What are the mitzves of Thanks Giving, a festive meal, to eat the turkey bird, to hear the story of thepilgrim, to watch the football game. And some say to argue with an uncle.

Conservatives and Republicans seem much more in favor of partisan ID in school board races, but I wonder how consistently it would work out in favor of the candidate with R by their name. Especially in an election cycle like the one we just had.

Fresno Unified was at risk of losing up to $250 million in federal funding if it kept its Black student achievement program in its present state.

Very interesting read from @alexzimmerman.bsky.social on how mayoral control already has eroded to some degree in NYC, which vested more power in the mayor than most other "mayoral control" districts. www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

I tried to make some sense out of the swings and retrenchments we're seeing in who gets to run large urban school districts — mayors or elected school boards. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/23/p...

Just got summoned to explain the government shutdown to my kid's friend over a Facetime call.

That charter schools are actually private is not just the argument of charter opponents. It's the argument of those who want to see religious charter schools or think they should be able to require girls to wear skirts.

It's a club no one wants to be part of, but these teachers didn't have a choice. Now they want to provide support to other educators who have been through school shootings. www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Gonna try to be better about posting on here, at least to share the good work being done at Chalkbeat and other outlets. As I slowly backed away from Twitter and Facebook, I lost the habit of posting at all.

Reports of the death of the bachelor’s degree have been greatly exaggerated. Enrollment is near pre-pandemic levels, real tuition is flat or down, and the college wage premium remains high. I explore how the narrative became disconnected from the data. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/is-college...

This is big news: Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group, has helped to seed a test case in Colorado over whether public schools can provide Christian education www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...

BREAKING: House passes a bill to end the nation's longest government shutdown on Day 43, sending the measure to Trump for his signature.

As advocates seed new cases testing the boundaries of the First Amendment in public schools, I'm going to bring back this thread I wrote when SCOTUS let the lower court ruling stand in the St. Isidore case. bsky.app/profile/zaha...

After the Supreme Court tied on religious charters, Alliance Defending Freedom asked a Colorado school district lawyer to initiate a "parallel case," according to emails obtained by Chalkbeat. A self-described Christian public school opened a few months later. www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...

Had my 15-year-old vote with us last night so that she could watch two adults work through what to do when you don't love any of your choices.

“Ultimately a parent has to make a decision — and you should choose food over pencils.” www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

Happy Election Eve to all the journalists watching the readership metrics on their voter guides.

BOSTON (AP) — Judges order the federal government to use contingency funds for SNAP food aid payments during the shutdown.

A grim accounting of the underappreciated dangers faced by school crossing guards. apnews.com/article/scho...

If you care about a publication, if it makes your life better in any way, pay for it.

I have overseen editorial for two beloved indie publications that folded: Bitch Media and YES! Media. I learned a lot from those experiences, including the fact that passion is not enough to sustain a media operation. Indie publications need consistent revenue to survive.

This might be my most capital-P Patriotic Opinion.

These teams consistently did some of the best reporting at the network. 💔

A loving tribute to a life well lived and to a bygone era in journalism. www.wsj.com/us-news/mari...

Democratic governors aren't leaping to opt into the new federal tax credit scholarship program, but only two have said no outright. One is "excited" at the possibilities. But will federal rules give them the flexibility to shape this program? www.chalkbeat.org/2025/08/13/f...

The Trump administration is also scrutinizing admissions at Brown and Columbia, looking at grades, standardized test scores and race of admitted students and rejected applicants for evidence of secret affirmative action.

This is the first legal action seeking to force NSF to undo the 300 grants they suspended at UCLA last week. Also, read my story to see how the NSF accused UCLA of doing affirmative action because it uses holistic admissions. That was a justification in suspending the grants.

We could have had cancer vaccines, and instead the United States will contribute nothing whatsoever to mRNA research, condemning millions of people worldwide to unnecessary illness and death

Did you feel the North Jersey/Manhattan earthquake? Fill out the USGS “Did you feel it?” form and participate directly in SCIENCE - help them learn more about earthquakes! 🧪 earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

Possibly my single greatest pet peeve on this and all related platforms. POST THE LINK!

Penny Schwinn was supposed to bring expertise and education bonafides to Trump's Education Department. Cultural conservatives back in Tennessee had other ideas. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/31/p...

Sharing this story in Slack almost feels like its own HR violation. So much secondhand embarrassment. www.oklahoman.com/story/news/e...

This is just mean. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

I don't put a lot of stock in "did it the right way" rhetoric, period, because immigration laws were so different in the past, but in this case, Gabe Evans' grandfather was in a nearly identical position to the people whose deportation Evans supports today.

Feeling very grateful today because my father is 90-95% going to maintain his track record of having 10 fingers. For someone who's been a cabinetmaker for nearly 50 years, it's an impressive track record. Things looked dicey yesterday, but the hand surgeon is pretty optimistic.

Very funny interview as Gov. Polis cancels his pedestrian bridge... Polis: "I'll chain myself to the Capitol plaza if needed, to prevent construction of the walkway." @ryanhasaquestion.bsky.social: "Governor, the only person you would chain yourself to oppose is your previous self."

JUST IN: Gov. Polis scuttles walkway near the state Capitol. 87,000 people responded to a survey, 93% opposed. "I'll chain myself to the Capitol plaza, if needed, to prevent construction of the walkway," says Polis, who was its initial and rare champion. Plans have cost ~$1 million, he says.

The Pentagon has ordered U.S. Marines to leave Los Angeles after more than a month in the city.

Online voting on Governor Polis’ $28.5M Capitol pedestrian bridge project closes at midnight Monday. I appreciate that he included my commentary opposing the project on his online survey page. www.co150walkway.com/feedback

The National Education Association board rejected a resolution by union members to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League over its Israel advocacy. forward.com/fast-forward...

A dynamic we've seen in polling even before Trump re-took office: support for deportation tends to erode when pollsters specify that people without criminal records or longtime residents will be among those affected. Now, support is dropping as people see what that looks like in practice.

New from us today: Americans largely oppose recent efforts by Donald Trump’s administration to scale up its deportation program, with a rising majority saying the president has gone too far in carrying out deportations. www.cnn.com/2025/07/20/p...

Thinking about how many schools will choose to show this documentary as the United States turns 250. Excellent piece about the very fraught task that Burns appears to be taking pains to avoid.

Saw Los Lobos in concert last night. They're as amazing as ever. Wish the guy in front of me could have put his phone away and felt something instead of taking dozens of 20 second video clips, forcing me to watch half the concert on his screen.

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

The Mahmoud decision expanded parental rights to opt their children out of instruction they find religiously objectionable. Parents from a range of faith traditions could seek to exercise those rights as Texas rolls out its Bible-infused curriculum. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/17/t...

This is one of those examples where, if the flood hadn’t happened and a camp director was telling you about this story it would be a perfect example of red tape, bureaucracy, the hassle of regulation etc. And yet. apnews.com/article/texa...

I thought Ryan Walters was going to say schools could afford to cover lunch costs if they stopped doing woke DEI crap, but instead he said they could afford it if they slashed administrative costs. kfor.com/news/local/w...

The Trump administration says it will bar undocumented immigrant children from Head Start preschool programs. “This decision undermines the fundamental commitment that the country has made to children,” the head of the National Head Start Association said. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/10/n...