Education NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 Education Wed, 15 Jul 2020 13:05:53 +0000 https://www.gpbnews.org Rachel Treisman Updated at 6:34 p.m. ET In a swift reversal, the Trump administration has agreed to rescind a directive that would have barred international college students from the U.S. if their colleges offered classes entirely online in the fall semester. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement rule change , released last week, would have prohibited foreign students from entering or remaining in the country to take fully online course loads. A number of colleges and universities had already announced plans to offer online-only classes because of the coronavirus pandemic. The agency's July 6 announcement was met with immediate backlash. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the U.S. government in federal court two days later, calling the directive "arbitrary and capricious" and seeking to have it reversed and declared unlawful. Many colleges, universities, municipalities and tech companies expressed their support for the legal challenge in their own court https://www.gpbnews.org/post/ice-agrees-rescind-policy-barring-foreign-students-online-study-us 107144 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 20:47:00 +0000 ICE Agrees To Rescind Policy Barring Foreign Students From Online Study In The U.S. Cory Turner Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST: President Trump says he wants America's schools to reopen and quickly. He's undercut guidance from the CDC, calling it impractical. He's even threatened to cut funding for schools that don't reopen. And supporting this push is Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Here she is speaking last week at a meeting of the Coronavirus Task Force. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BETSY DEVOS: Ultimately, it's not a matter of if schools should reopen. It's simply a matter of how. They must fully open, and they must be fully operational. MCCAMMON: For more on DeVos' role in this pandemic, we're joined by NPR's Cory Turner, who's been covering her since she became secretary. Hi, Cory. CORY TURNER, BYLINE: Hello. MCCAMMON: So, Cory, let's recap. How did DeVos initially respond to this pandemic? TURNER: Yeah. So back in March, she seemed largely supportive of state and local school leaders' decision to close schools. To help, she waived https://www.gpbnews.org/post/look-betsy-devos-role-during-coronavirus-pandemic 107145 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 20:03:00 +0000 A Look At Betsy DeVos' Role During The Coronavirus Pandemic Elissa Nadworny Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST: International students will be permitted to stay in the U.S. for the fall semester if their school choose to hold online-only classes. Last week, Harvard and MIT sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over a rule that would have barred those international students from the country unless they enrolled in at least one in-person class. This is a win for schools and for students who'd been trying to plan for the fall semester. And NPR's Elissa Nadworny joins us now. Hi, Elissa. ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Hey, Sarah. MCCAMMON: So what happened today? NADWORNY: Well, Harvard and MIT took ICE to court today over a rule that would have potentially affected more than a million international students. Basically, the rule said if schools were all online because of the pandemic, their students couldn't stay in the U.S. So that's not a new rule. But in March, when pretty much every school went virtual, ICE had allowed for https://www.gpbnews.org/post/ice-rescind-regulations-regarding-international-students 107146 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 20:03:00 +0000 ICE To Rescind Regulations Regarding International Students editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST: California's two largest school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, both said yesterday that students will not be headed back to school campuses this fall. Instead, classes will be online. But school board leaders in Orange County, which sits between LA and San Diego, have decided the opposite. Last night, the Orange County Board of Education voted to approve recommendations that school campuses reopen in the fall without masks or social distancing. Lisa Sparks is one of the board members who voted in favor of those guidelines, and she joins me now. Welcome, Lisa. LISA SPARKS: Thank you. MCCAMMON: And we should note that your recommendations are not binding recommendations, but they are what your board is advising. They say that masks may be harmful to students and that social distancing causes, quote, "child harm." How so? SPARKS: I think that the data is not completely conclusive. And that is the main point of all of this https://www.gpbnews.org/post/orange-county-education-board-member-her-vote-schools-reopen-without-masks 107147 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 20:03:00 +0000 Orange County Education Board Member On Her Vote For Schools To Reopen Without Masks editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST: The state of Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, tens of thousands of people, many of whom were refugees from civil war. Today, we're talking with two of them who are making history. Abdirizak Abdi and Akram Osman are the first Somali public school principals in Minnesota. That's according to the Sahan Journal, which reports about immigrants in the state. They both just started on the job, which means first figuring out how to do it in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Principal Abdi, Principal Osman, thanks so much for joining us. ABDIRIZAK ABDI: Thank you very much, Sarah. AKRAM OSMAN: Thank you. MCCAMMON: Abdi, I want to start with you. You, as I understand it, never even attended K-12 schools in the United States. You came to Minnesota when you were 19 years old. Where did your interest in education come from? ABDI: I did my school in Africa, specifically in Kenya. So we lived in https://www.gpbnews.org/post/2-somali-americans-become-public-school-principals-minnesota-1st-time 107148 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 20:03:00 +0000 2 Somali Americans Become Public School Principals In Minnesota For The 1st Time editor As school districts consider how to approach learning this fall with no sign of the coronavirus slowing, the virus has already had devastating consequences in one rural Arizona school district. Jena Martinez-Inzunza was one of three elementary school teachers at the Hayden Winkelman Unified School District who all tested positive for COVID-19 after teaching virtual summer school lessons together from the same classroom. Martinez's colleague and friend, Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd, who taught in the district for nearly four decades, died. "She was very dear to me. She's one of my closest friends," Martinez told Morning Edition. Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd died after testing positive for coronavirus. Other teachers she worked with tested positive as well. "She was a very loving, very faithful person and she was very kind," says her colleague Jena Martinez-Inzunza. Luke Byrd "She was a very loving, very faithful person and she was very kind. She always loved watching kids find their way, https://www.gpbnews.org/post/teacher-recovering-covid-19-says-school-reopening-tough-decision 107105 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 10:25:00 +0000 A Teacher Who Contracted COVID-19 Cautions Against In-Person Schooling Elissa Nadworny Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit NOEL KING, HOST: There's a hearing today that is crucial for hundreds of thousands of international students. It's about a rule that ICE announced. If a college is doing online learning only in the fall, international students will have their visas revoked. ICE says if you're doing school online, you don't need to be in the U.S. to do it. So now, some schools are suing ICE over this rule. NPR education reporter Elissa Nadworny is covering this. Good morning, Elissa. ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Good morning, Noel. KING: So explain what's happening here. What did ICE do and say, exactly? NADWORNY: So last week, ICE issued guidance that said if schools were all online because of the pandemic, their students couldn't stay in the U.S. You know, this has actually always been the case. There's always an in-person requirement in order to get a visa to come to the U.S. But last spring, when pretty much every school went virtual, ICE had allowed for https://www.gpbnews.org/post/us-rule-blocking-some-international-students-gets-push-back 107106 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 10:22:00 +0000 U.S. Rule Blocking Some International Students Gets Pushback editor Copyright 2020 Northern Public Radio. To see more, visit Northern Public Radio . NOEL KING, HOST: All right. Here's a story about unexpected consequences. People are buying fewer lottery tickets because of the pandemic, which is bad for convenience stores and gas stations. But it also means hundreds of millions fewer dollars for school funding. Peter Medlin of member station WNIJ in DeKalb, Ill., explains what's going on. PETER MEDLIN, BYLINE: Last year, the Illinois Lottery set records sales. Proceeds from Powerball tickets to scratch-offs contributed $731 million to public education. That translates to more than 10% of the state's funding for school districts. But the receipts don't look nearly as good this year. With more strict reopening guidelines, sales have plummeted. And revenue has nosedived nearly $90 million during the pandemic. Victor Matheson teaches economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, where he researches sports and the lottery. VICTOR MATHESON: So https://www.gpbnews.org/post/drop-lottery-sales-will-hurt-states-school-budgets 107101 as https://www.gpbnews.org Tue, 14 Jul 2020 09:04:00 +0000 Drop-Off In Lottery Sales Will Hurt States' School Budgets Matthew S. Schwartz One week ago, the Trump administration announced it would ban international students from attending U.S. colleges in the fall if they only take online classes. Now hundreds of colleges and universities, dozens of cities, and some of the country's biggest tech companies are pushing back. In several court filings Friday and Monday, the groups stand with the international students. They argue providing remote education is crucial given how contagious COVID-19 is — and they say they crafted policies for the fall by depending on earlier assurances from the federal government that international students would be able to attend class remotely "for the duration of the emergency" while still retaining their F-1 or M-1 visa status. They're supporting an initial legal challenge by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first to sue the administration over its new policy. Existing law had prohibited international students from taking all their courses online, but the https://www.gpbnews.org/post/schools-businesses-cities-push-back-rule-blocking-some-international-students 107091 as https://www.gpbnews.org Mon, 13 Jul 2020 22:32:00 +0000 Schools, Businesses, Cities Push Back On Rule Blocking Some International Students Anya Kamenetz On Monday, Los Angeles and San Diego public schools announced they will be starting the school year remote-only in August as coronavirus cases rise in Southern California. "The skyrocketing infection rates of the past few weeks make it clear the pandemic is not under control," a joint statement said. On Sunday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 3,322 new cases of COVID-19 and 18 deaths. Local health department data show a rebound in hospitalizations compared with May. Los Angeles Unified School District did not detail when, or under what conditions, schools might be able to open for in-person learning, even on a part-time or staggered schedule. San Diego Unified School District promised a " public assessment " by Aug. 10 of how soon they might return to physical classes. The Los Angeles system is the nation's second-largest school district, and the decisions together affect more than 700,000 students and their families. They come amid pressure from the federal https://www.gpbnews.org/post/los-angeles-and-san-diego-schools-announce-online-only-fall 107073 as https://www.gpbnews.org Mon, 13 Jul 2020 20:40:11 +0000 Los Angeles And San Diego Schools Announce Online-Only Fall editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST: School - parents, students and teachers are wondering, what will it look like this year? Will doors actually open, or will students be back on their computers for classes or a mix of both? In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper says he'll make an announcement this week about what his state's schools should do. Teachers like Tamika Walker Kelly are waiting. She teaches elementary school music in Fayetteville, and she's also the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators. She joins us now. Thanks for joining us. TAMIKA WALKER KELLY: Thank you for having me. MCCAMMON: I'd like to start with what you and other teachers in the state are hoping for. What do you want to see happen this fall? WALKER KELLY: So many educators around our state - and, I would say, nationwide - are really concerned about re-entering schools in a safe way. Our safety of our educators and our student is the No. 1 priority of many of us. And so we https://www.gpbnews.org/post/nc-teacher-expresses-her-and-other-teachers-concerns-about-reopening-schools 107076 as https://www.gpbnews.org Mon, 13 Jul 2020 20:40:00 +0000 N.C. Teacher Expresses Her And Other Teachers' Concerns About Reopening Schools editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Distance learning in the pandemic highlights a problem that experts have warned about for years - some students have good access to the Internet, and others do not. It's called the digital divide. Many districts are about to start the school year with more distance learning, so how can they narrow that divide? Rachel Martin spoke with Nicol Turner Lee, who studies it. RACHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: When you look back at those two, sometimes three, months that students in this country were doing distance learning, what worked and what didn't? NICOL TURNER LEE: You know, I think, generally, I am in agreement with some of the folks that have looked at this short period time as somewhat of an abject failure for our children. What worked was that, you know, schools had the attention of their households to figure out what to do during a time of crisis. What didn't work was that schools were not necessarily ready to move to an online https://www.gpbnews.org/post/coronavirus-pandemic-spotlights-problems-online-learning 107028 as https://www.gpbnews.org Mon, 13 Jul 2020 09:42:00 +0000 Coronavirus Pandemic Spotlights Problems With Online Learning editor Copyright 2020 KJZZ. To see more, visit KJZZ . STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Hospitals in Arizona are reaching capacity. Coronavirus infections there continue to rise. And the governor, who once pushed ahead with reopening, has now delayed the start of school. Is that enough? From our member station KJZZ, Rocio Hernandez reports. ROCIO HERNANDEZ, BYLINE: Arizona students are some of the first in the nation to go back to school. Some districts opened their doors as early as end of July. But that won't be the case this year. In June, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued an executive order pushing back the reopening of brick-and-mortar schools. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) DOUG DUCEY: At this point in time, we are going to delay the first day of school till August 17. HERNANDEZ: That's too soon, says teacher Stacy Brosius at Deer Valley Unified School District in Phoenix. STACY BROSIUS: I don't want to be the teacher that gets COVID and have my third-graders have to attend my funeral. But I https://www.gpbnews.org/post/many-arizona-educators-urge-governor-delay-start-school 107027 as https://www.gpbnews.org Mon, 13 Jul 2020 09:08:00 +0000 Many Arizona Educators Urge Governor To Delay The Start Of School editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Parents of younger school-age kids are also making some tough decisions after President Trump said last week that he would put pressure on governors and other officials to open schools in the fall. So with no clear guidance on how to reopen safely, school districts and families have been scrambling to figure things out for themselves. For students living with extended family like grandparents, the question of returning to school is even more fraught. Because of age or preexisting conditions, those family members are most vulnerable to the most serious effects of the virus. Some 2.4 million children in the United States live in a household headed by grandparents. Keith Lowhorne is a grandparent caregiver for his three grandchildren, ages 6, 5 and 3. He's taking care of them along with his wife, and they live just outside of Huntsville, Ala. And he is with us now. Hello, Mr. Lowhorne. Thanks so much for joining us. KEITH https://www.gpbnews.org/post/when-schools-reopen-grandparent-caregivers-safest-choice-homeschooling 107017 as https://www.gpbnews.org Sun, 12 Jul 2020 21:43:00 +0000 When Schools Reopen, Grandparent Caregiver's Safest Choice Is Home Schooling editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Last Monday, the Trump administration announced changes to the student visa program that would require international students at universities to take at least one in-person class this fall. That means students have to physically be on campus or leave the U.S. The changes could jeopardize the status of hundreds of thousands of students, so we've called on Dwayne McCay for more perspective on this. He is the president of the Florida Institute of Technology, known as Florida Tech. International students make up about a third of the student body there, and he's with us now to tell us his thoughts about this. President McCay, welcome. Thank you for joining us. DWAYNE MCCAY: Oh, I'm very happy to, Michel. Thank you. MARTIN: Would you just mind telling us a bit more about your student body? We said about a third are international. You know, where do they come from? And what do they study? MCCAY: Well, you know, we're a technological https://www.gpbnews.org/post/florida-tech-will-suffer-significantly-student-visa-changes 107018 as https://www.gpbnews.org Sun, 12 Jul 2020 21:19:00 +0000 Florida Tech 'Will Suffer Significantly' With Student Visa Changes editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: The pandemic in the United States is spiraling further out of control. This morning, Florida reported 15,000 new coronavirus cases. That's the highest single-day jump for any state. More than 3 million Americans have been infected with the disease, and experts say that is an undercount. There's still not enough testing, not enough mitigation by some states and cities and not enough people taking the precautions that experts strongly recommend. Twenty-six states are now reversing or pausing their plans to reopen their economies. And yet last week, President Trump announced he thinks it's time for schools to open back up. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it. The dads want it. The kids want it. It's time to do it. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos jumped into the debate and encouraged teachers to step into this moment and https://www.gpbnews.org/post/teachers-weigh-whether-schools-should-reopen-fall 107003 as https://www.gpbnews.org Sun, 12 Jul 2020 11:58:00 +0000 Teachers Weigh In On Whether Schools Should Reopen This Fall editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: We've been having conversations on this program and elsewhere on the network about inequality in education. Those gaps can start early, often before a student ever enters a classroom. Studies show that kids who don't get any pre-K instruction can lag a year behind those who do in math and verbal skills. In 2012, San Antonio vowed to fix that. The city enacted a 1/8 cent sales tax for a program called pre-K for SA, which now provides early childhood education for just over 2,000 children from low-income, military and English-learning families. Sarah Baray is the CEO of Pre-K for SA, and she is with us now. Sarah Baray, thanks so much for talking to us. SARAH BARAY: It's my pleasure. Glad to be with you. MARTIN: So first of all, I just wanted to ask you to tell us why pre-K matters. You're a former teacher. You're an administrator. You've also taught education courses at the university level, so you kind of have that bird's-eye https://www.gpbnews.org/post/san-antonio-pre-k-program-seeks-fix-achievement-gap 106991 as https://www.gpbnews.org Sat, 11 Jul 2020 20:55:00 +0000 San Antonio Pre-K Program Seeks To Fix Achievement Gap UPDATED The new school year is rapidly approaching, but many parents and educators still don't know exactly what the semester will look like. As President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos call for schools to open in-person, districts across the country are formulating a range of plans. Doctors have their own recommendations for what systems should do. It's a lot to keep track of, but NPR reporters are following the developments. Send us your questions, and we'll answer some on-air. A producer will be in touch before using your name or question on air. This form was closed on July 14th. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. https://www.gpbnews.org/post/ask-us-your-questions-about-reopening-schools-well-find-answers 106984 as https://www.gpbnews.org Sat, 11 Jul 2020 15:36:00 +0000 Ask Us Your Questions About Reopening Schools — We'll Find The Answers Eyder Peralta As Zuleika Yusuf Daffala walks across Kibera, one of the big informal settlements in Kenya's capital, she greets dozens of kids on the streets. Some are jumping rope, others chasing each other through the alley and another group is trying to make a tiny cooking pan out of an aluminum can. Daffala, a 37-year-old community activist, broke the news this week to many of the neighborhood kids that the Kenyan government had decided that the country's more than 12 million grade school students would not be going back to classrooms until January 2021. Not only that, but the government considers the 2020 school year "lost," so all kids will remain in the same grade for another year. "They are still not believing it," she says. "When you go to school, you have a target. So they have their plans already. They are not taking it easy." She says her son, a junior in high school, is resigned. Like most Kenyans, he doesn't have a tablet or a laptop, so he's trying to keep up with whatever books he can https://www.gpbnews.org/post/kenya-keeps-schools-shut-teen-pregnancies-are-rising 106983 as https://www.gpbnews.org Sat, 11 Jul 2020 14:21:00 +0000 As Kenya Keeps Schools Shut, Teen Pregnancies Are Rising editor Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Pediatricians across the country have spoken out in favor of bringing students back to school this fall even as coronavirus infection rates increase in most states, including among younger people. Dr. Sara Bode is a pediatrician and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on School Health. She joins us now from Columbus, Ohio. Thanks very much for being with us. SARA BODE: Thank you, Scott. SIMON: Infection rates are rising. Officials all over the country are raising alarms. Why do you believe it's important to reopen schools? BODE: So what we know is that for kids, school is not just an optional activity. It's really an essential service for them not only for their academics, but also for their social-emotional health, also for safety, nutrition, so many other things that they get through the school system. And so it's critical for us to find a way to support and get kids back. SIMON: We've heard concerns about https://www.gpbnews.org/post/pediatrician-makes-case-reopening-schools-fall 106967 as https://www.gpbnews.org Sat, 11 Jul 2020 11:54:00 +0000 Pediatrician Makes Case For Reopening Schools This Fall