The nation in brief

Education agency dealt court setback

WASHINGTON -- A federal court has ruled that the Education Department violated privacy laws with regard to students defrauded by the Corinthian for-profit college chain.

In a break with the past administration's policy, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced in December that some students cheated by the now-defunct schools would only get a part of their federal student loans forgiven. In order to determine how much to forgive, the agency analyzes average earnings of graduates from similar programs.

But a U.S. District Court in California ruled late Friday that the department's use of Social Security Administration data in order to calculate loan forgiveness violates the Privacy Act. The court ordered that the Education Department stop the practice and stop debt collection from these students.

The court also said it needs to hear more from the agency and plaintiffs in the class-action suit in order to decide whether to compel the agency to return to full loan forgiveness. A hearing is scheduled for June 4.

DeVos said the approach of President Barack Obama's administration left room for potential abuse and unfairly burdened taxpayers who ended up paying for those loans with their taxes. DeVos said her new procedure will take into account the value a student received from their education and compensate them for what they didn't get.

Child sex violence at bases studied

The Senate committee that oversees the U.S. military ordered an independent investigation of how the Defense Department handles sexual violence among children on bases as part of legislation that would overhaul how the Pentagon must respond when assaults are reported.

Military officials had quietly resisted an outside review of problems documented in an Associated Press investigation, which showed broad failures of justice when military children sexually assault each other on bases worldwide.

As part of annual legislation that sets Pentagon policy priorities, the Senate Armed Services Committee included bipartisan proposals to fix juvenile justice on military installations and protect student victims at Pentagon-run schools.

The committee also directed the Defense Department's independent watchdog agency to investigate.

The inspector general's work will be the second outside investigation announced since the AP identified nearly 700 cases of child-on-child sexual assault on military bases worldwide in the past 10 years.

Church ceiling falls as meeting neared

IPSWICH, Mass. -- The ceiling of a Massachusetts church building from the 1850s collapsed Friday, just hours before a group of up to 100 people was scheduled to meet.

As the roof of Living Faith United Methodist Church in Ipswich collapsed, thousands of pounds of wood and plaster fell into its sanctuary.

No one was injured. A building commissioner said the church's age is likely to blame for the collapse.

The floor was littered with several feet of piled-up boards, nails and plaster.

Ipswich is about 30 miles northeast of Boston.

The church will temporarily relocate its services to Ascension Memorial Church.

A Section on 05/27/2018

Upcoming Events