Making New York’s Schools Distraction‑Free: A Bold Move for Better Learning

Making New York’s Schools Distraction‑Free: A Bold Move for Better Learning

By: Janet Howard With the 2025–26 school year underway, New York State has launched the nation’s most ambitious bell‑to‑bell smartphone ban in K–12 schools—eliminating distractions and restoring focus to classrooms statewide. This historic Distraction-Free Schools law marks a turning point in American education. Supporters say these phone-free schools help students refocus on academics and wellbeing. […]

Reading at the Root: New York City’s Literacy Crisis and Zohran Mamdani’s Vision for Change

Reading at the Root: New York City’s Literacy Crisis and Zohran Mamdani’s Vision for Change

By Anne Webster New York City stands at a pivotal moment in its educational history, facing a literacy crisis that threatens to undermine the futures of thousands of children—particularly those living in poverty. With nearly two-thirds of low-income students unable to read at grade level, the consequences stretch far beyond the classroom, fueling cycles of […]

Reading from the Beginning: NYC’s Illiteracy Crisis and Andrew Cuomo’s Educational Blueprint

Reading from the Beginning: NYC’s Illiteracy Crisis and Andrew Cuomo’s Educational Blueprint

By: Anne Webster New York City is grappling with a critical and largely underreported problem: illiteracy. Children are bound to struggle—and entire communities may stagnate—if students cannot master foundational reading skills. As a candidate in the 2025 New York City mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo has introduced an ambitious 25-point education plan meant to reshape literacy […]

Educated Abroad, Excelling at Home: Why More American Citizens Are Seeking Superior Pre-College Education Overseas

Educated Abroad, Excelling at Home: Why More American Citizens Are Seeking Superior Pre-College Education Overseas

By Esther Claudette Gittens In recent years, a growing number of American citizens—many of them children of immigrants, middle-class families seeking value, or globally mobile professionals—have turned to international school systems for their pre-college education. From Finland’s egalitarian model to Germany’s tuition-free rigor, from Singapore’s STEM-focused curriculum to France’s classical liberal arts tradition, these American […]

With U.S. Students Struggling, Educators Rethink the School Day

With U.S. Students Struggling, Educators Rethink the School Day

By Selen Ozturk, ACOM With chronic absenteeism and low performance among students nationwide, a growing number of educators are reshaping the school day — and what it means to be a successful graduate. A growing number of educators are reshaping the school day — and what it means to be a successful graduate. In the […]

Patriotic education’: Trump orders federal push to monitor K-12 curriculum

Patriotic education’: Trump orders federal push to monitor K-12 curriculum

By:Orion Rummler | 19news.org |Editorial credit: Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock.com President Donald Trump has directed the federal government to begin a campaign to monitor and influence K-12 curriculum — a move that former Education Department staff describe as unprecedented interference into the country’s education system with the purpose of targeting marginalized groups, particularly transgender students. In an […]

Technology is Supposed to Decrease Teacher Burnout – but We Found it Can Sometimes Make It Worse

Technology is Supposed to Decrease Teacher Burnout – but We Found it Can Sometimes Make It Worse

By David T. Marshall, THE CONVERSATION  When we set out to study pandemic-related changes in schools, we thought we’d find that learning management systems that rely on technology to improve teaching would make educators’ jobs easier. Instead, we found that teachers whose schools were using learning management systems had higher rates of burnout. Our findings were […]

What Would it Mean if President-elect Trump Dismantled the US Department of Education?

What Would it Mean if President-elect Trump Dismantled the US Department of Education?

By Kevin Welner,THECONVERSATION | Editorial credit: Tada Images / shutterstock.com  In her role as former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, Linda McMahon oversaw an enterprise that popularized the “takedown” for millions of wrestling fans. But as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, the Trump loyalist may be tasked with taking down the very department Trump has […]