Story Archive

Every K-12 education story we've tracked, newest first. Budget, technology, safety, infrastructure, policy, and leadership news from districts across America.

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Chalkbeat
Leadership
NYC official overseeing Mamdani’s childcare expansion for 2-year-olds is stepping down

Deputy Chancellor Simone Hawkins, pictured here in February, will leave the Education Department in September as New York City prepares to launch Mayor Zohran Mamdani's free childcare program for 2-year-olds.

Chalkbeat
Leadership
Need free school supplies? Here’s how Detroit parents can get back-to-school gear for their kids.

Free backpacks are a popular item during back-to-school giveaways taking place in August throughout Detroit.

Education Dive
Budget & Finance
$23M awarded to Massachusetts colleges, state facilities for clean energy projects

The state grants will cover up to 45% of the cost for large-scale projects, such as implementing energy efficiency measures.

Education Dive
Policy & Legislation
Bipartisan group of senators introduce bill to ban legacy admissions

Similar proposals have kicked around for years in Congress, but they’ve yet to become law despite sharpened public scrutiny of the practice. 

The 74
Technology & AI
Bipartisan Lawmakers Say It’s Time to Rethink America’s Fragile Childcare System

CHICAGO — A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is calling for an overhaul of the nation’s childcare system, which they say is failing children, parents and providers.  The group of 13 Republican and Democratic...

The 74
Budget & Finance
Trump Pushes RFK Jr. to Cut Childhood Vaccines Over Autism

Chalkbeat
Technology & AI
Inside the NYC courtroom where detained children face deportation without attorneys

A group of children walk past a federal building on Varick Street, July 22, 2025.

The 74
Technology & AI
West Virginia 3rd Graders Behind in Reading, Math Must Repeat Grade Under 2023 Law

A major and final piece of West Virginia lawmakers’ 2023 hallmark education legislation goes into effect this school year when schools are required to retain third graders whose reading and math abilities aren’t at...

The 74
Policy & Legislation
California Will Add Science Scores to Its School Accountability System. Why It Matters

Short of dropping a dead weight copy of the state Education Code on your foot, a State Board of Education agenda item on the California School Dashboard normally wouldn’t evoke tears. But Jessica Sawko’s tears earlier...

District Admin
Policy & Legislation
Texans Try new tactic to remove Ten Commandments from schools

A lawsuit filed by three parents argues that the displays violate a state religious freedom law and asks for them to be removed before school starts in August. The post Texans Try new tactic to remove Ten Commandments...

District Admin
Technology & AI
Adults have struggled to set rules for AI in school. These teens figured it out

To these teens, the stakes for getting ahead of AI are clear. They pointed out how adult leaders were slow to protect students from the risks of other tech developments. The post Adults have struggled to set rules for...

The 74
Infrastructure
Opinion: The ‘Second Curriculum’ — What 1st-Gen College Students Need to Know, But Don’t

In the Pilsen neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, there’s a mural of my grandfather selling ice cream. My dad worked construction and sold ice cream too, and he and my mom both spent years working in...

The 74
Technology & AI
Opinion: Why Claude for Teachers Might Be a Student Privacy Trap for Educators

Anthropic recently rolled out its Claude for Teachers tool, making a free version of Claude with advanced technical capacities available to any K-12 U.S. educator who applies to the company using a school email address...

Education Dive
Budget & Finance
$47M NSF pilot to arm Ph.D. students with private industry experience

Under the initiative, companies will provide funding so students can conduct dissertation research at their sites for at least a year.

Chalkbeat
Budget & Finance
Seeking to reverse layoffs, Chicago school board approves budget, assuming more state money will come

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates rallies before the Board of Education meeting Thursday, during which 11 CTU-aligned members amended the district's budget to reverse layoffs by relying on state revenue...

Chalkbeat
Leadership
Iris Taylor, leader in Detroit healthcare and DPSCD board member, dies at 74

Iris Taylor, a member of the Detroit Public Schools Community District board and a prominent healthcare leader, died 74. Here, she speaks during the Cody High School graduation in June 2019.

Chalkbeat
Leadership
Chicago Public Schools’ lunchroom staff move closer to strike

The union representing lunchroom workers in Chicago Public Schools requested fact-finding Thursday, taking a step closer to a strike. Pictured: Lunch workers protest the lack of a contract following a Chicago Board of...

Chalkbeat
Budget & Finance
Colorado’s preschool program is reaching lots of kids but needs to focus on quality, new evaluation says

A newly released evaluation of Colorado's state-funded preschool program says providers and advocates are eager for the state to focus on quality.

Education Dive
Policy & Legislation
Senate panel OKs bill to block Education Department’s postsecondary office transfer

The proposed legislation moves to the full Senate just weeks after the House introduced 10 bills that would codify some of the agency’s transfers.

Education Dive
Budget & Finance
University of Valley Forge in Pennsylvania to shutter

The Christian institution is suspending education activities indefinitely after its board determined it “could not continue academic operations responsibly.”

Chalkbeat
Budget & Finance
Chicago to cut funding earmarked for schools that replaced police with restorative justice policies

Metal detectors at an entrance to North-Grand High School in Chicago. The school is one of more than 50 that will see cuts to funding provided to implement restorative justice practices and other holistic approaches to...

Chalkbeat
Infrastructure
Detroit school board signals desire to find alternatives to demolition for four closed buildings

Some board members for the Detroit Public Schools Community District are reconsidering plans to demolish four school buildings that closed at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

The 74
Technology & AI
Senate Panel Passes Bill to Reverse Dismantling of Education Department

Updated A Senate committee advanced legislation Thursday aimed at undoing the Trump administration’s efforts to split apart the U.S. Department of Education. The bill delivers the plan the biggest rebuke since Education...

Chalkbeat
Technology & AI
How a years-long rise in teacher turnover reshaped American classrooms

Although comprehensive national data on teacher exit rates is lacking, an extensive Chalkbeat analysis identified trends in 21 states since 2019.

The 74
Budget & Finance
Senate Panel Advances Science of Reading, Dyslexia Bills with Bipartisan Support

A bill that would require states to only use the science of reading in classrooms in order to qualify for a multi-million dollar funding grant passed with bipartisan support from a committee of federal lawmakers...

Chalkbeat
Leadership
‘You’re not wanted’: Philly teens who feel unwelcome downtown call for more ‘third spaces’ during summer

Philadelphia youth say third spaces such as the Field Teen Center at Parkway Central Library provide helpful places to go over the summer.

The 74
Leadership
When Teachers Lack Confidence in Math, Their Students Fall Behind, New Study Shows

Plenty of students have math anxiety. It turns out some educators have their own anxiety about teaching the subject, a new study finds. And that appears to affect their students — especially those already struggling in...

District Admin
Leadership
Miami-Dade School Board unanimously picks Rafael Villalobos as new superintendent

Villalobos, who was was unanimously approved, is the county’s current south region superintendent and has served as principal at several high schools. The post Miami-Dade School Board unanimously picks Rafael Villalobos...

District Admin
Infrastructure
To recruit teachers, school districts are building homes

Carolina Sanchez Garcia, a teacher at Rosa Parks Elementary in San Diego, used to wake up at 3 a.m. to leave enough time to drive to work as her children slept in the back seat. The post To recruit teachers, school...

The 74
Infrastructure
New Mexico Features in National Discussion on Childcare Challenges

A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers from around the nation on Monday identified lack of facilities and high costs as two leading challenges states are facing in addressing childcare needs. The bipartisan group,...