Thursday Morning Scoop: Making Early Decisions

Hey. You’ve found the Morning Scoop for Thursday, April 12. The government wants to learn more about early decisions and there is more bad news for Dreamers. And Kennesaw State seems like a pretty cool place to go to college.

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The Justice Department is Investigating Early College Admissions

What is Amherst doing with your early decision info? (Image: Vimeo)

The government wants to know if universities and colleges are violating antitrust laws by exchanging information about students who take early decision.

The New York Times reports that the Justice Department sent a letter last week asking “several colleges and universities to preserve all communication with officials at other schools that includes agreements to share or exchange the identities and admissions records of accepted students, and any records indicating actions taken or decisions made based on the information received about the applicants.”

Amherst College announced it was part of the inquiry, but others colleges were not identified. At the heart of the issue is exactly how binding an early decision agreement is and whether students who change their mind suffer consequences for breaking the pact.

Arizona Teachers Hold ‘Walk-ins’ for Better Pay

Arizona high school teacher Justin McLellan loves his history teacher job of 15 years, but with only $6,000 more than his first year salary, he can’t afford to teach another year.

CNN reports, “McLellan and teachers around Arizona participated Wednesday morning in “walk-ins” before class — rallies in which educators calling for higher salaries gathered outside schools, protested their plight and walked in together in time to teach their first classes.”

Arizona teachers follow those in Oklahoma and Kentucky who have also protested for better pay and work conditions, all in the wake of the successful West Virginia teacher protests.

Ryan Announces He Won’t Run for Re-Election, Republicans Scramble to Identify Replacement

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced yesterday he will serve out his remaining term and not seek re-election this fall. Ryan has struggled with his relations with President Trump and observers feel that after accomplishing his longtime dream of passing tax reform, Ryan is ready to move on.

Ryan told reporters yesterday that he feels he’s “leaving this majority in good hands with what I believe is a very bright future.”

Pundits believe the frontrunners for the vital Speaker job are California Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise.

Caitlin Wills reported the news for CMN yesterday. 

Arizona Supreme Court: Dreamers No Longer Qualify for In-State Tuition

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled this week that beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), also known as Dreamers, will no longer be eligible for in-state tuition at the state’s colleges and universities. Consequently, the hike in tuition costs could potentially cause many DACA students to drop out.

According to AZCentral, the Arizona Board of Regents announced that in-state tuition rates for DACA recipients would end “effective immediately.”

Rachel Chan wrote a full report for CMN yesterday. 

Today in a Tweet

It’s normal to eat a grilled cheese for breakfast, right? 

Last But Not Least: Kennesaw State University Hosts Queer Research Day

The LGBTQ Student Programs Office at Kennesaw State University in Georgia will host a Queer Research Day tomorrow. The all-day conference will include workshops such as “An Exploration of Queer Representations in Fairytales” and “Queer Developmental Approaches to Working With Young People.”

Audrey Bowers has all the details in her CMN report. 

This Thursday Morning Scoop was compiled from contributions by Natalia Kolenko, Audrey Bowers, Caitlin Wills, and Rachel Chan. Superstitious? You might want to plan to just stay in bed all day tomorrow.