There's a lot of evidence that indicates that teacher morale has been declining nationwide and is at, by some measures, the lowest point in recent memory. California teachers scored 16 on the Teacher Morale Index, which is based on three questions from the Education Week survey. The morale score for U.S. teachers overall was 13.
We don't have any of the results because there was a lot of confusion today. We were able to keep the polls open, but I can tell you now that people have been disenfranchised.
Institutions want to be recognized for the great work they're doing. What [the recognition] would say to the public, to the students, to our community, is that we don't just enroll a certain percentage of students. We also produce successful outcomes for those students.
In reality, the Lone Star State is vast-and incredibly diverse-spanning more than 250,000 square miles of major cities, small towns, beach getaways, country roads, and border communities. For travelers arriving in Texas, one thing quickly becomes clear: the Lone Star State isn't just one destination-it's many.
In Texas, where the Party hasn't managed to elect a Democrat as governor or to the Senate in more than thirty years, it nominated its arguably stronger candidate for the general election, and slightly more people voted in the Democratic primary than in the Republican one. I'd call that a good night.
In 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17 into law, banning diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at public institutions across the state. In the years since, the University of Texas at Austin has been steadily remaking itself in the image demanded by conservative legislators across town.
New York City K-12 students with perfect attendance are on track this year to be in school for 1,102 hours. That's about 20 fewer days than the national average, per the study, of about 1,231 hours in school each year.
Wandler spoke in support of SB 13, telling lawmakers it "empowers parental access" and "mandates accountability with the school districts." His investment in the bill's passage wasn't merely rhetorical: Public records show Bookmarked spent at least $80,000 lobbying in favor of the measure, and later hired the powerful Texas lobbying firm Moak Casey to help promote its cause.
The world has been racing toward a more digital-first existence for some time now, and many believe we're actually most of the way there already. One of the key components of that existence is a digital financial system, but Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have already shown us that the concept is certainly viable. Like it or not, the world is shifting in a more digitized direction, whether we like it or not.
"At this time, no changes to faculty or staff positions, reporting structures, or job responsibilities are planned," Mario Torres, dean of UTSA's College of Education and Human Development, wrote in an email, according to the Express-News. He described the change as "an exciting opportunity" that would lead to a "more prosperous future" for the academic programs. He said a task force composed of faculty, students and staff would help shape the new department.
I remember stepping out of Austin-Bergstrom Airport last July, and the heat hit me like opening an oven door. Not the dry, manageable warmth I knew from Southern California, but something thick and heavy that made my shirt cling to my back before I even reached the rental car. That moment was my first real hint that moving from California to Texas would be more than just a change of scenery.
Over the past several years, Texas has moved from griping about "woke campuses" to fundamentally restructuring the governance, curriculum, and tenure protections of its public universities. The cumulative effect is not reform. It's consolidation of power. And the target is the traditional independence of higher education. TL:DR - send your kids to Texas public universities, and it's like having the Texas legislature teach your kids.
On a chilly day before Christmas, Teresa Rivas helped a tween boy pick out a new winter coat. "Get the bigger one, the one with the waterproof layer, mijo," she said, before helping him pull it onto his string-bean frame. Rivas provides guidance counseling at Owen Goodnight Middle School in San Marcos, Texas. She talks with students about their goals and helps if they're struggling in class. She's also a trained navigator placed there by a nonprofit called Communities in Schools.
These numbers look stark, but in context they reveal far more about the conditions California children are growing up in than the quality of classroom instruction. California educates a disproportionate share of children experiencing housing insecurity. A 2024 analysis found that 4% of California students were homeless, with some counties reaching 16%. The California Department of Education reports 230,443 homeless students statewide, a 26% increase over five years that mirrors broader trends in affordability, overcrowding and displacement.
The investigations will determine if LGBTQ+ content, which the department describes as 'sexual orientation and gender ideology (SOGI) content', is included in any classes for grades pre-K-12 and if the schools have notified parents of their right to opt their children out. Further to this, the DOJ investigation will assess whether the three school districts restrict access to single-sex spaces based on 'biological sex'.
Teachers have almost no authority over student behaviors or academic grading, and are given little, if any, respect from administrators, parents or even students. Instead, students have all the authority but no responsibility for their success. Students do (or don't do) whatever they wish, while empty-handed teachers are left to take the blame. Teachers no longer have the ultimate tool of flunking students.
Whenever I made my initial rounds at a school, a quick peek at its technological resources was often a reliable predictor of its ability to meet students' broad needs. The differences in the quality and volume of computing labs at a school like Lincoln Park High School on Chicago's wealthy north side, where the local population is 75% white, versus Raby High School, located in economically distressed East Garfield Park which is 83% Black, were stark.
While community college advocates argued the lower-cost degrees would benefit students in a state with vast rural expanses and education deserts, private universities countered that community colleges are stepping out of bounds and infringing on their territory. Greg Steinke, the president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, even went so far as to say the move could put some institutions out of business, telling lawmakers a few weeks ago that "without any question and without any doubt," if the bill passed, "some of our private colleges will close."
