Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee held an additional hearing about the proposed implementation regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As noted before, the proposed regulations go well beyond the law passed by Congress as the Department of Education (DOEd) continues seeking to meddle in local schools. The testimony of the witnesses highlights the need for public input pushing back on the federal government’s proposed regulations, which include a potential back door route to reimpose Common Core mandates on the states.

Last month's proposed rules on school accountability are yet another reminder that it’s time for federal bureaucrats at the Department of Education to get their hands out of our education system. In its latest power grab, the department seeks to enact top-down measures that would remove authority from the hands of teachers, school districts, and state government. The regulation would impose Education Department-mandated accountability measures promulgating federal government oversight over student and school achievement.

Yesterday's proposed rules on school accountability are yet another reminder that it’s time for federal bureaucrats at the Department of Education to get their hands out of our education system. In its latest power-grab, the department seeks to enact top-down measures that would remove authority from the hands of teachers, school districts, and state government. The regulation would impose Education Department-mandated accountability measures promulgating federal government oversight over student and school achievement.

Part of a strong economy, both at the federal and state level, is a functional and healthy workforce. When a significant portion of your population is incapable of securing employment, crime rates go up and government funds become more significantly strained.

Common Core Fails, but Education Department Tries to Silence Critics This month we are in the middle of what the Department of Education educrats have labelled as “Testing Season.” That’s right. It’s not duck season, it’s not rabbit season, it’s Testing Season. As hundreds of thousands of students opt out of Common Core testing, teachers are weighing the professional risks of speaking out against this testing. Instead of fixing the problems with Common Core and its myriad of regulations, Education Department bureaucrats have resorted to shooting the messengers – our nation’s teachers. Perhaps Testing Season should be renamed Hunting Season.

FreedomWorks was represented at the University of California in Irvine this past weekend at the California Young Americans for Liberty State Convention, in order to push our Generational Theft survey and youth outreach for our upcoming Generational Theft fly-in during the FreePAC: Morning in America Summit, in Cincinnati March 12.

In Louisiana, fiscal integrity is going from bad to worse. Already, the state is facing the largest budget deficit in its entire history, at a whopping $700 million this year, and shortfall projections for next year reaching as high as $1.9 billion. However, in a misguided attempt to try to solve this behemoth of a problem, newly-elected Governor John Bel Edwards has proposed a massive package of tax hikes that affect all walks of life, from personal income to industry. What’s worse, if he has his way in imposing these hikes, the state residents could be feeling the brunt of the costs as early as April of this year. Clearly, Edwards isn’t fixing what ails the state.

The annual State of the Union Speech is an opportunity for the president to update the country on the progress made in the last year, as well as lay out an agenda for the coming twelve months. With 2016 being the last opportunity for Barack Obama to address the nation as president, it’s understandable that he would be more focused on summing up his accomplishments in office than looking forward to the future. Given his actual record, though, it’s no surprise that he has resulted to a few exaggerations, or outright untruths, in trying to whitewash his two terms as Commander in Chief. Here are six claims to be made in tonight’s speech that are unbelievable for the simple reason that they.