By Seanna Adcox | Editor-in-chief
If you’ll be out of town for the Aug. 25 primary runoff (and Aug. 19-21 early voting window), or meet other qualifying reasons for absentee voting, get those applications in quickly. The deadline to return an absentee application is 5 p.m. tomorrow.
“Don’t wait for the signal to come because what students in North Dakota need are going to be completely different than what Texas needs or Louisiana or Oregon or Washington.” - Kirsten Baesler, assistant secretary for the department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, on flexibility waivers.
Harbison State Forest is among properties state agencies are looking to expand with new land acquisitions. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
By Skylar Laird
Nearly 1,700 acres of land are under consideration for purchase by the state across conservation agencies. They include a proposal to open a new campsite for visitors across from the state’s largest public shooting range. The largest project under review involves a historic Richland County plantation.
Students walk down the hall at a public elementary school. The Trump administration has given states more flexibility in spending some federal dollars. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
By Robbie Sequeira with Stateline
As part of the Trump administration's efforts to turn more control of federal education tax dollars to the states, six states have received waivers allowing them to consolidate more than $109 million and bypass certain requirements. In addition, 22 states have received Ed-Flex authority. This article from our affiliate Stateline includes a national map that shows which states have waivers. I was surprised to see that South Carolina isn’t in either group. So, I called. The state education agency is applying for a waiver.
MORE FROM OUR AFFILIATES...
Schools spend billions on AI, but struggle to figure out what’s worth buying | Another article by Robbie Sequeira at Stateline
The cost of child welfare services has jumped in Georgia. A new panel is about to dig into why. | From the Georgia Recorder
North Dakota lawmakers’ kratom group leans toward synthetics ban, ponders natural products | From the North Dakota Monitor
MORE FROM STATES NEWSROOM’S D.C. DESK…
Trump press secretary Leavitt to leave White House | By Ashley Murray
DOJ targets 3 more states in effort to axe in-state tuition for immigrants | by Shauneen Miranda (SC is not among them.)
Legal groups ask court to restore block on Trump order on birthright citizenship | By Ariana Figueroa
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