The Department of Education Forced Idaho to Stop Denying Disabled Students an Education. Then Trump Gutted Its Staff. by @beccasavransky.bsky.social @idahostatesman.com

Here's something that *didn't* make it into the NY state budget. NY owes school districts $300+ million in unpaid claims going back more than a decade, and there's no plan to pay it off. @nysfocus.bsky.social nysfocus.com/2025/05/13/n...

Three-fourths of NSF funding cuts hit education

The longtime UFT president’s role in approving the loathed Medicare Advantage cost-savings switch of retiree health insurance has rival candidates gunning to dislodge him. www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/12/u...

"The DOE acknowledged that candidates are not permitted to visit schools as a condition for political endorsement by any group, but said regulations carve out 'allowable conditions' for visits. Spokespersons for the DOE and City Hall refused to specify the conditions." nypost.com/2025/05/10/u...

After a MASSIVE lift poring over thousands of pages of the NYS budget, the team at @nysfocus.bsky.social has put together this comprehensive budget guide. It's in-depth, searchable, and easy to understand — completely the opposite of how the state presents it. nysfocus.com/2025/05/10/n...

Important updates here on where things landed with education in NY’s budget. Cellphone ban (big!) and a wild backroom deal to roll back standards for yeshivas.

It's more than a month late, but we've finally got a state budget! In our education round-up: a statewide cellphone ban, rollbacks for substantial equivalency and Foundation Aid *finally* gets an update @nysfocus.bsky.social nysfocus.com/2025/05/09/n...

New state formula means $314 million less for NYC schools, but city still gets Foundation Aid hike https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/05/08/foundation-aid-formula-kathy-hochul-state-budget-nyc-schools/

NEW INVESTIGATION from me and @vernalcoleman.bsky.social: Internal emails show doctors and others at VA hospitals around the country begging for help as cuts hurt veterans' care, including "live-saving cancer trials." www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Yonkers political insiders have long whispered about how Mayor Mike Spano's administration interacts with a lobbying firm run by two other Spano brothers. Here are 5 takeaways from our investigation that shed light on those details:

ICYMI: New York's population is declining steadily, and it's having a major financial impact on schools. @nysfocus.bsky.social nysfocus.com/2025/05/02/n...

When kids are evicted, they often lose both home and school

‘Technical issues’ take NYC parent council elections offline on first day of voting https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/25/parent-council-elections-offline-after-technical-problems-voting-system/

CUNY public safety officers and the NYPD quickly quashed an attempt by students to establish a ‘Liberated Zone’ on the quad of City College of New York on Thursday afternoon. www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/24/c...

NYC needs thousands more teachers. Can it grow them from the ground up? https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/23/amid-teacher-hiring-challenge-nyc-tries-homegrown-approach/

The federal government is making lists of Jews. At Barnard College. In 2025. theintercept.com/2025/04/23/t...

In March, 48 people were arrested in New Mexico, according to an ICE press release. Why is nothing known about who was arrested or their whereabouts?

There's evidence that this happens in other states, too. Reporters in other states: Let's talk! We'd love to help duplicate this investigation across the country. [email protected]

Moms for Liberty of Wayne County and the Rev. Jacob Marchitell just lost their legal battle to have five books removed from the Clyde-Savannah School District Here’s the decision from the court, issued last week:

The NYS Educational Conference Board issues a letter urging the legislature to finalize a budget deal. The deadline for districts to vote on next year's budget is looming and they don't know how much state aid they're getting

"You got a lot of people running around patting themselves on the back about that, but there are still a lot of spaces that don’t have air conditioning." www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

NYC commits $167 million to shore up early childhood education system amid federal threats https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/16/eric-adams-restores-early-childhood-funding-amid-trump-budget-threats/

Hang on. So dozens of NYCHA employees are going to prison but the contractors who bribed them are still getting paid??? www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/16/n...

New Jersey school segregation case: Plaintiffs ask higher court to step in https://www.chalkbeat.org/newark/2025/04/17/new-jersey-school-segregation-case-plaintiffs-appeal-trial-court-order/

Colorado lawmakers reject attempt to ban seclusion in schools https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2025/04/17/lawmakers-reject-attempt-to-ban-seclusion-in-schools/

“What if we never pay them?” Mr. Trump casually asked, according to a person familiar with the conversation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion. “Wouldn’t that be cool?” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

New statement from Columbia after Harvard refused Trump’s demands: Acting president Claire Shipman says in an email that the university has not reached a deal with the feds and “would reject any agreement that would require us to relinquish our independence and autonomy”

NYC Mayor Eric Adams ,alongside former Mayor Bill de Blasio, announced today he will put $167m back into early childhood education -- which he had previously tried to eliminate in his January budget ny1.com/nyc/all-boro...

NEW: What happens when prosecutors help convict innocent people — and their colleagues are tasked with investigating it? We looked at every exoneration tied to New York’s conviction review units. Here’s what we found.

NYC comptroller slams Ed. Dept.’s ‘stunning’ failure to complete mandated school asbestos checks https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/09/asbestos-inspections-lacking-at-nyc-schools-audit-finds/

New York has a notoriously opaque state budget process. I reached out to two dozen legislators for more details about a draft bill that would weaken state oversight of nonpublic schools -- but got few answers. For @nysfocus.bsky.social: nysfocus.com/2025/04/10/y...

Still reeling from pandemic, NYC students call for more peer mental health support https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/07/nyc-students-call-for-more-peer-mental-health-support-as-pandemic-effects-linger/

Hi Albany! The @nysfocus.bsky.social team is in town - come say hi later!

NYC students, educators emphasize importance of diverse curricula amid Trump’s attacks on DEI https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/04/04/nyc-students-educators-say-ethnic-studies-important-after-trump-executive-orders/

Since Mayor Eric Adams took office in 2022, stop-and-frisk incidents have risen each year and continued to disproportionately target people of color. A notorious “anti-crime” plainclothes unit may have contributed to those increases.

Milwaukee found lead all over it schools. So the city's health commissioner called CDC experts for help. Except they'd just been fired. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/...

“At Sackets Harbor, we view ourselves as a family, and right now, some of our family members are hurting.”

👀 Just noticed the Hochul admin has considerably trimmed down its stock press release language about NY’s climate agenda. Below left is from NYSERDA last October; right is from this month. Removed: “nation-leading” tag and references to cap and invest + various other climate law targets

A ProPublica and @capitolnewsil.bsky.social series documented multiple instances of abuse and neglect by staff against disabled patients at a state-run mental health facility — including the 2014 beating of a man with intellectual disabilities.

NEW: There's a small, overlooked unit within NY's education department that is responsible for reviewing ~6K complaints of teacher misconduct each yr. But it can sometimes take years to close out cases because of a huge backlog. @nysfocus.bsky.social nysfocus.com/2025/03/26/n...

Power. Politics. Race. Schools. Kids. This story is so important. How Texas Conservatives Use At-Large School Board Elections to Influence What Students Learn @jschwartzreporter.bsky.social and Dan Keemahill w/ @texastribune.org

NEW: In six weeks, the state will push thousands of low-wage New Yorkers onto a private insurance plan that won’t cover basic medical needs. A founder of the company leading the plan was convicted of submitting falsified documents to Congress.

The country’s largest private funder of biomedical research has cut its funding for a program at Queens College that had focused on making STEM education more inclusive, the college confirmed to THE CITY. www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/18/f...

The governor and the legislature agree on some criminal justice policies — namely those that would increase prison oversight.

So far, trucks aren’t driving into the Bronx to avoid congestion pricing nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/03/19/g...

“Since January 2023, more than 1 in 5 new jobs in the U.S. have been in either state and local government or public education” — a major uptick from recent years and a rare moment where public job growth has outpaced private www.governing.com/workforce/sl...

This is an outstanding effort by the reporters at @nysfocus.bsky.social ->