Education

A teacher leaves an empty school building.

Education

Parents are scrambling after schools suddenly cancel class over staffing and burnout

10:59am November 23, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

School districts around the country have been announcing extra days off this fall to address staff shortages and mental health. For some families, the unpredictable schedule feels like a betrayal.

COVID precautions keep students out of school, even if they just have the sniffles

9:56am November 20, 2021

Scott Simon speaks with Hedy Chang, founder and executive director of the non-profit Attendance Works, about absenteeism in schools during the pandemic.

Queue Listen Now

An aerial view of The Oval on the campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Education

Ohio State is raising millions to erase student loan debt for undergrads

1:53pm November 19, 2021

by Elissa Nadworny

Undergraduates at the school finish their degree with an average of $27,000 in student loan debt. A new program could make that number zero.

A look at the history of vaccines in schools.

Should schools require the COVID vaccine? Many experts say it's too soon

6:06am November 19, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

School vaccine mandates have been around for two centuries, but they've always brought pushback.

LiceDoctors technician Linda Holmes checks the heads of everyone in the Marker family for lice, including preschooler Hudson. It cost more than $200 to get the four-person household checked — eyebrows and Dad's beard included.

Pandemic or no, kids are still getting — and spreading — head lice

12:58pm November 18, 2021

by Rae Ellen Bichell

With kids back in school, business is picking back up for professional delousers. But how are kids getting head lice if they're physically distancing in the classroom?

Trimming their social agenda, Democrats cut the proposal of free community college

5:11pm November 17, 2021

by Elissa Nadworny

A federal tuition-free college program was cut from Biden's social agenda — but a patchwork of state and local programs persists. And at the lower level, it's a far more bipartisan policy.

Nikole Hannah-Jones won a MacArthur "Genius" Grant in 2017. She is a tenured faculty member at Howard University.

'1619 Project' journalist says Black people shouldn't be an asterisk in U.S. history

1:25pm November 17, 2021

by Arun Venugopal

Nikole Hannah-Jones says the contributions of Black people are often left out of the American story. Her mission is to reframe U.S. history through the lens of slavery.

Queue Listen Now

What the history of student vaccination mandates means for school COVID vaccine rules

4:52pm November 16, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

School vaccine mandates go back 200 years. They've defeated many legal challenges. Will they work for COVID?

Queue Listen Now

Thousands of borrowers' student debt is erased with loan forgiveness program overhaul

4:52pm November 16, 2021

by Cory Turner

A month after the U.S. Department of Education announced it would overhaul the troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, thousands have begun to see their student loan balances disappear.

Queue Listen Now

After two student suicides over one October weekend, UNC students created a makeshift memorial on the Chapel Hill campus. To reduce the risk of suicide contagion, any memorial sites or activities should be limited, experts say, and should not glorify, vil

Colleges are turning to science to limit suicide contagion and help heal campuses

4:08pm November 16, 2021

by Aneri Pattani

The new strategy is called "postvention." It means having a plan built on truth, compassion and counseling that quickly addresses the mental health needs of friends and classmates after a suicide.