The battle lines over President Joe Biden’s education budget grew clearer this month as the most conservative wing of the House announced its intention to roll spending back to 2019 levels and cancel the president’s student loan forgiveness plan.  If Speaker Kevin McCarthy agrees to their demands, that would wipe out most of the administration’s...

The percentage of third graders on track in reading hasn’t budged since this time last year, new data shows — a reminder of the literacy setbacks experienced by kindergartners when schools shut down in 2020. Even so, the test’s administrators are interpreting the flatline at 54% as good news. Paul Gazzerro, director of data analysis at curriculum...

Even as it plans to end the COVID public health emergency, the Biden administration will make its case before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday that the ongoing financial hardship caused by the pandemic continues to necessitate a one-time student loan forgiveness plan. The court will hear two cases that say the administration exceeded its authority when it...

When Congress approved $190 billion to combat the educational devastation wrought by the pandemic, the Stockton, California, school system was practically the poster child for a district in need. Nearly 80% of students in the Central Valley district live in poverty. High COVID infection rates were shutting down packing plants where many of their parents work, and...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether students with disabilities can seek financial relief under a federal law prohibiting discrimination even if they’ve already settled a case under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Comments and questions from the justices seemed to lean toward yes. “All she wants is to be compensated for what...

National data released last fall shows students who learned to read during the pandemic are still performing below those who were in early grades before schools closed — in some cases, well below. Fifty-three percent of second graders were on track in reading last fall, compared to 57% in 2019, according to Amplify, a curriculum...

Earlier this month, more than two years into schools’ attempts to spend an unprecedented $189 billion in COVID relief funds, federal officials released a 97-page document that “strongly encourages” districts not to spend the windfall on construction. There’s one hitch: According to one analysis, districts are already spending, or planning to spend, almost a quarter of funds from...

Half of the nation’s 500 largest school districts have changed superintendents or are in the midst of a transition, according to a report tracking leadership churn since the pandemic began. Forty-seven of those districts have seen two or more leadership changes. The turnover has been particularly hard on women: Of the 94 female superintendents who...

The staff members who keep Los Angeles schools running — and prepared them to reopen during the pandemic — say they are on the verge of walking off the job. They held a rally Tuesday in front of the district’s headquarters as a step toward authorizing a strike. As Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and the school...

When the nation’s most important test dropped in late October, the news was abysmal: Scores were among the worst in its history. But amid the carnage, one feel-good story emerged. Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district, appeared to have accomplished a reading miracle, with eighth-grade scores jumping an incredible nine points. Peggy Carr, the...