this graduation speech moment is notable, and her amazed shock at having failed to read the room feels instructive. when you're inside the bubble, you think everybody else is. but everybody isn't.

On Friday, New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York — the first large blue state that I can think of — will participate in the federal tuition tax credit program (EdWeek, Chalkbeat, Politico). So will Colorado (Chalkbeat). Monday bonus: alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/blue-state...

Anytime I post about literacy I have to mention the great Emily Hanford who has so closely covered the subject state governments have responded to her reporting. Sold a Story is one of the most comprehensive, long-term reporting coverage ever produced. features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/

Louisiana and Mississippi cheer. Phonics instruction has returned to Louisiana after it was cast aside for the “whole language approach” that focused on memorizing words and using context clues to read. From me last year: thelensnola.org/2025/06/04/k...

Fresh off his spicy rebuke of a misguided ed research takedown in The Argument, the USC education professor gets real about education research, media coverage — and why he's not back on Twitter yet. Don't mess with Morgan Polikoff alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/morgan-pol...

My latest on @alexanderrusso.bsky.social The Grade is about discussing, and journalists covering, stories of online manipulation of kids & the importance of covering red flags & ways that kids can be better protected from predatory content @perilresearch.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/alexande...

Important story by @eshockmanwrites.bsky.social “We had reached a saturation point”... ICE agents were “literally swarming all over the schools, day in and day out, in the morning, in the middle of the day ... on the weekends. We just decided that we couldn't even have a bigger target on our back.”

Every word of this @eshockmanwrites.bsky.social @mprnews.org piece about teachers in Columbia Heights crossing a Rubicon of trauma will hit you in the soul.

📌 SFUSD strike raises tough questions 📌 They’re even homeschooling in Chicago now 📌 The Epstein Files & education 📣 Favorite Substacks & interview previews in a special new section! 📣 🏆 Best Education Journalism of the Week 🏆(2/13/2026) alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/teachers-s...

I really enjoyed this conversation on The Grade about why I started writing about MCPS: as a parent, I couldn't figure out what was going on. Thanks @alexanderrusso.bsky.social for the great stories and strategies. alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/whys-a-geo... Interested? noraegordon.substack.com

“Journalists don’t probe and provide context in the same way I can." - @NoraEGordon NEW: Why's a Georgetown economist covering Montgomery County schools? alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/whys-a-geo...

NEW: All the best education journalism, media commentary, & newsroom changes. ICE interference, "We are the media now," & WaPo ed beat layoffs: 🏆 Best Education Journalism of the Week 🏆 (02/06/26) alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/ice-interf...

Hi @eshockmanwrites.bsky.social - I know you must be exhausted, but I'd love to bring your insights and experiences covering the Minneapolis ICE story to other journalists. Here are some questions. A sentence is fine. I'm also asking @bzosiad.bsky.social, @bethhawkins.bsky.social, & others.

I talked with @alexanderrusso.bsky.social of The Grade recently about journalism's shaky present and uncertain future. I hope you'll watch and listen. alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/bridging-t...

I just got off the phone with Elizabeth's dad...she and her mom were freed tonight! Updated story: sahanjournal.com/education/co...

@lilyalta.bsky.social has a great look at the rule and the issue. Oh and hey — @chalkbeat.org — good get hiring Lily! 2/

My latest: Minnesota school districts, @educationmn.bsky.social go to court seeking reinstatement of the 'sensitive locations' rule, which would keep immigration enforcement actions away from schools, bus stops, churches, healthcare facilities, etc. Was the rule of the land for 30+ years 1/

Josh Snyder is the only mainstream reporter I know of who's covering school choice full-time, but I'm guessing he won't be the last. NEW: Full-time reporting on school choice open.substack.com/pub/alexande...

@alexanderrusso.bsky.social Huge bones to pick with The Grade. Only only have you now blown off three weeks of my Minneapolis reporting, you don’t seem to recall that MPR and Elizabeth Shockman exist. They’re tearing it up. You should be embarrassed.

A former student's perspective on what it's like being part of a massive school exposé -- and what journalists need to know before they jump in: alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/what-its-l...

"Doom is a warm blanket of helplessness that keeps you from the fight."

📌 A wild but mixed first year for schools under Trump. 📌"I need my devices back to do my job." NEW: Mixed Year 1 for Trump, a radicalized education reporter, & ‘the new white flight.’ - 🏆Best Education Journalism of the Week🏆(01/23/2026) alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/mixed-year...

“I helped feed a lot of the narratives that we now see in the book have been so consequential and detrimental.” - @ericaLG NEW: The radicalization of NYT reporter Erica Green alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/the-radica...

Not featured in this week’s Grade, alas, are two @the74.bsky.social stories from me, in Minneapolis, and my colleague @jonapolitano.bsky.social

In this week’s newsletter: NEW: Remote in Minneapolis, FBI search, & 3 new education books: 🏆 Best Education Journalism of the Week 🏆 (01/16/2026) alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/minneapoli...

“If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. And it’s okay to explore what’s really happening, no matter how the facade of a story makes you feel.” NEW: An interview with the NYT's Katie Benner, co-author of MIRACLE CHILDREN. alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/the-necess...

NEW: All the best education journalism, media commentary, & newsroom changes. Feds & Iowa, Florida failures, & parent-centered education coverage: 🏆 Best Education Journalism of the Week 🏆 (01/09/2026) alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/federal-fu...

This was a good bit of introspection, but I don't think the situation is quite so gloomy. "Go to the best college you can get into *and graduate*" is still the single best form of upward mobility *at the individual level*, even if times are a bit tough right now for recent college grads.

To regain reader trust, education journalists have to understand the myths that surround their work and to rethink traditional choices and approaches. New from me: Why I became an education journalist — and how urgently the beat needs to change. alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/why-i-beca...

NEW: In Boston, a veteran reporter steps in where traditional news falls short alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/in-boston-...

"However, an honest assessment of the past year suggests that the most immediate, real-world changes that students and schools have been experiencing have taken place at the state and local levels"

Assessing 2025, ‘you are not entitled to a response,’ & laughing reporters: 🏆 Best Education Journalism of the Week 🏆 (01/02/2026) NEW: All the week's best education journalism, plus newsroom changes & juicy insights. alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/assessing-...

Year-end thanks to @greezbock.bsky.social, @kristajohnson.bsky.social, @laurapowellesq.bsky.social, Kelsey Piper, Ekemini Ekpo, Alisha Thomas Searcy, and many others for their insights and contributions! alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/the-grades...

Hello, Bluesky! Investigative series, books, plays, and even a TV series are all included in The Grade's annual roundup — a tradition going back to 2016: The top 10 education stories of 2025 alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/the-top-10...

Hello, Bluesky! Investigative series, books, plays, and even a TV series are all included in The Grade's annual roundup — a tradition going back to 2016: The top 10 education stories of 2025 alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/the-top-10...

"The world is on fire, democracy is in disarray, and journalism has lost the public’s trust and attention. But there are still lots of good things happening on the education beat." NEW from @alexanderrusso: Thankful for education journalism: 2025 alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/thankful-f...

“I think that when harnessed in a very positive way with the right guardrails, [private school choice] can provide better options for families," says DFER's Jorge Elorza. The Democratic case for private school choice alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/the-democr...

A new report from Bellwether's Nora Weber & others confirms that national education news is losing its identity. But there's at least one viable alternative. NEW: What to do about the mismatch between education news & education? alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/more-schoo...

“They were talking about feminism, suicide, and all of these things that I don’t see when I’m in a public school classroom,” says Griesbach. “So that kind of shocked me.” Surprises a reporter experiences inside a newly-opened private school in Alabama alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/surprises-...

NEW: School-based sexual misconduct is much more widespread than many imagine. But a steady drumbeat of media coverage can help persuade lawmakers and school officials to keep more kids safe. From @enoughabuse's Jetta Bernier: alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/how-journa...

Louisville's integration program "looked good on paper, but it didn’t work well," according to @KristaJ1993, who reflects on what mattered most to her when she was a kid growing up poor in Iowa. NEW: Rethinking integration & reflecting on childhood experiences open.substack.com/pub/alexande...

The hit TV mockumentary is stubbornly optimistic — and that’s not a bad thing, writes contributor Ekemini Ekpo: In defense of 'Abbott Elementary' alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/in-defense...

Yes! And we'd love any coverage too. You just have to RSVP journalism.columbia.edu/events

Video-first reporting for education journalists Oliva Krauth on getting started with video-first journalism — even if you don't like being on camera. The latest in our series on innovations, nontraditional voices, & emerging platforms. open.substack.com/pub/alexande...?

Charlie Kirk backlash, voucher growing pains in FL, & a school-focused 'Subway Takes' (finally!) - 🏆 Best Education Journalism of the Week 🏆 (09/19/25) alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/the-charli...

One reporter's efforts to end 'passing the trash' in California schools alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/one-report...

Wildly misleading headline alert! Hed: Efforts to fund schools more equitably actually worsened racial inequality Article: States’ equity-focused school funding reform worked! But racial inequality grew anyway for other reasons (and b/c of differences b/n states). www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

If California finally joins other states in passing comprehensive reform against school sexual assault, investigative reporter @mattdrange will have had a lot to do with it. NEW: One reporter's efforts to end 'passing the trash' in California schools alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/one-report...

From @alexanderrusso.bsky.social: Jon Haidt is going to be contributing to the education page at Bari Weiss’s The Free Press. So maybe we can all take Haidt with a much, much larger gain of salt now? And here’s a nuanced critique of Haidt’s Anxious Generation to send to all your friends.

"This school where I was teaching had massive curriculum flaws… But the kids were genuinely happy." - Inside the Harper's magazine story about teaching at an ESA-funded micro-school alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/a-student-...