"With federal discretionary spending at its lowest levels since 1989, cuts in federal aid pressure state and local governments to fill the gap," according to a new analysis by HeyTutor.
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.
As tens of thousands of teachers and staff strike in a call for better pay, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says, "I made myself available alongside my team for hours today, hoping that we would be able to have a conversation for a whole host of reasons, some of which I do not understand. We were never in the same room, or even in the same building."
"It's just a fancy buzzword and a complete failure," said one kindergarten teacher. "My story is an accurate depiction of what restorative justice looks like in schools. It's not working and there's no accountability."
Substantial additional compensation for those teachers who prove most effective by the measure of student growth and for those who double as coaches for their colleagues are two methods that have been successfully implemented in one district.
The most innovative and most equitable districts on gender disparity are creating policies offer adequate childcare, allow for more flexible work hours, foster a family-first culture and explicitly provide mentoring and networking.
"State lawmakers are trying to prevent trans students from participating in school activities like sports, force teachers to out students and censor any in-school discussions of LGBTQ people and issues," according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
About 833,000 fewer students enrolled in public schools in fall 2021 than had been predicted, with the most surprising drops occurring in middle school, according to the latest data, foretelling a drop in the number of high school graduates and, subsequently, college freshmen.
