Educators prepare for how Trump could reshape school policy

ATLANTA — Many educators and analysts expect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January will significantly change how schools and colleges operate and are funded.

The potential change that has sparked the most conversation is Trump’s plan to abolish the U.S. Department of Education.

“I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states,” Trump said during a live discussion on Elon Musk’s X platform in August.

The federal government is sending $2 billion to Georgia’s K-12 schools this year, which amounts to 8% to 10% of school budgets; that doesn’t include federal aid for student loans and other higher education funding.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Who do Harris voters blame for Trump’s victory? Here’s what a new poll found

Who do Vice President Kamala Harris’ voters blame for President-elect Donald Trump’s victory? More pointed fingers at President Joe Biden than Harris herself, according to new polling.

Nearly one-quarter of Harris voters, 24%, said Biden is more to blame for the election outcome, according to an Economist/YouGov poll. A far smaller share, 6%, pin more of the blame on Harris.

Meanwhile, the majority of Harris voters, 53%, blame neither, saying “it was just a bad year for Democrats.” Conducted between Nov. 9 and 12, the poll sampled 1,743 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

It comes over one week after Trump roundly defeated Harris in the 2024 election, sweeping all seven swing states and winning the popular vote.

—The Charlotte Observer

The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars with backing from Sandy Hook families

The entity behind the satirical news site The Onion, along with families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, are on tap to purchase right-wing provocateur Alex Jones’ Infowars website.

A joint bid by Global Tetrahedron LLC and some of the families was chosen as the successful bid for the Infowars intellectual property, according to a court filing Thursday. A price wasn’t disclosed.

A liquidator has been tasked with liquidating Jones’ estate in bankruptcy to help him pay down approximately $1.5 billion in defamation judgments related to statements he made calling the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting a hoax.

“The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash,” The Onion’s CEO Ben Collins said in a press release. “Or Bitcoin. We will also accept Bitcoin.”

—Bloomberg News

US ambassador bashes Mexico's security efforts. Mexico's president pushes back

MEXICO CITY — In a blistering critique, the top U.S. diplomat in Mexico said the country is not safe and that its leaders should stop denying widespread violence, invest more in security and increase cooperation with the United States.

"To say there is no problem is to deny reality," U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar told reporters this week. "And the reality is that there is a very big problem in Mexico."

At her morning news conference on Thursday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shot back , saying that her country was open to "coordination" with its northern neighbor, but not "subordination."

She pointed out that the ambassador — a political appointee who will likely be replaced in the Trump administration — has also praised Mexican cooperation. "First he says one thing, then he says something else," she said.

—Los Angeles Times