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Schools are More Segregated than 30 Years Ago. But How Much?
Racial segregation in classrooms edged upward over the past three decades, according to the work of two prominent sociologists. Across America’s largest school districts, the expansion of school choice and the winding down of court-mandated desegregation decrees have resulted in white students being more racially isolated from their non-white peers, the authors find. Timed to […]
Opinion: Brown v. Board, 70 Years Later: Cheryl Brown Henderson Shares Little-Known Facts
This article is a compilation of excerpts from Recovering Untold Stories: An Enduring Legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education Decision, a book spotlighting the original plaintiffs behind five pivotal school segregation lawsuits later consolidated by the Supreme Court. Read more first-person accounts, watch oral histories, learn more about the cases and download the […]
Brown v Board’s Untold History: The Families Who Joined Forces to Sway SCOTUS
Seventy years ago this month, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board that racial segregation of children in America’s public schools was unconstitutional. Today, we’re commemorating the anniversary by relaunching our special Untold Stories of Brown v. Board microsite, dedicated to sharing the stories of the lesser-known students, parents and plaintiffs who joined […]
Alabama Senate Passes First Grade Readiness Bill, Awaits Final House Approval
The Alabama Legislature Wednesday gave final approval to a bill requiring children to complete kindergarten or an equivalent program after years of efforts from supporters. HB 113, sponsored by Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, would require students to finish kindergarten or pass a test that shows first grade readiness. The bill passed 35-0. It would align […]
Kentucky Launches Mental Health Wellness Course in Schools with Anthem Medicaid
This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. LOUISVILLE — Anthem Medicaid announced Wednesday it has launched a free digital mental wellness course, which is available to 1,512 students in 17 Kentucky schools. The announcement comes during Mental […]
North Carolina Has Lost Almost 5% of Its Child Care Programs Since Pandemic
More licensed child care programs in North Carolina are closing their doors as the state approaches the expiration of pandemic-era stabilization funding. According to data provided by the NC Child Care Resource and Referral Council (CCR&R) in partnership with the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), the state has experienced a net […]
Paid Parental Leave For Louisiana Teachers Clears First Legislative Hurdle
Louisiana lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill that would provide six weeks of paid parental leave to teachers, but its cost has made some lawmakers wary. Senate Bill 426, authored by Sen. Samuel Jenkins, D-Shreveport, comes with a $15 million cost to the state. The proposal was approved without objection Wednesday in the Senate […]
Thousands Of Illinois Youth At Risk of Losing Access to After-School Programs
SPRINGFIELD – Advocates for community-based after-school programs say as many as 40,000 youths statewide could lose access to tutoring services, recreation and other extracurricular activities this summer unless Illinois lawmakers approve an infusion of funds to keep them going. “The time is now for legislators to act to save after-school (programs),” Susan Stanton, executive director […]
Arkansas Football Coach Returns to His Shrinking Hometown & Scores Big for Teens
Updated, May 9 Pine Bluff, Arkansas On a gray February morning, the Pine Bluff High School gymnasium was filled with colorful balloons and flooded with music and laughter as family and friends, students and staff gathered to celebrate four college-bound star football players signing their national letters of intent. Less than six miles away, a […]
North Carolina Community College System Asks Lawmakers to Fund Propel NC Model
The N.C. Community College System’s (NCCCS) primary legislative request this short session is money for Propel NC, the system’s new funding model proposal. The request includes a nearly $100 million price tag for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25. The State Board of Community Colleges unanimously approved the new plan in February, five months after the system officially […]
California High School Requirement Could Include Personal Finance Course
School curriculum is usually the purview of education experts, but this fall it could be decided by California voters, who will vote on adding a new requirement for high school students: a one-semester class in managing personal finances. California’s Secretary of State is poised to certify that the California Personal Finance Act is eligible for the November […]
Missouri Approves Law Boosting Teacher Pay, Expanding Tax-Credit Scholarships
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation Tuesday that boosts the minimum salary for teachers, changes the formula for funding public schools and expands a tax-credit scholarship for private schools. It also allows charter schools in Boone County and requires a public vote for districts seeking to go to a four-day school week. When fully implemented, […]
Safety or Censorship: Congress Rushes to Pass Broad Child Online Protection Laws
As Washington lawmakers scramble this week to finalize their last significant legislation before the fall presidential election — a must-pass bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration — they’ve tacked on more than a dozen unrelated amendments, including three online safety bills affecting students. Taken together, the trio would create sweeping restrictions on children’s access to […]
More Black Teachers: A Push to Revive Schools in Nation’s Fastest-Shrinking City
Pine Bluff, Arkansas When TyKesha and Dedrick Cross met in fifth grade, neither of them could have known that decades later they’d be married and working as dedicated educators serving kids that look like them in America’s fastest shrinking city. In Pine Bluff, Arkansas, people see education as a way out. Many of the Cross’s […]
Watch: How Apprenticeships Can Help High School Students Earn While They Learn
Updated May 8 Apprenticeships are booming as high schools and private industry recognize the need for training students for roles in the workforce of the future and for offering career pathways that don’t necessarily rely on a bachelor’s degree. The 74 recently partnered with the Progressive Policy Institute on a new installment of the “New […]
The Los Angeles Charter School Wars Are Headed To Court. Here’s What’s At Stake
The California Charter Schools Association last month filed a lawsuit against LA Unified over its controversial new policy barring charters from using classrooms in certain district school buildings. It’s unclear if the CCSA will prevail in court, but the suit is already making an impact on the nation’s second-largest district. LAUSD’s new colocation rules were […]
Should Washington’s Public Schools Ban Students From Using Cellphones?
Smartphones gripping people’s attention isn’t anything new. But following the pandemic, Kris Hagel recalls seeing a troubling rise in public school students distracted by their phones during class. “I would walk through classrooms last year and kids have absolutely no attention to the teacher that’s presenting a lesson in front of them because they’re so […]
Learning Amid Chaos in the Arkansas Delta: What the School Research Shows Us
Eric Walden makes a lot of school visits near the end of the academic year, just as the weather turns warmer and the promise of summer vacation beckons. That’s when the kids in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, start getting into more fights — or, as he puts it, when “business is booming.” Walden is the assistant […]
Arkansas’ Shrinking City: A Charter Network Transforms Schools in Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff, Arkansas Passersby can be forgiven for mistaking Friendship Aspire Academy for a place of worship: One of the elementary school’s main buildings is actually a repurposed church, a towering, ‘60s-era cast concrete sanctuary complete with a pipe organ tucked into an old choir loft. The architecture suits the tiny elementary school on South […]
Computer Science Could Become Required to Graduate in Louisiana
Computer science classes might be required for Louisiana high school graduates starting in the 2027-28 school year. House Bill 264, authored by Democrat Rep. Jason Hughes from New Orleans, passed without objection Wednesday out of the Senate Education Committee. The bill adds computer science requirements for every path to a high school diploma at Louisiana […]
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