FIRST ON FOX: The escalating battle over what children should be taught in public schools continues to drive America’s culture wars, and a new report ranks every state on some of the most contentious issues affecting today’s classrooms.

Red states dominated the ranking, which measures all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on issues spanning parental rights, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), gender and sexuality, teacher and union policies, and foreign influence, according to Defending Education’s first-ever Rankings on Integrity in State Education, released Thursday.

Tennessee claimed the top spot, followed by Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa, while Washington, D.C., ranked last, followed by Rhode Island, California, Oregon and Illinois.

The rankings do not account for test scores or graduation rates. Instead, the report said it is designed to show how states are approaching hot-button issues as parents demand greater transparency in their children’s education.

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“For the first time, parents have a single resource to see how their state handles the issues they’ve voiced concerns about over the last five years, empowering them to evaluate local schools and hold leaders accountable at the ballot box,” Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Of the report’s five categories, the parental rights category ended in a four-way tie, with North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia earning the top spot. Each was awarded points for policies that give parents more say over student gender transitions, sex education instruction and whether their children participate in those lessons.

Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina, all red states, received perfect scores on teacher policies. According to the report, laws governing teacher unions, strikes and collective bargaining, along with work authorization requirements, were key factors in the scoring.

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Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia topped the report’s DEI category after receiving high marks for laws restricting DEI initiatives and other policies related to restorative justice, teacher diversity and antisemitism.

Another major flashpoint in education has been a growing conversation on gender identity and transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. The report examined state policies blocking LGBTQ-specific curriculum, restricting transgender athlete participation, and state nondiscrimination and anti-bullying laws related to gender identity, finding Alabama, Florida and Indiana tied for the highest scores.

But the report went further than policies shaping the classroom. Seven red states received perfect scores for laws limiting Chinese government influence in education, including Confucius Institutes, China-backed language and cultural education centers. Alabama, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas aced the category.

In another statement to Fox News Digital, Dr. Terry Stoops, director of government affairs at Defending Education, congratulated the frontrunners.

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“If your state is at the top of Defending Education’s rankings, congratulations!” he said. “You live in a state with public school policies that prioritize sound academics over shameless antics.”

Stoops also blamed elected leaders for the lowest-scoring states, accusing them of having “sacrificed educational excellence at the altar of social justice.”

“For parents in bottom-feeder states who value rigor over ridiculousness, the choice is either fight or flight,” he said.

Despite more blue states embracing DEI and social justice policies, the report said it wants parents to have a clearer picture of where their state stands on education and how those policies could impact their children and future generations.

A teenage girl’s tragic death, allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant who was previously deported from the U.S., has now become a political flashpoint in her hometown.

Sheridan Gorman’s grieving parents made their heartbreaking plea for change directly to the two candidates running to represent their district in suburban New York during an electoral debate earlier this week. They asked Democrat Cait Conley and incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., whether they supported ending New York State’s law barring local law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The 18-year-old Loyola University student was shot and killed while walking with friends late at night near her Chicago college campus in March of this year. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said the accused, Jose Medina, is a Venezuelan national who came to the U.S. illegally in May 2023 and was released by the prior administration.

He was arrested for shoplifting in Chicago the next month but released again, DHS said. Both Chicago and Illinois are sanctuary jurisdictions, meaning law enforcement there are also barred from cooperating with ICE.

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Gorman’s killing fast became a rallying cry for supporters of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Lawler, who is fighting an uphill battle for a third term representing New York’s 17th Congressional District, has also argued it is an example of what could happen more often if Democrats win control on Capitol Hill.

“Look, I’ve been very clear there should be reforms of ICE. They should wear body cameras. They should not wear masks. They should wear uniforms. They shouldn’t be going into places like the Home Depot parking lot. They should be very targeted in what they are doing. And states like New York should be cooperating with them to deport criminal illegal aliens,” Lawler told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “So look, I think the challenge here will be if Democrats win, they will do everything they can to return to the Biden-era of lax immigration policy, lax enforcement, and try to cut off the resources of ICE and [Border Patrol], and I, for one, just will not support that.”

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His district could be one of the few that decides control of the House for the latter half of President Trump’s final term.

Gorman’s parents tearfully said during his debate against Conley this week, “The man charged with her murder was here illegally and had previously been arrested for a crime and released under Chicago’s sanctuary policies. A simple five-second phone call between local and federal law enforcement would have saved her life.”

Conley responded to them first, “My heart absolutely breaks, and what happened to Sheridan is inexcusable. Government failed her. And for that, we have to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”

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“Immigration enforcement is essential,” she said, though added, “What is happening under this administration, unfortunately, is not a focus on violent criminals, but what we’re seeing is them rolling up people like grandmas and nurses, people in our communities.”

Lawler then accused Conley of dodging the question, adding, “She does support Kathy Hochul’s new law, and she would not support federal legislation to end sanctuary policies. Let me be very clear: I stand with you. I am against Kathy Hochul’s disastrous new law, and I support any legislation that will end sanctuary jurisdictions in this country.”

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It came weeks after the Gormans took the stage alongside Lawler at the GOP’s 2026 midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.

“The Gormans have more courage than any Democrat member of Congress who voted against protecting our citizens from criminal illegals,” Lawler said in introducing them. “They are not running for office, but their story — Sheridan’s story — is the direct result of bad policy. Policies we cannot afford to get back to every again.”

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The teenager’s story again popped up in new ads released by Lawler’s campaign on Wednesday.

In one of the spots, Gorman’s mother tearfully tells the viewer, “He just shot her. Just shot her. Hunted her down. I thought I knew what sanctuary city policies are, I didn’t.”

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“The sanctuary policies being pushed by Kathy Hochul and Democrats killed our daughter,” her father said. “I couldn’t protect her from these policies.”

Her mother added, “But Mike Lawler can.”

Illegal immigration was one of the top issues in 2024, and Republicans are trying to harness the same backlash from voters who opposed the Biden administration’s more lax border policies.

Fox News Digital reached out to Conley’s campaign and to House Democrats’ elections arm for a response.

Federal authorities made arrests in a string of election-related indictments against noncitizens in recent weeks, colliding with Democratic claims ranging from such voting being “extremely rare” to assertions that it simply “doesn’t happen.”

The cases come amid a partisan fight over the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Democrats argue the measure would make voting harder for eligible Americans.

“Let me be perfectly clear: This is a non-issue. Noncitizens do not vote in U.S. elections,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., declared in 2025 after voting ‘no’ on the bill at the time.

Three noncitizens were arrested this month in Philadelphia County, which Scanlon partially represents, and charged with election-related offenses.

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Trinidad and Tobago national Sade Guppy allegedly voted illegally in the 2022 midterms, while Haitian illegal immigrant Cliff Sanon was charged with submitting a fraudulent voter registration application prior to the 2026 Pennsylvania primary.

DHS also pointed Fox News Digital to Mauritanian illegal immigrant Mahady Sacko, who is accused of voting in seven federal elections since 2008.

Fox News Digital reached out to Scanlon for comment.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced indictments of 10 foreign nationals accused of committing voter fraud in Minnesota alone, including during August’s primary, saying the issue should not be a “partisan concept.”

The alleged illegal voters captured are from Brazil, Ghana, Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Liberia and Canada.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., has similarly called noncitizen voting “extremely rare” while denouncing the SAVE Act as “anti-voter” and claiming Trump is trying to “scapegoat immigrants.”

When asked Wednesday by Fox News Digital about the spate of arrests, Padilla reaffirmed the crime is “already illegal and every legitimate study shows it is extremely rare, despite Donald Trump’s claim to the contrary.”

“The Department of Justice’s arrest of a dozen people after investigating millions of the 174 million registered voters in America confirms that,” he said, adding he wished the DOJ would instead focus on reported delays in voter-registration processing in states like Texas to ensure every eligible voter can vote.

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Padilla called the recent announcement of 12 arrests a “desperate attempt by Republicans to distract from their record of rising costs, chaos, and corruption that are hurting the American people.”

Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., has called the SAVE Act “extremely dangerous” and “voter suppression.” His office responded to Fox News Digital but did not offer comment before press time.

Last month, Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw of Fairfax County, Virginia, spoke out similarly on MS NOW.

“It is so rare that it’s almost impossible to measure. It just doesn’t happen,” Walkinshaw said, surmising that Trump is trying to resurrect the “Big Lie” and “whining about the fact that he lost the 2020 election” by posturing to make similar claims after Republicans lose the midterms.

Fox News Digital also sought comment from Walkinshaw and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who said in March that “noncitizens do not vote in American elections.”

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill also disclosed over the summer that roughly 400 noncitizens had voted in the state while resisting calls for additional federal scrutiny.

Three New Jersey residents were also charged this month with illegally voting and making false statements on citizenship applications. They hailed from Jamaica, Venezuela and Senegal.

Asked about the dynamic, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital the agency could not comment on active investigations but remains committed to “rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found,” demonstrating proof.

“Despite the media and Democrats denying it for decades, noncitizens continue to register and vote in federal elections,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

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“Only Americans should be electing America’s leaders,” she said, as clamoring from both sides of the issue grows louder ahead of key midterm elections.

Fox News’ William Mears Jr. contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX — A former senior federal prosecutor who served in the Biden administration has been hit with a criminal investigation referral asking the Justice Department to look into whether she misled federal agents about her role in an investigation, Fox News Digital has learned.

Jina Choi joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California in late 2023, shortly after which Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey tapped her to lead its Corporate and Securities Fraud Section, which handles major corporate and securities cases across the Bay Area, including Silicon Valley.

Before joining the office, however, Choi had represented IRL, a social-media startup co-founded by Abraham Shafi. The company was built around organizing and connecting people through events. IRL shut down in 2023 after a board-directed investigation concluded that 95% of its users were likely bots, a finding Shafi disputed. Shafi was later indicted in 2025 on federal fraud and obstruction charges.

The referral represents an unusually aggressive challenge to the conduct of a former prosecutor involved in the broader matter.

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Cully Stimson, acting director of the Heritage Foundation’s Legal Policy Center and himself a former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that, while it is common for defense teams to attack prosecutors, resorting to a criminal investigation referral is rare.

The referral, sent on Tuesday by a lawyer Shafi retained separately from his defense, turns on whether Choi remained involved in the IRL investigation after joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office despite being screened from the matter because of her prior representation of the company. The Justice Department generally has no obligation to respond to referrals like this.

Prosecutors said Choi was walled off from the federal investigation involving IRL and Shafi. But Shafi’s lawyer now alleges that internal communications and an FBI interview report show she remained involved in the matter and later understated that involvement to federal agents.

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The FBI declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

In the criminal referral sent to the Justice Department on Tuesday, Shafi’s lawyer asked federal authorities to investigate whether Choi made false statements about her role in the investigation into IRL.

The federal investigation into IRL predated Choi’s arrival at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors have said she was screened from the matter because of her prior representation of the company.

Shafi’s defense claims to have obtained internal emails sent by Choi as well as FBI interview memoranda recounting a conversation she had with federal agents from the prosecution. Shafi’s lawyer argues the documents contradict Choi’s account to agents.

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While Choi’s communications are quoted or described in public court filings, the government filed the underlying email exhibits under seal or as sealed exhibit slip sheets. As a result, the public cannot independently inspect the original documents or assess their full context.

Choi worked for IRL as outside counsel before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to court filings. During this time, Shafi’s defense alleged in its motion to dismiss the case against him that Choi attempted to get federal authorities to target Shafi to shield other stakeholders at the firm. The government denied this characterization, acknowledging that she advocated that the firm itself not be targeted, but disputing that she wanted the government to go after Shafi.

The tech founder’s defense argues that Choi’s prior representation of IRL created a conflict of interest. Prosecutors have said she was walled off from the investigation because of that prior relationship. As of publishing, no ruling has been made finding that Choi operated under a conflict of interest that warrants dismissal.

Shafi’s lawyer argues that documents they obtained tell a different story.

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The FBI, which was investigating the Shafi case, interviewed Choi in July and questioned her about her role in the IRL investigation, according to the referral. Choi allegedly told agents that she did “not have any kind of role in the investigation.”

An internal message purportedly obtained by the defense, however, quotes her as saying, “I talked to [her predecessor]] and I wanted to see if it would be ok to add [him] to the IRL team to help move it along.”

In other instances, documents obtained by the defense allegedly show that she inquired about the name of the FBI agent working on the IRL case and that she sent press coverage of the case against Shafi to other prosecutors.

At one point during her FBI interview, Shafi’s lawyer claims Choi said that she was not aware “who was assigned to the case team.”

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According to the criminal investigation referral, Choi “admitted keeping a written case tracker on which ‘the SHAFI investigation was listed.’” The defense claims that the U.S. Attorney’s Office refused to turn over the case tracker by describing it as a “privileged and internal work product.”

Shafi was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and obstruction a few months after Choi left the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charges stem from allegations that he misled investors by misrepresenting user growth on his platform. Prosecutors allege that he used paid advertising to attract people to IRL, then passed off the resulting growth as organic while raising about $170 million from investors.

He also stands accused of misusing investors’ funds for clothing, home furnishings, travel, hotels and wedding-related costs. The founder’s lawyer argues that Choi’s alleged false statements to federal agents, coupled with her prior representation of IRL, taint the charges against Shafi.

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Shafi’s defense has a strong incentive to prove that Choi acted improperly, as doing so could seriously derail the prosecution of their client.

“Here, the defense’s allegations are troubling if true, because if their allegations end up being true, there was spillage,” Stimson told Fox News Digital. “And that would mean some other members of that office are therefore conflicted, and it could result in the entire office being conflicted if a judge found that the taint was so bad that it permeated the whole office.”

Stimson also said that, in his experience, individual U.S. Attorneys’ Offices generally operate with significant independence on casework, cautioning against attributing Choi’s alleged conduct to the Biden administration more broadly.

As of publishing, Choi has not been charged with any crime or disciplined for any professional misconduct in connection with the Shafi prosecution.

Choi did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

FIRST ON FOX: The Federal Aviation Administration broke its all-time record for air traffic controller hiring this year, bringing on 2,235 trainees as the agency works to reverse years of staffing shortages across the nation.

The FAA surpassed its fiscal year 2026 goal of hiring 2,200 air traffic controller trainees, marking the most hired in a single fiscal year in agency history, the Department of Transportation told Fox News Digital exclusively.

The agency also reached its highest certified controller staffing level in a decade, with 11,027 certified professional controllers as of Sept. 30, up from 10,694 at the end of fiscal year 2025, according to the DOT.

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“We’re recruiting, hiring, and training more air traffic controllers than ever before—and the numbers show it,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Digital.

“Thanks to President Trump, we’ve shaved months off the hiring pipeline, dramatically expanded our collegiate training programs, and inspired thousands of young gamers to pursue this exciting career,” Duffy said. “This is an important milestone, but not the finish line as we work to reverse decades of staffing shortages.”

The record comes less than five months after the FAA unveiled an aggressive three-year workforce plan aimed at rebuilding a controller workforce strained by staffing shortages, mandatory overtime and lengthy training timelines.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford had offered a stark assessment of the problem during congressional testimony last December, warning lawmakers that the agency would “never” reach adequate staffing under its previous structure.

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“We’ll never catch up,” Bedford said. “The system is designed to be chronically understaffed.”

The FAA’s 2026-2028 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, first reported by Fox News Digital in May, called for hiring 2,200 controller trainees in fiscal year 2026, 2,300 in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028.

The agency finished the fiscal year 35 trainees above its first benchmark.

The latest numbers also show growth among controllers who have completed training and become fully certified.

The FAA entered fiscal year 2026 with 10,694 certified professional controllers and ended it with 11,027, a net increase of 333. The agency’s workforce plan identifies 12,563 certified professional controllers as the staffing target needed to meet forecast demand.

That leaves the FAA 1,536 certified controllers below its target as it enters fiscal year 2027.

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The DOT told Fox News Digital it does not have an exact timeframe for reaching that benchmark, but said the administration is “supercharging” hiring and expanding its Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative.

The record follows another major hiring year in fiscal 2025, when the FAA brought on 2,028 controller trainees, its highest total since 2008.

The administration has moved to accelerate the hiring and training pipeline as the FAA contends with retirements and other workforce losses.

The FAA said in its May workforce plan that roughly 4,000 controllers were in the training pipeline at the time, including approximately 1,000 previously certified controllers training at new facilities.

Becoming a fully certified controller can take more than two years for a new hire, depending on the complexity of the facility where they are assigned.

The administration has also worked to retain experienced controllers while accelerating the pipeline for new ones. Nearly 400 retirement-eligible controllers were retained through a new bonus structure, while DOT says changes to the hiring process have shaved more than five months off the time it takes to bring on new recruits.

The FAA has also expanded its Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative, allowing qualified graduates of participating college programs to bypass the FAA Academy and report directly to facilities for on-the-job training.

The hiring surge comes as the Trump administration undertakes a broader overhaul of the nation’s air traffic control system, backed by $12.5 billion for upgrades including telecommunications infrastructure, new radios and radars, and electronic flight strips. The FAA is also expanding simulator-based training and exploring artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to better manage air traffic demand.

The record-setting year marks the first step in the FAA’s three-year hiring push. The agency is targeting another 2,300 controller trainees in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028.

“This is an important milestone,” he said, “but not the finish line.”