It's pretty rich for an executive branch official to say that school funding has to be determined by the legislature, not the courts, when the governor has vetoed the legislature's attempts to increase school funding. alaskabeacon.com/2026/01/22/s... #edequity #edusky #schoolfinance #schoolfunding

Philadelphia is proposing to close 20 schools starting in 2027. The reorganization plan eventually would affect a third of all district schools. www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Tennessee lawmakers want a "Houston-style" takeover of Memphis schools, but the two cities and school systems are very different. www.chalkbeat.org/tennessee/20...

There are a lot of stories about this horror. Appreciate how Becky helps us see Liam: "A small stuffed turtle, a water bottle, and a blanket fill 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos’ cubby. A gray winter hat hangs from his hook. A worksheet to help him trace the letter W waits for him at his desk."

I just keep thinking: All these people came to the United States because they thought they would be safer here.

The Columbia Heights school district says ICE detained four of its students, including a 5-year-old boy, as "bait" to draw out family members.

Smart story on the administration's decision to abandon its anti-DEI Dear Colleague letter. The Education Department hasn't offered a reason — but they already got a lot of what they wanted through threats and preemptive compliance.

Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal ICE memo obtained by The Associated Press. apnews.com/article/ice-...

After the Denver school board placed restrictions on public comment two years ago, the number of people signing up to address the board plummeted. Now the board may rethink its policies. www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...

Students took the newly designed IRI for the first time in October. Instead of selecting from provided answers students read aloud from a computer. Learn more here: www.idahoednews.org/top-news/fal... #standardizedtests #literacy #thescienceofreading

Contrast this with Polis' apparent interest in releasing Tina Peters.

The *shade* Stars and Stripes is throwing with *journalism* www.stripes.com/theaters/us/...

Two notable things 1) Lawmakers say this plan was developed with the White House. 2) Nine months after Tennessee asked the U.S. Education Department whether it would withhold funds if they targeted immigrant students, they still don't have an answer. www.chalkbeat.org/tennessee/20...

I am once again calling on people to remember the children.

“He has not been afraid to touch the third rail and have difficult conversations." Great profile of NYC schools chancellor Kamar Samuels, who has a tough job in front of him. via @alexzimmerman.bsky.social and @amyzimmer.bsky.social www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...

About a year ago, a self-appointed education journalism critic made a lot of tweets about how Chalkbeat was fear mongering about immigration enforcement and the possible effects on students and schools. What it actually looks like is different than we imagined — but in many ways, it's worse.

Saint Paul schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for optional online learning. I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.

This is a weird thing to say about a 70-year-old woman whose crime would not have been possible if she were not an elected official. But. I worry she's at risk to re-offend.

And if you need another reason to be outraged about this:

Oglala Lakota president Frank Star Comes Out said when the tribe requested more information, leaders were told the tribe would need to enter into an immigration agreement with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. ictnews.org/news/north-c...

Here’s what Lindsey Burke, a top Trump administration official and Project 2025 author, told us about funding cuts, students with disabilities, and more.

New: My colleague Ann Schimke has been chronicling the creation of a "public Christian school" in Colorado. It is intended as a legal test case and could have major national implications. I spoke with Ann about what she's found and why it matters. nationally.

Eva Moskowitz wants to transfer a Bronx charter school to her husband, raising eyebrows from state officials

Finding myself relieved this attack apparently had nothing to do with feelings about Israel, so that we don't have to endure another round of "it wasn't *actually* antisemitic." www.mississippifreepress.org/suspect-in-b...

I heard the same. One reported 35% — “and we don’t think they’re all coming back.”

Mississippi’s largest synagogue was set on fire before dawn Saturday. Fire department ruled it arson, and a suspect has been arrested. It is the same synagogue that the Ku Klux Klan bombed in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights. mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...

The director of what was designed to be a test case for public funding of religious schools told local building officials they have "gotten a bit ahead of ourselves." www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...

New: A look at what we know and don't know about the last decade of test score declines. –They've been remarkably pervasive and started before the pandemic. –Other countries have been hit too. –Experts (and everyone else) have theories, but not definitive answers. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/01/08/w...

Stay tuned.

An enraging story, carefully told. Very much worth your time.

The woman killed by ICE was Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year old who was the mother of a 4-year old child whose father already died a few years ago. The Star Tribune talked to her mother. www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...

The Americans.

Educator Layoffs Loom as Canceled Community Schools Grants Remain in Limbo: Three legal challenges and bipartisan backlash have followed the Trump administration's funding cuts.

RSVP for this upcoming conversation with Lindsey Burke, currently the Education Department's deputy chief of staff and previously of the Heritage Foundation, and let us know what questions you have.

Failed at giving blood (blood pressure was too low) but succeeded at cleaning out the closet under the stairs. Even did battle with a few danger boxes (these are the boxes filled with fraught feelings-infected objects, typically unlabeled, catching you by surprise). Gonna call that good for 2025.

"What Americans in a 1998 poll expected to happen by the year 2025..."

Crocheted Christmas tree, Medelim, Portugal, created by 50 female textile artists who came together from all over the country for the project #WomensArt #ChristmasEve 🎄 ❄️

I've lived in a country with no postal service, and it's not good. Just saying.

“There were enormous differences between Jews and Christians — but when it came to fear of midwinter demons, the love of drinking, or the topsy-turvy atmosphere of Christmas Eve, the folklore overlaps are undeniable.” www.jta.org/2025/12/14/c...

Not me making pasta salad for dinner because it was 76 degrees today in Denver. Very seasonal.

In the new year Chalkbeat Ideas will host an online event about the Education Department's future with Lindsey Burke of the Trump administration. Join @ericameltzer.bsky.social and me for what I'm sure will be a lively conversation! You can also submit questions. www.eventbrite.com/e/chalkbeat-...

“What gets remembered is a function of who’s in the room doing the remembering." Truly an incredible life.

NEW: An autopsy finds late Colorado State Sen. Faith Winter (D) had alcohol in her system and investigators say she was at fault for her fatal crash on I-25 on November 26. The autopsy lists her blood alcohol concentration as 185 mg/dl. Colorado's DUI limit is 80 mg/dl. (1/2)

Re-reading Project 2025 for reasons and came across this: Stopping executive overreach. Congress should set policy—not Presidents through pen-and-phone executive orders, and not agencies through regulations and guidance.

NEW: A Texas district in which Black students were allegedly taunted with monkey noises. An Arizona school where students admitted saying “slavery is good.” These are some of the incidents Trump’s Education Department has ignored:

I thought I was being paranoid when I wondered this, but there is, you know, a killer on the loose.

A really important story of where we've been and where we must not return.

Illinois quietly changed its minority teacher scholarship in the face of a lawsuit and federal threats. The scholarship is now open to all students interested in become teachers. Illinois' teacher workforce is 78% white, its study population 44% white. www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025...

A commission has recommended a sort of super-board above the elected school board in Indianapolis. This governance change could have profound consequences for local schools. www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...