The nation’s public pre-K programs saw a rebound last year as enrollment nearly reached pre-pandemic levels, new data shows. Thirty-two percent of 4-year-olds attended a state-funded program in the 2021-22 school year — up from 28% the year before, when the National Institute for Early Education Research, which publishes the annual “yearbook,” reported that COVID had “erased”...

Three years and counting since the pandemic shuttered schools and tethered students to their laptops, new data shows that enrollment in the vast majority of the nation’s largest school districts has yet to recover. Kindergarten counts continue to dwindle in many states — evidence of falling birth rates and an ever-growing array of options luring...

The GOP-led House on Friday passed a bill that would force schools to offer parents far greater transparency about what their children learn, but that Democrats argue could lead to book bans and discrimination against LGBTQ students. The Parents Bill of Rights passed 213 to 208, with five Republicans voting against it. “Teachers unions and education bureaucrats...

8 p.m. Update: Los Angeles Unified workers will proceed with a strike early Tuesday morning after efforts to prevent the walkout fell apart Monday afternoon. News of a “confidential mediation” session leaked to the press before Service Employees International Union Local 99’s bargaining team knew about it, according to a union statement.  During an afternoon...

The battle lines over President Joe Biden’s education budget grew clearer this month as the most conservative wing of the House announced its intention to roll spending back to 2019 levels and cancel the president’s student loan forgiveness plan.  If Speaker Kevin McCarthy agrees to their demands, that would wipe out most of the administration’s...

The percentage of third graders on track in reading hasn’t budged since this time last year, new data shows — a reminder of the literacy setbacks experienced by kindergartners when schools shut down in 2020. Even so, the test’s administrators are interpreting the flatline at 54% as good news. Paul Gazzerro, director of data analysis at curriculum...

Even as it plans to end the COVID public health emergency, the Biden administration will make its case before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday that the ongoing financial hardship caused by the pandemic continues to necessitate a one-time student loan forgiveness plan. The court will hear two cases that say the administration exceeded its authority when it...

When Congress approved $190 billion to combat the educational devastation wrought by the pandemic, the Stockton, California, school system was practically the poster child for a district in need. Nearly 80% of students in the Central Valley district live in poverty. High COVID infection rates were shutting down packing plants where many of their parents work, and...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether students with disabilities can seek financial relief under a federal law prohibiting discrimination even if they’ve already settled a case under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Comments and questions from the justices seemed to lean toward yes. “All she wants is to be compensated for what...

National data released last fall shows students who learned to read during the pandemic are still performing below those who were in early grades before schools closed — in some cases, well below. Fifty-three percent of second graders were on track in reading last fall, compared to 57% in 2019, according to Amplify, a curriculum...