School bus transportation challenges are impacting one central Indiana community.

Long ride times are more than an inconvenience, according to an October survey. Bus driver shortages and late arrivals to school have also been documented by the education advocacy group RISE INDY.

The organization says data show a correlation between these transportation hiccups and student outcomes and educational equity.

Katherin Chi, spokesperson for RISE INDY, said some Indianapolis Public School students are facing a "literacy crisis."

"Seventy-one percent of Marion County students, grades three through eight, are performing below grade level in literacy," said Chi. "If there was an innovative way for them to get to school, then they can attend school regularly and get the skills they need to succeed, including learning to read."

Eight hundred residents in five IPS districts took the poll. Forty-six percent of respondents feel a combined transportation system would promote student fairness.

Qualified drivers, safe vehicles, adult supervision and effective communication were also listed as the most valued components of a school-provided transportation system.

The Indiana General Assembly passed House Bill 1380 last year. The measure introduced changes to the state's student transportation policy.

Chi said it is important to understand what the community thinks about the revisions and the legislators' role in helping shape future policy and implementation.

"This bill requires the Secretary of Education to create a plan for a pilot program to address the use, operation and management of school transportation," said Chi. "We are going to continue to monitor this issue closely and just keep community informed on how everyone can support this critical work."

Eighty-three percent of poll respondents support a combined transportation system that would streamline operations, reduce costs and improve service reliability.

Convenient student pick-up and drop-off locations were also listed as important.

Idaho students still have not caught up to pre-pandemic levels in education, according to a new report.

The third annual Education Recovery Scorecard finds Idaho students are half a grade level behind 2019 marks in math, and 60% behind in reading.

One of the biggest issues in the state is chronic absenteeism.

Professor Tom Kane - lead author of the study and faculty director at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University - said the pandemic was the earthquake, but absenteeism is the tsunami that keeps rolling through schools.

"Fewer than 5% of students in Idaho were chronically absent before the pandemic," said Kane, "but right after the pandemic in 2022, more than 20% of students were chronically absent - so missing more than 10% of the school year."

The scorecard says Idaho ranks 30th in math recovery and 38th in reading recovery between 2019 and 2024.

However, the report also points to bright spots - such as in Lewiston, Kuna, and Idaho Falls, where students are approaching or exceeding full recovery.

The report finds the gaps between high-income and low-income districts nationally has widened, with the richest districts nearly four times more likely to recover in math and reading when compared to the poorest districts.

Kane said the country is failing some students.

"School closures were a public health measure that was taken on behalf of all of us," said Kane. "But, at this point, the people who are paying the biggest price for those school closures are not adults. They're children, especially poor children."

Federal relief dollars expired last year. However, Kane said there still are ways states can help students.

He urged teachers to tell parents when students fall behind. Kane also noted that states have Title I funds - grants to improve academic performance especially in high-poverty schools.

"States do have some flexibility in how they administer federal Title I dollars," said Kane, "and we encourage states to use that flexibility and continue funding academic catch-up efforts like tutoring and summer learning."



get more stories like this via email

A New York bill would require schools to teach about the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The bill calls for all K-12 students to be taught about the event, with the state determining how best to incorporate the events into history classes. Since 2021, public opinion on the U.S. Capitol attack has dulled because President Donald Trump and his supporters have downplayed it since then

Asm. Charles Lavine, D-Glen Cove, the bill's sponsor, said it is important not to whitewash the facts.

"The problem with whitewashing history is that students in those states are not going to learn to be the critical thinkers that we really need in order to confront the great dilemmas that will face us in the future," Lavine contended.

Though initial polls found people equated the Capitol attack with an attack on democracy, some polls show people approve of Trump's actions. Many groups have teaching tools so educators can accurately answer students' questions about Jan. 6.

While the bill is relatively new, it has garnered positive feedback. It is under review by the Assembly's Education Committee.

The bill comes several weeks after President Donald Trump pardoned everyone prosecuted for participating in the Jan. 6 attack. Polls show most people disapprove of the pardons.

Lavine acknowledged one challenge for the bill is finding an impartial way to teach about a politically polarizing event, adding it will be left to the state's education experts.

"Those are the members of the Board of Regents, in consultation with the state's Education Department, to make the determination about what is taught particularly in subject matters," Lavine outlined. "What this bill simply does is add to a list of major subject areas that should be instructed in our public schools."

Along with the Capitol attack, the bill also calls on teachers to educate students about patriotism, citizenship, civic education, values and America's history with diversity and religious tolerance. Lavine noted one goal of the bill is to ensure children learn about good and bad parts of history, from slavery and the Holocaust to the Irish potato famine.


get more stories like this via email

With cost at the forefront of prospective students' minds, higher education institutions in North Carolina are rethinking how to overcome one of the biggest barriers to enrollment.

William Peace University in Raleigh has launched its "Peace Pledge," a program offering 100% tuition coverage for qualifying students.

Damon Wade, vice president for enrollment management and marketing at the university, said school officials took a hard look at the enrollment challenges students faced.

"Cost was a major factor in their decision-making for them and their families," Wade observed. "We wanted to do our level best to try to mitigate that and remove cost as a barrier to their education as reasonably as we possibly could."

Qualifying students must be first-time, traditional undergraduate students who reside in North Carolina. They also must come from households with incomes of $75,000 or less, be eligible for federal Pell Grants and have a high school grade-point average of 3.25 or higher.

Other colleges in North Carolina are also offering free tuition, including Duke University, which covers tuition for families with incomes less than $150,000. Wade pointed out colleges are closely considering the cost students face.

"A lot of institutions around the country and then particularly in North Carolina have given thought to the cost associated with education and have come up with different pathways for students to enroll," Wade explained.

Wade added students want to enroll in programs to prepare them for the workforce or graduate school.

"But they want to do it in as cost-effective as possible," Wade emphasized. "We hear that from them and their parents, and they understand that mom and dad or their guardians don't always have the capacity to cover the cost."