National news
Alabama eyes limiting student use of cell phones at school
AL.com -
State Superintendent Eric Mackey told board members in December that they couldn’t outright ban cell phones from schools, but he would like to give some additional guidance to districts.
Mass. education secretary takes to airwaves with a message: make school attendance ‘a priority’
WBUR -
Patrick Tutwiler, the state’s education secretary, will make his television debut to deliver the message that “school is where kids belong.” It's part of a multilingual campaign by the state's K-12 education department, including billboards and ads on radio and public transit.
In Florida, new school laws have an unintended consequence: Bureaucracy
Under recent rules, some students can’t take a vision test or get a Band-Aid without permission slips. And it’s up to schools to hunt them down.
Affordable housing faces hurdles. Does ‘teacher housing’ have an easier path?
The three-story homes on Biddle Street, boarded up, blistered and blighted, may not look very different from their neighbors up and down the street. But pretty soon, they’ll take on a new purpose in the neighborhood.
Tackling school absence is as much about changing the school as the student
Forbes -
School attendance in many countries has fallen off a cliff since the pandemic, with absence rates significantly up on pre-Covid-19 levels.
Broward County public schools considering a four day week for high schools, asking for input
The Broward County Public School District is considering switching to a 4-day week for high schools. At least one high school in the county has operated on a 4-day week for nearly 30 years.
Iowa school shooter’s parents say they had ‘no inkling of horrible violence’
Jack and Erin Butler, the parents of 17-year-old Dylan Butler, said that on their way to school their son had discussed future plans with them and "it felt like he was ready to get back to school after Christmas vacation and the start of a new semester."
Tennessee school vouchers: What to know about the controversy, what could change
If approved, the statewide taxpayer-funded school voucher program would eventually allow any student, regardless of family income or location, to attend a private school of their choice and use a scholarship funded with state dollars to help do so.
Utah has no plans to change lowest-in-nation education spending, officials say
“We are not in a race to outspend other states,” officials said when asked if Utah plans to alter its reputation as a state with low public education spending. “Student outcomes are what truly matter, and a focus only on funding does not tell the whole story.”
In the wake of a deadly shooting at Perry High School, Iowa students are planning to to protest what they say is lawmakers' inaction on gun violence.