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Can pandemic relief money help schools bring kids up to speed academically?

Oct 26, 2022
National reading and math scores are way down. But school leaders say it can be hard to put all that money toward instruction.
School districts have until September 2024 to spend the last of the $190 billion allocated to them in COVID relief funds.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Church? Apartments? As youth population drops, developers reimagine schools

Oct 18, 2022
Following the 2008 recession, people had fewer kids. Now, districts need fewer schools and are selling them to people with big dreams.
A potential buyer looks out the window of the empty library in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary/Middle School in northwest Baltimore, which has been closed since 2020.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

Kindergarten is more than snacks and blocks these days. Some states think kids shouldn't have to go.

Sep 26, 2022
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes a proposal that would have required children to attend kindergarten.
Kindergartners run outside for a break. School enrollment for 5-year-olds dropped by 6% in 2020 and hasn’t fully recovered.
John Moore/Getty Images

Schools call on FCC for cybersecurity funding

Sep 22, 2022
School districts big and small are increasingly popular targets for ransomware attacks.
Students arrive at a Los Angeles elementary school in August 2021. The district is grappling with the fallout from a ransomware attack early this month.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

For 2 years, there was such a thing as a free lunch — at public schools. Not anymore.

Aug 18, 2022
The pandemic relief program that provided free meals was an outlier in the 75-year history of the federal school lunch program.
The federal government's universal free school lunch program has expired, though the idea is popular with parents.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Where Monday is the new Sunday: More school districts move to 4 days a week

Aug 12, 2022
Many districts make the switch to attract teachers and save money. Though some extend the school day, classroom time often contracts.
Some school districts don't have classes on Mondays. Others skip Fridays and provide child care for a fee.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images

"This is your principal calling": Schools get creative to boost attendance

Aug 11, 2022
Principals are calling, texting and throwing pizza parties in an effort to bring down chronic absenteeism that can affect funding.
In some places, average daily attendance determines how much money schools get from the state.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

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It really is who you know: Social mobility and schools

Aug 8, 2022
New research finds that low-income children who grow up in communities with lots of cross-class relationships are more likely to rise out of poverty.
The recipient school districts are now considering how to use their donations, whether on improvements like a new gym or investments like college scholarship funds.
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Monitoring software on students' school laptops raises privacy concerns

Aug 3, 2022
A new survey finds that the vast majority of American schools are using activity monitoring software to track students. The intent is to keep students safe, but it's more common to be used for disciplinary reasons.
Schools' use of  monitoring software to keep track of students has been increasing.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images

U.S. schools are rebuilding on safer ground to combat flooding and climate change

Jul 18, 2022
Thousands of schools are located in areas subject to flooding, a Pew study says. Rebuilding puts schools in competition for safer land.
Needing to rebuild and re-purchase supplies after a flood can be very expensive for schools and their communities, said Matt Casale with the Public Interest Research Group. Above, volunteers clean a school in Houston after flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. 
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