A Connecticut church is hosting a discussion this weekend to encourage Hispanic students to work in STEM fields.

The talk is part of Hispanic Access Foundation's Pathways to Science program, a five-year mission to build up the next generation of Hispanic STEM professionals. Research shows people who identify as Latino or Hispanic comprise 8% of all STEM workers, while accounting for 17% of the total workforce.

Benji Suprice, pastor for children and youth at Church of the City, said seeing representation in these career fields helps break barriers.

"Maybe one of the largest barriers is when our students don't see representatives of themselves in careers like this," he said. "They might be less inclined to go after these careers, or - a different lens - students don't know the pathway or don't have the support system."

Dr. Carlos Salazar, an internal medicine resident in the Bronx, is this month's speaker. Along with details of his career and passion for medicine, he will focus on hypertension. The event will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday at Church of the City in New London. More information about where to register is online at hispanicaccess.org under the tab "What We Do."

Suprice said these discussions are held every month during the school year, with a break over the summer, so the one this Sunday is the last until September - and they'll use the summer months to plan ahead.

"We want to just debrief to see what has worked, what has been the conversations and topics that have really resonated with students," he said. "Is the date that we've chosen, right - Sunday evenings - is that the best date for students, or should we go back to the drawing board and consider new things?"

Suprice added that the feedback from students and parents has been overwhelmingly positive. Most of the talks have centered around health care, but students have suggested bringing in professionals in other science fields such as engineering.


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A new report examines how Virginia public colleges can help student parents.

The Urban Institute report reviews three policies schools can implement so student parents can thrive in college, and looks at the return on investment for each one.

The policies were a comprehensive student-parent support program, expanded grants, and on-campus childcare.

Theresa Anderson, principal research associate with the Urban Institute, said a comprehensive support program provides many benefits.

"A lot of time parents need to complete their education efficiently," said Anderson, "because there's a large opportunity cost in going to the school - because they're missing out on time with their children, they're missing out on time they could be working more."

Other benefits include helping student parents break feelings of isolation. The scholarship and grant program helps student parents make ends meet while they get their education.

On-campus childcare also helps student parents enroll, since other studies show not having childcare is a massive barrier they face.

The comprehensive student-parent support program had the highest return on investment of all the policies studied.

Every dollar invested in it could yield almost $6 in tax revenue and public-benefit savings. By 2035, this could benefit the public by an estimated $1.9 billion.

Anderson said lawmakers can easily put these policies into action.

"Appropriating resources for student-parent support programs on college campuses would be very feasible," said Anderson. "Texas did part of this by requiring colleges to establish student-parent liaison positions across the state, but this would be a step further where Virginia would be a leader in actually setting up programs across every campus."

She added increasing the college scholarship program would also be easy, since it creates a new option for parents on an existing program.

For on-campus childcare, Anderson cited New York as an example - since that state uses Federal Childcare Development funds, with Gov. Kathy Hochul allocating additional money.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.




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Regents exams will no longer be a graduation requirement for New York State students.

The State Department of Education announced the change several months after reviewing the findings of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures. Education advocates are grateful since studies show no evidence exit exams increase student achievement or raise a high school diploma's value.

Juliet Eisenstein, assistant director of the Post-Secondary Readiness Project at Advocates for Children of New York, said there are alternatives for students to demonstrate proficiency with their coursework.

"Those can include capstone learning experiences. They can include credentials that already exist like biliteracy credentials. It could include a performance-based assessment, a CTE program," Eisenstein outlined.

The options depend on the subject area and what students feel best display their knowledge of each subject. Though Regents exams will not be a graduation requirement, students will still have to take them to meet federal Every Student Succeeds Act requirements. A timeline is slated to come in the fall but Eisenstein pointed out it will be a while before this goes into effect.

Students would still be able to use Regents exams to show their proficiency in a certain subject but other options will also be available. The exams do not meet all students' needs, particularly those with learning disabilities. In her work with students, Eisenstein argued high-stakes exams push kids away from high school graduation.

"This idea that Regents exams help prepare students for high school is kind of a myth," Eisenstein contended. "In fact, exit exams tend to increase high school dropout rates particularly for students of color and for students from low-income neighborhoods"

Analysis of graduation data from 11,000 school districts over a decade found dropout rates for 12th graders were 23% higher in states requiring exit exams without alternative paths to graduation.


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A bill to increase Pennsylvania public school funding by billions of dollars passed the State House and is heading to the Senate for a vote.

House Bill 2370 proposes more than $5 billion extra in funding for the next seven years.

Pennsylvania State Education Association President Aaron Chapin said if the bill is signed into law, it would boost school funding and reflect critical elements of the Basic Education Funding Commission's majority report - which PSEA strongly supported when released in January.

"And essentially what it said is that 74% of our school districts, that's 371 districts out of 500, are underfunded at the state level," said Chapin. "And that means that hundreds of thousands of students across Pennsylvania, they're getting shortchanged by their state, and their schools are not getting the resources that more affluent districts have."

House Bill 2370 also reflects the recommendations in Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed fiscal 2024-25 budget, which suggests a $1.1 billion funding increase for Pennsylvania's public schools.

Chapin said the funding from HB 2370 will also help address the teacher shortage in Pennsylvania by allowing schools to offer competitive compensation.

"The bill says that districts may use funding to increase minimum salaries for professional employees to $60,000 a year, and minimum wages for support professionals for at least $20 an hour," said Chapin. "And what that's really going to do is empower school districts to attract more qualified caring adults to the education profession. "

Chapin noted that the bill addresses the Commonwealth Court ruling that found Pennsylvania's public school funding system unconstitutional.

He noted that the Basic Education Funding Commission traveled across the state and gathered input from educators, advocates and experts about the real needs of public schools.

"What that report said is that $9.5 billion in new state dollars need to be invested into our public schools over the next seven years," said Chapin. "And that will help close the gaps from decades and generations of underfunding. House Bill 2370 implements that commission's plan."

Chapin said his organization applauds House leadership's unwavering commitment to ensuring adequate and equitable public education funding.