now?”

https://reason.com/2023/03/09/fewer-people-are-going-to-college-that-could-be-a-good-thing/

Los Angeles Public Schools Are Increasingly Passing Students Who Don’t Meet Grade-Level Standards

The issue is the result of a districtwide policy of de facto grade inflation.

The widening gap between grades and actual academic performance shows the perils of letting concern for “equity” drive educational policy. In a quest to pass more disadvantaged students, Los Angeles public schools may in fact be failing them.

https://reason.com/2023/01/11/los-angles-public-schools-are-increasingly-passing-students-who-dont-meet-grade-level-standards/

Doing Pickering Balancing Right

It is not a workplace “disruption” that co-workers objected to a MAGA hat

The court here correctly, I believe, worked from the assumption that a government school was constitutionally required to be institutionally neutral about political values. The school as such could not prefer Black Lives Matter posters to MAGA hats, and could not base employment decisions on such preferences. It is evident that many university professors, administrators and leaders, at both public and private institutions, would not work from that same assumption.

https://reason.com/volokh/2022/12/29/doing-pickering-balancing-right/

Biden’s Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Plan Just Faced Its Third Major Setback in a Month

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court denied the Biden administration’s request to block a Texas judge’s ruling that declared the policy unconstitutional.

https://reason.com/2022/12/02/bidens-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-plan-just-faced-its-third-major-setback-in-a-month/

Required Diversity Statements on Campus: Are They Constitutional?

“Academics seeking employment or promotion will almost inescapably feel pressured to say things that accommodate the perceived ideological preferences of an institution demanding a diversity statement, notwithstanding the actual beliefs or commitments of those forced to speak.”

https://www.cato.org/blog/required-dei-diversity-equity-inclusion-statements-campus-analogyhttps://www.cato.org/blog/required-dei-diversity-equity-inclusion-statements-campus-analogy

Biden Administration Guts Due Process Protections for Students Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Under the new regulations, Title IX investigators can deny students access to the evidence against them. …The new rules also allow schools to deny accused students a live hearing and the opportunity to question their accusers.

https://reason.com/2022/09/15/biden-guts-title-ix-due-process/

Academic Freedom Alliance on Diversity Statements

“Academics seeking employment or promotion will almost inescapably feel pressured to say things that accommodate the perceived ideological preferences of an institution demanding a diversity statement, notwithstanding the actual beliefs or commitments of those forced to speak.”