DA Staff

Do AI tools like ChatGPT help school students or do they just make cheating easier?

High school English teacher Cherie Shields wrote an opinion piece Don’t Ban ChatGPT. Use It as a Teaching Tool. She talks about the days where she once researched with an encyclopedia but acknowledged how students are “light years away from those old research methods.”

Inside a Brooklyn school teaching the course that Florida banned

Students taking the African American studies class have learned about ancient kingdoms, 20th-century movements and modern issues.

Plot twist: Activists skirt book bans with guerrilla giveaways and pop-up libraries

Many people opposed to bans are taking it upon themselves to find creative ways to put books where young readers will see them—outside of schools.

N.J. school will investigate transphobic Twitter account allegedly run by board member

Hunterdon Central Regional High School's move comes two days after a member of Flemington QTs, a group that supports the local queer and trans community, raised concerns about the account and its owner.

Bill for $6,500 vouchers creeps toward Georgia House passage

Voucher bills have historically gotten cool receptions in the House, but Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, of Milton, a longtime proponent, has been in the forefront of this year’s push.

Columbus City Schools says it will lose millions if tax legislation becomes law

The board also opposed the two school funding bills currently receiving hearings in both the Ohio House and Senate, saying "Ohio taxpayers and local communities will bear the brunt of having to subsidize parent choice for those parents who choose to never enroll their children in Ohio’s quality public schools."

What we do (and don’t) know about teacher shortages, and what can be done about them

Many districts across the country are grappling with teacher shortages large and small. Limited federal data show, as of October 2022, 45% of public schools had at least one teacher vacancy; that's after the school year had already begun.

Classes remain halted for more than half a million L.A. students as school strike stretches into second day

LA USD administrators kept about 200 campuses open for limited supervision amid an employee strike that’s affecting more than 600,000 students.

Arkansas enacts law restricting school bathroom use by transgender people

The bill, which prohibits transgender people from using the restroom that matches their gender identity, applies to multi-person restrooms and locker rooms at preK-12 public schools and charter schools.

Inside the rural Texas resistance to the GOP’s private school choice plan

Officials in communities like Robert Lee ISD, which has a population of about 1,000, warn vouchers will chip away at already razor-thin public school budgets. With only 250 students — about 18 children per grade—even a slight drop in enrollment and funding can force rural schools to make hard decisions.

Supreme Court rules for deaf student who sued his Michigan school district

In the unanimous ruling, the court said Miguel Luna Perez could pursue claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act as he seeks to hold the Sturgis Public School District accountable for allegedly failing to meet his educational needs.

Woman, 29, who pretended to be a student in a public high school pleads not guilty

Lawyers for Hyejeong Shin, recently divorced and far away from her family in South Korea, said she longed for the sense of safety she felt as a teenager at a Massachusetts boarding school.

Somebody wants the Bible removed from Utah school libraries

Asked if it was a serious attempt to have the Bible removed from school libraries or if it was a political statement, Christopher Williams, Davis School District’s director of communication, said they treat all challenges the same.

LGBTQ+ education controversy stirs at schools across long island

This “culture war” heated up about a year ago when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that targeted so-called sexually explicit books in Florida’s schools, sparking debate over the issue nationwide. 

Recovering teacher shot by 6-year-old: ‘It’s changed me’

“I just will never forget the look on his face that he gave me while he pointed the gun directly at me,” first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner said during an exclusive interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie about the student. “It’s changed me. It’s changed my life.”