A few pieces that caught my eye today:
In Mississippi, lawmakers landed on a permanent $2,000 teacher pay raise plus $14.6 million for classroom initiatives, including expansions of the literacy and math programs driving the state's NAEP gains. The fine print, from a new NEA report out this morning via NPR: nationally, teacher salaries rose 3.5% last year, but adjusted for inflation, real earnings have actually declined nearly 5% since 2017. Mississippi teachers remain the lowest paid in the country at $54,975.
On the federal side, the Education Department launched an automatic FAFSA fraud-prevention tool this week, after the previous verification process left the program bleeding an estimated $1 billion a year to ghost students. (In the California Community College system alone, 31% of applications in 2024-25 were fraudulent.) The new tool catches identity fraud in real time during the application — though financial aid offices are already raising questions about how legitimate students who get wrongly flagged will get back into the queue.
And the screentime debate continues to flood the inbox — EdWeek on LAUSD's vote to limit student screen use, VTDigger on a Vermont bill to regulate classroom tech, and Hechinger on teachers trying to rebuild students' attention spans. ICYMI, on Friday, I filled in for Ben on Whiteboard Notes, arguing that the most interesting thing about the LA Unified vote wasn't the screen restrictions; it was the edtech contract audit buried in the same resolution. (Read here.)
Today's links below.
K-12 Education
Thou Shalt Not Post the Ten Commandments in Classrooms - The Atlantic (subscription model) - April 26, 2026
How Schools Serve English Learners Today, in Charts - Education Week (subscription model) - April 23, 2026
Getting boys in on climate action - The Hechinger Report - April 26, 2026
Math homework is unpopular and going away. Will kids be better off? - The Hechinger Report - April 27, 2026
The tricks teachers are trying to fix students' shortening attention spans - The Hechinger Report - April 24, 2026
Why emotional disturbance, a special ed category, is a double-edged sword for students - NPR - April 26, 2026
Higher Education
Defying His State's Restrictions, a Retired Professor Teaches About Racism: 'History Has to Be Felt' - The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription model) - April 24, 2026
Mamdani Vetoes Bill Requiring Security Plans for Protests Near Schools - Inside Higher Ed - April 27, 2026
Why Students Stop Out—and What Brings Them Back - Inside Higher Ed - April 27, 2026
Hope or Hype? What to Make of Yale's Report on Trust in Higher Ed - Education Next - April 27, 2026
The Education Exchange: The Devaluing of College Professors - Education Next - April 27, 2026
Return on Relationships: Why Higher Ed Is Still a People Business - Higher Ed Today - April 27, 2026
Rising graduate schools costs are putting healthcare jobs at risk - CT Mirror - April 24, 2026
Federal Policy & Politics
Supreme Court turns away another parental rights dispute on gender-identity policies in schools - CBS News - April 27, 2026
Education Department Launches New FAFSA Fraud Prevention Tool - Inside Higher Ed - April 27, 2026
Trump Sidestepped Congress on More Than $1 Billion in Ed. Spending Last Year - Education Week (subscription model) - April 24, 2026
The Trump Administration Says Literacy Matters. Its Budget Plan Says Otherwise - The 74 - April 27, 2026
Treasury's first bite of a $1.7T student loan headache - Politico - April 25, 2026
Trump administration overhaul to college access program met with bipartisan criticism - Chalkbeat - April 24, 2026
Early Learning & Child Care
State funding uncertainty forces Missouri childcare centers to weigh their options - Missouri Independent - April 27, 2026
Michigan tests expanding free 'pre-K for all' to home child-care providers - Bridge Michigan - April 24, 2026
The number of child care deserts in Texas is growing - Houston Public Media - April 24, 2026
State & Local News
California | Oakland Unified Has 'No Plan' for Financial Future, Top Alameda County Schools Chief Warns - KQED - April 24, 2026
Florida | Florida Tackles the Supply Side of School Choice - The Wall Street Journal (subscription model) - April 24, 2026
Kansas | Kansas governor nixes bill requiring high schoolers to pass citizenship test - Kansas Reflector - April 23, 2026
Mississippi | Budget increase covers teacher pay raise - Mississippi Today - April 23, 2026
Missouri | Missouri private school voucher data exposure sparks fight over MOScholars accountability - Missouri Independent - April 27, 2026
NYC | NYC spikes proposals to open AI-focused high school, close Manhattan middle schools - Chalkbeat New York - April 27, 2026
Ohio | In effort to combat chronic school absences, Ohio launches a statewide attendance dashboard - The 74 - April 24, 2026
Oklahoma | New law doubles elementary recess time in Oklahoma schools - Oklahoma Voice - April 27, 2026
Vermont | Legislation would regulate what technology kids use for learning. Lawmakers and advocates say it's overdue. - VTDigger - April 26, 2026
Educator Talent & Staffing
Inflation is sucking the life out of teacher pay raises, report says - NPR - April 27, 2026
How is the STEM teacher pipeline faring in high-need schools? - K-12 Dive - April 27, 2026
AI & Technology
Reed Hastings says AI will drive a return back to humanities: 'I'd be doubling down on emotional skills' - Fortune (subscription model) - April 27, 2026
Tips for parents: Raising resilient learners in an AI world - Brookings Institution - April 27, 2026
Nation's 2nd Largest District Moves to Limit Student Screen Use - Education Week (subscription model) - April 24, 2026
Feedback Bias? How AI Adjusts Replies Based on Race and Gender, Research Finds - KQED - April 27, 2026
Student Health, Safety & Nutrition
Florida lawmakers to reconsider school vaccine requirements - Tampa Bay Times - April 27, 2026
School Buses Should Have Alcohol Detection to Prevent Drunken Driving, NTSB Says - Education Week (subscription model) - April 24, 2026
What Do Students Need From Sex Ed.? Would New Proposals Help? - Education Week (subscription model) - April 24, 2026
Workforce & Career Pathways
Youth Apprenticeships Build a Stronger Bridge from School to Work and Adulthood - The 74 - April 27, 2026
Mississippi is encouraging more people to go into construction. Will it work? - Mississippi Today - April 27, 2026
School Choice
The school choice tax credit may mean fewer students in public schools — but not necessarily less money - Chalkbeat - April 23, 2026
Also Reading
The Books That Take Revenge, Centuries Later - The Atlantic (subscription model) - April 27, 2026
Report: How governments can partner with startups to deliver better services - Route Fifty - April 21, 2026
Gen Z isn't a monolith — and the data shows it - Axios - April 26, 2026
Job Opportunities
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