A federal judge has struck down two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the nation’s schools and universities.

More than $6 billion in federal education funding remains on hold by the Trump administration and could impact programs in Southwest Virginia.

A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs.

Harvard University has responded to threats from the Education Department to halt grant funding to the Ivy League school.

Democratic attorneys general in 19 states are suing the Trump administration, challenging directives to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools.

Superintendent Rob Graham warns that loss of federal support could jeopardize Title I and Title II programs for low-income students.

Early Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities." In it, The President ordered current Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Local lawmakers issued statements regarding President Trump's recent executive order that ordered the closure of the Department of Education.

The Department of Education was once a department with over 4,000 employees after layoffs, retirement and resignations, the department has a little over 2,000

With massive layoffs at the Department of Education, many are left wondering about the impact on local schools.

The deep cuts across federal agencies since Donald Trump’s return to the White House include reductions in force, which mean not only layoffs but also elimination of positions altogether.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for a plan to shut down of the Education Department, an agency Republicans have talked about closing for decades.

The Senate has voted to confirm former wrestling executive Linda McMahon as the nation’s education chief, a role that places her atop a department President Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle.

As President Donald Trump reshaped the Education Department, parents say investigations and mediations into kids' disability rights cases ground to a halt.

Linda McMahon on Thursday sketched out how key functions of the Education Department could be carved up to achieve President Donald Trump’s goal of dismantling the agency, vowing to “reorient” the department while continuing some of its largest programs.

The Department of Education has taken another step in advancing the Trump administration’s new transgender policy for sports by asking the NCAA and a key high-school sports organization to restore titles, awards and records it says have been “misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”.

A federal research office that tracks the progress of America’s students is being hit with almost $900 million in cuts after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency found no need for much of its work.

Donald Trump’s second administration has advanced an avalanche of policy action and political pronouncements that have jolted Washington and, in some cases, the world.

Many colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism on their campuses have been settling with federal civil rights investigators in the weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who urged a tougher response to campus protests against the war in Gaza.

Every year, Virginia public schools are required to send a report on student behavior to the state’s Department of Education, which is called the Student Behavior and Administrative Response.

A new report from the Department of Education shows that chronic absenteeism is down, and local districts are crediting the success to a variety of initiatives.

The Virginia Education Association criticizes the Department of Education's new school accountability system, arguing it measures demographics and privilege rather than educational effectiveness.

Governor Youngkin's executive order to create cell phone and social media-free schools has sparked widespread debate among parents, educators, and officials over balancing technology use and distraction-free learning environments.

Senator Mark Warner is urging the Department of Education to expedite the review process of FAFSA form issues, criticizing the effectiveness of recent changes ahead of the 2024-25 rollout.

Schools across the Commonwealth are finalizing their plans for Governor Glenn Youngkin’s ALL In VA initiative.

Student loan payments start up again for most borrowers in October, but more than 800,000 people who have been paying for years are having their loans forgiven.

A new federal rule threatens to cut federal money to college programs that consistently leave graduates with low pay or unaffordable debt.

Even though school is out for summer, learning hasn’t stopped.

Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow announced her resignation Wednesday in a letter to the governor.

Roanoke County Schools say they are not as affected as other divisions throughout the commonwealth.

Cuts could be coming to your child's classroom because of a multi-million dollar mistake in the state's budget.

Lynchburg City Schools has been awarded an $8.4 million federal grant to better support students with their mental health needs.

President Joe Biden’s plan to provide up to $20,000 in federal student loan forgiveness has been blocked by two federal courts.

The Virginia Department of Education is under scrutiny for proposed revisions to the History and Social Science Standards of Learning.

The Biden administration is no longer accepting applications for student loan forgiveness after a second federal court shut down the program.

A Danville woman pled guilty to student loan fraud charges in court this week.

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are urging the Education Department to strengthen regulations against excluding kids from class because of behaviors related to a disability — a practice known as informal removal.

When President Joe Biden announced a plan to forgive student loan debt, many borrowers who kept making payments during the pandemic wondered if they’d made the right choice.

The Biden administration says it will cancel any federal student loans used to attend the for-profit Westwood College from 2002 through 2015 after officials found that the school exaggerated the job prospects of graduates.

President Joe Biden says many Americans will be able to have up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt forgiven in they make less than $125,000 a year.

The Biden administration has agreed to cancel $6 billion in student loans for about 200,000 former students who say they were defrauded by their colleges.

President Joe Biden hasn't made a decision yet on how he'll handle the student loan debt issue, but his administration is trying to bring closure to one of the most notorious cases of fraud in American higher education.

Federal agents with the Department of Education were on Liberty University's campus this week, investigating any mishandling of title nine cases or reports of sexual misconduct, according to ProPublica.

The Biden administration says it will cancel more than $70 million in student debt for borrowers who say they were defrauded by the for-profit DeVry University.

In statements to 10 News, the Democratic senators are urging the Department of Education to investigate and take appropriate action.

Officials at historically Black colleges thought they might finally have a pipeline for long-term funding from the federal government after the Biden administration included at least $45 billion for them in its multitrillion dollar economic package.

The Biden administration has announced that federal student loan payments will remain suspended through January 2022, extending a pause that was scheduled to expire next month.

Local school districts now have the final say on COVID-19 guidelines for returning to the classroom, and leaders are responding to new recommendations from Virginia’s Department of Education and Department of Health.

School districts across the Commonwealth are receiving an influx of funding from the American Rescue Plan. Now, school boards are left figuring out what to put their money towards.

Debates sparked at the Botetourt County School Board meeting when parents spoke about the state’s policy requirements for transgender students.

Biden also signed a second executive order formally establishing the White House Gender Policy Council, which his transition team had announced before he took office. Any effort to rewrite DeVos’ rules would have to go through a federal rulemaking process that can take years to complete. AdRepublicans slammed Biden’s move and defended DeVos’ rules. The scope of cases that colleges must address is also likely to be expanded again under the Biden administration, he said. Biden is starting the process even as DeVos' policy faces ongoing legal challenges.

RADFORD, Va – Superintendents in southwest Virginia are standing by the Department of Education’s call for more in-person instruction. Radford City School Superintendent Robert Graham says while the hybrid learning model has done a great job of keeping his students safe during COVID-19 surges, Graham believes the best place for learning is in the classroom. Graham says he is grateful for the flexibility of parents, students and teachers throughout the school year. “We have greater success with in-person learning than we do virtual, now that’s not to say that some of our students aren’t excelling with virtual learning and they have an art teacher certainly have stepped up and provided just outstanding instruction,” Radford City School Superintendent Robert Graham said. Graham says the division will be working with the Department of Education and the New River Health to make any adjustments.

Since coming under federal scrutiny, the 12 schools disclosed a combined $6.5 billion in foreign funding that was previously unreported, the department said. Yale said it failed to submit foreign funding reports for the years 2014 to 2017 but later corrected the omission. It's not unusual for U.S. colleges to accept foreign funding for research projects or exchange programs, but federal reporting requirements have long been treated as an honor system. That began to change last year, however, after a bipartisan report in Congress raised alarms about colleges’ ties with China. In response to that finding, DeVos began ordering broader investigations into universities' foreign funding.

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield, speaks during a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing at the Department of Education July 8, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON House Democrats are criticizing the White House for blocking the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from testifying at a public hearing on safely reopening the nation's schools. Democrats said they invited CDC officials, including director Robert Redfield, to testify at a hearing next Thursday but were rebuffed by the White House. A committee spokesperson said the panel asked for any CDC official to testify but was rejected. A White House spokesperson said Friday that Dr. Redfield has testified on Capitol Hill at least four times over the last three months.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education were held in civil contempt by a federal judge on Thursday and ordered to pay $100,000 to student borrowers who took out loans to attend a now defunct for-profit college. The judge had previously ordered the Department of Education to stop collecting on the loans. But last month, the department admitted that more than 16,000 borrowers were incorrectly informed that they owed a payment on their debt after the court order. It left thousands of students without a degree and saddled with student debt. But under the Trump administration, the department attempted to change the way it calculated how much of a borrower's debt would be forgiven.

That's what one parent is saying now that the Department of Education is investigating Jefferson Forest High School for violating civil rights laws. School leaders in Bedford County have still not said what led to the investigation. A resolution agreement details what the school will do to resolve the issue, which includes allowing visits from the Office of Civil Rights. One man who removed his daughter from Jefferson Forest High after the incident said the investigation shows the leaders are taking parents' concerns very seriously. "Looking at what they've proposed and what they've asked Jefferson Forest to deliver, I think they're good first steps," said Lyman Connor, the parent of a Jefferson Forest High student.

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. - Bedford County Public Schools has shared the steps it will take a resolve a complaint alleging that the division violated federal civil rights laws. As 10 News previously reported, the Office for Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into an alleged "racially hostile environment" at Jefferson Forest High School. On Monday, the school division shared a copy of a resolution agreement in regard to the OCR complaint. The agreement details the steps that the school and division will take to resolve the complaint, including that OCR may visit the school division and interview staff and students. Bedford County Public Schools released a statement Friday, saying it "firmly believes that it has not violated any federal civil rights laws."

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. - An office within the U.S. Department of Education is opening an investigation into an alleged "racially hostile environment" at Jefferson Forest High School, according to Bedford County Public Schools. The school division released a statement, saying it "firmly believes that it has not violated any federal civil rights laws." The Office for Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Education notified the school division earlier this year about the investigation, according to Bedford County Public Schools. Bedford County Public Schools did not explicitly mention an incident. Upon receiving the notice, the school division promptly complied with OCRs request for information and records related to the allegations.

(CNN) - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos violated a court order to stop collecting on the debts of some former Corinthian College students and now a judge is weighing sanctions or finding her in contempt of court. The Department of Education has said that more than 16,000 borrowers were incorrectly informed that they owed a payment on their debt, according to a September court filing. Both the Department of Education and the plaintiffs will have a chance to formally respond before the judge makes a ruling. When Corinthian College folded in 2015, it left thousands of students without a degree and saddled with student debt. But under the Trump administration, the department attempted to change the way it calculated how much of a borrower's debt would be forgiven.

Danville Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Stan Jones is responding to criticism after the state Department of Education report noted that two Danville schools lost their full accreditation, leaving only two of 11 schools fully accredited in the system. The division said it was no surprise when the state removed full accreditation for two schools, leaving Forest Hills and Galileo Magnet as the only two fully accredited schools in the system. The superintendent argued the accreditation process overall is flawed and that it's more of a political metric than a scholastic one. And he said the other nine schools accredited with conditions don't mean failure. Jones added that he believes the accreditation process is deeply flawed and he predicts that in a decade the accreditation process as we know it will no longer be used.

The program receives funding under Title VI and is meant for cultural and language programs designed to develop experts. CNN has reached out to the Department of Education for comment. The ACLU argues that such concern "suggests that the Department's investigation is motivated by its displeasure with the messages conveyed by the program's curriculum. It also raises concerns that the Department is injecting the current presidential administration's long pattern of anti-Muslim bigotry and discrimination into the Title VI funding process." "The administration's overzealous censorship efforts undermine academic freedom and have no factual or legal basis," she said in a statement.

Mario Tama/Getty Images(CNN) - Congress tried to make it easier for borrowers to apply for federal student loan debt forgiveness, but almost everyone who's applied has been rejected, according to a government report released Thursday. The Education Department denied 99% of requests for relief processed under the newly expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, according to a review by the Government Accountability Office released Thursday. Congress set aside $700 million to expand the program in 2018 in response to the low number of people qualifying for forgiveness. The Government Accountability Office suggested that the Education Department integrate the request for relief under the temporary expansion program into the application for the original application process. Democrats have called on DeVos to better implement the forgiveness program.

CNN Video(CNN) - President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will sign an executive action making student loan cancellation for disabled veterans automatic -- about three months after 51 attorneys general urged the Department of Education to make the change. Current law says that the government will discharge the student debt for any borrower who is "permanently and totally" disabled, but they had to submit an application. They found that just 9,000 of 42,000 eligible veterans had applied for the loan discharge as of April 2018. Since then, more than $650 million in student loan relief was granted to more than 22,000 eligible veterans, the Department of Education said in a statement Wednesday. "You used to have to wait weeks and weeks and weeks and you don't wait anymore."