Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice

The Gutting of the Department of Education Is Worse Than You Think

Elsie Carson-Holt and Adelaide Parker, The Nation

ince the Department of Education was formed by Congress in 1979, gutting it has been an enduring priority for the conservative movement. Ronald Reagan promised to shutter the year-old department when he became president in 1980, and Donald Trump, with a sweeping executive order signed on March 20, effectively achieved this when he dismantled its key functions. The move jeopardizes services for students across the United States, including administering federal funds for public schools, managing student loans, and overseeing how grants are managed by state governments. Undoubtedly, marginalized student communities—such as low-income, disabled, and students of color—will be the most impacted by the downsizing of the DOE. What is less clear is the specific implications of the executive order, and how and when they will unfold. We’ve gathered four experts on public education in the United States to talk about how the dismantling of the Department of Education will hurt students immediately and in the years to come.

Venezuelan public school student in NY detained at immigration court

Arya Sundaram, Gothamist

The New York City public schools chancellor is encouraging parents to continue sending their children to school after a 20-year-old high school student from Venezuela was detained in New York City immigration court. “New York City Public Schools stands firmly with our students, including our immigrant students, and our schools will always be safe spaces for them,” Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said in a statement on social media. “While this incident did not occur on school grounds, we want to reassure our families: We will continue to speak out and advocate for the safety, dignity, and rights of all of our students.”

UCLA Ed & IS Launches Going Public Initiative

John McDonald, SEIS

Higher education has been much in the news of late. Student protests and university responses to them have roiled campuses.  Colleges and universities have faced political attack over the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion and use of Critical Race Theory, and confronted by charges of anti-Semitism. The Trump administration has cut millions of research dollars and other funding for institutions of higher education, and threatened to cut more.  Things are not quiet on the campus quad. But amid this strife, at least for a few hours earlier this month, faculty members and researchers in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies came together with community members to join in what many might consider a more accurate reflection of the purpose and role of higher education — to engage in learning, to share and discuss ideas, to talk about what they want and need to learn, plan for how they could go about doing it, and how they can engage with and share what they learn across the communities they serve. “It was almost as if you could forget about the rest of it,” noted one observer. “At least for a while.”

Language, Culture, and Power

Brazil’s anti-racism education initiatives are picking up pace

Fanny Lothaire and Jan Onoszko, France 24

In the courtyard of the Yuri Gagarin school in Bomsucesso, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, loudspeakers at full blast cannot hide the cries of happiness from the 300 or so pupils gathered in the pouring rain to see a concert by MC and teacher Allan Pevirguladez, who is revered as a rock star.  Pevirguladez leads the children in singing songs celebrating Brazil in all its diversity. “My hair is very pretty, it’s Black power. And Joao’s is very pretty too, blond and straight. Vitoria’s is so sweet, it’s in chocolate braids,” sings a chorus of Black and mixed-race children between 5 and 12. Musica Popular Brasileira Infantil Antirracista – or MPBIA, as it is known – has become a phenomenon on social media. Created by Pevirguladez two years ago to combat racism from an early age, it was while teaching his pupils that he came up with the idea of a song about Brazil’s ethnic diversity.

Are schools pushing views about race on their pupils?

Karl Kitching, Schools Week

In the heated debate on teaching about race equality in schools, claims abound that teachers are pushing ‘politically biased’ views on young people by discussing anti-racist ideas and movements like Black Lives Matter. Our research, published today, proves this is not true. Our University of Birmingham team has conducted the first national-level study into the extent to which young people are supported to express themselves about race and faith equality issues at school. We surveyed over 3,000 Year 10 students and over 200 teachers, and conducted in-depth case studies in secondary schools. What we found is that young people from racially and religiously minoritised backgrounds are often unlikely to feel they can talk about these issues at school.

This family didn’t just try to fix their daughter’s Deafness — they embraced it [Video]

Nas Campanella and Evan Young, ABC Australia

When Kate and Dan Walls found out their daughter Charlie was Deaf, they knew it wasn’t something they wanted to just fix and move on from. They made a decision many other parents wouldn’t have and one that fully embraced her Deafness — for the whole family to learn Australian Sign Language (Auslan). “I really felt like it was Charlie’s birth right to have sign language as part of her life and to have access to the Deaf community,”  Kate said. Thanks to the use of cochlear implants, 14-month-old Charlie can access the hearing world and has started learning spoken English as well.

Whole Children and Strong Communities

After-school programs, a boon for learning, could face Trump cuts [Audio]

Jonaki Mehta, All Things Considered

Around 3:30 in the afternoon, a group of bandana-clad middle schoolers gather around a neatly laid table, covered with a colorful, floral tablecloth. The smell of freshly baked granola wafts through the industrial-style kitchen as students prepare yogurt parfaits. “We’re making it like the French flag, so red for strawberry, white for yogurt, and then blue for blueberry,” says sixth-grader Blaine Hart. This after-school cooking club in a rural community in Maine is preparing to host an international food festival at the end of the month. The students are currently finishing up a unit on French cuisine, plating and presentation.

Minnesota Teens Are Fighting Climate Anxiety With Shovels

Kate Selig, New York Times

Early on a Saturday morning in Minnesota, a group of teenagers gathered at the edge of six acres of wooded, hilly land. Most were quiet, some blinking against the sun. They were robotics enthusiasts, aspiring marine scientists, artists, athletes and Scouts. What they shared was a desire for hands-on conservation work, a meaningful response for many of them to their worries about climate change. “Cool,” said Sophia Peterson, the group’s 18-year-old leader, who faced the crowd with a grin. “Let’s get started.”

California schools see 9% surge in homeless students as funds decrease

Betty Márquez Rosales, EdSource

The number of students experiencing homelessness who were enrolled in California’s TK-12 public schools has jumped over 9% for yet another year, even as overall enrollment rates continue on a downward trend. Nearly 20,000 more homeless students were enrolled by the first Wednesday in October, known as Census Day, during the 2024-25 school year. This increase represents a 9.3% change from the previous school year, and it means the homeless student population in the state has surged 37% in the last decade. Schools say the spike in homelessness is due both to families’ worsening financial troubles and improved identification efforts. Covid-era funding, refined data tracking, and improved training and protocol have resulted in schools being more likely to properly identify homeless students than in the past. “It’s a combination of a perfect storm where you have all of these elements coming into play, which then speaks to that increase.

Access, Assessment, Advancement

Trump cuts to Education Department grants will cost students opportunities, educators and former employees say

Laura Santhanam, PBS Newshour

One federal grant program changed the trajectory of Joshua Sparks’ life. Now, that program is at risk. As a teen, Sparks knew he wanted to go to college and become a teacher. But growing up in rural Kentucky in a low-income household without role models who had attended college, he didn’t know where to start. He found the help he needed in the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) initiative. Through the program, Sparks connected with mentors who helped him learn about financial aid, how to fill out a FAFSA form and how to look through a college course catalog. States, colleges, school districts and community organizations apply for federal money to support this work with students like him each year. Sparks graduated from high school — something his grandfather, who helped raise him, never did — attended college and went on to earn multiple graduate degrees, including his doctoral degree.

US halts student visa appointments and plans expanded social media vetting

Brandon Drenon and James FitzGerald, BBC

US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered US embassies around the world to stop scheduling appointments for student visas as it prepares to expand social media vetting of such applicants. An official memo said social media vetting would be stepped up for student and foreign exchange visas, which would have “significant implications” for embassies and consulates. It comes during a wide-ranging Trump crackdown on some of America’s most elite universities. He sees these institutions as too left-wing – accusing them of failing to combat antisemitism when pro-Palestinian protests have unfolded on campuses.

Here’s how much international students contribute to the U.S. economy

Vivian Ho, Washington Post

As the Trump administration pauses new student visas in its battle to force change at the nation’s elite universities, economists warn that the loss of international students would affect not just the schools that depend on their tuition but local and state economies, as well. The more than 1.1 million international students who studied in the United States last year contributed nearly $44 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2023-2024 school year, according to nonpartisan nonprofit NAFSA, the Association of International Educators — from $10 million in Alaska to more than $6 billion in California — and supported more than 378,000 jobs.

Inequality, Poverty, Segregation

Contemporary income inequality outweighs historic redlining in shaping intra-urban heat disparities in Los Angeles

Anamika Shreevastava, Glynn Hulley, Sai Prasanth, TC Chakraborty, Diego Ramos Aguilera, Kelly Twomey Sanders & Yi Yin, Nature Communications 

The roots of intra-urban heat disparity in the U.S. often trace back to historical discriminatory practices, such as redlining, which categorized neighborhoods by race or ethnicity. In this study, we compare the relative impacts of historic redlining and current income inequality on thermal disparities in Los Angeles. A key innovation of our work is the use of land surface temperature data from the ECOSTRESS instrument aboard the International Space Station, enabling us to capture diurnal trends in urban thermal disparities. Our findings reveal that present-day income inequality is a stronger predictor of heat burden than the legacy of redlining. Additionally, land surface temperature disparities exhibit a seasonal hysteresis effect, intensifying during extreme heat events by 5−7 °C. Sociodemographic analysis highlights that African-American and Hispanic populations in historically and economically disadvantaged areas are often the most vulnerable. Our findings suggest that while the legacy of redlining may persist, the present-day heat disparities are not necessarily an immutable inheritance, where targeted investments and interventions can pave the way for a more thermally just future for these communities.

Financial literacy is about more than personal responsibility – wealth and inequality should be part of the new curriculum

Jennifer Tatebe and Derek Shafer, Marta Estellés, The Conversation

Financial literacy will become a core element of the New Zealand social sciences curriculum for Year 1-10 students from 2027. But what is being proposed presents a limited picture of the factors influencing people’s financial wellbeing. The specifics of the curriculum have yet to be released. However, the government’s announcement emphasised a focus on individual responsibility. Young people will be taught what they need to live within their means and how to accumulate enough wealth for retirement.

Maybe We Need a New Word for “Inequality”

David Moscrop, Jacobin

It’s something beyond tragedy, beyond farce. The Trump administration and its Republican congressional allies are trying to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which would, among other measures, make Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent. The total cost of the bill’s revenue-slashing provisions is expected to come in at $3.8 trillion over ten years. The rich will be the beneficiaries. Republicans argue the tax cuts will create wealth. It’s simple, misleading, debunked trickle-down nonsense. As a growth strategy, it won’t work. It never does. Indeed, it’s hard to believe it’s even meant to. But as a giveaway to oligarchs — many of whom support the Trump administration and some of whom literally work for it — well, it will work just fine.

Democracy and the Public Interest

Hundreds of NYC students walk out of class for ‘anti-Trump, nonpartisan’ protest

Michael Elsen-Rooney and Amy Zimmer, Chalkbeat

Hundreds of high school students in New York City walked out of class Tuesday for what organizers called an “anti-Trump, nonpartisan” protest against attacks on democracy under President Donald Trump’s administration. Teenagers representing dozens of high schools, many sporting red, white, and blue apparel and face paint, met in Union Square. Organizers made the case that pushing back on President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on universities and student protesters while ramping up immigration enforcement is a matter of standing up for constitutional rights rather than partisan politics.

The push to open the country’s first religious public school isn’t over, proponents say

Nadra Nittle, The 19th

One of the most awaited Supreme Court rulings of the year ended in a deadlocked decision that led to triumph for supporters of church-state separation in schools. On Thursday, the court split 4-4 over a bid to let Oklahoma use taxpayer funds to open what would have been the United States’ first religious public charter school — St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the sole woman represented in the court’s conservative supermajority, did not deliberate in the case. She recused herself, reportedly because she is a good friend of a Notre Dame Law School professor who served as an adviser to the charter school.

Texas is closer to putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a key vote

Jim Vertuno and Nadia Lathan, AP News

Texas would require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a Republican proposal that cleared a major vote Saturday and would make the state the nation’s largest to impose such a mandate. If passed as expected, the measure is likely to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it a constitutional violation of the separation of church and state. The Republican-controlled House gave its preliminary approval with a final vote expected in the next few days. That would send the bill to the desk of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has indicated he will sign it into law. “The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially,” said Republican state representative Candy Noble, a co-sponsor of the bill.

Other News of Note

Disrupting the Legacy: Why Unions Must Fight Antiblackness

Monique Redeaux-Smith and Mark Schuller, Counter Punch

Sunday, May 25, marks five years since George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Despite the flurry of statements, very little has changed. Indeed Trump’s Department of Justice is reversing modest reforms made. Aside from a few retrospective posts in the news and from policymakers, particularly from Minnesota, Sunday was a day much like any other. This is notable considering recent mobilization.