Education
GOP plan to reverse final Title IX rule passes U.S. House, but Biden says he’d veto
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday passed a measure to reverse an Education Department rule seeking to extend federal discrimination protections for LGBTQ students, though President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the legislation should it land on his desk. House passage of the resolution, 210-205, is part of a barrage of GOP pushback […]
Shedding tears as we shed our common sense on guns
It’s enough to make a grown man cry. And one of my friends did just that during a recent school board meeting here in Rapid City as he was trying to offer public comment about a pending board decision on guns in schools. Yes, guns in schools. How’s that for dissonance? Remember those “What doesn’t […]
13 states, including SD, opt out of summer food program for kids
A new, permanent summer grocery program will help nearly 21 million kids across 37 states get enough to eat this year while school’s out. But 13 states with Republican governors have opted out of the federal program, citing their opposition to what they deride as “welfare” and their unwillingness to cover administrative costs. Under the […]
Don’t give up on the FAFSA, advocates for student financial aid urge
WASHINGTON — Though the new version of the form to apply for federal financial student aid has had its fair share of highly publicized hiccups, U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal says the department has made a lot of progress in the past couple of months. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid — […]
‘Extremely low pay’ cited at U.S. Senate hearing as prime reason for teacher shortage
WASHINGTON — The only reason John Arthur is able to be a public school teacher is because his wife makes much more money than he does. Arthur — the 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year — testified on Thursday at a hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the […]
Survey says nearly two-thirds of SD educators use Indigenous standards
Survey results indicate nearly two-thirds of South Dakota public school educators are teaching the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings, but the number of respondents is lower than the last survey. The essential understandings are a set of standards approved in 2018 for teaching students about Native American culture and history. “Oceti Sakowin” is the collective term […]
Navajo leaders outraged after a Lakota student’s tribal regalia was removed at graduation
Graduation season is typically a time for celebrating the success of students making it through their education programs. For some Indigenous students, part of that celebration includes having tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance as part of their cap and gown during the graduation ceremony. In Arizona, Indigenous students are protected under state law. […]
More than half of states sue to block Biden Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ+ students
WASHINGTON — Twenty-six GOP-led states are suing the Biden administration over changes to Title IX aiming to protect LGBTQ+ students from discrimination in schools. Less than a month after the U.S. Department of Education released its final rule seeking to protect against discrimination “based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics,” a […]
Oglala police chief calls tribal law enforcement funding ‘a joke’ in congressional testimony
The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety is funded at 15% of its needs, its acting chief told appropriators with the U.S. House of Representatives this week. John Pettigrew testified that the funding shortfall – over which his tribe has twice sued the federal government – means a force at less than half strength […]
Fossil researchers discover new genus of deer at Badlands National Park
INTERIOR — A team of researchers studying fossil remains found by an intern in South Dakota’s Badlands National Park have discovered a previously unknown type of tiny, hornless deer that lived in the area 32 million years ago, the National Park Service announced Thursday. Researchers from the park, the American Museum of Natural History, and […]
Statewide child care task force meets, sets plan for the rest of the year
A child care task force made up of 24 South Dakota lawmakers, business leaders, parents and early childhood professionals had its first meeting last month, and the group plans to tackle the issue in meetings throughout the rest of the year. South Dakota’s lack of affordable and accessible child care has been a concern in […]
Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus ‘chaos’ over Gaza
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but “not the right to cause chaos.” “We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent,” Biden said from […]