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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Establishing minimum salaries for educators and school staff will be a top priority for the Massachusetts Teachers Association this legislative session.

The union is backing a bill to ensure K-12 support staff receive a minimum salary of $55,000 a year, while teachers would earn a minimum of $70,000.

Union President Max Page said pay raises could reduce the number of bargaining campaigns across the state.

"We're putting a stake in the ground," said Page, "saying let's be truthful about what it costs to bring in and retain the best new generation of educators."

Page said the union is also aiming for pay increases at state universities and the University of Massachusetts system, and to ensure part-time adjunct faculty are eligible for state pensions and health insurance.

A recent study found Massachusetts faculty members are the lowest paid in the nation when compared to states with similar costs of living.

Thousands of unionized teachers across the North Shore rallied last year to raise awareness about their lack of paid parental leave.

State law requires most workers have access to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, but that doesn't apply to municipal workers, including teachers.

Page said it's long overdue and the union will be pushing for the change this session.

"We believe that educators, who make up the lion's share of those and are largely women, should have access to that," said Page. "And that would take that off the table and off the contentious negotiations that happen across the state."

With more than $2 billion now raised in Fair Share Amendment funds to help pay for public transportation and education, Page said the union will continue to lobby for debt-free higher education in Massachusetts beyond community college.

The union also aims to correct the state's Chapter 70 formula and ensure state funding keeps up with inflation.

A new virtual charter school offering two hours of artificial intelligence-based learning wants to expand into Pennsylvania.

The Unbound Academy proposal awaits approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. It operates at some private schools in Texas but its founders have had charter school applications rejected in Arkansas, North Carolina and Utah.

There are 14 cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, serving more than 57,000 students.

Carol Burris, executive director of the nonprofit Network for Public Education, said kids already struggle with online learning, so an AI-based model may not help.

"As a former educator, I'm extremely concerned," Burris stressed. "Children don't do well in online schools, and this school promises even less instruction than a typical online charter school might."

Burris pointed out the Unbound Academy calls its instructors "guides" and has plans to open a brick-and-mortar location in Lancaster. An academy cofounder said online charters impart practical skills, help kids learn at their own pace and give homeschooled students another alternative.

The academy proposes a two-hour learning session for $5,500 per student. But in Arizona, its proposed fee is $2,000.

Moira Kaleida, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, said her group is asking legislators to tighten the state's cyber charter law to prevent anyone taking advantage of families.

"What we have seen with this Unbound Academy is, yet again, a conglomerate of kind of the same people making money off of each other," Kaleida contended. "Charging different prices in order to take the most advantage of a really poor law in Pennsylvania that would only serve to make them rich and hurt our children."

Kaleida noted her group has not seen proof of the learning model's success. She added test results to help prove whether the AI model is doing a good job of educating students are unverifiable.

"This model is being sold as some golden ticket and provable," Kaleida argued. "Where we have no research, no accountability, nothing to show that this is actually backed up by test results, by academics, by a peer-reviewed study."

State lawmakers seem to agree more financial transparency is needed for cyber charter schools, which currently are regulated the same way as other charter schools.

Idaho lawmakers are looking to expand options for students to go to schools other than public ones, but that could impact funds for rural schools.

In his State of the State speech, Gov. Brad Little proposed adding $150 million to the budget for schools.

That includes $50 million for so-called school choice programs, which fund students going to private schools.

However, Superintendent of the Fruitland School District Stoney Winston said this will hurt rural school districts like his, which are already underfunded, and could mean finding funds in other ways - like local voter-approved taxes.

"Rural districts are not only sending their money in public tax dollars to support private education," said Winston, "but now they're having to pony up some money in order to meet some basic needs for the rural school districts."

State lawmakers are listening to Little's proposal.

House Bill 1 is the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit, which provides up to $9,500 in tax credit to parents or guardians for the expense of non-public schools.

Little said expanding school choice is needed in particular for "students with unique physical or developmental conditions."

But Winston pointed out that public special education is underfunded, and also that private schools aren't under the same obligations as public schools.

"Private schools don't have to take students with disabilities," said Winston. "Public schools are mandated to do so, and I don't see that as a bad thing. I think that's what we should be doing, and we should be taking those students and making sure that we're giving them the best education possible to fit their needs."

Winston said lawmakers should take a step back and consider what they want education to look like in 20 years, especially in rural Idaho.

"Our rural schools are the heart of communities," said Winston, "and I don't want to see that destroyed in the future."




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