Category Archives: Education

‘Dangerous’: Judge Blocks Student Debt Relief Rule That Doesn’t Exist Yet

“Opponents of democracy are terrified that they will lose again at the ballot box in November and are rushing to right-wing judges to hamstring democratic governance,” said one observer.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 9-5-2024 by Common Dreams

*Photo: American Association of University Professors/flickr/CC*

A Republican-appointed U.S. federal judge in Georgia raised eyebrows and objections Thursday after taking what observers called the “unprecedented” step of blocking a rule that hasn’t even been finalized in order to stop the Biden administration from implementing a plan to deliver promised debt relief to millions of student borrowers.

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia James Randal Hall issued an order blocking the Biden administration’s proposed federal student debt relief rule. Hall—an appointee of former President George W. Bush—granted a motion by a coalition of right-wing state attorneys general to preempt the rule’s eventual implementation.

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FEC Blasted Over Decision Not to Regulate Deepfakes Ahead of Election

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“The FEC is the nation’s election protection agency and it has authority to regulate deepfakes as part of its existing authority to prohibit fraudulent misrepresentations,” said Robert Weissman of Public Citizen.

By Julia Conley. Published 8-8-2024 by Common Dreams

An announcement by the U.S. Federal Election Commission on Thursday that it will not take action to regulate artificial intelligence-generated “deepfakes” in political ads before the November elections amounted to “a shameful abrogation of its responsibilities,” said a leading critic of the technology.

A year after consumer advocate Public Citizen filed a petition with the FEC to demand rulemaking that would prohibit a political candidate or advocacy group from misrepresenting political opponents using deliberately deceptive deepfakes—fake images generated with AI—FEC Chair Sean Cooksey told Axios the commission will not propose any new rules this year.

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G20 Nations Take ‘Important Step’ Toward Fair Taxation of Ultra-Rich

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“Our proposal for a common minimum tax on billionaires is now on the map. G20 finance ministers have started to engage with it—and there is no going back,” said progressive economist Gabriel Zucman.

By Julia Conley. Published 7-26-2024 by Common Dreams

Despite pushback from the United States delegation, finance ministers at a meeting of the G20 countries in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday agreed on the need to develop a global taxation system in which the richest in the world are taxed at a higher rate—potentially unlocking hundreds of billions of dollars annually to help close the international wealth gap.

Ahead of the G20 Summit scheduled for November, which Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government will host, the finance officials met this week to discuss economic issues and ultimately agreed to start a “dialogue on fair and progressive taxation, including of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.”

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Student Loan Payments Paused for Millions Amid Court Fight Over Relief Plan

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While praising the Biden administration’s move “to stave off this reckless attack from extremist politicians and judges,” advocates stressed that “broad-based debt cancellation is the only solution.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 7-19-2024 by Common Dreams

The Biden administration responded to an appellate court temporarily blocking one of its student debt relief programs by pausing payments for the 8 million borrowers already enrolled—a move welcomed by advocates, even as some called for further action.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona acknowledged in a statement that the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling against President Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan “could have devastating consequences for millions of student loan borrowers crushed by unaffordable monthly payments if it remains in effect.”

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With Attention on Presidential Contest, GOP Goes on Austerity Rampage

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One leading Democrat warned Republicans’ spending proposals would “demolish public education” and “let corporate price gouging run rampant.”

By Jake Johnson. Published 7-6-2024 by Common Dreams

*Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaking with attendees at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s 2023 Annual Leadership Summit. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC*

With much of the public’s attention on the looming presidential election and high-stakes jockeying over who will take on Donald Trump in November, congressional Republicans in recent weeks have provided a stark look at their plans for federal spending should their party win back control of the presidency and the Senate.

The appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins in October, is currently underway, with congressional committees engaging in government funding debates that are likely to continue beyond the November elections.

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Oklahoma Supreme Court Blocks First US Religious Public Charter School

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One coalition said the ruling “safeguards public education and upholds the separation of religion and government.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 6-25-2024 by Common Dreams

*The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic Charter School on June 25, 2024. Photo: Brian J. Matis/CC*

Faith leaders, parents, and educators on Tuesday applauded the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling against the establishment of the first U.S. taxpayer-funded religious charter school—which was widely seen as a test case for Christian nationalists’ broader efforts to break down the barrier between church and state as well as further undermine public education.

The court’s decision against St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic Charter School came in a case filed last October by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Unlike some fellow Republicans, he argued that the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s approval of the online institution violated the state and federal constitutions.

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Rights Groups To Sue as Louisiana Requires Ten Commandments Displayed in Classrooms

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“Our public schools are not Sunday schools,” the groups said, “and students of all faiths, or no faith, should feel welcome in them.”

By Edward Carver. Published 6-19-2024 by Common Dreams

*Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry. Photo:gov.louisiana.gov*

Rights groups expressed outrage and promised legal action on Wednesday as Louisiana became the only state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public classrooms.

The law requires all public classrooms, from kindergarten to university-level, to display the commandments in “large, easily readable font” by the start of 2025. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 71 into law Wednesday after declaring recently that he “could not wait to be sued.”

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Is Shell’s exit from Nigeria a front to dodge legal responsibilities?

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The oil giant is selling its Niger Delta subsidiary – but lending the new owners the money for the purchase

By Andy Rowell and James Marriot Published 6-6-2024 by openDemocracy

*Damaged trees in the Niger Delta following the 2008 Bodo oil spill. Photo: Sosialistisk Ungdom (SU)/flickr/CC*

Nigerian activists believe Shell’s apparent end to its 87-year operation in the country is an effort to avoid its legal responsibilities while holding onto the potentially profitable side of the business.

In January, the oil giant revealed it had “reached an agreement to sell its Nigerian onshore subsidiary” to Renaissance, a consortium of four Nigerian oil firms and one based in Switzerland.

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US Senate Hearing Highlights Impacts of ‘Horrific Anti-Abortion Crusade’

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Sen. Patty Murray described the event as “a close accounting of the trauma Republicans are inflicting on women and families across our country, and the damage they are doing to basic reproductive healthcare.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 6-4-2024 by Common Dreams

Abortion rights advocates in the U.S. Senate held a Tuesday hearing highlighting the impacts of healthcare bans imposed by the GOP, particularly since the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which reversed Roe v. Wade.

The hearing—titled, “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Healthcare Nightmare Across America”—was officially hosted by Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), but he kicked it off by explaining why he was turning things over to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the panel’s former leader.

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Educators Celebrate as Judge Strikes Down New Hampshire ‘Banned Concepts’ Law

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One advocate said the federal judge “correctly decided that educators have the constitutional right to teach honest, accurate lessons and wasn’t dragged into the clutches of the extreme right.”

By Brett Wilkins. Published 5-28-2024 by Common Dreams

*A middle school class. Photo: woodleywonderworks//flickr/CC*

Education and free speech advocates cheered Tuesday’s federal court ruling striking down New Hampshire’s classroom censorship law, one of several so-called “white discomfort” bills passed in Republican-controlled states in recent years.

U.S. District Judge Paul J. Barbadoro’s 50-page ruling says that the New England state’s so-called “banned concepts” law is “unconstitutionally vague” and contains “viewpoint-based restrictions on speech that do not provide either fair warning to educators of what they prohibit or sufficient standards for law enforcement to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.”

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The Movement Continues – Globally

Category Archives: Education