NEWS
LGBTQ+
Alert! Health Care for Transgender People is Under Attack
June 4, 2026
This alert signals that medically-necessary health care for Transgender people (called gender-affirming care) is under threat nationwide during the Healthcare Equality Index 2026 survey cycle. This care is often referred to as gender-affirming care and may include age-appropriate medical, mental health, and supportive services that help transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive people live safely and authentically.
Currently, 26 states ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, and access has become increasingly difficult even in some states without bans. Federal actions, including executive orders, Department of Justice investigations, and subpoenas, have intensified pressure on healthcare providers and institutions. Facing threats to funding and operations, some hospitals and clinics have paused or stopped providing transgender-specific healthcare entirely — even in states where that care remains legal or protected — leaving transgender patients and families with fewer, and in some cases no, options for medically necessary care. Read More
Banning transgender athletes has never been about protecting women
June 4, 2026
The power politicians have over women’s bodies is one of the oldest tools of control in American history. Throughout that history, the promise of protecting women has been the longtime excuse for excluding women from civic life and limiting our freedom. That history isn’t over.
The Supreme Court will soon decide Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. BPJ — legal cases out of Idaho and West Virginia that will determine whether transgender athletes will be allowed to compete on women’s and girls’ school sports teams.
Idaho’s attorney general has argued that the bans ensure “women’s spaces and sports remain fair, safe, and dedicated to empowering female athletes.” Or, in other words, that we must allow politicians to pass these bans to “protect” women. Although the court’s decision is expected any day now, I have already made mine. Transgender sports bans are not and never have been about protecting women. Read More
GLAAD poll shows voters prioritize cost of living over transgender attacks
June 4, 2026
GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, has released results from a poll showing overwhelming support to end their attacks on transgender people and focus on the rising cost of living.“
The poll, conducted by MRI-Simmons between March 16 and April 2, 2026, found that 44% of registered voters cited “increasing costs or inflation” as their number one concern, and 65% believe politicians use transgender issues to district from more important policies.
Among voters in Georgia, 72% said they were more likely to support midterm candidates who believes “we all deserve the freedom to live our lives without fear of discrimination,” and 70% were more likely to support candidates who focus more on “lowering the cost of living and creating jobs than on issues about transgender people, like restricting government IDs or health care.” Read More
Senators clash over whether parents or politicians should decide on trans youth care
June 3, 2026
A Senate hearing on gender-affirming care for minors on Wednesday became a fight over who gets to make decisions for transgender children, whether politicians should override doctors and parents, and whether the Trump administration’s escalating campaign against gender-affirming care is rooted in concern for children or hostility toward transgender people.
The hearing, convened by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, came as the administration has intensified efforts to restrict care, including Justice Department subpoenas seeking records from providers that treat transgender minors. The committee listed three witnesses, including Dr. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer of anti-trans and anti-diversity activist group Do No Harm; Chloe Cole, an anti-trans advocate who received gender-affirming care as a minor and who regretted that care; and Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights. Read More
Christina’s top teacher focuses on making all students feel included
June 3, 2026
A child of immigrants, Jessica Liu knows what it’s like for a student to feel like he or she doesn’t fit in at school.
“I grew up in a school that was predominantly white and I feel like I kind of lost myself those elementary years,” Liu said. “I really just wanted to fit into this box that I really wasn’t.”
That’s why, as a multilingual learning teacher at Wilson Elementary School, Liu focuses on not just helping students learn English language skills but also infusing equity and inclusion into everything Wilson does.
“I make sure that no matter where students come from, I really try to make sure that they celebrate who they are, where they come from, and they know that it’s an asset,” Liu said.
That dedication to her students has earned Liu the designation of the Christina School District’s teacher of the year. In the fall, she will vie for statewide teacher of the year. Read More
GLAAD's CEO says AI bias puts LGBTQ+ people at risk
June 3, 2026
AI has been trained on biased data that can reinforce harmful stereotypes and spread misinformation about LGBTQ+ people, GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said Wednesday at the Axios AI+ NY summit.
Why it matters: AI is increasingly embedded across platforms, and companies must ensure it is trained responsibly because the harm can extend far beyond digital communications.
What they’re saying: “I think you’d have to be asleep at the wheel to not see the attacks that are happening against the LGBTQ community, mostly the trans and nonbinary community, but it’s all happening together,” Ellis told Axios’ Ina Fried on Wednesday. Read More
How Americans feel about same-sex marriage, transgender issues: poll
June 3, 2026
Acceptance of same-sex marriage and relationships in the U.S. has flattened after more than two decades of steadily increasing support, with an ongoing decline among Republicans, according to a new Gallup poll.
Acceptance of same-sex marriage and relationships in the U.S. has flattened after more than two decades of steadily increasing support, with an ongoing decline among Republicans, according to a new Gallup poll.
Steyer goes all-in on transgender athletes as California governor’s race goes down to wire
June 1, 2026
The transgender-athlete issue helped torpedo Democrats in the 2024 election, but California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer is doubling down as he seeks to separate himself from the primary pack.
Days before Tuesday’s balloting, the Democratic billionaire made a play for the LGBTQ vote by literally embracing transgender athlete A.B. Hernandez ahead of the state track-and-field championships, where the teen won two girls’ titles.
“I’m so proud of you for what you’re doing,” Mr. Steyer said in the video, as he posed for a photo with his arm around the Jurupa Valley High School senior and Nereyda Hernandez, the athlete’s mother. Read More
Back to Top
Race & Discrimination
The sweeping ways religion is mixing with public education
June 4, 2026
New laws and policies across the country are dismantling the idea — celebrated by some, rejected by others — that prayer and proselytization should be kept out of public schools. Increasingly, religion is being injected all over the place.
With the Supreme Court rapidly changing its views on what is and is not permissible, policymakers — particularly in conservative states — are pushing the limits on incorporating religion into the school day. Public school classrooms are required to post the Ten Commandments, Bible verses are being injected into social studies curriculums, and some school districts are required to allow students to leave campus midday to participate in Bible study.
“Like a teenager with a new car, states are trying to figure out how far and fast they can go,” said Michael A. Helfand, a law professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and an expert in church-state law. Read More
Gillibrand Introduces Legislation To Crack Down On Hate Crimes
May 26, 2026
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D‑NY) reintroduced the Hate Crimes Commission Act, bicameral legislation to strengthen the nation’s response to hate crimes, improve hate crime reporting, and identify strategies to prevent bias-motivated violence. The legislation would establish a bipartisan United States Commission on Hate Crimes to examine the factors driving hate crimes, barriers to accurate reporting, and evidence-based approaches to prevention, while directing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit federal hate crime data collection systems.
“Our country was founded on the core principles of liberty, justice, and equality. Every American has the right to live freely and safely, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, or religion,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The alarming rise in hate crimes over the last few years demands a comprehensive federal response — and that starts with the establishment of a commission to investigate hate crimes. This legislation would help protect communities and gather the data we need to prevent future violence, and I am determined to get it passed.”
Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Grace Meng (D-NY), and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) co-lead this legislation in the House of Representatives. Read More
Democratic lawmakers move against GOP censorship of history
May 22, 2026
Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee say the panel’s ruling right-wing Republicans are trying to censor—whitewash might be more accurate—history teaching in U.S. schools.
And they’re doing much of it in the name of assassinated far-right influencer Charlie Kirk, whom the radical right has set up as a martyr. Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA. His widow now runs it.
HR8705, the “Charlie Act,” as right-wingers call it, would permit federal education money for schools only if history teachers avoided certain subjects. The committee approved the measure on May 21. Panel Democrats tried and failed to knock the bans out of the bill.
Instead, the GOP banned federal funds to schools whose teachers discuss slavery and its impact, civil rights, immigration, the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and attempted pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, LGBTQ rights, and sexual exploitation by the late financier/sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. Read More
Equality Caucus Condemns Advancement of Racist, Anti-Equality Censorship Bill
May 21, 2026
Today, the Republican-controlled House Committee on Education and the Workforce advanced H.R. 8705, the CHARLIE Act, favorably out of committee. Congressional Equality Caucus Chair and Senior Member of the Committee Rep. Mark Takano released the following statement in response:
“Censoring American history doesn’t change what happened—it dooms future generations to forget and potentially repeat the mistakes of the past. Importantly, denying the existence of transgender people and the lasting effects of racism on American society does nothing to make American education better,” said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and Senior Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. “This bill censors some of the leading government-funded history and civics educational programs in an act of unacceptable overreach. Denying the lasting impacts Jim Crow and slavery have had on American society is denying reality, and restricting educators from honing their knowledge on these dark—but important—topics is an incredibly dangerous disservice to American students. I will keep working with my colleagues in the Equality Caucus to prevent this bill from becoming law.” Read More
Supreme Court Ruling Threatens to Erase Black and Brown Voices from Congress as Southern States Race to Redraw Maps
May 15, 2026
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling against drawing congressional maps to protect Black or other minority voters represents a direct assault on the political voice of communities of color. For Black and Brown voters across the South, this decision has unleashed what congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins describes as “a historic moment in terms of how we draw our political lines,” and the consequences fall squarely on minority shoulders.
Where redistricting battles were once “spread out all over the country,” there is now “a real focus on one region of the country, the South,” the very region where Black political power was hardest won. Four additional states are now poised to redraw their maps, and the targets are clear: districts that have given Black and Brown communities meaningful representation for decades. Read More
Florida’s new history course whitewashes the founders on slavery
May 14, 2026
Florida has long been a laboratory for autocracy. Several of the Trump administration’s most extreme policies were piloted there, including aggressive immigration enforcement, the systematic rollback of civil rights and voter suppression.
Now the Sunshine State is offering a new experiment: a high school history course offering a conservative interpretation of American history and a corrective to the official Advanced Placement U.S. History curriculum, which more than half a million students took last year, and that most historians and educators consider to be ideologically well-balanced. Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s education department have attacked the AP course as “woke” and unpatriotic because it examines the complexities of American history including White on Black chattel slavery, the genocide of First Nations peoples and other realities that puncture sacred civic myths such as American exceptionalism and the fantasy that America is, and has always been, the greatest country in the world. Read More
As school districts cut budgets, DEI work may be first to go
May 12, 2026
Claire Galloway-Jones stepped up to lead the Brookline school district’s Office of Educational Equity in July 2023 at a time when families, staff and students were losing trust.
The wealthy, coveted district on Boston’s edge faced allegations of repeatedly failing to address incidents of racial bullying and harassment, including a case in which an eighth grader knelt on a Black classmate’s neck, mimicking the murder of George Floyd. Educators of color had a pattern of staying only a few years; from 2021 to 2023, 18 left their positions. The Brookline school district, whose staff declined to comment for this article, has also churned through five superintendents in the last decade.
At the start of the 2024-25 school year, the district announced a projected $8 million budget deficit, and all operations funding for Galloway-Jones’ department was pulled. Read More
Judge says Penn must turn over information about Jewish employees in US discrimination probe
April 1, 2026
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the University of Pennsylvania to hand over records about Jewish employees on campus to a federal agency as part of an investigation into antisemitic discrimination but said it did not have to reveal any employee’s affiliation with a specific group.
U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert said employees can refuse to take part in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation but the agency “needs the opportunity to talk to them directly to learn if they have evidence of discrimination.”
He mostly upheld an administrative subpoena but said Penn does not have to disclose any worker’s affiliation with a Jewish-related organization nor must it provide information about three Jewish-affiliated groups. He set a deadline of May 1 to comply. Read More
Back to Top
Censorship/Book Bans
Queer Books and Authors are at a Breaking Point
May 29, 2026
I’ve noticed a trend in the news stories coming out about queer books and authors: it’s clear that five years of unrelenting and escalating censorship has brought us to a breaking point. It’s not sustainable for authors, librarians, and teachers to endure years of anti-LGBTQ abuse. It’s becoming harder to get queer books published, harder to sell queer books, and harder to make a living doing it—especially when it comes to queer kidlit and YA. For queer authors of color and other multiply marginalized people, the pressure is even more intense. There’s no sign of this slowing down, either: a national “Don’t Say Trans” bill just passed the House. The fight for queer books badly needs reinforcements.”
School Library Journal published an article called “Are LGBTQIA+ Voices Being Pushed Out of Kid Lit?” that includes interviews with authors and agents describing how publishers have stopped acquiring “diverse” books or dramatically reduced their numbers. Read More
Knox County Schools takes “Roots” off banned book list, restores to libraries
May 26, 2026
An East Tennessee school district has reversed its ban on “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alex Haley, after weeks of community backlash, board member pressure, and statewide criticism, all unfolding in the same city where a 13-foot bronze statue of Haley has stood for nearly three decades.
Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk said the district will return the 1976 novel to school library shelves, walking back a decision that had added Roots to a growing list of banned books and ignited debate about race, history and the reach of state law into public school libraries.
In a memo to the Knox County Board of Education dated May 26, 2026, Rysewyk said the decision to return Roots to shelves was effective immediately and that the initial removal “was in no way a commentary on the historical, cultural, or literary value of the novel. Read More
Read Freely awarded $40K grant to keep fighting library censorship
May 26, 2026
ead Freely Alabama has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation to further civic engagement in advocating for Alabama’s public libraries.
The grant will allow Read Freely Alabama to host eight events—six in-person and two online—focusing on civic engagement and racial justice in the fight against censorship. These events will be designed to empower local communities to become more involved in challenging book bans and restrictive legislation across Alabama’s public libraries.
“Read Freely Alabama is honored to have been chosen to receive this $40,000 grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation to further our mission. We believe Alabama’s public libraries must remain equitable public spaces,” Read Freely leadership said in a statement. “These funds will allow us to expand our reach into rural communities of Alabama who have historically been most impacted by racial injustice, and where essential, small community libraries are most vulnerable to coercive threats to funding if they choose not to censor library materials. Read More
Book Bans Aren’t About Books. They’re About Panic.
May 25, 2026
There are so many matters of concern these days. It’s difficult to rank order the challenges we face — as a society and as a world community. There are existential threats all around us: the arms race throughout the world, wars, hunger, the effect of a warming climate, the rise of authoritarianism, and the threat of pandemic. And while all of these carry with them great risk, none of them is really an “either/or” problem of our own making. There are, however, problems that we create out of fear and intolerance, issues that we can resolve through reasonable resolution. My candidate for an issue that encapsulates the ignorance, fear, intolerance, and social engineering of our time, is the banning of books. One need not look very far to find a better example of the dumbing-down of America, the impact of over-parenting, and the attack on the free flow of information and education than stripping library shelves of literature and ideas.
The sordid history of book banning
It was Heinrich Heine, the prescient German poet who wrote in 1820: “…where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people as well.” Read More
OPINION: New Nebraska law correctly keeps books
May 25, 2026
When author Alex Haley’s “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” became part of the American psyche in 1976, first as a best selling book, then as a beloved television miniseries, it sent scores of Black Americans in search of their own family’s genealogical history. “Roots” also changed the conversation about race in America, serving primarily as an entry to such discussions.
The response to Haley’s work gave hope to the notion that the “Roots” phenomenon would be a seminal moment in understanding not simply the brutality, violence and horrors of our nation’s history of slavery, but an opportunity to move “race relations” forward, away from poll taxes, Little Rock and the racist distemper that underpinned subsequent stories such as “Mississippi Burning” and later “Selma.” Read More
Jenna Bush Hager Advocates for Children's Books Amid Growing Ban Controversy
May 20, 2026
Today co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager just sent a heated message about banning certain children’s books.
On the Wednesday, May 20 episode of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, the former first daughter, 44, didn’t hold back with her opinion when it comes to children’s books in particular.
“There are people that are trusted adults in the library that can decipher that, and parents as well,” Bush Hager argued on Today. “We have to take responsibility for our kids at home. But let’s not get rid of Toni Morrison‘s books for the kids that do need to read that. That should be reading that.”
“I Cannot Let These Doctrines Be The Face of My Education”: Elizabethtown (PA) Students Protest Book Bans
May 20, 2026
Viewers who were by turns captivated, infuriated, and motivated by The Librarians documentary may not know there is a second potent documentary that adds to the conversation. An American Pastoral, which released this year, is a film about the spread of the far-right agenda in school boards across the country since 2021. It homes in specifically on Elizabethtown Area School District (EASD) in Pennsylvania, where book bans and curriculum censorship have been raging. Viewers watch the far right takeover of the board, alongside the pushback from educators and community members. They see how easily the misinformation spreads and lies and falsehoods divide a community that shares what seems like a common goal: good schools for their students.
EASD students, educators, and community members have watched books be targeted for years. Among the wide-ranging censorship tactics includes one last year, when the district’s board voted to simply eliminate all funding for the middle and high school libraries. Read More
Congress Urged to Oppose Bill to Censor Speech and School Instruction on Gender and LGBTQ+ Identities
May 19, 2026
PEN America and five library, booksellers, and anti-censorship organizations along with a major publishing house urged Congress today to oppose H.R. 2616, a bill intended to censor speech and instruction in schools related to gender and LGBTQ+ identities. The bill is up for a vote in the House this week.
In a letter sent to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the groups wrote: “H.R. 2616 constitutes an educational gag order that would restrict federal funds to impose ideological orthodoxy, chill classroom dialogue, and erase LGBTQ+ representation in schools. The bill, which would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the use of federal funding to ‘teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology,’ would task administrators with interpreting and enforcing vague directives to avoid extreme financial penalties. As we’ve seen at the state-level, when school districts are forced to guess what constitutes ‘concepts related to gender ideology,’ broad censorship tends to follow. A memoir by an intersex person; a U.S. history lesson that references the LGBTQ+ rights movement; or a biology textbook that mentions clownfish or other animals who change sex could all be censored under this bill.” Read More
Back to Top
Advocacy
Luzerne County Council enacts non-discrimination ordinance
June 10, 2026
Luzerne County Council voted 7-4 Tuesday night to enact a hotly debated ordinance that establishes comprehensive, anti-discrimination requirements for employment, housing, education, health care and public accommodations.
The ordinance empowers a county human relations commission to make determinations on discrimination complaints. Council now has to approve another separate ordinance to establish the composition, powers and responsibilities of the human relations commission.
The vote came after 33 county residents offered diverse and passionate opinions on the ordinance during a public comment session that was more than 90 minutes long. Last Thursday, 37 speakers commented on the ordinance during a public hearing that lasted roughly 100 minutes. Read More
School board culture wars caused the most upheaval in purple districts, a new study finds
June 5, 2026
From debates over mask mandates to fights over sexual content in library books, the Central Bucks School District became a poster child for school boards embroiled in culture-war fights in recent years.
But it was far from the only district facing conflict. A new national study analyzed how common school-board battles were during the pandemic and the years since — and found they were widespread, particularly in politically divided districts like Central Bucks.
The study, released Friday by the Brookings Institution, also found school boards in 2023 and 2024 were still experiencing higher levels of conflict than they were pre-pandemic.
“There’s been a long tail coming out of the school pandemic conflicts,” said Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings. “We’re going to look back at this period of time as being a historically significant one.” Read More
Banning transgender athletes has never been about protecting women
June 4, 2026
The power politicians have over women’s bodies is one of the oldest tools of control in American history. Throughout that history, the promise of protecting women has been the longtime excuse for excluding women from civic life and limiting our freedom. That history isn’t over.
The Supreme Court will soon decide Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. BPJ — legal cases out of Idaho and West Virginia that will determine whether transgender athletes will be allowed to compete on women’s and girls’ school sports teams.
Idaho’s attorney general has argued that the bans ensure “women’s spaces and sports remain fair, safe, and dedicated to empowering female athletes.” Or, in other words, that we must allow politicians to pass these bans to “protect” women. Although the court’s decision is expected any day now, I have already made mine. Transgender sports bans are not and never have been about protecting women. Read More
GLAAD poll shows voters prioritize cost of living over transgender attacks
June 4, 2026
GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, has released results from a poll showing overwhelming support to end their attacks on transgender people and focus on the rising cost of living.“
The poll, conducted by MRI-Simmons between March 16 and April 2, 2026, found that 44% of registered voters cited “increasing costs or inflation” as their number one concern, and 65% believe politicians use transgender issues to district from more important policies.
Among voters in Georgia, 72% said they were more likely to support midterm candidates who believes “we all deserve the freedom to live our lives without fear of discrimination,” and 70% were more likely to support candidates who focus more on “lowering the cost of living and creating jobs than on issues about transgender people, like restricting government IDs or health care.” Read More
The Supreme Court’s Systemic Failure to Recognize the Rights of Children Is Glaring in the Chiles Decision
April 15, 2026
In American law, whether judicial or legislative, children are often treated as the backdrop and ignored when decisions are made, even when those decisions directly target them. They are rarely treated as independent actors with fundamental constitutional rights in society. Instead, children’s rights are either subordinated to adults’ rights or disappear into “parental rights” — in essence, the ancient legal doctrine of coverture (termination of independent legal rights upon marriage), as increasingly applied to children. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Chiles v. Salazar is the latest in a long line of cases where the subordination of children’s rights is on full display.
Colorado Protected Kids, The Court Protected Counselors
Colorado’s law, the Minor Conversion Therapy Law (HB 19-1129) (2019), did exactly what state child protection law is supposed to do when it comes to substandard medical care: it prohibited licensed mental health professionals from using “conversion therapy” to treat minors. To date, Colorado’s position on prohibition is shared by: Read More
Trans youth rally at Pa. Capitol: ‘The system will not save us’
March 15, 2026
Nearly 100 people gathered on the Pa. state capitol steps Sunday for a rally promoting Transgender Day of Visibility on Tuesday.
The crowd waved flags, holding signs with quotes like “Trans youth deserve to thrive” and “our love is louder.”
There were no counter-protesters at the event, although one passerby drove by hurling expletives at the rally and saying “Trump 2028.” The crowd ignored him.
'EMPTY FEELING' Families turn to states for civil rights support as Trump dismantles the Education Department
March 15, 2026
In their mostly white school district, Black students routinely heard racial slurs. White classmates hurled insults like “slave,” “monkey” or worse. It often went unpunished.
Parents made those claims in 2024 complaint asking the U.S. Education Department to investigate racial bullying at the Pennridge School District in Pennsylvania. an They
thought their complaint had the power to make things better. Instead, it became one of thousands sitting in a federal office with little hope of gaining attention after layoffsby the Trump administration. Families say they’ve had nowhere else to turn
There was an expectation that something was going to happen,” said Adrienne King, who has two daughters in the district and is president ofthe NAACP Adrienne King Bucks County
chapter. When nothing did, “it’s a very hollow, empty feeling.” Read More
Report: PA school districts facing budget, mental health and special education challenges
March 9, 2026
Budget pressures – especially from rising healthcare and special education costs – remain a top concern for the state’s public schools, along with sagging math scores and growing needs around student mental health.
That’s according to the 10th annual State of Education report from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which represents the vast majority of the leadership for the state’s 500 public-school districts. The 2026 report, released on Monday, includes data from 230, or 46%, of those districts, highlighting schools’ most pressing challenges and overall trends.
Chief among these was the persistently rising proportion of students requiring costly and labor-intensive special education – now 1 in 5 pupils, a 28% increase over the past decade. The report noted that while special education expenses have more than doubled since the 2009-10 school year, state and federal special education funding has risen only 21% during that time. Read More
Back to Top
Sex Education
Fewer Lancaster County teens getting pregnant; schools credit better sex education
April 27, 2025
In the 1990s, government officials and social services agencies recognized teen pregnancy was rising to the level of a public health crisis. In his 1995 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton labeled teen pregnancy an epidemic.
Since then, schools have increasingly embraced evidence-based sex education that acknowledges teenagers are sexually active, and teen pregnancy rates have steadily declined as access to contraceptives has increased.
PA Rep. introduces resolution for ‘Sex Ed for all Month’
March 3, 2026
A Pennsylvania Representative is looking to introduce a resolution that would recognize May 2026 as “Sex Ed for All Month” in the Commonwealth.
The resolution, authored by Rep. Mary Jo Daley, argued that comprehensive sexuality education gives young people accurate, age-appropriate information about the emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality, providing them with knowledge to protect and advocate for their health.
The “Sex Ed for All Month” is coordinated by the Sex Education Collaborative and a national coalition of sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice organizations. The effort is meant to recognize the importance of ensuring all young people have access to education that is comprehensive, medically accurate and inclusive. Read More
Why sex ed should be taught in schools
February 11, 2026
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains mentions of potentially triggering topics. Please use discretion when proceeding.
At one point, most of us have gone through the high school or middle school education system in the United States. However, education quality can heavily depend on the state you were raised in.
Many states such as New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Florida and more don’t require sexual education, or only teach abstinence. This leads to education inequality regarding certain topics or ideas, especially wellness, health and sexual education. Read More
Attorney General James Wins Court Order Protecting Health Education Programs
October 25, 2025
New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after winning a court order preventing the Trump administration from enforcing its illegal requirement for states to censor sexual education programs to erase references to gender identity and transgender status:
“Politics has no place in our young people’s health education. The administration’s illegal attempt to censor effective health education puts youth at risk and undermines programs that help prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Denying the existence of transgender and nonbinary individuals is cruel and wrong, and I will keep fighting to ensure young people get the accurate health information they need.” Read More
Federal judge blocks the Trump administration from pulling funding for sex ed on gender diversity
October 28, 2025
A federal judge in Oregon has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from pulling sexual education funding over curricula mentioning diverse gender identities.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken issued the preliminary injunction Monday as part of a lawsuit filed against the Health and Human Services Department by 16 states and the District of Columbia, which argued that pulling such money violated the separation of powers and federal law.
The complaint, filed last month, says the department is attempting to force the states to “rewrite sexual health curricula to erase entire categories of students.” Read More
White House threatens sex education funds unless states nix references to transgender people in curriculums
August 27, 2025
The Trump administration has told US states and territories they will lose federal funding for their sex education programs if they do not remove references to transgender people.
In letters sent to 46 states, territories and Washington DC on Tuesday, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) demanded they “remove all references to gender ideology” within 60 days or risk losing funding from the Personal Responsibility Education Program, or Prep.
The Prep initiative was created in 2010 to help prevent teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Read More
Trump administration tells 40 states to remove gender identity from sex ed or lose federal funds
August 26, 2025
The Trump administration is threatening to pull federal funding from 40 states for a sex education program aimed at vulnerable teens unless those states remove references in their curriculum to gender identity and transgender people.
In a Tuesday press release, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the action reflected the Trump administration’s “ongoing commitment to protecting children from attempts to indoctrinate them with delusional ideology.”
The threat comes after California refused to change its curriculum last week and HHS terminated the state’s nearly $6 million-a-year grant. Read More
Letter: Comprehensive health and sexual education
April 12, 2025
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is critical for young people. The World Health Organization states CSE should cover relationships, autonomy, anatomy, puberty, contraception, sexually transmitted infections, and how to care for one’s health.
The Walla Walla Public School (WWPS) website states that its curriculum was “highly recommended, [and] is state-reviewed and endorsed.” Unfortunately, many middle and high schoolers feel they do not have sufficient knowledge on how to access medical resources or care for themselves. Read More
Back to Top
Immigration
Pa. Democrats push bills to limit immigration enforcement at K-12 schools
April 27, 2026
Democrats in the state House and Senate have introduced a pair of bills that would limit immigration enforcement in K-12 schools across the commonwealth.
The identical proposals introduced in each chamber would require school districts to adopt policies banning staff from allowing federal immigration agents or local law enforcement assisting them from entering the majority of school property without a signed judicial warrant.
While agents would be allowed to enter designated public areas of school property like a lobby, staff would be required to refuse further entry, including to parts of the property where students board or exit buses and cars, without a warrant. School staff would also be required to ask any agent requesting entry for their identification and contact information. Read More
DA investigating arrest of Pa. high school students that left some bloodied, handcuffed
February 23, 2026
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office says it is investigating an incident on Friday where a police officer arrested high school students participating in an ICE protest.
“Our office is conducting an independent investigation into the police response during this incident,” Manuel Gamiz Jr., a spokesperson for Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan, said to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Read More
York Latino immigrant community members describe life in this ICE age
February 23, 2026
Thalia Ortiz recalls one incident in recent weeks as she pulled into a Walmart parking lot in West Manchester Township.
Her pulse started racing when she noticed vehicles she believed belonged to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with men inside dressed like officers.
“They were staring at me,” Ortiz said. “I got scared for my life.”
Ortiz is Puerto Rican — which is a U.S. territory — and her husband is Mexican. They are both U.S. citizens, but that status does not make her feel safer.
“If you’re Hispanic, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “At any moment, something can happen.” Read More
Schools prepare for ICE encounters
February 15, 2026
Pittsburgh-area school districts are moving to reassure families and protect students as anxiety spreads through local communities over stepped-up federal immigration enforcement.
In recent weeks, several districts have strengthened policies and procedures outlining how staff should respond if approached by federal agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Aliquippa in Beaver County last week issued guidance to school bus drivers on how to respond if confronted by immigration authorities. Penn Hills is refining new procedures around what to do if law enforcement comes to schools with a warrant. Riverview on Monday passed a new policy directing the superintendent to lead a response if staffers are approached by federal agents. Read More
Students walked out of Pa. and NJ high schools to protest ICE
February 6, 2026
Students made their voices heard on Friday as they protested the federal government’s immigration enforcement.
At Phoenixville Area High School, Cherry Hill High School East and North Penn High School, students walked out of class on Feb. 6 to protest ICE and show support for immigrants.
North Penns’ principal sent a letter to parents on Thursday saying that while the school recognizes the importance of free speech, any student who took part in the walkout would be subject to the standard consequences for skipping class.
A spokesperson with the Phoenixville Area school shared a statement with NBC10 that read in part: Read More
Hundreds of students rally for immigrants outside Reading High School
January 20, 2026
tudents at Reading High School stepped away from the classroom today to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts.
Hundreds of students gathered at the school’s entrance with signs in support of immigrants as they chanted anti-ICE slogans.
They say America is a land of immigrants.
A school district official says the district supports the students and affirms their First Amendment rights.
The Department of Homeland Security says during the past year it has secured the border to historic levels and made hundreds of thousands of arrests. Read More
Custodian at Chambersburg Elementary School deported after being detained by ICE: family
December 14, 2025
The Chambersburg community is demanding answers after local custodian and YMCA employee, Carlos Bonilla-Yanez, was detained and deported to Mexico.
CBS 21 sat down with Bonilla-Yanez’s daughter, Tatiana Bonilla, who said her father is a law-abiding citizen and was scheduled to go to his next immigration check up on Thanksgiving Day.
Newsom signs controversial bill letting relatives care for kids if parents are deported
October 13, 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed a bill allowing a broad range of relatives to step in as children’s caregivers if their parents are deported, a measure that had provoked a firestorm of conservative criticism.
Assembly Bill 495 will also bar daycare providers from collecting immigration information about a child or their parents, and allow parents to nominate a temporary legal guardian for their child in family court.
“We are putting on record that we stand by our families and their right to keep their private information safe, maintain parental rights and help families prepare in case of emergencies,” Newsom said in a press release. Read More
Back to Top