New York Magazine: “Last winter, the U.S. federal government released the results of its semi-annual reading and math tests of fourth- and eighth-graders, assessments that are considered the most authoritative measure of the state of learning in American elementary and middle schools. In nearly every category, the scores had plunged to levels unseen for decades — or ever.”

“Larry Summers won’t finish out the semester teaching at Harvard University, heeding calls that he step away from the classroom after the recent release of correspondence between the academic and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Harvard University will open a probe into individuals mentioned in the Jeffrey Epstein files recently released by Congress, after the documents showed a close relationship between its former president, Larry Summers, and the late convicted sex offender,” Reuters reports.

“The Trump administration announced on Tuesday an aggressive plan to continue dismantling the Education Department, ending the agency’s role in supporting academics at elementary and high schools and in expanding access to college,” the New York Times reports.

“Cornell University reached an agreement with the Trump administration on Friday that will restore hundreds of millions in federal funding to the university,” the New York Times reports.

“Employees of nonprofit organizations that work with undocumented immigrants, provide gender transition care for minors or engage in public protests will have a hard time getting their federal student loans forgiven under regulations advanced Thursday by the Education Department,” the Washington Post reports.

“The 185-page rule revises eligibility requirements for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which cancels the education debt of government and nonprofit employees after 10 years of service and 120 monthly loan payments. It will allow the education secretary to disqualify employers — not individuals — who engage in activities the department deems to have a ‘substantial illegal purpose’ on or after July 1 — when the rule takes effect.”

“The University of Virginia, facing immense pressure from the White House, struck a deal with the Trump administration on Wednesday that removed, at least temporarily, the threat of a federal investigation,” the New York Times reports.

“The Justice Department announced the deal. It was the first time a public university had cut a far-reaching agreement with the Trump administration, which is carrying out an extraordinary campaign to shift the ideological tilt of the higher education system.”

“Head Start locations across the country are warning that their programs will be imperiled — potentially throwing tens of thousands of preschool children and their families into limbo — if the government shutdown stretches into November,” NBC News reports.

“The White House is confronting academia’s most forceful pushback to its quest to remake American higher education, as top universities reject its proposal to reward schools that embrace President Trump’s priorities,” the New York Times reports.

“On campuses and in Washington, professors and policymakers alike are weighing whether Mr. Trump, who has reveled in his campaign to upend higher education, has overreached.”

“Brown University on Wednesday rejected a White House proposal to steer public money toward schools that aligned with President Trump’s priorities, defying the federal government it had negotiated with over the summer,” the New York Times reports.

“Brown was the second university to rebuff the government’s proposal of so-called compact, after M.I.T. did so last week. But Brown’s decision was likely to carry extraordinary weight in higher education because it had previously reached a settlement with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding.”

“A pair of decades-old promises from Congress — ensuring disabled students receive a free and appropriate education and protecting all pupils from discrimination in schools — have been thrown into doubt after a round of sweeping layoffs at the Education Department,” the New York Times reports.

“The department’s Office of Special Education Programs was decimated by the cuts, which the Trump administration issued on Friday in its latest reduction of the federal work force. The special education office has been the principal government arm overseeing billions of dollars that support about 10 percent of the nation’s school-aged children, but will have fewer than a half-dozen employees, a reduction of about 95 percent since the start of the year.”

“Administrators at Harvard University have informed faculty and staff that the majority of the school’s research grants canceled by the Trump administration have been restored following a federal judge’s ruling last month that the cuts were illegal,” the Boston Globe reports.

“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology became the first university to reject a sweeping proposal from the Trump administration offering colleges funding advantages in exchange for far-reaching campus reforms,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said MIT President Sally Kornbluth: “In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. The people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”

New York Times: “Last week, President Trump made a surprise announcement that Harvard and the government were near an agreement that would allow the university to continue to receive billions in research funds. But a day later, his administration sent letters to nine universities that asked campus leaders to embrace a plan that would align the Trump administration’s political agenda with preferred access to federal research dollars.”

“Harvard officials have since discussed internally the possibility of seeking additional assurances from the administration that the university will not be subject to further demands once an agreement has been signed.”

“Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to cut ‘billions’ in state funding, including to USC, from any California campus that signs a Trump administration compact to agree to sweeping and largely conservative campus policies in exchange for priority access to federal funding,” the Los Angeles Times reports.