National News - Page 28

New Florida budget proposal boosts K–12 funding, sends $146M to Florida’s HBCUs

Governor Ron DeSantis’ proposed “Floridians First” budget includes sweeping new investments in education, environmental restoration, housing, child welfare, mental health, and cancer research, according to documents released Tuesday. The budget recommends a historic $30.6 billion for Florida’s K-12 system — the highest in state history — including $9,406 per student, an increase of $279 over last year. It sets aside $1.56 billion to raise salaries for teachers and instructional personnel, along with $1.71 billion for early-childhood programs such as Voluntary Prekindergarten. Officials estimate nearly 476,000 students will participate in the Family Empowerment Scholarship program. For higher education, the budget proposes

Trump says CNN should be sold as part of any Warner Bros. deal

By Zoë Richards President Donald Trump said Wednesday he thinks it’s “imperative” that CNN is sold as its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, gears up for a proposed merger with Netflix and faces a hostile takeover bid from Paramount. “I think CNN should be sold, because I think the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent,” Trump told reporters during a roundtable with business executives at the White House. “I don’t think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer. So I think any deal should — it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it

Border Patrol left Charlotte. The damage stayed behind

By Adrian Florido CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Almost as quickly as they descended on Charlotte, sending terror coursing through the city’s immigrant neighborhoods, the Border Patrol agents appeared mostly to be gone. After a weeklong enforcement surge in which the government said agents arrested hundreds of immigrants, nabbing many as they went about their daily lives, the Border Patrol set its sights on its next target, New Orleans. But as Charlotte’s immigrant communities regroup from what felt like a whiplash operation last month, they’re finding that its impacts on their lives and their city have endured, and could last a long

Education Department recalls fired attorneys amid civil rights complaint backlog

By Cory Tyler Employees at the U.S. Education Department who were fired in March got an unexpected email on Friday – telling them to return to work. These federal workers, including many attorneys, investigate family complaints of discrimination in the nation’s schools as part of the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). They were terminated by the Trump administration in a March reduction-in-force, but the courts intervened, temporarily blocking the department from completing their terminations. That left 299 OCR employees, roughly half of its staff, in legal and professional limbo – because the department elected to place them on paid administrative leave

Rod Paige, Former HBCU Head Coach, Educator and the Nation’s first African American secretary of education, dies at 92

Rod Paige, an educator, coach and administrator who rolled out the nation’s landmark No Child Left Behind law as the first African American to serve as U.S. education secretary, died Tuesday. Former President George W. Bush, who tapped Paige for the nation’s top federal education post, announced the death in a statement but did not provide further details. Paige was 92. Dr. Rod Paige, former HBCU football head coach and athletic director, and the first African American to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education, died Tuesday at age 92. He was a foundational figure in today’s HBCU athletics. Though his

Federal Reserve prepares to cut interest rates for a third time this year

By Steve Kopack The Federal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates Wednesday for the third time this year. Traders overwhelmingly expect a relatively small 0.25% cut, the same size as the last two cuts. But the Fed’s rate-setting meeting in Washington is taking place in the fog of a data blackout, the result of the prolonged federal government shutdown this fall. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released the September jobs report, but the October report was canceled altogether, and the November report remains a work in progress. The delayed November jobs report is set be released Dec. 16. Like

Fired FBI agents file lawsuit against FBI director Kash Patel and DOJ, alleging unlawful retaliation

By Scott MacFarlane In a federal civil lawsuit filed in Washington Monday, a dozen former FBI agents are seeking to get their jobs back, claiming they were fired during the second Trump administration for their efforts in 2020 to head off a riot in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. The former agents say they were unlawfully terminated by the Justice Department earlier this year for kneeling in 2020, as tensions were rising on the streets of Washington, D.C., soon after Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. They allege FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi,

Trump unveils $12 billion aid package for farmers hit by trade war

By Nandita Bose, Leah Douglas and Steve Holland U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled a $12 billion aid package for American farmers, the latest government effort to shore up a key political constituency hurt by the financial fallout from his trade policies. Farm groups and Republican farm-state lawmakers have sought the aid in part to support farmers with purchases of seeds, fertilizer and other expenses for next year’s growing season. The aid package aims to support a loyal voting bloc that has largely stood by Trump despite facing billions in lost sales from his trade war with China. Trump announced the aid at a roundtable at

Ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg Commits $20M to HBCU-Charter Schools

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is putting serious money behind a new push to reshape public education, committing $20 million to partnerships between historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and public charter schools. The funding comes from a joint effort between City Fund and Bloomberg Philanthropies, with each organization contributing $10 million, according to an announcement shared by the ex-mayor. The initiative is designed to support the creation and expansion of charter schools formally affiliated with HBCUs, creating a pipeline that links K-12 education with higher learning, career readiness, and local community investment. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) will serve

Trump says Netflix-Warner Bros. deal could be a ‘problem’ and he will be involved in approval

By Steve Kopack President Donald Trump said Sunday that the proposed $72 billion merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the amount of market share the resulting company would have. The value of the deal balloons to more than $82 billion when debt is accounted for. Netflix said Friday it would purchase Warner Bros. Discovery’s film studio, HBO and the streaming service HBO Max. If the deal is approved, Netflix would also get access to decades of films and shows in the Warner Bros. Pictures archive. The deal would not include cable networks owned by Warner Bros. Discovery,

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