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The California Lottery is setting sales records, but contributions to education haven't kept pace

Jul 18, 2018
The California Lottery is breaking sales records. This year, revenues will soar to an estimated $6.9 billion. The recent boom has been fueled by a wave of gigantic jackpots. Newer games like Powerball and a $30 scratch ticket offer huge prizes, and California’s lottery players have responded by gambling more and more. Surging revenue should […]
A Powerball ticket sits on the counter at Kavanagh Liquors on January 13, 2016 in San Lorenzo, California. Dozens of people lined up outside of Kavanagh Liquors, a store that has had several multi-million dollar winners, to -purchase Powerball tickets in hopes of winning the estimated record-breaking $1.5 billion dollar jackpot. 
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

When suing your school kicks off a life of advocacy

Jun 22, 2018
Suing your own school comes with a financial toll of its own.

Special education costs add up for parents, schools as federal law remains underfunded

Jun 22, 2018
For the first time, schools are legally required to make special education meaningful. But they've been given no additional money to make it happen.
[Image Description: Numerous toys are spread across a child’s playground. The ground is sandy. A pink children’s seat is in the middle of the image, with a yellow toy truck and multi-colored doll house behind it. In the background is a blue set of benches.]
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

High school graduation rates up, but there’s more than math to those numbers

Jun 5, 2018
A study out from Johns Hopkins University tells us that at 84 percent, high school graduation rates are officially at an all-time high. That’s good news right? Maybe not, because increasing numbers of those high school grads arrive at college needing remedial courses. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

Some Texas colleges are offering a new kind of scholarship — to fight hunger on campus

Jun 5, 2018
Several Houston community colleges and universities have launched food scholarships to help students get enough to eat. At Texas Woman’s University, students on the scholarships get free groceries twice a month, so long as they stay in school. The assistant director of student life there, Deborah Unruh, helped start the program after she noticed students […]

Work-study program helps low-income students cover the cost of tuition while they attend private school

Jun 4, 2018
For many lower-income families, the cost of private school tuition can seem out of reach. But a nationwide network of private schools has found a way to help subsidize that cost. The program only accepts students below the poverty line as part of a unique model of work-for-tuition. In Atlanta, students work at a business […]

Texas governor proposes spending over $100 million for safer schools

Jun 1, 2018
President Donald Trump was in Texas Thursday meeting with the families of ten people who were shot to death at a high school in Santa Fe Springs near Houston. Earlier this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott laid out a plan to increase school safety in his state. The $120 million proposal would focus on “hardening schools” […]

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Walmart offers to help pay education costs for employees seeking associates and bachelors degrees in business or supply chain management

May 31, 2018
Walmart is offering its 1.4 million U.S. employees a shot at higher education. The company says it’s going to subsidize tuition, books, and fees for workers pursuing degrees in business or supply chain management at three nonprofit schools. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

The Trump administration may restrict visas for certain Chinese students in STEM fields

May 30, 2018
Reports say grad students may be issued visas good for just a year at a time, rather than the multi-year type that are common now.

How to learn the business of business as a high schooler

May 25, 2018
Students form "companies" and test drive careers as part of the Virtual Enterprise program.
Emauri Singletary in front of the logo he designed for his Virtual Enterprise company, which sells disposable cups that change color to detect date rape drugs.
Shaheen Ainpour/Marketplace