With little pomp, California launched two apps at the start of the year offering free behavioral health services to youths to help them cope with everything from living with anxiety to body acceptance.Through their phones, young people and some caregivers can meet BrightLife Kids and Soluna coaches, some who specialize in peer support or substance use disorders, for roughly 30-minute virtual counseling sessions that are best suited to those with more mild needs, typically those without a clinical diagnosis. The apps also feature self-directed activities, such as white noise sessions, guided breathing, and videos of ocean waves to help users...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy.The University of Memphis announced plans Wednesday to launch its own K-12 school district in the fall after the passage of new state legislation authorizing certain public universities to create innovative school districts.But it’s unclear how the university’s contract with Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which doesn’t expire until the fall of 2026, will affect the rollout.Officials from both entities did not comment when asked about the contract’s status.The legislation introduces a new school governance model in Tennessee in which universities can scale up...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Carly Fair, who has three children in Tennessee public schools, took on the role of an unpaid mom-lobbyist at the state Capitol this year on behalf of families like hers who have a fourth-grade child at risk of being held back under a 2021 reading law.The law was well intended, she believes: If children are behind on their reading skills in grades three and four, they need tutoring and individualized attention to help them catch up.But the law also says students in...

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.New York City public schools would see its budget shrink by 2.4%, or $808 million, next fiscal year under a more detailed budget presented by Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday.The smaller budget is largely the result of expiring federal relief dollars, and Adams’ proposal saves a slew of programs that were on the chopping block because they were financed with one-time money that flooded into city coffers in the wake of the pandemic.Officials announced last week that they will use more than $500 million in...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.Indiana’s largest teachers union on Wednesday endorsed former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick for governor, casting her as an experienced voice against policies that have defunded and deprofessionalized public education in the state.McCormick is the presumptive Democratic nominee preparing to face off against one of six Republican candidates — as well as Libertarian Donald Rainwater — in the November election.The timing of the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) announcement is notable, because it comes a day after...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news.“When you think of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what feelings come up?”A dozen Lincoln Park High School students, most of them Jewish or Arab American, pondered the questions and attempted to sum up months of intense emotion in just one word.The students wrote their answers on a piece of paper, which they crumpled into a ball and tossed into a bowl. Then they took turns reading each other’s emotions. Nearly all had written the same words.Angry. Frustrated.“We broke down those emotions,” said Intisar Alkhatib, a student...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.Nearly 1 in 5 Newark teens and adults between the ages of 16 and 24, 7,500 young people, do not attend school or have a job – almost double the statewide rate and above pre-pandemic levels, a new study released Wednesday found.The report, conducted in partnership by the Newark Opportunity Youth Network and Measure of America, a project of the Social Science Research Council, also found disparities among racial groups and geographic locations in Newark.The disconnection rate for Black youth in Newark is 22.3%, the...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.In a Ball State classroom on a recent Tuesday, Professor Sheron Fraser-Burgess told her class to brace themselves for the “really controversial” argument from their reading:“There’s no such thing as reverse ‘-ism.’ Women can be just as prejudiced as men, but can’t be as sexist, because they don’t have the power.”Then she invited the class to weigh in.Her students were quick to disagree with that argument and with each other, as well as Fraser-Burgess, who leaned back against...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.The Indianapolis Public Schools board president said the district will create a task force focused on student safety, following the widespread circulation of a video that is part of a lawsuit alleging that a teacher encouraged attacks on a 7-year-old student with a disability.Board President Angelia Moore said in a statement at Tuesday’s board meeting that the board was shocked and upset by what the video showed. The statement did not reference the lawsuit.Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.Indianapolis Public Schools hopes to renew its agreements with three KIPP Indy charter schools that are part of the district’s network of autonomous Innovation schools, although officials have identified some academic areas needing improvement.Additionally, in a unique collaboration between charters and IPS, the school board will vote Thursday on a plan to transfer ownership of the Julian Coleman School 110 building to KIPP Indy. IPS would also provide $10 million for a building expansion at the site, with...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with state education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Protesters screamed “blood on your hands!” then lay down on the floor of the Tennessee State Capitol as if they were victims of gun violence, after lawmakers passed legislation Tuesday to let some teachers and staff carry guns at school.In between, House Speaker Cameron Sexton paused business in the House of Representatives and ordered state troopers to clear the spectator gallery of protesters.The 68-28 vote came one year after an intruder shot and killed three children and three adults at a Nashville...

Leer en español.Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.When Bishnu Rai’s children started school at Aurora’s Crawford Elementary five years ago, she initially felt lost. She wasn’t very social and she struggled to help her children, she says.But thanks to Crawford’s community school model, she’s been getting more involved, learning English, and now feels confident enough she’s helping come up with a plan for empowering other immigrant parents.Crawford Elementary is one of six schools in Aurora that are using the community...

Every K-8 student in the Detroit Public Schools Community District has access to summer school programming this year, school officials said this week.During a school board committee meeting Monday, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said the district will offer five weeks of summer school for young students at 26 locations, paid for with help from community partners.High school students also will be able to take classes at seven locations and online during the summer. That instruction is paid for by the district.The goals and focus for students attending summer school through Detroit Public Schools Community District differs depending on the grade level.At...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news.The city of Chicago is using pandemic relief money to offer $500 grants to students with disabilities who come from low-income families, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday.Families need to apply for the one-time grants, which will be awarded to up to 8,000 people.The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities is partnering with Ada S. McKinley Community Services to distribute $5 million through the new Diverse Learners Recovery Fund, supported by American Rescue Plan dollars, which the federal government distributed to help cities and states recover...

Rebeca moved to New York City a year ago to protect her daughter, now 8, from increasingly trans-restrictive laws in Florida.So it came as a shock when she received a 7 a.m. text from a parent at her children’s school on March 21. A Manhattan parent-led advisory board had voted 8-3 the night before calling on the Department of Education to revisit guidelines on trans girls’ sports participation.Rebeca — who asked that we use only her first name and a pseudonym, Sophie, for her daughter, who is transgender — had thought of herself as a political refugee from a state...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.The Denver school board has adopted a new map that redraws the boundaries of the districts that five of the seven board members represent.The new boundaries won’t affect where children go to school. Redistricting only affects which neighborhoods of the city the five school board members represent. The two at-large board members will continue to represent the entire city.Redistricting was necessary to ensure board members represent roughly the same number of residents. Based on population...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.In the end, the gulf between competing school voucher bills in Tennessee’s legislature was just too wide to cross.Gov. Bill Lee acknowledged Monday that his push to create a statewide program — which had been on the ropes for more than a month — was dead for the year after Republican leaders in the Tennessee House and Senate were unable to break through disagreements about testing and funding.“While we made tremendous progress, unfortunately it has become clear that there is not a...

Leer en españolSitting at my dining room table, I dialed the toll-free number, hoping that today would be the day that someone actually picked up. Instead, I heard the words that have rung in my ears for the past few months. The helpline was experiencing a high volume of calls. Call again later, the automated message urged before ending with an unceremonious “Goodbye.”The more I heard that message, the more anxious I became.I knew I wasn’t alone in this experience, and that somehow made it worse. Thousands of high school seniors who needed financial assistance to go to college were...

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.Mayor Eric Adams is set to retain control of the city’s school system for another two years, as part of a finalized budget deal between state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul.Under the deal, Albany officials will have a hand in selecting the head of a city education panel, and New York City officials will enter into firmer commitments on adhering to a state law requiring smaller class sizes. But observers — including a member of the panel — remain skeptical that changes to that panel...

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.Following a heated interrogation by the City Council over charter schools, eight of Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s nine nominees to the Board of Education are moving ahead. But the future of Joyce Wilkerson, the longest serving board member, remains in limbo.The Council’s committee of the whole voted Friday to approve eight of Parker’s nominees, including current board President Reginald Streater. Those nominees will now head to a full council vote next Thursday.In addition to Streater, Crystal Cubbage, Cheryl Harper, Whitney Jones, Wanda Novales, Joan Stern,...