Cheers
- Colorado is the rare blue state where charter school enrollment continues to grow. —Chalkbeat
- Yascha Mounk makes a strong case for ditching the college essay. —Yascha Mounk, Substack
- School closure expert Manny Barbara’s approach to helping districts navigate declining enrollment and financial crises—which includes early planning, community engagement, and strategic consolidation—saves money while preserving educational quality. —John Fensterwald, EdSource
Jeers
- New York City schools are planning to shrink class sizes this fall, requiring a hiring spree that will lower teacher standards and prioritize quantity over quality. —Chalkbeat
- As national test scores plummet, states are gutting graduation standards and the federal government is slashing data collection, leaving parents in the dark and students at risk. —Jessica Grose, The New York Times
- A surge in violent assaults against Massachusetts educators highlights a school safety crisis that districts are ill-equipped to handle, leaving teachers traumatized, unsupported, and increasingly driven out of the job. —The Boston Globe
- Weakened accountability, reduced funding, and societal shifts like increased screen time have caused low-performing students to fall behind since well before the pandemic. Now, federal cuts threaten the nation’s ability to track and respond to these disparities. —The New York Times
