An Alabama nonprofit will play a critical role in shaping the future of federal student aid.

Alabama Possible is breaking new ground as one of the six organizations selected by the U.S. Department of Education to help fine-tune the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

The group's Executive Director Chandra Scott said the group will help remove obstacles, and work to make this year's application process easier for students in Alabama and across the South.

"Our timelines around FAFSA completion and graduation is so different from institutions in the North," said Scott. "So being able to get in on this a little early - to see where students are going to land on this, what still needs to be fixed - it's a great privilege."

The beta testing includes recruiting at least 100 students and families across the state to complete the FAFSA, as they would under normal circumstances.

Scott said Alabama Possible will help identify where students are likely to encounter issues and work with the Department of Education to resolve them before the December 1 launch.

Scott said this effort doesn't give an advantage to students who will complete the FAFSA during this testing, but ensures they face fewer roadblocks than they did with last year's application.

She said a common issue they will be looking out for is one that delayed the process for many students last year.

"There shouldn't be a need for both parents to need an FSA ID if they're filing taxes jointly," said Scott, "and that was a huge barrier for a lot of students - because they were only having one parent do it, and then it would put a great pause in the process."

The group will also work to ensure that students without social security numbers and those classified as independent don't encounter unnecessary hurdles.

Scott said she believes this testing will not only benefit students, but also equip school counselors and career coaches with essential tools to provide effective support.

A Detroit educator recently told a congressional committee he is "terrified" at what a second Trump term as president could bring for America's public schools.

Rodney Fresh, a high school social studies teacher in Detroit, said parts of the Republican agenda appear to call for dismantling the public education system. He added the transition plan known as Project 2025 would "kick the ladder out from under" students who need it the most and eliminate the federal Department of Education.

"Why do they want to weaken public schools? If you ask me, it's because they fear what public schools do - we teach critical thinking, honest history and tolerance - and because diverse, educated citizens threaten their power," he asked.

Project 2025 is a 900-page blueprint by the conservative Heritage Foundation for reorganizing the federal government under a Republican administration. It calls for privatizing the public school system and cutting funding for more than 180,000 teaching positions.

Former President Donald Trump has denied any connection to the plan.

Fresh, who is a second-generation instructor, teaches ninth-grade U.S. history, 11th-grade world history and Advanced Placement African American studies. He warned that under Project 2025, classes on African American history would be censored, help for students with disabilities would be eliminated, and programs like Head Start, one of the most successful preschool programs of its kind, would be cut.

"This would shut off access to high-quality early childhood education for students in Detroit. It would also take away a lifeline many parents count on to give their kids a real opportunity and fair shot at overcoming poverty," Fresh added.

Fresh told members of the U.S. House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee that under the plan's guidelines, millions of public school students whose families can't afford to send them to private schools would be deprived of the benefits of a quality public education.

"We can and must do better for the sake of our students. We cannot - and I repeat - we cannot allow Project 2025 to dismantle public education and destroy such an essential pillar of our democracy," he said.


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Metro Nashville Public Schools and Nashville State Community College are working together to help some high school students launch health care careers.

They can take college courses and earn a technical certificate in the field of Central Sterile Processing. The "Better Together" partnership helps graduates prepare for and complete college.

Shanna L. Jackson, president of Nashville State Community College, said the state-funded $2 million grant brings her school's surgical technical program to Pearl-Cohn and Maplewood High Schools. The funds will be used to set up a sterile processing lab in a classroom and hire two new faculty members, one at each school.

"As juniors, they'll take dual enrollment courses. As seniors, they'll take dual enrollment courses. In the summer, they're actually going to have clinical experiences with area health care providers," Jackson outlined. "And they will actually be able to sit for that exam and be well on their way to a career or come to Nashville State and finish their Associate Degree in Surgical Technology."

Jackson explained central sterile technicians store, clean, sterilize, assemble and prepare medical equipment used during procedures. She added Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission recently announced funding for this initiative and 22 others through the Governor's Investment in Vocational Education program.

Jackson stressed the Better Together initiative was designed to bridge the gap between high school and college, aiming to increase both enrollment and graduation rates at Nashville State. She noted they have been working to build pathways for students to get jobs in some high-demand, high-wage fields.

"We have now an early college that's in its fourth year at Whites Creek High School, and we're starting early colleges at Glencliff and Cambridge," Jackson pointed out. "This gives students that are in high school the opportunity to not take Senior English, but to take English Composition with Nashville State."

The students earn dual credit for high school and college. The "early college high school" program recently received a National Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Many Massachusetts educators are denouncing the growing chorus of anti-immigrant rhetoric this election season.

They cited an uptick in reports of bullying and concern among immigrant parents about whether their children are safe at school.

Jessica Lander, a civics and history teacher at Lowell High School, said there is nothing partisan about standing up for students.

"We are sending a profound message to our students with the silence that they are not welcome, that they are not safe, that they don't belong," Lander asserted.

Lander argued immigrant students bring a tremendous amount of perseverance, grit and skills from living in multiple cultures, which inspires others to learn. Roughly 3,000 new immigrant students living in the state's emergency shelter system enrolled in more than seventy school districts statewide last year.

Lander has traveled the country meeting with immigrant students and educators developing innovative ways to help them succeed. In her book, "Making Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and Inspiration in Immigrant Education," Lander highlights a program in Lawrence, helping integrate immigrant parents into the school community. Other schools, she pointed out, are partnering with hospitals and local businesses to support a community approach to public education.

"Our students have so many strengths that we value in colleges and careers that I don't necessarily know that we are identifying or telling our students that we value even if we do value them," Lander explained.

Lander noted schools can often take a deficit approach to learning, meaning teachers look at the kids for what they lack rather than the skills they already have. An example, she emphasized, is in English as a Second Language. She recalled a former student from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who struggled to learn English but already knew nine other languages. She stressed schools are re-imagining what immigrant education looks like and it is important for educators to have the ability to learn from one another about what works best.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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