Caroline Preston

Dartmouth’s President Balks at Trump Compact, Sources Say, as Feds Expand Offer to ‘Any Institution’ Sian Leah Beilock has told faculty members she won’t sign the document as written. Meanwhile, the White House’s broader proposal has shifted discussion about the deal.

Dartmouth is close to saying "no" to the current compact. The decision comes as government officials are circulating that the compact is open to all, in what higher-ed advocates call a test of the sector's collective will.

Nurses are in high demand. Why can’t nursing schools keep up? LOS ANGELES — Oscar Mateo dreamed of being an artist, but after he got leukemia when he was 20, his life plans abruptly changed. The compassionate nursing care he received while hospitalized touched him so much that he decided he wanted to provide the same for others. That impulse led him to the registered nursing program at Mt. San Antonio College in the Los Angeles County suburb of Walnut. But getting there wasn’t easy, as he had to battle competition for limited seats in one of the highest-demand fields in higher education, a career offering purpose, plentiful jobs and potentially six-figure paychecks.

Nurses are in high demand. Why can’t nursing schools keep up?

LOS ANGELES — Oscar Mateo dreamed of being an artist, but after he got leukemia when he was 20, his life plans abruptly changed. The compassionate nursing care he received while hospitalized touched him so much that he decided he wanted…

The details behind the first national school voucher program Here are 10 things to know about Trump’s school choice program — the first national tax-credit scholarship program — was signed into law July 4, 2025, as part of the Republican tax bill.

@nealtmorton.bsky.social helps us make sense of the new national school voucher program signed into law last month: hechingerreport.org/whats-a-tax-...

Surprise Tax in G.O.P. Bill Could Cripple Wind and Solar Power

"Even some of those who lobbied to end federal support for clean energy said the Senate bill went too far." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/c...

From gangs to college High school staff often treat students they suspect of gang involvement differently, tracking them into classes that leave them unprepared to matriculate and counseling them out of applying to four-ye...

How the Phoenix Scholars program helps former gang-affiliated young people get through college hechingerreport.org/from-gangs-t...

After outcry from tribes, federal agency scales back tribal school choice plan Trump’s order expanding school choice to Indian Country met resistance from parents and educators who worried it would undermine tribal sovereignty.

Trump called for school choice for Indian Country - but the BIE's proposed plan, developed after protest from many tribal members who worried about the impact of choice on their schools, scales back those ambitions hechingerreport.org/after-outcry...

Governors in 13 states reject funding for summer food program Thousands more children are expected to go hungry this summer as a growing number of states and cities decline federal summer food dollars.

Federal money to help low-income families afford summer meals for their kids? No thanks, say governors in 13 states hechingerreport.org/young-childr...

After outcry from tribes, federal agency scales back tribal school choice plan Trump’s order expanding school choice to Indian Country met resistance from parents and educators who worried it would undermine tribal sovereignty.

A Trump executive order called for a school choice plan for Indian Country. Tribes protested -- and the proposal the BIE put forth is much more modest than they feared. hechingerreport.org/after-outcry...

Education Department reinstates some research and data activities Trump administration lawyers admit some DOGE cuts violated congressional statutes

hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

High school sleuths search fish guts for clues to plastic pollution The Science Research Mentoring Program at the American Museum of Natural History prepares high school students for science careers.

High schoolers sleuth for microplastics in fish guts -- and learn to love science in the process. hechingerreport.org/high-school-...

So much for saving the planet. Climate careers, and many others, evaporate for class of 2025 The Trump administration is disrupting career paths for new graduates hoping to work in climate change jobs, sustainability, international aid, public service and the sciences.

Huge thanks to @carolinepreston.bsky.social. Here's the story at the Hechinger Report site: hechingerreport.org/so-much-for-...

Utah Farmers Signed Up for Federally Funded Therapy. Then the Money Stopped. Farmers are dying by suicide at the third-highest rate by vocation in Utah. But after a federal program offering mental health support ran out of money, the state did not continue it.

NEW: Farmers are dying by suicide at the third-highest rate by vocation in Utah.

But after a federal program offering mental health support ran out of money, the state did not continue it.

By @jessicamiller.bsky.social, with @sltrib.com

These districts are bucking the national math slump Middle schoolers lost ground during the pandemic and haven’t recovered. But by investing in teacher coaches, data and more math time, two Tennessee districts are seeing students do better than before ...

A look at two Tennessee districts where middle schoolers are doing better in math than pre-pandemic hechingerreport.org/these-distri...

Colleges partnered with an EV battery factory to train students and ignite the economy. Trump’s clean energy war complicates their plans In Kansas, Panasonic and two community colleges scaled up training fast, through apprenticeships and other courses.

Two community colleges teamed up with Panasonic to train students for EV battery jobs. The Trump administration's war on clean energy threatens that work hechingerreport.org/colleges-par...

COLUMN: The U.S. government is pulling back from climate instruction. States, teachers and other countries are stepping up Climate anxiety is real, and it coexists with ignorance about climate change among America’s students.

hechingerreport.org/column-teach...

Millions of Student Loan Borrowers Are Behind on Payments They’re seeing their credit scores drop, which will make it more difficult to buy a car or rent a home. And that has implications for the already slowing economy.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/b...

Schools push career ed classes ‘for all,’ even kids heading to college This story is part of Hechinger’s ongoing coverage about rethinking high school. See our article about a new diploma in Alabama that trades chemistry for carpentry. LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It had been a slow morning at the Class Act Federal Credit Union. But a little after 11 a.m., a client walked through the door. “Who’s waiting on me?” said the elderly man, smiling. “I will,” said Gracie Lacefield, one of three tellers behind the counter. “How are you doing? What can I help you with?” The man gave his account information to Lacefield, and then handed her his money to deposit.

Schools push career ed classes ‘for all,’ even kids heading to college

This story is part of Hechinger’s ongoing coverage about rethinking high school. See our article about a new diploma in Alabama that trades chemistry for carpentry. LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It had been a slow morning at the Class Act…

A treasure trove of education reports and studies is under threat Funding for the Education Department’s online library, ERIC, is slated to end this week

ERIC is scheduled to run out of money on April 23. After that date, no new documents can be added. “The contract, from my understanding, would die,” Pollard Young said in an interview. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Harvard’s Decision to Resist Trump Is ‘of Momentous Significance’ But a fight with the nation’s oldest, richest and most elite university is a battle that President Trump and his powerful aide, Stephen Miller, want to have.

“Will this government force the economics department to hire Marxists or the psychology department to hire Jungians or, for that matter, for the medical school to hire homeopaths or Native American healers?” he said. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

After the Los Angeles fires, Beverly Hills shut out students whose school burned The dispute between the Beverly Hills district and some Palisades parents raises a broader question of what a school district owes its neighbors after a major disaster.

The dispute raises questions that school districts increasingly must grapple with as wildfires and other extreme weather events become more common because of climate change: What does a school district owe its neighbors after a major disaster? hechingerreport.org/after-the-wi...

They Work All Day and Go Home to Shelters Thousands of working people in New York City now live in shelters, unable to afford apartments despite holding down jobs that pay them $50,000 or more.

“New York City is becoming more for the wealthy, and I don’t think that’s going to end well,” Mr. Sancho-Persad said. “You know why? Poor people make this city go.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/n...

Knitting, cheerleading, fishing: This is what a cellphone ban looks like in one school district “No cellphones” is the message that students get in the Spokane, Washington, school district, where the devices are banned. But the district has also invested in extracurriculars to engage students “i...

Angling during lunch, waitlists for cheerleading and knitting clubs in elementary school — this is what a smartphone ban looks like at Spokane Public Schools. hechingerreport.org/knitting-che...

US student journalists go dark fearing Trump crusade against pro-Palestinian speech Newsrooms forced to adapt as writers resign and request takedown of stories to avoid potential repercussions

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Promise your schools don’t use DEI or lose federal funding, Education Department says The Trump administration said states have 10 days to certify that their schools don’t use practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. An Education Department official underscored the thre...

“That is not serious governance,” Galanter said. “It’s stagecraft.” www.chalkbeat.org/2025/04/03/t...

In Puerto Rico, Trump’s campaign to dismantle the Department of Education has a particular bite The island’s education system is unusually reliant on the agency. The Biden administration made improving it a priority — now Puerto Ricans fear what comes next

Puerto Rico's schools are unusually reliant on the U.S. Department of Education. For @hechingerreport.org, Kavitha Cardoza looks at what the agency's dismantling could mean for the island hechingerreport.org/in-puerto-ri...

Chaos and confusion as the statistics arm of the Education Department is reduced to a skeletal staff of 3 Acting stats chief booted after only 15 days in the job; fate of the Nation’s Report Card unclear

If you've somehow missed the near-complete elimination of the federal education data and research infrastructure, this article provides an excellent overview: hechingerreport.org/proof-points... Thanks to @hechingerreport.org and @jillbarshay.bsky.social for the reporting.

The Republicans Pushing Trump to Save Biden’s Clean Energy Tax Credits Despite President Trump’s rollback of climate policy, some Republicans and business leaders say clean energy can help his “energy dominance” agenda.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/c...

How Trump is disrupting efforts by schools and colleges to combat climate change - The Hechinger Report This week I dug into how the Trump administration’s anti-climate blitz is hampering schools’ and colleges’ ability to green their operations, plus a new report on the California wildfires’ impact on s...

The IRA and bipartisan infrastructure act remain law, but Trump's actions to undercut them have sown confusion and led some K-12 and higher ed institutions to reconsider their plans for clean energy projects. hechingerreport.org/how-trump-is...

Alabama parents sue over cuts to education civil rights office: ‘Discriminatory and unsafe’ Alabama parents sue over DOGE cuts to Department of Education Office of Civil Rights

Pretty surreal to see this.

Nikki Carter, a Demopolis mom of three, opened me up to her home a couple of years ago after she was banned from local schools. No lawyers would take her case.

Now she is the lead plaintiff on a class action lawsuit against the US DOE.

www.al.com/educationlab...

Chaos and confusion as the statistics arm of the Education Department is reduced to a skeletal staff of 3 Acting stats chief booted after only 15 days in the job; fate of the Nation’s Report Card unclear

"President Donald Trump promises he’ll make American schools great again. He has fired nearly everyone who might objectively measure whether he succeeds." @jillbarshay.bsky.social hechingerreport.org/proof-points...