SC: Hardline faction South Carolina House Republicans sue school district, making CRT claims
A group of South Carolina House Republican lawmakers, known as the Freedom Caucus, is suing Lexington County’s largest school district, claiming education officials are illegally training teachers how to incorporate race-centric lessons in their classrooms.
KS: Kansas governor pledges focus on water
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat who won reelection earlier this month, said that for decades lawmakers have kicked the can down the road on solving the state’s water crisis. She pledged to stop that.
GA: Georgia election audit begins with dice roll to review random ballots
With the roll of 20 colorful dice in the Georgia Capitol, election officials launched an audit of a random sample of ballots that will be reviewed by hand across the state. The audit will check whether machine counts of ballots match hand tallies, showing whether the outcome was accurate.
OK: Clergy call for death penalty moratorium in Oklahoma
More than two dozen Christian clergy are calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma, just a few days before the state is expected to execute the third of 25 individuals set to be put to death through 2024.
NE: Bird flu leads to Nebraska egg shortage
Egg production is down in Nebraska — and bird flu is responsible. The state lost 1.7 million hens to avian influenza, and egg production is down almost 25% from last year.
CA: California unveils plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2045
California air quality officials released a bold climate plan that outlines how the state intends to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade and eventually eliminate its carbon footprint.
LA: Louisiana’s overall school performance back to pre-pandemic scores
Louisiana public school students showed a modest rebound on key achievement tests, returning the state’s overall school performance score to where it was before the coronavirus pandemic, education leaders said.
SD: South Dakota group plans ballot challenge to sales tax on food
If Republican Gov. Kristi Noem doesn’t fulfill her campaign pledge to repeal the South Dakota sales tax on food during the 2023 legislative session, voters may get a chance to decide the issue on the 2024 ballot.
WI: Wisconsin Assembly Republicans vote to bar election denier from caucus meetings
Wisconsin Assembly Republicans voted to bar GOP state Rep. Janel Brandtjen from attending a closed caucus because they no longer trust her, according to a letter obtained by WisPolitics.com.
MN: Student food insecurity and debt rising across Minnesota
Minnesota school districts are seeing more families having a hard time paying for students’ meals. The federal funding that paid for universal free school meals during the pandemic ended months ago, and that combined with inflation, supply chain issues and rising labor costs are having an effect.
TX: Texas youth prisons plagued by trauma-driven staffing shortages
Danger and trauma — not low salaries — are what drive most workers to leave the crisis-wracked Texas Juvenile Justice Department. In September, state reports showed the agency had less than half of its budgeted officer positions filled with active employees.
DE: New Delaware online database addresses social barriers
Delaware’s new online database that integrates local information on a broad range of social indicators from health statistics to education, income and wealth, safety and criminal justice and more has been produced by the Delaware Division of Public Health, United Way of Delaware and Delaware Racial Justice Collaborative.
CT: Connecticut essential workers could see bonuses of $233, not K
Essential workers in Connecticut wouldn’t be receiving even one-quarter of the $1,000 bonuses that state officials dangled before them. The numbers are based on new calculations by the state’s comptroller-elect, who called for the state to provide the full bonuses, which would cost at least $99 million more.
FL: Lettuce again on the Florida menu to slow manatee starvation
Lettuce will be on the menu again this year for Florida manatees as part of an effort to slow the starvation deaths of the beloved marine mammals, state wildlife officials said.
OH: Ohio GOP state senators seek to gut state school board’s responsibilities
A newly unveiled Ohio Senate bill would strip away most of the state school board’s responsibilities, handing them to a governor’s cabinet position. The Ohio Department of Education would no longer report to the state board, but to the cabinet member for most of its duties.
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