Educational Issues in the News Across the US: Scanning the Back-to-School Headlines (Part 3)

The final post in IEN’s 2023 Back-to-School series features some of the latest issues – like the use of AI – that many teachers and students are dealing with and surveys some of the education-related topics that are in the headlines in different states and cities in the US. Part 1 of the series shares headlines highlights some of the critical challenges that students, educators and schools are facing in 2023. Part 2 focuses on the stories that covered the natural disasters and climate-change related heat that many schools have had to deal with this year as well. For back-to school headlines from fall 2022 see Hope and trepidation: Scanning the back-to-school headlines in the US; “Over it” but unable to escape it: Going back to school with Covid in 2022; Going back to school in 2022 (Part 3): Scanning headlines from around the world; for fall 2021 see Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 1): Pandemic effects in the US; Going back to school has never been quite like this (Part 2): Quarantines, shortages, wildfires & hurricanes; for fall 2020 see What does it look like to go back to school? It’s different all around the world…; for 2019 see Headlines around the world: Back to school 2019 edition.

Even as the school year continues for many students in the southern hemisphere, the end of summer vacation and the start of school in many northern school systems provides an opportunity to see what education issues are being covered and highlighted. Among them, the impact of AI – and how to prepare for it – as well as the consequences of the end of COVID relief funding are common topics in the US.

Take a round-the-world tour of the return to school, Education Week

From left to right: “1.) Schoolchildren attend a ceremony for the first day of school in a safe place in an underground subway station, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 1, 2023; 2.) A teacher adjusts the posture of a little boy as children attend a school opening ceremony in Ghergani, Romania, on Sept. 11, 2023. 3.) A classroom sits empty at the closed National School of Republique des Etats-Unis d’Amerique, a public school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Sept. 11, 2023, on what should have been the first day back to school after summer break. According to a few teachers and a parent on site, classes did not resume due to parents’ inability to afford tuition, uniforms and school supplies, as well as families being afraid to go out amid gang violence.”

New Year, New AI?

How widespread will AI be in classrooms this year? Teachers offer some clues, Education Week

A version of OpenAI’s GPT-4 will be ‘teaching’ thousands of kids this fall, Popular Science

“The education nonprofit service Khan Academy, is expanding its Khanmigo AI access to over 8,000 educators and K-12 students as part of its ongoing pilot program for the new technology.”

Beyond ChatGPT: The other AI tools teachers are using, Education Week

Instructors rush to do ‘assignment makeovers’ to respond to ChatGPT, EdSurge

How can educators respond to students presenting AI-generated content as their own?, Open AI

Issues in the Education News around the US

5 signs a district will be at risk when elementary and secondary school emergency relief fund runs out, Education Week

“Once federal relief funds expire, districts nationwide stand to lose an average of $1,200 for each student… That’s an 8 percent reduction in the average amount spent per K-12 pupil nationwide. In some states where per-pupil spending is lower than the average, that $1,200-per-student loss will account for an even larger share. In Arizona, for instance, the end of federal relief funds will translate into a 12 percent loss.”

When can schools consider race in classrooms and events? Biden officials have guidance, ChalkBeat

K-12 teachers shift away from textbooks, K-12 Dive

“Use of printed textbooks has declined in K-12 classrooms by 9% and a slight increase in digital-only textbook usage by 2% during the past school year, according to a survey by Bay View Analytics. The findings indicate a growing utilization of digital and teacher-created materials, with 77% of teachers saying they are supplementing or replacing textbooks with their own content and 78% saying they are sourcing supplemental materials online.”

For teachers, a new year — and new book bans — means more work, Rolling Stone

Issues to watch in States and Cities

California

Gov. Newsom poised to sign legislation to counter book bans and school boards’ censorship, EdSource

“The bill, authored by first-term Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Perris, in Riverside County, would expand existing state law, including the 2011 FAIR Act, which requires instructional materials to accurately portray the history, viewpoints and experiences of California’s diverse and underrepresented racial, ethnic, and other groups, including LGBTQ+ Californians.”

Temecula Valley Unified School District anti-CRT resolution prompts lawsuit from parents and teachers, Education Week

Florida

New laws make teachers anxious about school year, Axios Miami

“[Teacher] Hernandez-Mats says the first couple weeks of school are typically filled with excitement, but this year feels different… She says teachers are confused about what they’re allowed to teach in the classroom. Some have removed literary or historical posters from their walls and others have blocked access to their bookshelves.”

Florida’s new rules for classrooms could get teachers in trouble, Tampa Bay Times

Iowa

An Iowa district used AI to figure out which books to ban, Education Week

“While book bans have proliferated across the country over the past two years, this is the first time a district has relied on artificial intelligence to determine which books should be removed from school libraries, according to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.”

How Des Moines Metro Schools are applying anti-LGBTQ law, Iowa Starting Line

Massachusetts

School meals in Massachusetts will remain free next school year, Axios Boston

“Massachusetts lawmakers passed a budget agreement, allocating $172 million to continue the pandemic-era program that offers free school meals to all K-12 students, ensuring access to essential nutrition and removing social stigma. Governor Maura Healey is expected to sign the budget, freeing up funds for schools as they prepare to reopen in the upcoming weeks.”

Montana

Montana scores rare federal testing waiver in favor of through-year assessment, K-12 Dive

“Montana has been granted approval by the US Department of Education to field test a revamped through-year assessment system in reading/language arts and math for third-through eighth-grade, replacing the existing annual assessment. The move is expected to offer timely insights into student progress while allowing participating schools some waivers from federal assessment and accountability requirements for the 2023-24 school year.”

New York

As NYC’s school year kicks off, here are 5 issues to watch, ChalkBeat

Enrollment drop and fiscal cliff loom as NYC starts school year, The City

NYC school year set to begin with thousands of new migrant students, Gothamist

“Schools Chancellor David Banks said in a briefing on the asylum seeker crisis that… ‘Our focus remains undeterred on the education, well-being and holistic development of every student that steps into a New York City public school, regardless of where they come from or the language that they speak at home.’”

New York City Schools preparing for influx of children of asylum seekers: “We are very confident that the students will be ready“, CBS News

Some migrant families still waiting for school placements, ChalkBeat

“Some families have waited weeks for school placements or don’t have seats at all yet, sparking concerns that some kids won’t have their school plans finalized by the start of classes on September 7.”

Ohio

The Great Recession offers insight about the impact the impending fiscal cliff will have on Ohio school districts, The Fordham Institute

Pennsylvania

All Philadelphia schools set to open in September amid asbestos challenges, ABC

Texas

State takeover ushers in changes to Houston schools, The New York Times

“A state takeover of the Houston Independent School District in Texas, one of the nation’s largest, has sparked contentious changes, including firing librarians and repurposing school libraries for discipline and computer rooms. The takeover, imposed by Governor Greg Abbott, aims to improve reading and math scores in struggling schools, but critics argue the changes are disenfranchising and may further divide the district’s predominantly Black and Hispanic students.”

First day of school comes with mixed student emotions after Texas took over Houston ISD, The New York Times