Cheers
- Expanded ESA options help more than half of Florida’s K–12 students attend schools outside their assigned neighborhood zones. —The Wall Street Journal
- Buried in the Trump budget request is an affirmative statement of support for ESSA’s statewide assessment, accountability, and reporting requirements. —Dale Chu & Lindsay Fryer, Assessment HQ
- Houston ISD’s STAAR results are in, with third through eighth graders improving almost across the board amid state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles’s controversial reform efforts. —Houston Public Media
Jeers
- Forty-seven public schools in Chicago operate at less than one-third capacity. Facilities maintenance costs rise as enrollment declines, with students facing limited academic and extracurricular opportunities despite extreme per-pupil spending. What will it take for Chicago officials to confront the problem? —Chalkbeat
- Immigration raids in California’s Central Valley caused a sharp rise in student absences as parents kept children home to avoid deportation. —The New York Times
