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House Democrats are urging Education Secretary Linda McMahon to abandon plans to dismantle the Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), warning the move could weaken support for more than 5m English learners across the United States. In a letter sent May 12, lawmakers argued that eliminating the standalone office would disrupt oversight of federal English learner programs, including nearly $890m in Title III funding and educator training grants. Under the Trump administration’s proposal, OELA’s responsibilities would be redistributed across other federal agencies and Education Department offices as part of a broader effort to “return education to the states.” Critics, including educators and English learner advocates, said dissolving the office risks undermining accountability and reducing specialized expertise needed to help schools meet legal obligations to English learners. Concerns have intensified after OELA staffing was reduced to a single employee during wider federal workforce cuts. Republican lawmakers supporting the plan argued the restructuring would streamline operations and integrate English learner programs more efficiently into broader education services. However, Democrats said Congress may pursue legislative options to preserve or reinstate OELA, including potential amendments requiring the office to remain permanently within the Education Department. The dispute comes amid broader federal policy changes affecting immigrant students and English learners, including the rollback of previous federal guidance on language access and immigration-related protections in schools.

 

Education Week News

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The Alaska House has passed a bipartisan bill that would increase annual public school funding by more than $140m by changing how student enrollment is calculated and shifting more education costs from local governments to the state. The legislation passed 31-9 and would base school funding on prior-year enrollment rather than current attendance, a move designed to provide districts with more predictable funding amid declining student enrollment statewide. State education officials estimate the change would increase annual school spending by $113m, including major increases for Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna, Fairbanks, and Juneau districts. Lawmakers also added a provision capping annual growth in local government contributions to schools at 2%, reducing the burden on cities and boroughs whose property values have risen faster than state education funding. That amendment is expected to shift nearly $30m in school costs to the state in the first year alone.

 

Anchorage Daily News

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) plans to reduce teaching staff and administrative positions as it works to close a projected $732.5m budget deficit for fiscal 2027, with school leaders citing rising costs, growing student needs, and stagnant state funding. District officials said elementary schools will lose no more than four teachers each, while high schools will be capped at six teaching cuts. Class size limits will remain unchanged despite the staffing reductions, which come after years of declining enrollment. CPS has not disclosed the total number of jobs expected to be eliminated. The district also plans significant cuts to central office operations and will remove assistant principal funding from its smallest schools, a move critics say could affect more than 120 positions. CPS leaders said schools can still appeal staffing allocations or use discretionary funds to retain staff. Additionally, the plan excludes a disputed $175m pension reimbursement payment to the city, potentially setting up another conflict with City Hall. Education advocates and the Chicago Teachers Union blamed Illinois’ school funding formula, arguing CPS remains significantly underfunded compared with state adequacy targets.

 

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Tribune

North Carolina Democratic lawmakers have proposed a new 7% marginal income tax on annual income above $1m, arguing the measure could raise nearly $1bn annually to support public schools across the state. House Bill 1073 would apply only to income exceeding the $1m threshold, with the revenue earmarked for teacher pay, school construction and repairs, special education, childcare support, and other K-12 funding needs. Speaking at a press conference announcing the proposal, Rep. Allen Buansi said North Carolina’s low national rankings for teacher salaries and per-student funding demonstrated the need for greater education investment. According to the National Education Association’s latest report, the state ranks 46th nationally in both average teacher pay and per-pupil funding, and is the only state where teacher pay is projected to decline this year.

 

NC Newsline

Instructure, the company behind the Canvas learning platform used by thousands of schools and universities worldwide, said it has reached an agreement with hackers to recover stolen data and secure the destruction of any copied information following a major cyberattack. The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach, which allegedly exposed data tied to more than 275m users across nearly 9,000 schools, including personal information, enrollment records, and private messages between students and teachers. The attack forced Canvas offline for several hours last week. Instructure said the agreement included the return and deletion of the stolen data, and that it had been told customers would not face extortion attempts. The company did not disclose what, if anything, it provided to the hackers in exchange. Canvas, which has more than 30 million active users globally, is widely used for coursework management and communication. Instructure said compromised information included usernames, email addresses, course details, and messages. The company said it detected unauthorized activity on April 29 and again on May 7, prompting an investigation and notifications to the FBI, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and international law enforcement partners. ShinyHunters, a cybercriminal group linked to several high-profile data breaches, had threatened to release the data publicly if Instructure failed to respond to its demands.

 

CNN

EdSource

New York Times

Washington Post

Growing research suggests that heavy reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in education could undermine long-term learning, memory retention, and critical thinking, despite helping students complete tasks more quickly. The article argues that AI tools are increasingly being adopted in schools without fully assessing the risks, with studies indicating that “cognitive offloading” — allowing AI to perform thinking tasks — may reduce persistence, depth of understanding, and independent problem-solving skills. Researchers describe the effects as “cognitive debt,” “cognitive atrophy,” and “cognitive surrender.” The piece also highlights concerns over students using AI to cheat, the spread of misinformation through AI-generated answers, and the lack of comprehensive AI literacy education addressing potential harms. While proponents compare AI to calculators that improve efficiency, critics argue students risk weakening core learning skills if they rely on chatbots before mastering foundational knowledge themselves.

 

Psychology Today

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released updated guidance to enhance recess access in schools, addressing the alarming trend of reduced playtime. Dr. Robert Murray, a lead author, emphasized the importance of recess, stating: “Breaks offer an opportunity for students to manage stress and promote prosocial development, a universal benefit for all ages.” With up to 40% of school districts cutting recess, the AAP recommends at least 20 minutes of daily play and encourages student involvement in planning recess activities. The guidance also advocates for a ‘Recess Before Lunch’ policy to ensure students have adequate time to eat. Furthermore, the report highlights recess as a tool to combat childhood obesity, which affects about one in five children in the U.S. Notably, a 2024 California law mandates 30 minutes of outdoor recess daily and prohibits withholding recess as punishment, although implementation remains inconsistent.

 

EdSource

Participation in after-school sports significantly benefits children's cognitive, mental, and physical health, according to a study published in the journal Exercise, Sports and Movement. Senior researcher Nicole Logan, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Rhode Island, stated: "We show that children and teens who participated in after-school sports consistently demonstrated better psychological and physical health outcomes than those who didn't." The study analyzed data from 782 children and teenagers in the New York City area, revealing that those involved in sports exhibited improved planning, organization, language comprehension, academic performance, and physical health metrics. Logan emphasized the importance of equitable access to sports, noting that "even after controlling for socio-demographic determinants of physical activity, we still observed widespread benefits." The American College of Sports Medicine recognized this study as a 2025 Paper of the Year for its scientific rigor and societal relevance.

 

U.S. News

Elior Independent School Dining has grown its Manhattan commissary kitchen operation from serving 600 meals to more than 2,500 freshly prepared meals daily, supplying six private schools across New York City while navigating logistical challenges including heavy traffic, limited loading access, and severe winter weather. The Lower Manhattan production hub is led by Executive Chef Jose Arango, whose culinary background includes work with the Jean-Georges restaurant group. Arango said K-12 foodservice requires balancing large-scale production with strict attention to food allergies, ingredient sourcing, dietary preferences, and cultural representation. Menus are designed to reflect the diversity of New York City communities, featuring global cuisines and themed events such as International Week, “Try It Tuesday,” and customizable meal stations. The operation also accommodates vegan, kosher, and organic food preferences, while inviting families to contribute recipes for special occasions.

 

Food Service Director

U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Todd Young (R-IN) have introduced The Safe Bus Routes to School Act, a piece of legislation that would expand the federal Safe Routes to School program to allow funding for projects supporting school bus riders, including sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, traffic-calming measures, and safer bus stop waiting areas. The bill would also fund school bus safety education initiatives.

 

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Texas school districts are still lagging behind academically after the COVID-19 pandemic, with reading scores continuing to decline statewide and middle-poverty districts showing the weakest recovery, according to a new report from researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities. The Education Scorecard ranked Texas 28th out of 38 states for math recovery and 25th out of 35 for reading growth between 2022 and 2025. While math scores have improved since the pandemic, both math and reading performance remain below 2019 levels across much of the state. Researchers found that districts with either low or very high concentrations of low-income students recovered more effectively than middle-poverty districts, where 30% to 70% of students qualified for subsidized meals. Those districts received less federal pandemic relief funding because aid distribution was heavily tied to Title I poverty formulas. The report also noted that chronic absenteeism remains elevated above pre-pandemic levels despite recent improvements. Researchers recommended that future school improvement funding focus more heavily on middle- and higher-poverty districts still struggling academically after the loss of federal relief aid.

 

Houston Chronicle

Ontario’s auditor general has warned that special education funding is not keeping pace with growing student needs, citing staff shortages, long assessment wait times, and widespread concerns over students being excluded from classrooms when schools cannot adequately support them. In a report released Tuesday, Auditor General Shelley Spence found that while overall student enrollment in Ontario rose 4% between 2014-15 and 2023-24, the number of students requiring special education services increased 7%. Although provincial funding for special education rose 15% between 2019-20 and 2023-24, school board spending increased even faster, rising 19% as boards attempted to bridge funding gaps. The audit also highlighted severe shortages of educational assistants (EAs), with some schools significantly understaffed and many EA absences going unfilled. Spence also criticized inconsistencies in individual education plans, long waits for psychological and speech-language assessments, and inequities created when wealthier families pay privately for assessments costing more than C$5,000, allowing their children to access services more quickly.

 

CBC News

The Globe and Mail