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Tag: education

  • Schools return in person after weather disruptions

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    GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Many school districts in North Carolina are back in person after disruptions due to back-to-back winter storms.

    What You Need To Know

    • Schools took different approaches, however all of them used remote learning days at one point or another

    • At Gaston County Schools, packets were used for remote learning, and at Mountain Island Charter School, students used an online platform

    • Gaston County Schools closed and had remote learning days, and Mountain Island Charter only had remote learning days


    Schools took different approaches, however all of them used remote learning days at one point or another. 

    Gaston County Schools, for example, had two snow days and four remote learning days in the past two weeks due to the ice storm and snowstorm. 

    Forestview High School English and AP psychology teacher Richard Morris, who is Gaston County Schools’ new teacher of the year, welcomed students back in person Thursday after a two-hour delay. 

    He asked students briefly about whether they enjoyed the snow before discussing the remote learning packet students were expected to complete.

    “Before they left, I wanted to be sure they understood exactly what the text was going to be about and the expectations I had for them while they were out,” Morris said. 

    He said the secondary English curriculum coordinator sent packets for students in order for them not to fall behind and continue being engaged while out of school. 

    Morris has been trying to make the most of the school closures. 

    “I love being in the classroom with students, but we live on this earth where weather happens, and it can be a disruption. It’s a little frustrating, but it’s the reality of the situation. I was very responsive to both parents and students on email, making sure that everyone is on the same page,” Morris said. 

    Forestview science and biology teacher John Ramos, who is the district’s teacher of the year, said his concern is the continuation of learning.  

    “I don’t want to experience another learning loss like what we had in COVID back then. And, I’m just glad that, you know, we are very proactive as a school district and our administrators are really sending information in advance,” Ramos said. 

    Mountain Island Charter School, which is also located in Gaston County, is a public charter school and also relied on remote learning. The school didn’t use any snow days but instead opted for using its five allotted remote learning days.

    Mountain Island Charter School sixth to 12th grade principal Jacob Wilson said the school serves students from eight counties and any closure decisions come after analyzing a variety of factors. This includes looking into the decisions made by traditional public schools, monitoring weather and road conditions and assessing areas around the campus. 

    “Student safety is always going to be No. 1 but beyond that, we want to make sure that our students are continuing learning and so we’re always going to want to push that ball forward. Anytime we have a chance to make it to where students can learn, we’re going to do that.” Wilson said. 

    Assistant Principal of Curriculum Instruction Renee Goodwin said she was in contact with teachers during remote learning to receive feedback.

    “I talked to them over the phone and asked them how things are going, where we should go when we get back, because we are in the middle of like testing season as well. So we had to make some adjustments for students to make sure that we get the best results for the testing,” Goodwin said. 

    Students at Mountain Island Charter used an online platform with instructional activities to review concepts and independent learning. 

    “Nothing replaces a teacher in the classroom, however the extension activities that our teachers provide here actually go beyond what the teacher is teaching through multiple platforms that we have,” Goodwin said.

    Back at Forestview, Morris and Ramos are getting students back in the swing of things.

    “Our main goal is to ensure that the routine will be in place again,” Ramos said. 

    The intent behind it is to move forward. 

    “We’re going to briefly go over the packet, make sure that everything’s complete so they get that attendance for the day, get that classwork grade for the day, but then we’re just going to keep on rolling like we never missed a beat,” Morris said. 

    Both Gaston County Schools and Mountain Island Charter school officials said the weather-related closures will not prompt any makeup days or any schedule changes.

    Meanwhile, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is modifying its calendar turning Feb. 11 and April 29 from early release days into full instructional days. 

    “By supporting the superintendent’s recommendation to convert the remaining early release days to full instructional days, we’re choosing to exceed state requirements because it’s what best serves students,” CMS Board of Education Chair Stephanie Sneed said. 

    Under state law, schools are only allowed to declare five remote learning days in a calendar year for emergency situations and severe weather.

    However, according to the Department of Public Instruction, some schools have a waiver because they have been closed at least eight days during any four of the last 10 years due to weather.

    This year, schools with a waiver include Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Haywood, Jackson, Madison, Mitchell, Swain, Watauga and Yancey counties. These schools are allowed to open a week early to have more makeup days and can use 15 remote instruction days or 90 hours. 

    Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.

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    Estephany Escobar

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  • Texas can’t build a premier workforce without foreign researchers

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    For all his criticism and condemnation of higher education, Texas governor Gregg Abbott is proud of the state’s institutions. He’s designated billions of public dollars to fund them. Speaking to a crowd of 400 higher ed leaders at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s leadership conference in 2023, Abbott praised attendees for putting the state “on a trajectory of excellence in higher education.”

    A high-quality higher education has many components, he said, but one of the most important elements “is having top-notch research universities to educate the next generation of innovative leaders needed by employers in the state.”

    He told the crowd that the reason CEOs are choosing to call Texas home is because of the “premier workforce” universities are creating.

    It’s puzzling, then, that as he’s championing the state’s research might, he has made it harder for institutions to attract the best academic talent in the world. Last week Abbott put a freeze until the end of May next year on public universities granting new H-1B visas without first obtaining written permission from the Texas Workforce Commission.

    For nearly 40 years, universities have used H-1B visas to attract the best and brightest minds to their institutions. With 12 public, R-1 research universities, Texas has the second highest number of H-1B visa holders in the country, behind California’s colleges. Lawmakers allowed universities to be exempt from the national annual cap on H-1B visas because they recognized how important foreign academic talent is to the innovation economy and training the next generation of workers.

    When Abbott announced the freeze, he cited reports of abuse of the H-1B visa program and said he wanted to ensure “American jobs are going to American workers.” But higher education isn’t using cheap foreign labor to avoid hiring American citizens. On the contrary, institutions are competing in a global marketplace against China, who introduced its own version of an H-1B visa last year, and English-speaking peers in the U.K., Canada and Australia to bring the best mathematicians, epidemiologists, economists and others to their campuses.

    Abbott understands how important academic research is to the Texas economy. In 2023, he signed into law the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund meant to encourage the expansion of the semi-conductor industry in the state and “further develop the expertise and capacity of Texas institutions of higher education” in order to maintain the state’s position as “the nation’s leader in semiconductor manufacturing.”

    In December, Abbott awarded $4.8 million from the fund to the Texas Quantum Institute (TQI) at the University of Texas at Austin to establish the QLab, a quantum-enhanced semiconductor metrology facility.

    TQI co-director Elaine Li is a physicist from China. According to her UT Austin bio, she came to the U.S. after her professor at Beijing Normal University encouraged her to expand her horizons. She thought “What the heck? It might be fun,” and so she enrolled at the University of Michigan to get a Ph.D. She’s been at UT Austin since 2007.

    I don’t know if Li was ever in the country on an H-1B visa, but her story is typical of so many other international researchers who come here—she’s smart, hungry and passionate about working on complex problems with the best minds in the world. Those are the type of talented people who help cultivate Abbott’s premier workforce in Texas. Fewer H-1B visa holders means fewer physicists advancing Texas’s semiconductor economy, fewer biomedical researchers at its health centers and fewer top-notch professors in its classrooms inspiring the next generation of innovative leaders.

    In September, Trump raised the cost of an H-1B visa to $100,000, making it prohibitive for many colleges to recruit talented researchers. On the back of that decision, economists downgraded their predictions for the country’s economic growth because of the loss of foreign talent. That Texas doubled down on the restrictions by freezing new applications is short-sighted and economically risky. Abbott, up for reelection in November, may have scored a political win by stopping universities from recruiting foreign scholars, but the long-term consequences to the state’s innovation economy could outlast his time in office.

    Sara Custer is editor in chief at Inside Higher Ed.

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    sara.custer@insidehighered.com

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  • Advice to Parents: Childhood Isn’t Optimizable | RealClearPolitics

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    We’re loading kids down with scheduled activities and enrichment. They do better with the freedom to explore.

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    Samuel Abrams, Wall Street Journal

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  • As teachers’ strike looms, San Francisco school leaders finalize backup plan

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    San Francisco Unified School District leaders are finalizing a backup plan in the event of a teachers strike.

    The school board approved an emergency plan Tuesday night.

    Maria Su, superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, said classrooms will remain open with substitute teachers.

    The San Francisco teachers union, meanwhile, vowed to strike as soon as next week and could set a walkout date on Wednesday.

    With contract talks stalled, an independent third party is anticipated to release a report regarding the dispute.

    It could be the first teachers’ strike in San Francisco in nearly 50 years.

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    NBC Bay Area staff

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  • 6 Takeaways From International Branch Campus Boom (opinion)

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    As the U.S. tightens visa restrictions for international students and slashes research funding—threatening its status as a global innovation powerhouse —it’s tempting to think American universities can simply go offshore to find new students or new funding. But the reality is far more complicated, particularly if the strategy is an international branch campus (IBC).

    IBCs represent a paradox within global higher education, with some universities fully embracing the strategy and others outright rejecting the concept. Critics have dismissed IBCs as hollow replicas of their home institutions. Yet research shows that many have developed robust academic programs and even extensive research capacities. And, like the rest of the postsecondary universe, IBCs span a wide spectrum in terms of quality, purpose and impact.

    The United States has led the world in establishing IBCs. The movement surged in the 2000s, a period of “gold rush”–like expansion driven by the pursuit of new revenue, visibility and rankings, but slowed dramatically over the past decade as political scrutiny and geopolitical tensions grew. In fact, until last year, we’d seen almost no IBCs of U.S. universities created since 2019.

    Shifting policies and global dynamics are reigniting interest (and debate). Political concern contributed to the closure of Texas A&M University’s “profitable” branch in Qatar and heightened scrutiny of U.S. branches in China. Federal limits on international engagement and student visa delays and travel restrictions are causing some universities to once again look outward. Illinois Institute of Technology’s planned branch in India, Texas State University’s new campus in Mexico, and the University of New Haven’s forthcoming site in Saudi Arabia suggest momentum. Yet, as institutions turn toward IBCs as a hedge against domestic uncertainty, the path forward remains fraught with its own uncertainty.

    Over 15 years studying international branch campuses (IBCs) through the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT), we’ve tracked the rise, fall and reinvention of IBCs on (nearly) every continent—Antarctica doesn’t have one yet. From governance breakdowns and cultural clashes to accountability gaps and student mobility shifts, we’ve learned that launching a campus abroad requires far more than institutional desire.

    If your institution is considering joining this wave, here are six things you should know before you plant a flag abroad.

    1. You’re Launching a Start-Up, Not a Clone

    Opening an IBC is more akin to launching a start-up than expanding a franchise. Your institution needs to be ready to act like an international entrepreneur, taking on associated risks—otherwise, it’s not ready to run a campus abroad.

    A report on successful IBCs that we coauthored found they required profoundly different leadership strategies than what you use on your mature campus back home. Building an IBC is not just duplicating your brand; it’s creating a new entity in a foreign regulatory, cultural and economic environment.

    Take the case of Michigan State University’s now-closed Dubai campus or the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s closed campus in Singapore. These weren’t failures of vision but of execution. There was misalignment between institutional ambition, financial resources and operational capacity.

    From hiring faculty to navigating construction delays or managing local political expectations to balancing dual accreditation systems, successful campuses tended to emerge from institutions that approached their IBCs as strategically distinct ventures—not mere clones of the home campus.

    2. Local Alignment Isn’t Optional—It’s Everything

    The data is clear: IBCs with strong host-country alignment, including government support, regulatory clarity and local partnerships, are far more likely to survive. Several Gulf-based campuses (like New York University in Abu Dhabi or Cornell University’s medical school in Qatar) succeeded because they were codeveloped with local governments and embedded in national strategies for higher education and economic growth. Others closed, like George Mason University’s Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) campus after disagreements with local officials over enrollment and revenue expectations. As we lay out in a recent article, lack of alignment is one of the greatest risks in these endeavors.

    Building strong connections and communications is vital. IBCs established with a purely export mindset struggle to gain traction, enroll students or weather local shifting political winds. IBCs don’t start with the good will and reputation developed over decades like you have at home. Work is needed to build it with new partners. At the same time, your longstanding stakeholders at home need to be kept on board. Nevertheless, abrupt ends happen, such as with the National University of Singapore ending its partnership with Yale University or, as previously mentioned, the Texas A&M Board of Regents pulling the plug on the campus in Qatar.

    3. Your “International” Students May Never Leave Their Country

    IBCs increasingly serve place-bound learners seeking international credentials close to home. Our research shows that the majority of IBC students are either from the host country or region, a finding with implications for recruitment, student support and how institutions define mission and measure global impact.

    Most models of international education are built around mobility—students crossing borders to pursue degrees abroad. But IBCs flip that paradigm: The institution crosses borders.

    As we’ve explored in previous work, this shift complicates the definition of “international student.” For example, how do you classify a Korean student enrolled at a U.S. branch campus such as SUNY Korea, and who is being taught in English and earning an American degree? How about a Chinese student who does the same thing? Or a U.S. student who pursues an IBC degree at that same SUNY Korea branch campus? Distinguishing between domestic or international gets complicated fast.

    Understanding this shift is essential for institutions considering a branch campus, not only to reach the right students, but to design a truly global learning experience that reflects their realities.

    4. Your Governance Model May Not Survive the Flight

    One of our key findings is that governance misalignment is a top reason IBCs flounder. Who oversees hiring? Curriculum? Budget? How is the decision made to open, and who decides when to close?

    Governance challenges are underappreciated risks of IBCs. Recent work highlights how IBCs operate within multi-sovereign governance structures, with accountability to home regulators, host governments, multiple quality assurance agencies, local boards and internal university systems. These overlapping authorities often have different priorities, leading to conflicting mandates.

    Consider the issue of academic freedom. How does an institution protect academic freedom abroad given that host countries’ sensitivities and restrictions need to be managed? Home campus structures may not be well-suited to the task, and completely distinct policies would push aside coherent institutional mission. What governance structures allow your university to thread the needle? Institutions must define how decisions are made, who is accountable, and how the IBC integrates into broader institutional planning right from the start, before a crisis.

    5. Accountability Systems Don’t Travel

    Traditional quality assurance systems are built on national sovereignty. But IBCs occupy a gray space: Their degrees are awarded in the name of the home university, their students are often local to the branch campus and their operations are subject to foreign regulators. This creates major accountability tensions. A campus may be accredited in the U.S. but fall short of host-country standards—or vice versa.

    In our work on cross-border accountability, we argue for more nuanced models, acknowledging dual jurisdiction and adaptive frameworks rather than simply exporting home-country norms. IBCs require “fit-for-purpose” quality-assurance systems—ones that are context-specific and created in dialogue with host-country partners. Your U.S. accreditation may not serve as a global stamp of approval and won’t absolve you of meeting local quality criteria.

    Too many IBCs have stumbled by assuming that U.S. accreditation equals global legitimacy, where really it is just one link in the value proposition.

    6. It Can Work—But Only with Commitment, Capacity and Collaboration

    Despite challenges and several closures, many IBCs have also repeatedly proven their worth. But this requires long-term institutional commitment, sustained investment, and a collaborative approach that aligns academic quality, local relevance and strategic vision.

    Consider Georgia Tech-Europe, established in 1990. Beginning as a small graduate engineering program in Metz, France, it has become a globally integrated component of Georgia Tech’s research and teaching mission as well as home to an engineering lab funded by CNRS (the French National Center for Scientific Research). In fact, our research has shown that many IBCs have benefited from local research funding and successfully expanded universities’ international research collaborations. Success lies in deep faculty engagement, integration into European research networks, and consistency in institutional support over more than three decades.

    Another, Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ), established in 1982 and officially recognized by Japan’s Ministry of Education in 2005, is often highlighted as one of the most established American branch campuses abroad. TUJ offers U.S. degree programs taught in English and enrolls a highly international student body. It provides a full liberal arts and professional education experience. The campus has also become a hub for intellectual exchange in the region through its Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, which regularly convenes global experts for lectures and symposia. With its strong institutional integration over time and diverse academic offerings, TUJ stands as a significant model of global engagement in higher education.

    Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)—Nanjing Center offers another compelling example. Established in 1986 as a partnership with Nanjing University, one of the earliest U.S.–China higher education joint ventures, it has become a globally recognized hub for graduate education in international relations. The model is distinguished by its bilingual curriculum, shared governance with Johns Hopkins and Nanjing Universities, and a focus on fostering cross-cultural scholarship and policy engagement. Its success rests on decades of sustained collaboration, careful navigation of regulatory environments, and the cultivation of trust across institutional and cultural boundaries.

    In these cases, and others like them, success was neither fast nor guaranteed. It required:

    • Multi-year institutional buy-in beyond the presidency or provost’s office
    • Faculty champions who shaped curriculum and governance with integrity
    • Strong on-site leadership with operational autonomy and deep cross-cultural fluency
    • Local partnerships with government, industry and communities to create shared value
    • Financial models that prioritized mission and quality over short-term revenue generation
    • Strategical meeting of a need that was not already being met by the host country—offering added value

    IBCs can be laboratories for innovation, platforms for diplomacy and engines for capacity building. But that’s only if institutions are ready to treat them as deeply collaborative, institution-defining commitments—not branding exercises.

    Conclusion

    U.S. universities revisiting the idea of international branch campuses face a more consequential question than ever—not just where to go, but why? For as long as IBCs have existed, the tension between mission and money has shaped their success or failure. Getting the motivation right is critical in today’s volatile political climate, marked by rising restrictions on international engagement, shrinking research funding and growing skepticism of globalization.

    IBCs conceived as a short-term financial fix or branding play will almost certainly falter. But when grounded in purpose, mutual learning, authentic partnerships and shared commitment to expanding access and knowledge, an IBC can be a vital part of a university’s long-term strategy and bridge an increasingly fractured world.

    More than simply hedging against political uncertainty, opening an IBC requires defining what sort of institution and what kind of global actor a university aspires to be.

    Jason E. Lane, professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is an expert on transnational higher education, international branch campuses and the impact of geopolitics on higher education. He is co-founder of the Cross-Border Education Research Team, which tracks and analyzes the global rise of these institutions.

    Kevin Kinser is a professor at The Pennsylvania State University, a scholar on international branch campuses and co-founder of the Cross-Border Education Research Team. His research explores how international branch campuses navigate regulation, governance and global competition in higher education.

    Jill Borgos is an associate professor at Empire State University’s College of Business and senior research associate with the Cross-Border Education Research Team. Her work examines how IBCs influence student experiences, institutional strategy and the global landscape of higher education.

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    Elizabeth Redden

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  • School Specialty Expands Learning Beyond the Screen with New Outdoor Furniture Line

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    Greenville, Wis. – February 3, 2026 – As educators look for meaningful ways to balance digital learning with hands-on experiences,  School Specialty®, a leading provider of learning environments and supplies for preK-12 education, today announced the official launch of its new Childcraft Out2Grow Outdoor Furniture line. Designed to extend learning beyond the traditional classroom, the innovative collection offers a durable, sustainable and economical way for schools to create engaging, learning environments rooted in exploration, movement and real-world discovery.

    As outdoor learning continues to gain traction in early childhood education, Childcraft is answering the call for equipment that supports gross motor development, social-emotional skills and hands-on STEM exploration. The new line features a variety of versatile pieces, including sand and water tables, a planter, play kitchen and collaborative benches, that enable schools to create specialized outdoor zones for science, dramatic play and group projects.

    Built for the Elements, Designed for the Child

    Unlike traditional wood or metal alternatives, the Childcraft outdoor line is manufactured from High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE). This premium material is 100% recyclable and engineered to withstand sun, rain, snow and daily wear and tear without rotting, cracking or fading. The products feature rust-resistant hardware, splinter-free rounded corners and a limited lifetime warranty.

    Empowering Educators and Students Alike

    The line provides a comprehensive solution for modern early childhood needs:

    • Expanded Classrooms: Offers teachers the flexibility to move learning centers outdoors, encouraging nature-based discovery and hands-on observation.
    • Collaborative Hubs: Creates structured spaces for group activities and social skill development, essential for PreK–2 cooperative learning.
    • Multi-Use Versatility: Accommodates everything from STEM projects to snack time with stain-resistant surfaces that allow for quick, easy transitions.
    • Holistic Wellness: Promotes physical activity and eye health while reducing stress and screen time, helping children build focus and self-regulation.

    “The Childcraft Out2Grow furniture line was born from a growing number of requests from our customers seeking new ways to enhance outdoor learning spaces for young children,” said Jennifer Fernandez, Early Childhood Education Strategist at School Specialty. “Knowing the many benefits of outdoor learning—academic, health, social and emotional—I’m thrilled that School Specialty can help early childhood programs create engaging environments where PreK–2 students can truly reap those benefits.”

    Whether used in traditional school districts, childcare centers or children’s clubs and museums, these products connect students to nature while supporting well-being and educational outcomes.

    The Childcraft Out2Grow Outdoor Furniture line is available for order immediately. For more information on the full collection, visit http://www.schoolspecialty.com/out2grow.

    About School Specialty, LLC

    With a 60-year legacy, School Specialty is a leading provider of comprehensive learning environment solutions for the preK-12 education marketplace in the U.S. and Canada. This includes essential classroom supplies, furniture and design services, educational technology, sensory spaces featuring Snoezelen, science curriculum, learning resources, professional development, and more. School Specialty believes every student can flourish in an environment where they are engaged and inspired to learn and grow. In support of this vision to transform more than classrooms, the company applies its unmatched team of education strategists and designs, manufactures, and distributes a broad assortment of name-brand and proprietary products. For more information, go to SchoolSpecialty.com.

    eSchool News Staff
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    ESchool News Staff

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  • Unique way of learning taking place in Thonotosassa

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    THONOTOSASSA, Fla. — When you think of education, you often think of textbooks and notebooks, but one academy is taking a different approach.

    What You Need To Know

    • Montessori is more of a hands-on approach, but this academy takes learning outdoors
    • The academy is also looking to expand services into Dade City next year


    Freedom Montessori Academy is giving students an opportunity to learn outdoors. And they are expanding their reach.

    Learning is all about being hands on at Freedom Montessori Academy.

    The school’s process is a method of education based on self-directed activity and hands-on learning. The academy is a tutoring service that serves 15 students in the Thonotosassa area.

    Eleven-year-old Adelyn Iott says this supplemental approach has been a big help for her.

    “It’s just really hands on, and you understand it better,” she said.

    Madison Whitmer says the teaching methods help her concentrate.

    “My school I had computers after I did it, so I had a headache when I got home, here I don’t have a headache because we don’t use electronics,” she said.

    The majority of the work isn’t done indoors but outside on the farm.

    Melanie Smith, the founder of the academy, was an educator for more than 20 years prior to this. She decided to take that experience and give students a personalized way of learning.

    Students go at their own pace, in a unique learning environment.

    “I think it’s nice in this setting that they understand how long it takes for a plant to grow that they eat in in 10 seconds,“ said Smith.

    From building a labyrinth, to planting seeds, Smith believes it’s part of raising curious kids that will use these skills in life.

    “Every child is unique and every child’s brain is developing at a different level, and they need that time to think for themselves, this is what this is about,” said Smith.

    It shows students like Iott that learning can happen anywhere.

    “Outdoor experience, life survival, how to take care of plants, how to build stuff,“ said Adelyn.

    Making education fun and something that doesn’t always happen indoors.

    The academy will be expanding to a location in Dade City next year.

    And the farm will soon be home to a nonprofit aimed at providing farm education to veterans and breast cancer survivors.

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    Lizbeth Gutierrez

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  • Ruskin teacher helps juggle school’s Head Start program and food pantry

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    RUSKIN, Fla. — Magali Garcia-Rosado has been a teacher for 25 years. She says she loves helping young students learn and grow.

    “My kids are everything to me,” Garcia-Rosado said. “They come into the classroom and they’re always talking about how happy they are, they’re talking about giving warm hugs. They are curious learners.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Magali Garcia-Rosado is the Head Start teacher at Ruskin Elementary 

    • Garcia-Rosado also runs the school’s food pantry 

    • Would you like to nominate an A+ Teacher? Click here

    Garcia-Rosado said she loves the interaction with the little ones and watching them grow every day.

    “I love to see the process of learning,” she said.

    Garcia-Rosado is the Head Start teacher at Ruskin Elementary. She’s been there for seven years. A parent reached out to nominate Garcia-Rosado to be featured as an A+ Teacher, saying she is always there for her students and their families. 

    “It makes me feel very humbled that my families see me as someone who supports not just the children but also them,” she said. “Because I am a firm believer that I am working with the parent. The parent is the first teacher and I come along to support them.”

    Garcia-Rosado also helps run the school’s food pantry. Families can get food there every Wednesday. That’s one of her many contributions to the school.

    “She focuses on the whole child so not just academics, but social, emotional growth as well,” said Ruskin Elementary Principal Jeanine Saddler. “I have never seen anything like it in a Head Start or Pre-K classroom.”

    Garcia-Rosado is certainly making a difference.

    “When we see the children learning, it just humbles me and it gives me such great joy to see that everything that we have worked towards, we begin to see it,” said Garcia-Rosado.

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    Jorja Roman

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  • U. of I. Republicans club faces backlash for post supporting ICE: ‘Only traitors help invaders’

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    The Illini Republicans club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is facing backlash after posting an illustration on social media of a masked gunman holding a weapon to a kneeling man’s head — alongside the caption, “Only traitors help invaders.”

    The Instagram post, published Friday, also says Alex Pretti and Renée Good — who were both fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis last month — had “voided their liberties the moment they decided they were above the law.”

    “Our nation has come under invasion from the masses of the third world and those incompatible with Western civilization,” the post says. “Now, the current administration, as duly elected by its people to do so, has taken a stand against this invasion.”

    The illustration was later deleted from the post, as first reported by the Daily Illini. But it prompted a complaint to the university’s Title VI Office, and drew a slew of criticism from U. of I. students online, who argue that it glorified the deaths of Pretti and Good as well as the unrest engulfing Minnesota.

    “My first initial reaction was just disgust, horror and nausea,” said sophomore Rylee Graves, 19, a member of Illini Democrats. “For them to say that that post was not violent or they weren’t condoning violence is a lie, and they know exactly what they’re doing.”

    The image, set against the backdrop of the American flag, depicts a bearded man with his back turned as the gunman looms above him. Some students said that both the man and the scene resembled the Jan. 24 killing of Pretti, who was shot multiple times in the back.

    An illustration, posted by Illini Republicans on Instagram, depicts what appears to be a federal agent pointing a gun at a man’s head. The group has said it stands with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Illini Republicans)

    Illini Republicans wrote in an email to the Tribune that the image was removed “to prevent misinterpretation while we review concerns,” but it was “not an admission of wrongdoing.” They declined a request for an interview.

    “We take concerns raised by others seriously and are committed to engaging in good-faith dialogue while exercising our right to express political viewpoints as a registered student organization,” the club wrote.

    “The claim that the post glorifies or endorses violence is incorrect,” the club added. “At no point did it advocate harm, violence or extrajudicial action against any individual or group.”

    The post is under review by the university’s Title VI Office, which investigates civil rights complaints, according to a statement from a U. of I. spokesperson. As a registered student organization, Illini Republicans are required to follow the student code of conduct, but U. of I. “cannot discipline them for the viewpoint or content of protected speech,” the spokesperson added.

    “Hate and intolerance are not aligned with our university values,” the spokesperson said. “We strive to be a campus where every member of our community has a transformative and positive experience.”

    More than 1,600 people have commented on the post since Friday. It was posted the same day as “ICE Out” demonstrations across the U.S., including a walkout on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

    The intensified immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, began in December. Good was shot during an encounter with agents Jan. 7, and Pretti was shot Jan. 24. The Trump administration said the use of force was justified — but videos of both incidents contradict those claims.

    When Lillie Salas saw the Illini Republicans’ post, her emotions fluctuated from disbelief to outrage. It’s jarring knowing that some of her classmates felt comfortable using phrases such as “foreign invaders” to refer to immigrants, the 22-year-old senior said.

    Citizens who stand against Trump’s immigration aren’t “traitors” either, she added. She said that type of rhetoric is “racist” and shouldn’t be acceptable on campus.

    “I honestly felt very concerned and scared,” Salas said. “It kind of hits differently to see groups so close to you spewing hate so outspokenly. … I know a lot of immigrants who are the most dedicated, hardworking people I’ve ever met in my life.”

    It’s a feeling Salas, who is Mexican American, said she’s grown accustomed to during Trump’s immigration crackdown. She’s sensed anxiety on campus, particularly with her Hispanic friends who’ve told her about feeling “frozen in time “and “stuck.”

    Cat Lodico, a 20-year-old sophomore, likewise, said she’s seen the stress her friends who are international students have faced in recent months. They worry that if they do or say the wrong thing, their visa will get revoked, and they won’t be able to continue their studies.

    U. of I. has one of the largest international student populations in the country. The Illini Republicans post calls immigrants without legal status “enemies of the American people.”

    “Although the main focus is studying and getting good grades and the normal college life,  because of what’s going on in the country now, there is that anxiety and worriedness in the back of everyone’s mind,” Lodico said, adding that her mom also immigrated to the U.S. from China.

    Lodico said as an engineering major, she’s not the most politically involved, but she tries to stay informed. Even still, she said she was shocked and “genuinely concerned” that people her age could agree with Illini Republicans’ post.

    “Saying we stand with enforcement of the law, like is it really lawful for random (immigration agents) to be killing other people,” she said. “I just feel like it’s so backward.”

    College campuses have increasingly become flashpoints in national debates over free speech.

    In the wake of mass student protests over the war in Gaza in 2024, Republican lawmakers have criticized elite colleges and progressive campus culture. The Trump administration froze millions in federal research funding at universities, including at Northwestern University, accusing them of failing to address antisemitism.

    Meanwhile, in September, the killing of Charlie Kirk — a right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA — ignited a surge of conservative activism on campuses.

    Lodico said it seems hypocritical for Illini Republicans to seemingly make light of the deaths of Pretti and Good, given the outcry over Kirk’s killing.

    “When people die from ICE suddenly it doesn’t matter? Suddenly it’s valid to shoot people? The logic is not logic-ing, you know,” she said.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • Bolivia kicks off school year with ban on cellphones

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    LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia began to implement a ban on cellphones in classrooms Monday, as the school year starts in the landlocked South American nation.

    Children in Bolivia, and teachers, will be asked to keep their cellphones in lockers or in their bags while they’re in classrooms. The measure will be implemented in both private and public schools and applies to pupils of all ages.

    Several countries have already implemented mobile phone bans in schools in an effort to increase the attention span of children and reduce distractions, including Brazil, France and South Korea.

    The measure was drafted under the administration of Rodrigo Paz, a centrist who won last year’s election and took office in November, following two decades of rule by the left-wing Movement Toward Socialism.

    Paz said on Monday that he does not oppose technology, adding that he is attempting to improve connectivity for Bolivian students by using satellites to connect schools in rural areas to the internet.

    “I will not give you Wi-Fi to watch movies,” Paz said during an event in Copacabana, a town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake. “I am going provide connectivity so that pupils can download knowledge.”

    Last year, the Paz administration lifted a ban against foreign-owned internet satellite providers that had been put in place by the previous government. Bolivia has long relied on a Chinese-built satellite to provide internet in remote areas, but the satellite known as the Tupac Katari is getting old and has limited capabilities. Bolivia has some of the lowest internet speeds in the region.

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    Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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  • UNC professor who studied online learning offers advice for how to make the most of it

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    Once again, many students in the Triangle area are learning remotely due to winter weather.

    WRAL Investigates spoke with Sophie McKoy, who is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and spent time researching ways to maximize remote learning. She also owns Mindspire Tutoring and Test Prep, which conducts both in-person and virtual sessions.

    McKoy said engagement is the key to successful online learning, and that teachers and students should be doing everything possible to facilitate conversations and discussions about the material. She said that while some teachers typically shy away from allowing students to use the chat function during virtual class, they should reconsider that approach.

    “The intimidation barrier of participating in a typed chat is way lower than having to raise your hand in front of a group,” she explained. “We’ve really found that students were comfortable chatting, that’s like what they do in their day-to-day interactions socially, and that was a really natural way for them to start engaging with the material.”

    Closings and delays: Click or tap here

    “For teachers, try and give students as many opportunities to talk in small group with other students as you can,” she continued. “And I think, students, don’t be afraid to create those opportunities for yourself even if they’re not a formal part … you’re watching something asynchronously or in live time, don’t be shy to talk to your classmates about it.”

    McKoy said that, if possible, students should have a quiet, private space while they learn virtually.

    “For students, don’t be afraid to use the advantage that you’re given, [which] sis that you can take things at your own pace for that day, especially if you have an asynchronous class,” McKoy said. “So you get the best of both worlds. You get to digest material at your own pace, and you get to go back to the classroom in a few days and have thought about questions that you have.”

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  • College Board Prohibits Wearing Smart Glasses During SAT

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    Students will not be allowed to wear the devices, even if they are prescription glasses.

    Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | Izusek and Spiderplay/E+/Getty Images

    The College Board will prohibit students from wearing smart glasses—wearable, internet-connected computers that allow users to see a computer display in the lenses—while taking the SAT, starting in March 2026.

    The organization has long banned any wearable electronics, such as Apple AirPods and Apple Watches, said Priscilla Rodriguez, senior vice president of college readiness assessments at the College Board. Such devices, as well as students’ phones, are taken away by the test’s proctor before the test begins; the rule outlawing smart glasses is just an extension of that existing policy.

    Although the first smart glasses emerged in the early 2010s, the technology has risen to prominence in recent years, especially as companies such as Meta and Google have debuted artificial intelligence–enabled versions of the product. As they’ve become more common, professors have also raised alarm bells about whether they will be used for cheating; they fear that students will use them to scan tests and get fed the answers by AI in real time without detection.

    At least one documented example exists of a student using smart glasses to cheat; a student in Tokyo was caught using his spectacles to post questions from a college entrance exam on the social media site X and received answers from other social media users.

    An op-ed by professors at the University of Victoria in Canada also warned that the threat of smart glasses in the classroom goes beyond cheating. They also discussed them as a threat to academic freedom; the glasses could allow students to record their professors without their professors knowing they’re being filmed, allowing them to leak lectures or even create deepfakes, the professors said.

    Outside of higher education, they have been criticized for violating people’s privacy as it has become increasingly common for social media content creators to secretly record their conversations with strangers via smart glasses and post those videos online.

    SAT proctors are now trained to spot and take away students’ smart glasses if they spot them. Although the glasses look similar to a regular pair of spectacles, Rodriguez said most mainstream smart glasses brands have a distinctive look with thick, black rims, and when they’re in use, the camera on the front lights up.

    “It’s a noticeable light, so if someone were taking a video, a photo, having someone talk to them through the glasses, etc., the light shines and that’s kind of like the dead giveaway,” she said.

    Students will not be allowed to wear the devices even if they are prescription glasses, she noted. If students are unable to take the test without their smart glasses, they will be asked to return on a different day to take the test with a regular pair of glasses.

    So far, Rodriguez said, she is unaware of any instances where students have been caught cheating with smart glasses in the SAT, but the step to ban the devices was taken preemptively.

    “We have a really robust test security team here at College Board, coupled with, really, an industry-leading technology team. So, between those two, they’re always looking out to say, ‘what could be next? What’s the next frontier if you’re trying to gain an advantage on this test?’” she said. “They were monitoring the pre-launch announcements of these kinds of glasses and gadgets well before they hit the market, so we were ready.”

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    Johanna Alonso

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  • Pasco County schools turn to truancy petitions over attendance issues

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    LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — The Pasco County School District is taking a tougher stance on student absences, and some families may find themselves answering to a judge.

    The district is filing truancy petitions against families when kids miss too many days.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Pasco County school superintendent says truancy has been a big problem in schools since the pandemic

    • Families who receive truancy petitions will have to go before a judge and explain why their child missed so much school

    • Superintendent Dr. John Legg called it a last resort but said students need to be in the classroom 


    Superintendent Dr. John Legg says truancy petitions are a last resort. So far, the district has only filed about a dozen petitions. But still, some families say the policy is concerning.

    “Attendance is crucial. When our students miss school, they miss the knowledge, they miss the activities, they miss the learning from the other students, and they fall behind,” Legg said.

    He says truancy has been a big problem in Pasco County schools since the pandemic. Right now, 1,200 students are considered truant, meaning they’ve missed more than 15 days of school in 90 days, all unexcused. So the district had to buckle down, sending out truancy petitions.

    “What we’re looking at are those most severe cases where we have students that are absent 40, 50 days out of 90 days, bringing these before the court to get their assistance in order to help these students get to school so they can get the education they deserve,” he said.

    Families who receive truancy petitions will have to go before a judge and explain why their child missed so much school. The judge will decide the action to take. 

    Jessica Silber, owner of Elevate Advocate & Learning Co., says the policy has some of her clients concerned.

    “I think there can be some great intentions sometimes behind guidelines but not always considering the needs of all students,” said Silber.

    Silber works with families who have children with special needs, like autism. She says while therapy appointments are excused absences, these families sometimes deal with other challenges, like anxiety or behavioral problems, that may not always come with a doctor’s note.

    “If there is something impacting their attendance outside of your control, then let’s go for an evaluation, let’s get it documented, in case something does come up and you have to go to court,” she said.

    Legg says ultimately the goal is support, not punishment, and keeping kids in class.

    “Those are all the things our social workers and schools work with our families on to make those excused absences and to work with families. What we’re talking about are those chronic absenteeism where parents simply do not bring their children to school,” he says.

    Legg says there are about 350 students whose absenteeism is excessive and warrants a truancy petition. The district will chip away at filing those petitions to help the courts keep from getting backed up.

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    Fallon Silcox

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  • Astronauts poised for moon trip aboard Artemis II

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    There has not been a human presence on or near the Moon since the astronauts from 1972’s Apollo 17 mission walked on the surface of Earth’s satellite.

    Now, 50+ years later, the Artemis Project is working toward a long-term goal to first establish a permanent base on the Moon, and then use the Moon as a feasible way to facilitate human missions to Mars.

    The Artemis II flight will send four astronauts on a planned ten-day mission to fly to, circle, and return from the Moon.  We speak to experts to talk about the significance of the mission, Florida’s role in it, and how all of mankind stands to benefit.  

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    Allison Walker

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  • Two Hernando schools closed Monday due to rolling power outages

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    HERNANDO COUNTY — Hernando High School and Brooksville Elementary School will be closed Monday, Feb. 2 due to rolling power outages scheduled by Duke Energy, according to the Hernando School District.

    The district says YMCA programs are also cancelled.

    All other campuses will remain open.

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    Spectrum News Staff

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  • Friday protest had parents scrambling for child care, leaving some frustrated and others inspired

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    A nationwide grassroots protest that had teachers walking in support of immigrant families left parents across Denver expressing a mix of solidarity and frustration over the district’s decision to close some schools and early childhood education centers with little notice.

    More than 1,100 teachers, roughly 20 percent of the workforce, called out.

    On social media and in interviews, many parents said they supported educators’ walking out but struggled over the last-minute scramble to find child care so they could go to work. One nurse arrived home from her night shift to learn her early childhood center was closed.

    Denver Public Schools, with 90,000 students, closed six campuses but announced a two-hour delayed start for other campuses. The district, however, canceled all early childhood programs and center-based programs for students with disabilities.

    DPS responded that it was the goal of Superintendent Alex Marrero to provide school on Friday for all students across the district. 

    “So he waited until the last minute, hoping that the staff would be able to find a way to keep all schools open while providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students, but that wasn’t possible,” said spokesperson Scott Prible. “We understand that the late decision put some parents in a bind, and for that, we are sorry.”

    Denver East High School students march from St. John’s Cathedral on Capitol Hill to the Colorado State Capitol, Jan. 30, 2026.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Chelsea Randall said that while she understood the reason for the walkout, the lack of notice had real consequences.

    “Part of me really understands and wants to support the strike/protest, but as a health care worker who couldn’t casually take the day off, it was really stressful to work to find a last-minute arrangement.”

    For many parents, the day began with frantic early-morning notifications that upended work schedules.

    “I do understand that they have a right to do that, I guess, but it hurts a little that they do not realize that this affects people that already struggle, and one day off work makes a big difference in their finances,” one parent wrote on Facebook.

    The situation was the most stressful for early childhood programs and programs for students with disabilities. The district said child programs in centers and based in schools have special staff licensing requirements that are different from other classes and grades. If they can’t meet those requirements because of staffing shortages, they have to close.

    A large protest group, mostly made up of students, marches through downtown Denver on a general strike day across the nation against President Donald Trump’s deportation surge. Jan. 30, 2026.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Some parents at Isabella Bird school found out about the closure as they were leaving for work. Other parents said the district’s approach conflicted with its stated commitment to equity.

    “I have a very difficult time when a district preaches that they believe in equity, but they don’t think about how this is going to impact the parents that really depend on this as their child care,” said parent Stephanie, who did not want to give her last name because of negative repercussions at work. “Very frustrating.”

    Another Denver parent was out of state and has three children who attend three schools, each of whom had a different schedule on Friday.

    “I understand wanting to send a message. I understand wanting to show support for the immigrant community being targeted with violence,” she said. “I am troubled that teachers wanted to do that in a way that feels chaotic, and am troubled that they chose not to do that in a way that supports my students.”

    Students with disabilities

    Several families voiced concerns about how closures disproportionately impacted children with disabilities. One former educator of 16 years described the district’s decision to cancel center-based instruction for special needs programs as “unlawful” and a “civil rights violation.”

    “The district office chose politics over students’ constitutional and civil rights,” said Wendy Chrisley Weeden. “By canceling education for children not even participating in the National Walkout while other classroom assignments continued, DPS effectively treated special needs students differently and denied them the opportunity to learn.”

    A large protest group, mostly made up of students, marches through downtown Denver on a general strike day across the nation against President Donald Trump’s deportation surge. Jan. 30, 2026.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    DPS’s Pribble said some centers require a small ratio, including one-to-one in some cases. Some special needs centers require a certified health provider to assist with feeding tubs and other needs. 

    “Rather than putting untrained employees in situations in which they could fail and negatively impact the students, the decision was made to close those centers,” he said. “The decision was not discriminatory; it was done with the best interest of our students in mind.”

    Parents of children with chronic medical issues expressed frustration over the district’s rigid attendance policies during such “chaotic” events.

    “If my student didn’t have to miss school often for a chronic medical issue (putting him in district cross hairs for attendance) we would have allowed them to stay home or go to the protest with friends,” said Emily Stone.. “The district’s predatory adherence to attendance policies during times like this is problematic.” 

    Supportive parents

    One parent, Rev. Jenny Whitcher, saw the disruption as a necessary part of a social movement.

    “Resisting state violence is definitely an inconvenience, but I don’t blame that on DPS or organizers; that blame squarely goes on our country’s current regime … What level of inconvenience and sacrifice are we willing to tolerate to protect each other?”

    Sofia Solano, an Aurora parent who, unlike in Denver, had advance notice that Aurora Public Schools was closing, saw the day as a teaching moment for her children.

    “To me, having ICE in Colorado and what’s happening in Minneapolis is far more of an inconvenience than having our kids out of school for one day.”

    A woman in bright red, fuzzy boots yells into a microphone from atop a green picnic table. She's surrounded by a crowd.
    A freshman at East High School wears fuzzy rollerskates as she speaks to an enormous crowd gathered at La Alma-Lincoln Park in protest of President Donald Trump’s deportation surge on Jan. 30, 2026. This, she told them, was her first protest.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Some parents who work from home teamed up to rotate houses throughout the day so it wasn’t too much of a scramble. Danielle Eberly said she respects that many teachers at her Spanish immersion school are immigrants.

    “I wanted to support them in their cause and not make it harder on the school,” she said.

    Other parents whose schools stayed open but had limited staff said the community, parents, and former staff volunteered time to help with recess, lunch and transportation to an event. One parent said when Odyssey Elementary notified parents it would be closed, Craftsman & Apprentice stepped up with a donation-based day camp for kids.

    In the future, parents hope they can get more notice of closures.

    Randi Maves, who has a child in an early childhood center, said she wished the district had planned ahead.

    “If they knew there were going to be potential teacher shortages, they should have aligned substitutes earlier in the week.”

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  • Thousands Marched for Democracy in Myanmar. Some Died in Prison

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    Jan 31 (Reuters) – Shwe Theingi was instantly drawn to Wutt Yee Aung when they met at the start of their second year at Myanmar’s Dagon University in ‌2019. 

    The 19-year-old ​zoology major stood out with her boyish clothes, short hair and a friendly but ‌outspoken personality, Shwe Theingi said. The two young women, who were active in the student union, quickly became friends. 

    At about the same time and in the same city, Khant Linn Naing was working at a ​printing press. He was also pursuing a degree in history at a different university and involved with a student union. 

    All three students were part of the first generation in decades to come of age in a quasi-democratic Myanmar, enjoying newfound freedoms in the commercial capital of Yangon before the February 1, 2021 military coup.

    And all three ‍were caught up in a brutal crackdown against the tens of thousands of ​young people who took to the streets in support of democracy five years ago.

    Many of those protesters took up arms against the junta. Others fled or were detained in prison, where some of them died.

    At least 74 political prisoners aged between 18 and 35 have died in detention since the coup, according to previously unreported ​data from the Assistance Association for Political ⁠Prisoners, whose information on Myanmar is often cited by United Nations agencies. 

    The tally was corroborated with the Political Prisoners Network of Myanmar (PPNM), which monitors the country’s prison system. A total of 273 people charged with public incitement and insurrection after the coup have died while incarcerated, according to PPNM.

    Reuters interviewed three associates and relatives of detained students and the two prison monitor groups, and reviewed letters sent by inmates and correctional authorities. Together, they provide the fullest account to date of the conditions experienced by Wutt Yee Aung and Khant Linn Naing and the circumstances of their deaths. 

    The news agency could not independently verify all the accounts, but they echo allegations made by U.N. investigators last year of “systematic torture, killing and other serious abuses during interrogations and in detention facilities operated by the security forces of Myanmar.”

    The junta information ministry did not return multiple requests ‌for comment about the allegations of mistreatment.

    The military government’s foreign ministry last year denied U.N. reports of torture and abuse, without addressing specifics. “These one-sided and unfounded allegations are persistently advanced based on such unverified data,” it said in October. 

    Arrests, torture and conscription, as well ​as ‌displacement within and outside Myanmar, “have disproportionately affected the younger generation,” ‍the U.N. said in a report last year.

    An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 ⁠young people have fled the country, which has a population of about 51 million, since the coup, according to the U.N. Development Programme. 

    When the 2021 crackdown began, Shwe Theingi left Yangon. Wutt Yee Aung remained, participating in the anti-junta resistance until she was arrested in September 2021.

    After a junta court convicted her on charges that included insurgency and incitement, she was sentenced to seven years in Yangon’s notorious Insein prison. 

    Through letters and the occasional phone call, she stayed in touch with her family and Shwe Theingi.

    “Mother, I hope you are well,” Wutt Yee Aung said in a letter from prison in February 2024. “I have run out of snacks and medicine, so please transfer 200,000 kyat.”

    The hand-written plea for around $100 at official exchange rates also contained a list of medicines, including some for treating nerve damage and asthma.

    It was during interrogation in the fortnight after her arrest that Wutt Yee Aung sustained head injuries, according to Shwe Theingi and the Dagon University Students’ Union, which also said that she had no health problems prior to her imprisonment.

    Her health eventually deteriorated so severely that she was hospitalised inside prison at least once in mid-2025, Shwe Theingi said.

    In one undated letter intended for Shwe Theingi, Wutt Yee Aung asked for about $150 for a medical test. “Please don’t tell my mother about this,” she wrote, “I miss ​everyone.”

    Wutt Yee Aung died in prison on July 19, 2025, at age 25. Authorities told her family that the cause of death was a heart condition, Shwe Theingi said.

    The student union challenged the junta version of her death in a statement. 

    “Due to political prisoners not being given adequate medical treatment, the lack of medicine and restrictions on contact with her family, Ma Wutt Yee Aung died in prison at around 9.30 p.m. on July 19, 2025,” it said, using an honorific for her name. 

    Khant Linn Naing’s family learnt of his arrest on television news.

    The 19-year-old was picked up in December 2021 and accused of inciting people to commit offences against the state and insurrection. He was held at Daik-U prison, some 110 km from Yangon, and sentenced by a junta court to 15 years. 

    In July 2023, his family was jolted again, this time by a letter from correctional authorities, which said Khant Linn Naing had been shot and killed while trying to escape during a prison transfer.

    The contents of the letter were described to Reuters by a family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.

    Reuters also viewed a letter sent in June 2023 by prison authorities to the family of another inmate at Daik-U, which said he was killed after “security personnel fired warning shots” when he attempted to escape during a transfer.

    A colonial-era rule book that a lawyer and a prison monitor said is still used by correctional authorities allows officials to use weapons like firearms against inmates who are attempting to escape only when “there are no other means available to prevent the prisoner from escaping,” according to a section of the manual reviewed by Reuters. 

    Neither death notice provided more information about the circumstances of the alleged escape attempts and the junta information ministry did not respond to requests for specific details.

    Khant Linn ​Naing’s parents were not given access to his remains and, over two years after receiving the notice, they have not conducted a funeral, the relative said. 

    “Because that letter was so unclear, we don’t believe he is dead,” the person said. 

    PPNM spokesperson Thaik Tun Oo said he found it implausible that Khant Linn Naing had been trying to escape because prisoners are typically restrained and paired with police officials during a transfer.

    He added that his organization had been informed by prison sources that Khant Linn Naing had been subject to harsh interrogation shortly before the alleged transfer.

    In the years after Wutt Yee Aung and Khant Linn Naing protested the junta, youth uprisings have upended politics and ousted governments elsewhere in Asia, including Bangladesh and Nepal. 

    Myanmar’s generals, however, have endured. While they have lost territory in their ​borderlands, the junta has fought back by introducing conscription and expanding aerial power. This month, it concluded a three-phase election that will likely see a military-backed party take power.

    “I wanted to become a news presenter. Wutt Yee wanted to do more volunteer work,” Shwe Theingi said. “Each of us had different dreams.”

    (Reporting by Reuters Staff, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Katerina Ang)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Texas A&M Closes Women’s and Gender Studies

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    Texas A&M first began offering women’s and gender studies courses in 1979.

    Ishika Samant/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images

    Texas A&M University is closing its women’s and gender studies program, effective immediately, to comply with a new system board policy that limits discussions of “race or gender ideology” on campus.

    “[As] part of the broader implementation of the recently updated System policy, we made the difficult decision to begin winding down Women’s and Gender Studies academic programs, including the BA, BS, Graduate Certificate and the Minor,” Alan Sams, Texas A&M’s provost and executive vice president, wrote in a letter to faculty and staff Friday, according to a copy published by KBTX, a local TV news station in College Station, Tex. “This decision is based on the requirements of System policy and limited student interest in the program based on enrollment over the past several years.”

    But free expression advocates and Texas A&M faculty decried the move, which they said was the result of an opaque process and represents another threat to academic freedom.

    “Women’s and Gender Studies at Texas A&M has served generations of Aggies and advanced the core values of the institution throughout its history,” the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote in a public statement. “The AAUP remains steadfast in its opposition to Interim President Williams’s draconian decision, which represents a threat to the entire university community by devaluing student degrees, undermining faculty governance, and diminishing its institutional reputation.”

    Texas A&M first began offering women’s and gender studies courses in 1979 amid national growth of the academic discipline. According to the faculty who run the program, such courses are still relevant almost 50 years later.

    “The program serves the university at a particularly critical moment in its history by bringing a long history of multidisciplinary research, curricula, pedagogy, and education infrastructure to an institution that is only recently, and under new leadership, recognizing the urgent need to work across disciplinary borders to address the problems and opportunities of twenty-first century community, culture, and society,” the program’s website states.

    “Additionally, in a moment of incendiary dispute across cultural, social, and political difference, Women’s and Gender Studies remains a thoroughly informed, established, intellectual base working at the cutting edge of cultural and social research to address difference within community.”

    At present, the program has 25 majors and 31 minors enrolled, according to an email Cynthia Werner, senior executive associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, sent to women’s and gender studies faculty. While a teach-out plan is in place to allow current students to complete their degrees or programs—meaning the university will still offer some courses in the discipline for up to six more semesters—“effective immediately, students will not be able to enroll in these curricular options,” Werner wrote.

    The announcement comes after faculty and administrators reviewed 5,400 course syllabi “to ensure compliance with System policy,” Sams wrote. That resulted in the cancellation of six courses that were found noncompliant with the new system policy, though “in most cases, courses were confirmed or adjusted within departments without the need for further review.”

    Although Sams did not specify which six courses were canceled, earlier this month the university asked faculty to remove course content related to feminism, queer cinema and even the ancient Western philosopher Plato, among other topics. At least one sociology course, Introduction to Race and Ethnicity, was canceled right before this semester started.

    “From banning Plato in one class to culling materials related to race and gender from syllabi, and now ending a well-established interdisciplinary program, TAMU is staking out turf as the epicenter of higher education censorship nationwide,” Amy Reid, program director of PEN America’s Freedom to Learn initiative, said in a statement. “Forcing faculty to restrict what they teach censors the knowledge accessible to students, paving the way for the American public university system to become a mouthpiece for the government. Limiting what can be taught in a university classroom is not education, it’s ideological control.”

    Texas isn’t the only state that’s reviewing curricula and closing academic programs in an effort to limit discussions of race, gender, sexuality and other controversial topics on university campuses.

    In 2023, New College of Florida’s trustees—including several appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a frequent critic of higher education—voted to wind down the university’s gender studies program. And statewide, faculty at universities across Florida have also been subject to ongoing syllabus reviews to ensure compliance with laws that aim to align university teaching with conservative ideologies and viewpoints.

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  • Antioch school board trustees to receive pay hike

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    ANTIOCH – After decades of a $400 monthly stipend, Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees members voted Wednesday to give themselves a raise of $2,000 a month.

    The move is in accordance with Assembly Bill 1390, which allows for increases between $600 and $4,500 per month, based on the average daily attendance in the prior school year. Previously, the rate was $60 to $1,500 per month.

    Four of the five members of Antioch’s board of trustees voted to increase their pay, which will impact the district’s general fund $96,000 more annually.

    Trustee Mary Rocha, who objected to the pay bump, said she “did not believe that it was the right thing to do at the moment.”

    The district is facing a deficit of about $30 million over the next two years after the expiration of one-time COVID-19 relief funds, increased salary and benefit costs, higher utility costs, and rising special education expenses.

    During a recent budget discussion, the district noted the factors “have created financial strain as the district expanded staffing and programs to support post-pandemic learning recovery.”

    Rocha said the amount of time and money it takes to be a trustee can add up, but that is expected of an elected member.

    “I know $96,000 doesn’t sound much, but it is in the long run,” Rocha told this news organization. “I do face up to the fact that we’re going to have to be hard-nosed when it comes to this budget.”

    The California Education Code authorizes a monthly stipend of $400 for board members in a school district which averages daily attendance for the prior school year of 25,000 or less, but more than 10,000, according to the district.

    “The monthly amount in Education Code section 35120 has been $400 since 1984, and the authorization to increase it by 5% a year took effect January 1, 2002,” the district said. “Many districts, including AUSD, have had the monthly Board member compensation set at $400 for many years, never increasing it despite the statutory authorization to do so.”

    In 2024 to 2025, the district’s average daily attendance was around 13,699.

    Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees President Jag Lathan said the $400 monthly stipend translated to about $2.30 an hour, based on her “calculation.”

    “I am not sure if you all know the scope of work of a school board member, but it is pretty expansive in terms of what we are required to do as an elected body,” said Lathan. “With the increase in stipend, it would make it $11.55 per hour.”

    Lathan said the monthly stipend increase would attract more “qualified board members.”

    “We recognize that in order to increase the number of qualified board members and folks who are a lot of times not wealthy and underrepresented to get into these positions, we need to have a stipend that is closer to what we’re doing, and it’s still not, but we’re grateful for that,” said Lathan.

    Trustee Antonio Hernandez echoed Lathan’s sentiments, adding that the total cost of the increase was “0.05% of the general fund budget.”

    Hernandez shared his own experiences, juggling his time pursuing a medical degree and serving as a board member. He hoped the new compensation would encourage more people to take up the position.

    “It’s especially hard for younger people to want to be in these positions because they’re often sacrificing time and money for themselves,” Hernandez said. “I want school boards to be a place where everyone can feel that they have a voice, that they have a position, that they have an ability to be there.”

    Antioch is not the only school district that has voted to increase monthly compensation for board members.

    In November 2025, the Stockton Unified School District Board of Trustees approved increasing its monthly compensation from $750 to $3,000 monthly.

    In December 2025, the Napa Valley Unified Board of Trustees voted to increase monthly compensation from $536 to $2,000.

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    Hema Sivanandam

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  • The death of the static textbook: Why financial education must be “live”

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    Key points:

    Imagine trying to teach a student how to navigate the city of New York in 2026 using a map from 1950. The streets have changed names, new bridges have been built, and the traffic patterns have completely changed and are unrecognizable. The student fails not because they lack intelligence, but because the data provided is obsolete.

    Sadly, that’s exactly how we teach kids about money in American high schools today.

    In high schools across the country, we give students older resources like textbooks printed three years ago or PDFs from 2022, and we expect them to navigate a financial landscape that is dynamic and always changing. We teach them about 2 percent mortgage rates when they are really around 6-7 percent and talk about tax rules that haven’t been valid for years.

    We are not teaching financial literacy–rather we are teaching financial history. The latency is costing the next generation their economic future. This must change.

    The latency problem

    The fundamental flaw in traditional edtech is that it treats finance like literature or a history class where things do not change. For example, the American revolution in 1776 is the same whether you learn it in 2001 or 2025–but in finance and money, things like interest rates, contribution limits and rules are always changing.

    When the Federal Reserve changes the federal funds rate, rates on student loans or savings accounts also changes. A paper textbook can’t keep up with that, nor can a pre-recorded video module capture this change. By the time an old-fashioned curriculum is approved, printed, and distributed, things might even change again, which leads to outdated information regarding financial realities.

    This delay gap creates a disconnect between the classroom and the real world. Students learn definitions for a test, but when they open a real brokerage app or apply for their first credit card, they realize what they learned in class doesn’t match what’s happening, which makes them find connecting the classroom to the real world difficult.

    The Live-State solution

    Some might argue that the solution is better or fancier textbooks, but I say we retire the static finance textbook completely and move to the future of money education: something called Live-State Logic. This is a big change from old, static content to systems that use live data.

    With Live-State Logic, school curriculum will function like a living thing. Instead of fixed printed lessons, the educational platform will act like a bridge that connects the classroom to the real world. For example, updated financial info would feed straight to the software, so that when the IRS changes the standard deduction, the platform receives that data and automatically updates the lesson on tax filing for our young students. Also, if the Fed hints at a rate hike, the ‘Buying Your First Car’ module and the interest rate part instantly adjust the monthly payment calculations for students. I truly believe this is a necessary evolution of education, especially personal finance education for young students. We see this technology in high-frequency trading and institutional accounting, so why isn’t it in our classrooms?

    From memorization to simulation

    When we link real-word data with education, we unlock a very powerful pedagogical tool I call “True Simulation.” No one has been able to learn to swim by reading a book about water or without getting into the water. You must get wet. Similarly, you cannot learn to manage risk by reading a definition of “volatility”–you must experience it to really understand it.

    Live-State architecture lets us build safe practice areas where students can deal with today’s reality. They can build or wreck their credit using live credit simulation. They can manage a budget against current inflation numbers and make critical decisions before they use their own money. They can even try out a sample investment portfolio against live market conditions.

    This way, they see the results of their choices right away, in a safe place, before making mistakes that cost them real money later.

    The equity imperative

    Critics might say this technology is too complex for high schoolers. I say we have a moral duty to provide it

    As a professional who also works in finance, I know wealthy families have always had access to Live-State logic–it’s called a private wealth manager or a CPA who navigates the changing rules for them. Low-income students rely entirely on the school system. If the school system gives them old info, we’re putting these students, who need high-quality financial tools the most to succeed today, at a disadvantage.

    Democratizing financial intelligence means democratizing the technology that delivers it. We must stop giving our students maps from the 1950s if we want them to succeed in 2026. It’s time to build a bridge to the present and give our future leaders the tools they need in our modern, tech-driven world.

    MY BIO:

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    Isaac Lamptey, Piggy Investors

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