1. A Nation Falling Behind
READ/LISTEN: Chris Stewart took to the pages of his Comrade Chris substack to reflect on the latest NAEP scores and explore why American student achievement has been in decline since 2013. Stewart argues that schools alone cannot solve the country’s widening achievement gap:
Yet, when adult literacy and numeracy decline alongside student achievement, I concede we face a cultural shift that requires a comprehensive response and broader participation from all corners. Engaging families, communities, and society in educational restoration is a worthy project, but we must realize it is an indirect remedy. Getting the nation’s students to master calculus, literary criticism, the scientific method, and world history won’t come from mid-week chicken dinners with families or home visits by weary teachers.
Read more here, and listen to Chris and Tim Daly of Ed Navigator discuss the latest NAEP scores here.
2. Immigration Crackdown Shuts Down Child Care
READ: President Trump’s executive orders on immigration continue to stoke fear among child care workers and families, leading to classroom closures and reduced enrollment. Immigrant caregivers, who make up a significant portion of the child care workforce, are afraid to work, worsening an industry already plagued by staff shortages and low wages. Parents, fearing deportation, are withdrawing their children from care, leaving them with relatives and avoiding public spaces. Experts warn that these policies could further destabilize an already fragile early childhood education system:
“We’re already starting from a place where there’s not enough child care, programs are struggling and the workforce is already experiencing incredible stress,” said Lea Austin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley. “We can only expect that this is going to further devastate the entire early care and education ecosystem.”
Read more from Jackie Mader in The Hechinger Report here.
3. How to Bridge School and Career
READ: The Charter School Growth Fund shared its findings from its third Alumni Early Career Outcomes Survey, a project surveying over 2,600 public district and charter school alumni from the classes of 2017-2019. While the data revealed significant challenges in early career outcomes, with fewer than half of participants securing strong early jobs and only 40% earning a living wage, it also highlighted the five key drivers of career success: strong K-12 academics, early career experience, professional certificates, career purpose, and the combination of academic and career preparation. The findings call for more robust K-12 career preparation:
“I wish my high school had taken students more seriously when it came to helping them choose a career…Most of my classmates had no idea what they wanted to do after college and chose random majors based on suggestions from college counselors — I was one of them…Without this early guidance, many students struggle to decide once they’re already in college, leading to wasted time, money, and even dropping out altogether.“
Read more here.
4. Defense Department Censors Learning
READ: The Defense Department has begun restricting access to books and learning materials in its school system for military families, citing compliance with Trump-era executive orders against DEI initiatives. The restrictions impact subjects such as immigration, gender, and Black history, affecting elementary and high school curriculum. Defense officials and lawmakers have criticized the move, arguing it undermines the quality and inclusivity of military education. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has doubled down on eliminating diversity-focused efforts:
“I think the single, dumbest phrase in military history is, ‘Our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth said. “I think our strength is our unity.”
He added that people should be treated equally regardless of their background, upbringing, gender or race, and judged based on their merit and commitment to the team and its mission.
“That’s how it has been. That’s how it will be,” Hegseth said. “Any inference otherwise is meant to divide or create complications that otherwise should not and do not exist.”
Read more from Dan Lamothe in The Washington Post here.
5. New Colorado Law Aims to Support Traumatized Students
READ: Colorado lawmakers advanced Senate Bill 64 this week, which would require educators to be notified if a student has experienced trauma, designating them as “handle with care.” The Safe2Tell program, which allows students to report threats anonymously, would facilitate these alerts while maintaining confidentiality. Supporters, including educators’ unions and law enforcement, believe this expansion will help students receive the support they need:
“Sometimes it’s just that one person who sees that you’re having a bad day,” [State Sen. Lisa Frizell] said. “That is what we need to be doing with our kids. We cannot keep passing to another generation the issues that we have today.”
Read more from Jason Gonzalez in Chalkbeat here.
6. Texas Schools on the Brink
READ: Forrest Wilder at Texas Monthly spoke with school superintendents in Austin, Houston, and West Texas about the state’s recent failures to allocate new funding to public schools. Texas’s per-student funding is currently well below the national average, and advocates argue that it’s forced school closures, reduced teaching staffs, and scaled back academic support, all contributing to a destabilized academic system. With a new legislative session approaching, leaders say any further cuts would be impossible:
Matias Segura, Superintendent of Austin ISD: It would be catastrophic. We would get to a point where the system would begin to fold in on itself. The economic workforce in Texas will be impacted adversely. We don’t talk about that enough. We pride ourselves on being this economic engine here in Texas. But we’re starving the thing that is the fuel for that engine, and if we go another legislative session without funding, you’re going to begin to really, really see the impacts statewide.
Jennifer Blaine, Superintendent of Spring Branch: We don’t have anywhere else to cut. We are cut to the bone. I consolidated everything I could, and I cut everything that I could. If we have to cut further, you’re talking about severely impacting academics in the classroom and, quite frankly, safety and security. Five and a half million kids are in Texas public schools, and I don’t understand how our legislators and our governor don’t see this as a crisis. If we don’t educate these kids to the highest levels and prepare them for postsecondary success, we’re going to crumble as a state. I don’t know where the disconnect is. Education is the great equalizer. But nobody is talking about that, and I think it’s a missed opportunity because this is not going to end well.
Read more here.
7. Historic Investment in PA Education
READ: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro unveiled a $51.5 billion state budget proposal prioritizing historic investments in public education, tax cuts, and economic growth. The plan includes a $1.5 billion increase in public education funding, with $526 million directed toward the state’s poorest schools to comply with a court order addressing inequitable funding. Additional provisions include $125 million for school repairs, expanded early childhood education, cyber charter reform to save districts $378 million, continued universal free breakfast for 1.7 million students, and funding for menstrual hygiene products in schools:
“So here’s what I want us to do together,” Shapiro said. “Ensure we have good schools for our kids in every zip code.”
Aaron Chapin, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the largest teachers union gave the plan a thumbs up.
“We commend Gov. Shapiro’s remarkably strong commitment to public education,” he said . “As a whole, this budget represents a major step forward in fully and fairly funding our public schools and addressing the educator shortage.
Read more from Ivey DeJesus at PennLive here.