You Don’t Say
What to know: The teachers unions have become hyperpoliticized, Byron York points out.
The TPPF take: This is nothing new.
“The National Education Association’s political agenda includes vows to stop President Trump’s fascism, eliminate ICE and resist the Supreme Court ruling that allows parents to opt their children out of ‘gender ideology’ classes,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “The NEA has also pledged millions for local political campaigns and says it will support the No Kings movement, which nobody knows exactly what it is, but apparently isn’t over. The NEA doesn’t seem to be pretending anymore that they care about what happens to our children.”
For more on teachers unions, click here.
We Found It!
What to know: According to Politico, there’s only one truly bipartisan issue left these days: Everyone likes the idea of banning cell phones from classrooms.
The TPPF take: The widespread use of personal devices—including smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops, and gaming devices—has become a significant challenge in schools. And Texas is leading the way in banning them in classrooms.
“While technology plays an essential role in education, personal devices often serve as a distraction rather than a learning tool,” says TPPF’s David Dunmoyer. “Studies indicate that students check their phones more than 100 times per day on average, reducing their ability to focus on classroom instruction.”
For more on cell phones in classrooms, click here.
Grade Inflation
What to know: Even Harvard faculty and administrators laugh at the school’s massive grade inflation scandal, a new report says: “The result at Harvard is that the grading scale runs from A to A+.”
The TPPF take: College grade inflation is undermining workforce competitiveness.
“This isn’t a sign of smarter students or better teaching—it’s a collapse of standards,” says TPPF’s Tom Lindsay. “Grade point averages (GPAs) at public universities have climbed from 2.7 in the 1960s to 3.2 by 2023, according to a 2024 report, even as student effort has plummeted from 24 study hours per week in 1961 to 14 in 2022. This inflation poisons the academic ecosystem.”
For more on the grade inflation, click here.