Category: Education

Stop Stereotyping Black Girls: Offer Inclusive Sex Education in Schools

As of this fall, GOP leaders and lawmakers in over a dozen states have passed bans on teaching human sexuality or stymied federal grants aimed at addressing sexual behaviors and lowering rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

While this negatively affects all children, it is particularly harmful for Black girls. Black adolescent girls in the United States experience poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes due to bullying and stereotyping. These health concerns persist throughout their lives and a lack of sex education is a key factor.

Students and Advocates ‘Frustrated’ With Biden Administration’s Slow Response to Finalize Title IX Changes

Democrats in Congress, students and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are growing frustrated with the Biden administration’s slow pace to finalize proposed updates to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools. More than 60 House Democrats sent a recent letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, calling on the agency to act. 

“So for the last three years, and now fourth school year, student survivors have fewer rights. Now it’s getting close to 2024 and we don’t know when a final rule will come out. So students are frustrated, and we’re frustrated as advocates.” 

Sexual Assault Accusers Can Be Sued for Defamation. This Will Discourage Survivors from Coming Forward.

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has allowed Saifullah Kahn, a student accused of sexual assault, to sue his accuser for defamation, relying on a Connecticut Supreme Court opinion finding that the accuser was not entitled to absolute immunity for statements she made during a Title IX proceeding.

This decision will have a chilling effect on sexual assault survivors’ willingness to come forward, as they are now vulnerable to defamation and other civil suits, which are increasingly used to silence and intimidate victims. But the ruling also could impact how schools conduct future Title IX proceedings, and influence proposed new Title IX regulations, which the Biden administration has been working on since 2020.

Florida: Where Learning Goes to Die

I’ve been a clerk, teacher and administrator in Volusia County, Fla., schools for decades. Our 9-year-old grandson will no longer be educated here.

Last school year, one like no other, I kept a journal because the laws coming down from Tallahassee and the school board meetings I regularly attend had become frightening. I knew the effects in the schools would be equally scary. They were worse than I imagined.

Censoring Conversations on Race Doesn’t Protect Children

Lawmakers are barring the education of, or exposure to, an understanding of the purposes and catalysts for the civil rights movement and the lasting impacts of white supremacy and white superiority by insisting on revisionist history and outright elimination of teaching facts in schools.

As Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reminded us on the anniversary of the Birmingham bombing, “The uncomfortable lessons are often the ones that teach us the most about ourselves.”

As Texas Bans DEI Offices at Public Colleges, Rice University’s Inclusion Efforts March On

Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have become a lightning rod for debate in American higher education. At Rice University—a private university in Houston, Texas—officials admit impact is hard to measure, but they also see progress from their work.

(Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender, race and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Submit pitches and/or op-eds and reflections to Ms. contributing editor Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com.)

Why Sororities Should Admit Nonbinary Members 

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Fa Guzmán, a nonbinary student, was thrilled to join a sorority in August 2022. Thus, they were shocked in April 2023, when the national sorority organization decided to interpret their policies differently: Fa was banned, kicked out of the sorority with no opportunity to appeal, due to being nonbinary. 

Gender nonconforming, nonbinary and transgender children, teens and adults have been increasingly subjected to restrictive legislation and policies that deny their gender, their bodily autonomy and their agency. On college campuses, sororities could offer close friendships and a deeper sense of belonging on campus—if it weren’t for national policies that often restrict membership based on sex assigned at birth.

Teach Students Asian American History and Advocacy: ‘Our Movements Are Stronger When We Stand Together’

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Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are creating a movement to implement accurate and culturally representative curricula in public schools. The majority of Ohioans want this education—and we see this desire echoed nationally: In Illinois, we saw the historic passage of the TEAACH Act in 2021. Similar legislation was passed in New Jersey and Connecticut in 2022, showing a need and desire for inclusive curricula across the country. These education bills encompass a wide array of identities and histories.

We understand that our histories and our futures are tied to one another. This is the core of the AAPI curriculum movement.

To Fight the ‘War on Woke,’ We Need Poetry and Poets

I’m a former professor at the New College of Florida—I resigned the end of July.

On July 19, 2023, Robert Allen published an opinion piece in the Sarasota Herald Tribune criticizing the lack of ideological balance in the New College faculty and listing myself, faculty chair Amy Reid and gender studies professor Nick Clarkson as “pedagogical aberrations” that exemplified his point.

Shortly thereafter, I resigned—which would have happened regardless of Allen’s piece. However, Allen’s piece has invited me to speak up and, after much deliberation and careful wordsmithing, I’ve decided I want to share my story.

Defending Diverse Voices: Four Best-Selling Authors Talk Banned Books

The issue of book banning has resurfaced with renewed vigor. We must resist attempts to suppress books written by Black authors and diverse voices. Ms. spoke with Tiffany D. Jackson, Kimberly L. Jones, Jason Mott and Nicola Yoon—national award-winning authors—about the impact of book banning on both authors and society.

“Banning books will not make racial complexities and the world’s complexities disappear; instead, it erodes compassion and understanding.”

“Books nurture empathy in kids who are reading about people who don’t look like them. They build understanding.”