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For the first time EPA could order schools to test water for lead, but experts warn that doesn’t mean it will be safe to drink — or that lead will be removed
As Newark, New Jersey, Flint, Michigan, and other cities continue to grapple with lead in their water supplies, the Environmental Protection Agency is mulling changes to the decades-old regulation meant to protect Americans from the highly damaging contaminant. Among the proposed changes to the Lead and Copper Rule are a first-time national requirement to test...
By Laura Fay | February 3, 2020
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Most states missing key student data from their report cards. 3 parent empowerment groups have advice for making them better
Who should own education data? If you ask the Data Quality Campaign’s Brennan McMahon Parton, it’s the community — students and their families have the right to know how their schools are doing for all students, she says. But some states are making that pretty difficult. That’s why her organization partnered with two other parent...
By Laura Fay | December 9, 2019
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As schools diversify, principals remain mostly white — and 5 other things we learned this summer about America’s school leaders
While kids were running through sprinklers and eating popsicles this summer, a handful of education researchers crunched the numbers about their principals. Reports released this summer offer new insight into America’s school principals, from their racial diversity to how turnover affects student achievement. The new papers add to a growing body of research about principals...
By Laura Fay | September 16, 2019
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California lawmakers consider softening proposed crackdown on medical exemptions from vaccines amid protests, concerns from governor about overstepping parents
Confronting a national measles outbreak, California lawmakers this week are mulling how to tighten the state’s already-strict vaccine policy for students while balancing parental rights. State Sen. Richard Pan, a pediatrician representing Sacramento, on Tuesday announced changes to legislation he previously unveiled intending to stop unnecessary exemptions from mandatory immunizations. According to a statement from Pan’s...
By Laura Fay | June 18, 2019
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‘Media literacy is literacy’: Here’s how educators and lawmakers are working to set students up for success online
Michael Danielson gives students in his ninth-grade media literacy class a simple piece of homework each night: Pay attention. The assignment is meant to prod them into thinking critically about the countless messages that bombard them every day. They report back to their teacher and classmates at the start of each class with “media literacy...
By Laura Fay | April 17, 2019
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How Generation Citizen uses action civics to empower students, grow lifelong citizens and combat inequality
Scott Warren wants civics to be the most exciting class in school. That’s why his organization Generation Citizen helps schools adopt action civics, a school-based approach to civics education that empowers students to find a problem in their community and work together to solve it. Warren started Generation Citizen in 2009 when he was a...
By Laura Fay | April 16, 2019
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Rethinking sex ed for the #MeToo moment: A ‘hugely significant’ study shows that strengthening education on relationships & consent can change the culture
*Updated April 8 Maeve Sanford-Kelly was in middle school in 2016 when Bill Cosby, Brock Turner and the Access Hollywood tape associated with then-candidate Donald Trump dominated headlines. Distraught but motivated, she worked with her mom, Maryland state lawmaker Ariana Kelly, to write and pass legislation requiring students to learn about consent in middle and high school....
By Laura Fay | April 1, 2019
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Just 24 states mandate sex education for K-12 students, and only 9 require any discussion of consent. See how California compares
Sex education is getting more attention in the wake of the #MeToo movement, particularly the need to teach students about consent. What students learn about sex and sexuality during school varies widely from state to state and even from classroom to classroom. But this spring lawmakers in a handful of states are trying to pass...
By Laura Fay | April 1, 2019
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Poll: School safety is main concern for California voters, but college affordability tops list for parents
School safety and college affordability are the most pressing issues in education, California voters said in a new poll. The top priority overall was reducing gun violence in schools, with more than half of respondents saying it was “very important.” But voters with children as well as those ages 18-49 and those earning less than...
By Laura Fay | February 6, 2019
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A #RedForEd Spread: On Heels of Los Angeles Strike, Denver, Virginia, Oakland and Sacramento Are Poised for Next Wave of Teacher Activism
*Updated Jan. 25 Teachers around the country were watching closely as their Los Angeles counterparts took to the streets, and now teachers throughout Virginia plan to march on their capital Monday and Denver educators are poised to strike next. In California, teachers in Oakland are voting next week on whether to authorize a strike. And...
By Laura Fay | January 24, 2019