Just News from Center X – August 28, 2026

8.28.26

 

Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice

How Big Tech Captured American Schools

Natasha Singer, New York Times

One humid afternoon in the summer of 2025, representatives from Microsoft were waiting as some 200 teachers trooped into a conference hall in downtown Manhattan. The educators were there for a workshop on the school technology of the moment: artificial intelligence chatbots. The Microsoft team gave a presentation on their Copilot chatbot and asked the teachers to practice using it for tasks like generating emails to parents and customizing lesson plans. Microsoft instructors also screened an A.I. explainer video that their Minecraft Education division had produced for children. The animated clip, based on the company’s blockbuster world-building game, featured a cheerful narrator and a cute Minecraft duck. Even if some schoolchildren weren’t old enough to use A.I., one of the Microsoft workshop leaders told the teachers in attendance, at least they could start learning about it.

How AI Chatbots are Infiltrating Classrooms [Audio]

Molly Rosen speaks with Jessica Winter, On the Media

The introduction of AI tools and chatbots in classrooms across the United States has prompted an outcry among concerned parents, teachers, and students. OTM producer and new parent Molly Rosen speaks with Jessica Winter, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of the article “What Will It Take to Get A.I. Out of Schools?,” about how Google Chromebooks have infiltrated schools and what the research says about the impact of AI use on cognitive development.

$17 Billion Meta Settlement ‘Will Make Social Media Less Dangerous for Our Kids,’ Says California AG

Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams

A bipartisan US coalition of 51 state and territorial attorneys generals on Wednesday announced a proposed agreement with Meta in which the tech titan will pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties and implement sweeping policy changes to settle claims its social media platforms were designed to be addictive to children. “Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of difference for children and their families,” Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms—and will do it within months.”

Language, Culture, and Power

Paving the Way for Secondary Bilingual Education Programs: An Analysis of Policy and Practice

Victoria Kim, Lorena Mancilla, Gloria Choi, Migration Policy Institute

Bilingual education has been widely recognized as effective in supporting English Learners by developing their language skills, affirming their cultural identities, and producing stronger long-term academic outcomes than English-only instructional models. A range of instructional models carry the name “bilingual education,” which describes their use of two languages (typically English and a partner language) to deliver academic content and instruction. To date, bilingual programs have been heavily concentrated in the elementary grades, likely due to implementation challenges in secondary schools. This results in a significant gap: More than 2.3 million ELs are enrolled in secondary schools across the United States, and in states such as California, nearly 43 percent of all ELs are in grades 6 through 12, or the secondary grades. Consequently, many secondary-level multilingual learners—including ELs, newcomers, and students who have been in dual language programs since kindergarten—lack access to programs that could help them stay on track in building their language skills while also mastering grade-level content and meeting course requirements for graduation.

Research reveals systemic discrimination against Indigenous Mexican students in California schools

Brenda Fernanda Verano, CALÓ News

For years, William Perez and Rafael Vásquez have been researching how well California schools recognize students who speak Indigenous languages such as Mixtec and Zapotec, who are often categorized as Latino or Hispanic. Today, California is home to the largest concentration of Indigenous Mexicans, with an estimated 170,000 to 350,000 residents who have been born or are descended from distinct Indigenous communities, spanning various ethnic and linguistic groups.

Despite the thousands of Indigenous Mexicans with deep ancestral ties and rich social, cultural and linguistic practices, they face many institutionalized and systemic forms of discrimination and suppression, especially, and many times originating in school.

Montana agrees to accountability for Indigenous education

Nora Mabie, Montana Free Press

A group of Montana students, families and tribes has reached a settlement with the state Office of Public Instruction that’s set to bring closure to a yearslong legal dispute about how the state implements its constitutional requirement to provide Indigenous education. The settlement, if approved, would resolve a class action lawsuit filed in 2021 in which plaintiffs alleged the state has failed to implement and enforce a constitutional mandate requiring K-12 public education to recognize the “distinct and unique cultural heritage of American Indians.” In 1999, the state Legislature enacted the Indian Education for All (IEFA) Act to implement that constitutional mandate and require public schools to teach Native American history and culture. Since 2007, the Legislature has appropriated about $3.5 million annually to school districts to fund implementation. According to the IEFA Act, schools are supposed to use the funds to develop curricula, purchase class materials and train teachers.

Whole Children and Strong Communities

In the Wake of a Toxic Disaster, Roseland Parents Still Struggle to Keep Their Children Safe

Adam Mahoney, Mother Jones

As a young boy in the 1960s, almost every weekend Elbert McGee walked a half-mile with his father through the wooded streets of Roseland, Louisiana, to the Tangipahoa River. There, he learned to swim and fish for bass, crappie, and the occasional catfish. ​“We had a good, good life as children,” McGee said, unloading fishing gear from his truck. “We grew up healthy and in community.” Today, McGee still lives in the home where he was raised. But he no longer makes the 10-minute walk to the river to fish. Instead, he drives three hours to Grand Isle. That change only came after August 22, 2025, when Smitty’s Supply, an oil facility in the majority-Black town, exploded. The disaster released an estimated 12 million gallons of oily liquid and chemical waste into the river, and painted hundreds of homes, churches, schools, and playgrounds with black oily streaks.

California maintains school vaccine rules despite Trump order

Diana Lambert, Ed Source

As schools reopen amid a national surge in measles cases, California students will continue to follow the state’s existing vaccination requirements, despite President Donald Trump’s latest effort to change the country’s childhood vaccine schedule. California has the authority to determine which immunizations are required for students to attend school. The state will continue to follow guidelines created by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts, said Dr. Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health and the state’s public health officer. The executive order, issued Aug. 10, calls for spreading childhood vaccinations across multiple medical visits. It also recommends administering the combined measles, mumps, rubella vaccine as three separate shots, and reduces the number of recommended vaccinations for all children from 18 to 11.

Art for the People

Zoe Lago, The Progressive

This summer, more than 560,000 fans gathered in Los Angeles, California to watch the World Cup. With its duties as a host city for the FIFA World Cup now over, Los Angeles is now redirecting its focus to another international sporting event: the 2028 Summer Olympics. It will have been forty-four years since the city last hosted the Summer Games—and since Alonzo Davis, activist and artist, brought Los Angeles muralism to the Olympic stage. After travelling to cities like New York and Chicago, Davis noticed the West coast lacked a space where Black artists could come together. In 1967, Davis co-founded the Brockman Gallery with his brother, one of the first Black-owned art galleries in Los Angeles. Following his involvement in securing a mural site for the Los Angeles Bicentennial in 1982, Davis saw a chance to further his public art goals. He wanted to enhance the 1984 Olympics by creating murals around the city that showcased Los Angeles’s diverse culture. The project would be the first time artists used the U.S. 101 freeway as a canvas for their art.

Access, Assessment, Advancement

The leaders who are shaping early childhood education need better, more professional preparation

Michael Levine, Hechinger Report

Something essential has been missing from the national conversation about what it will take to improve and sustain early childhood education. We are not producing nearly enough leaders with the specialized expertise to turn good policy ideas into lasting systems that work. Early childhood policy decisions are made every day by people who care deeply about children but were prepared to do something else entirely. The consequences show up in systems that don’t talk to each other, investments that don’t reach the families who need them most and reforms that look good on paper but collapse when the programs are designed and put in place. You will likely not find the kind of early childhood expertise needed in the offices of governors,state legislatures, congressional corridors, county health agencies, small and big businesses or school district central offices.

The Daycare Wars Are a Trap

Elliot Haspel, Jacobin

On a policy level, much of the debate about childcare comes down to how best to shore up a failing system. While there is tremendous disagreement about what role government should play, everyone from democratic socialists to the US Chamber of Commerce to Republican senators acknowledges that childcare isn’t working for too many households and that it’s having negative ripple effects on both families and the economy. From the reddest states to the bluest, lawmakers are actively wrestling with that reality. On an individual parent level, however, much of the debate is still stuck on whether sending a child to a daycare center is going to harm them for life. That argument — along with its counterpoint, that formal childcare is an unalloyed positive — gets in the way of a productive conversation about making sure every parent has the care they need to raise their kids the way they want while providing for their families.

California promised undocumented college students a future. Now they are losing hope

Alexandra Villarteal, Los Angeles Times

At Folsom Lake College’s main administrative building, a flier on the wall tells students living in the country without legal status that “You can still go to college in California even with the current political climate.” “Keep going,” it says. “You are not alone.” Nearby is Alicia Alejo’s office at the community college’s Undocu-Falcons Center, where she helps undocumented students access pro bono legal consults, mental health appointments, food pantries and financial aid. But during the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, she said, the students she serves are keeping a low profile, sometimes opting for online classes and rarely getting involved with campus life. “I haven’t encountered a student that’s been very, you know, loud and proud,” she said.

Inequality, Poverty, Segregation

The ripple effects of the Iran war threaten education for millions of children worldwide

Aniruddha Ghosal, Sopheng Cheang and Anton L. Delgado, Los Angeles Times

Unlike the outright school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Iran war’s impact on education is less visible — but it is falling first and hardest on the poorest families around the world. Soaring fuel prices are making it more expensive for children and teachers to get to school, and for many governments to fund education as national budgets come under strain.

If the war continues, it could push up to 23.4 million more children into poverty by the end of the year, according to a recent United Nations Children’s Fund report. About 80% of those children would be in Africa and Asia. For families already living on the edge, the war’s ripple effects are forcing difficult choices: whether to pay for food, fuel, rent and electricity, or keep every child in school. “The Iran war is likely going to force millions of children out of school and could force millions of children to make the decision not to enroll in the first place,” said Sabrina Hervey of the Qatar-based Education Above All Foundation.

Navigating Cultural and Economic Barriers to Girls’ Education in Rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A Qualitative Study of Female Agency

Muhammad Suhail Khan and Zhang Biao, AERA Open

This qualitative study explores how girls and their female relatives in rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa navigate barriers to schooling stemming from cultural norms, economic constraints, and institutional conditions in Pakistan. Conducted in Mardan, this research employed a phenomenological approach based on the analytical concept of negotiated (contractual) agency to examine how girls and their female relatives navigate educational constraints within the frameworks of family and societal expectations. Data were collected via semi-structured Pashto interviews and field observations with girls aged 13–18 years and their mothers and grandmothers from 20 families. The thematic analysis, based on Braun and Clarke’s six-stage model, examined the participants’ agency, emotions, and structural barriers. The findings show that while women face patriarchal norms, limited job options, and restricted mobility, they also express regret, hope, and resistance in their narratives. Some women demonstrated initiative through negotiation and informal education. Attending to these emotional narratives and community strategies may help inform context-sensitive approaches to educational reform.

They grew up with disability rights. Now, they’re fighting to keep them [Audio]

Jonaki Mehta, Things Considered

Cody and Kaleigh Brendle grew up near the Jersey Shore, going out on their grandfather’s boat on weekends, learning to swim and riding bikes together.”I was the annoying little sister — like, ‘Wait for me, wait for me!’” said Kaleigh. She remembered standing by in awe at summer camp as her fearless older brother scaled rock-climbing walls and went down waterslides. “I was like, ‘Wow, he’s doing all this — maybe I can try.’” The siblings said they’ve always relied on each other for support navigating life as two blind kids, now adults. Cody, 27, lives at home with his parents, and Kaleigh, 23, is starting law school across the country.

Democracy and the Public Interest

Learning to Disagree: Why We Need a Refresh of Our Civic Culture

David E. Campbell, Dædalus

Strengthening American democracy will take more than reforming political institutions. Equally important is refreshing our civic culture. Specifically, the nation needs a reawakening of civic education, broadly defined. Priority one for a renewed education in civics is for Americans to learn how to disagree with one another. This is harder than it sounds, as most people are predisposed to avoid conflict. Research shows that the most effective form of civic education in K–12 classrooms entails the open discussion of controversial topics. Tragically but understandably, the current political environment makes teachers reluctant to engage in this type of instruction. But teachers should be encouraged to lead such discussions and model for our young people how to disagree agreeably. Civic education, however, should not be limited to the classroom. Civic organizations of all types—clubs, congregations, groups, and guilds—are also settings in which we learn to interact with our fellow citizens, including and especially people with different political views than our own. 

Why Democrats Must Embrace a “Mom Populist” Education Agenda

Jennifer Berkshire, The New Republic

Pease Elementary in downtown Austin, Texas, has sat empty since 2020. Formerly the oldest continuously operating school in Texas, Pease was shuttered by the Austin Independent School District to save money. On a steamy day this summer, the hulking structure provided an appropriate backdrop for the political campaign of Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic state representative who is challenging incumbent GOP Governor Greg Abbott. A district plan to close the school in 2012, while Hinojosa’s son was a student there, inspired her political career, sending her first to the school board and then, four years later, to the Statehouse just a few blocks away. But Pease is also symbolic of Texas’s surprisingly fierce attachment to public education. The school dates back to 1876, the same year that the current state constitution enshrined “a system of public free schools”—a factoid that Texas advocates drop with regularity. That Pease is no longer a school matters, too. Since late 2023, at least 135 Texas public schools either have closed or are slated to close due to budget crises brought on by state funding shortfalls.

Teacher asks Supreme Court to hear case on Ten Commandments in schools

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY

A Louisiana teacher is asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on the state’s law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, calling it a topic of “exceptional and growing national importance.” Christopher Dier, an Advanced Placement U.S. history teacher in New Orleans who was named Louisiana’s Teacher of the Year in 2020, specifically asked the court to determine whether such requirements are permitted under the First Amendment, which bars the government from “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” “The Establishment Clause forbids the government from commanding the placement of a single favored faith’s sacred text on the wall of every schoolroom as clearly as it would forbid the placement of that text on the wall of every courtroom,” Dier’s petition said.

Other News of Note

Remembering Dolly Parton, Children’s Literacy Champion

Cindy Long, NEA Today

The world lost a treasure on August 25, 2026, when superstar Dolly Parton died at the age of 80. She was a global icon who was loved across cultures, borders, and generations. A legendary singer and songwriter, actor, and businesswoman, she was also a humanitarian who valued people over fame and fortune. Parton, who “always gave from her heart,” made enormous contributions to child literacy. She was known as the Queen of Country who wore lavish rhinestone-studded outfits and towering platinum blonde wigs, but said, “If I’m remembered 100 years from now, I hope it will be not for looks but for books.” She launched Imagination Library in 1996 to inspire a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.