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Schools are becoming social services hubs with a little reading and math on the side
Schools are trying to solve every student's every problem, but neglecting their academic mission.
Joanne Jacobs
3 days ago1 min read
1 comment


Seattle is losing top students: 'We don't serve their needs'
Seattle is closing special schools for advanced students -- and losing students to private schools.
Joanne Jacobs
5 days ago2 min read
11 comments


As immigrants fill empty seats, schools scramble to teach them
" Migrants coming here as been a godsend " for New York City schools threatened with closure because of declining enrollment, Schools...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 16, 20242 min read
2 comments


Urban Democrats want choice, but Harris-Walz campaign backs union agenda
The U.S. has "already passed peak public school " (excluding public charters), writes Matt Welch on Reason. Enrollment in district-run...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 11, 20242 min read
2 comments


Chicago spends $29k per student for 19% math proficiency
Chicago Public Schools doubled per-student spending since 2012, according to a report by the Illinois Policy Institute. Achievement is...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 14, 20242 min read
10 comments


Missing: 87,000 students
California's public schools have "lost" 87,000 students, according to an analysis by Thomas Dee, a Stanford professor, and AP. An...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 20, 20232 min read
7 comments


Urban charters produce more brains for the buck
Urban charter schools use "fewer dollars to achieve better outcomes" than traditional public schools enrolling similar students,...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 3, 20231 min read
1 comment


Death wish: Contempt for parents will destroy public ed
Public schools are trouble. Trust is low. Enrollment is falling. Parents are embracing new alternatives. Is transgender policy the hill...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 25, 20232 min read
13 comments

You may already be a student ! Colleges are admitting students who haven't applied
Doonesbury foresaw the trend 20 years ago: Desperate to counteract falling enrollment, colleges are admitting students who haven't...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 24, 20232 min read
0 comments


Competing for kindergarteners
Kindergarten enrollment has fallen by 17 percent in the last six years in district school in New York City, reports the New York Post. In...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 8, 20232 min read
2 comments


Take a deep breath: NYC schools will spend $31,434 per student
New York City schools are spending more while enrolling fewer students, reports Kristina Watrobski for Crisis in the Classroom. Since...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 1, 20232 min read
3 comments


Teacher hiring spree is over
Teacher hiring is about to fall off that fiscal cliff districts were warned about, write Katherine Silberstein and Marguerite Roza of...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 13, 20231 min read
1 comment


Dead wood in the groves of academe
The U.S. has led the world in higher education but our "university system is beginning to molder," writes Adrian Wooldridge in Bloomberg....
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 22, 20231 min read
6 comments


Desperately seeking kindergarteners in Portland, preschoolers in NYC
Four- and five-year-olds are in short supply in Portland, Oregon, reports Rachel Saslow in Williamette Week. Schools are competing for...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 15, 20232 min read
3 comments


Dreams are lost in the community college 'maze'
Community college was "a weird maze," recalls Santos Enrique Camara, who'd hoped to study audio engineering at Washington's Shoreline...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 7, 20232 min read
3 comments


Fewer students means fewer schools
"Faced with millions in budget shortfalls and declining enrollment," Seattle Public Schools is looking at closing schools and laying off...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 13, 20231 min read
1 comment


The students who never returned
A quarter-million students who left public schools during the pandemic are missing, according to an analysis of 21 states and the...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 13, 20232 min read
3 comments

Schools have more teachers, fewer students
Schools are adding teachers while enrolling fewer students, writes Chad Aldeman, policy director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 1, 20231 min read
1 comment


If strike closes LA schools, it could be 'nail in the coffin'
A threatened strike by Los Angeles Unified's service workers -- custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and special-education aides --...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 26, 20231 min read
2 comments


Choice lets parents find a school that respects their rights
"Families should not be stuck in an education system that actively undermines parental rights and ideologically grooms children, argues...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 25, 20231 min read
2 comments
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