A Republican legislator from Alabama made the case for state-supported early childhood education Wednesday during a meeting of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s Pre-K for All Advisory Committee in Kentucky.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office says a new law requiring educators and school volunteers to use traceable forms of communication with students does not appear to violate their First Amendment rights.

As the 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial is commemorated this week, battles over public education continue in Tennessee and surrounding states amid a new wave of government scrutiny.

Bookshelves have become battlefields in recent years. Challenges to materials and calls for book bans have climbed to levels previously unheard of across the country as culture wars stoked by political differences have brought the fight into both school and public libraries.

Higher education leaders told legislators Tuesday that each of the Commonwealth’s public schools is complying with a new law eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at those schools. However, lawmakers had concerns for some of the schools – including Murray State University and the University of Kentucky – about whether they were fully in line with the new legislation.

Attorney General Russell Coleman says defending Kentucky’s regulations allowing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants is “a losing fight” in a letter urging the state to drop the policy.

Some Kentucky educators are worried that the impacts of a new law mandating districts to use traceable communications systems stretch far beyond its intentions.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial” in Tennessee, where a teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution, continues to influence debates on religion in public schools. The trial highlighted tensions between science and religion, sparking a broader cultural conflict.

Six 21st century learning centers run by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Appalachia will close permanently if the Trump administration doesn’t restore $87 million in frozen federal education funding to Kentucky.

Responding to criticism about Tennessee’s applications for private-school vouchers, Gov. Bill Lee said this week the state doesn’t need to know whether students were enrolled in private schools before seeking the funds.