Happy weekend, all.
Between particular elections, court docket selections, and the State of the Union tackle, there have been plenty of headlines to maintain up with this week.
Luckily, the Capital-Star workforce has you lined on the news you may need missed:
School Funding Court Ruling
A decide declared Pa.’s Okay-12 public college funding system unconstitutional. What comes subsequent?
Special Election
Democrats safe House majority with victories in Allegheny County particular elections
Legal aid for abuse survivors at the high of Democrats’ agenda when the House returns
State of the Union
‘Finish the job’: Biden makes bipartisan pitch to divided Congress; Pa. lawmakers reply
As at all times, the high 5 tales from this week are beneath.
(Capital-Star picture by Marley Parish)
1. Pa. court docket sides with plaintiffs in Okay-12 college funding case
A Pennsylvania decide has declared the state’s system to pay for Okay-12 public faculties unconstitutional, marking a victory for plaintiffs in a landmark trial to reform training funding.
In an order filed Tuesday, Commonwealth Court President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer mentioned that the General Assembly has didn’t uphold its constitutional obligation to offer all kids a “thorough and efficient” training system by depriving college students at school districts with low property values and incomes of the similar sources and alternatives of youngsters in wealthier ones.
“It is now the obligation of the Legislature, executive branch, and educators to make the constitutional promise a reality in this commonwealth,” Cohn Jubelirer wrote in a virtually 800-page ruling.
2. High schoolers want publicity to concepts in African American research | Opinion
As Black History Month begins, Arkansas’ training governor’s Education Department says it’s reviewing a sophisticated placement course in African American research that’s being tried out in two Arkansas faculties as a part of a pilot program in 60 excessive faculties nationwide.
The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education is asking questions of the nonprofit that developed the college-level course for highschool college students to find out whether or not the course violates Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ government orders, particularly one that prohibits “indoctrination and critical race theory in schools.”
You might have heard of the course beforehand as a result of Florida’s Department of Education rejected instructing the course in Florida faculties as a result of it “significantly lacks educational value” and violates state regulation banning the instructing of sure ideas relating to race.
3. N.J. lawmakers move invoice to make ‘sextortion’ a criminal offense
Using sexual photos to extort victims may quickly turn into a criminal offense in New Jersey after lawmakers in the Senate unanimously handed laws final week to criminalize “sextortion.”
Sextortion can contain somebody hacking into an individual’s pc or cellphone to steal sexual materials and threaten to distribute it, or coercing a sufferer into taking specific pictures or movies after which utilizing them to demand extra.
4. Lobbyist’s harassment declare shines new mild on efforts to carry Pa. lawmakers accountable
A union lobbyist’s allegation of sexual harassment by a sitting member of the Pennsylvania House has once more highlighted the want for complete sexual harassment insurance policies in the General Assembly, lawmakers advocating such guidelines say.
Andi Perez, a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union 32BJ, mentioned final month that she was touched inappropriately by a male lawmaker whereas she was working and discussing laws over drinks.
The state consultant “decided to caress my leg while I was wearing a skirt all the while telling me he was impressed by my passion and knowledge of the issues we were discussing,” Perez mentioned. “I moved away from him hoping he would stop — he did not.”
5. Temple U graduate college students go on strike for a residing wage
The Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA) went on strike early Tuesday morning for the first time in the union’s historical past because it was based in 1979 and continues to point out their help for a residing wage via ongoing rallies on campus.
The union represents 750 graduate student-teachers and analysis assistants who’ve demanded a residing wage, healthcare, longer parental and bereavement depart, and higher working circumstances for over a 12 months now.
Thursday marked the third day of the strike as TUGSA college students gathered at the heart of Temple’s campus to unite in numbers and unfold the phrase.
And that’s the week. We’ll see you again right here subsequent week.
