GOP adviser sees problems with Ebola travel ban

By WTOP Staff
October 17, 2014 | 6:18 PM

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former HHS secretary under President George W. Bush says he sees “lots of problems” with using travel bans to contain diseases like Ebola.

Republican Mike Leavitt was in charge of bird flu preparedness under Bush. He says that at the time, officials studied a travel ban intensely but concluded such an approach might not work.

Leavitt tells The Associated Press that a travel ban is intuitively attractive and seems so simple.

But would the U.S. expand the ban to European countries if people there got exposed? And what to do about Americans who want to come home?

Congressional Republicans are urging the Obama administration to impose a travel ban on West African countries at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak.

DC students made small gains on last year’s standardized tests, but still below prepandemic levels in math, data shows

By Scott Gelman
August 20, 2026 | 5:10 PM

D.C. students made small gains in reading last year, but math results haven't yet reached prepandemic levels, according to new citywide standardized test data released Thursday. At a news briefing, District education officials shared results from the D.C. CAPE standardized test. The assessment is given to third through 12th grade students in English, language arts and mathematics in the spring. It assigns students a level between one and five. Students scoring Level 1 didn't yet meet expectations, and Level 5 is defined as exceeding expectations. Scores of Level 4 or 5 are considered proficient and on grade level. Across the city, there was a 2% increase in ELA proficiency and a 2.1% bump in math proficiency, compared with the 2025 results. About 39.6% of students were considered on grade level in reading in the spring, the highest proficiency the city has reported since 2015. About 28.5% were proficient in math. Officials attribute several years of improving scores to investments in high-impact tutoring programs, teacher training materials and a focus on students adjusting during their first year of middle or high school. But while the city has surpassed its reading scores from before the pandemic, it hasn't yet reached that level in math.

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