 Dear reader,
We have two eye-opening stories this week on disrupted education, each demonstrating ways U.S. students are let down by institutions that serve them — first in high school and later, in many of the country’s beleaguered community colleges. As a longtime newspaper writer and someone who still loves the feel of paper, I’m delighted that both of these stories landed on front pages of major U.S. newspapers – the Los Angeles Times and The Seattle Times, respectively.
First, spend time with Tara García Mathewson’s blockbuster investigation on ways California schools are disciplining some students by pushing them out of their own high schools and to new campuses or smaller, alternative schools. Some defend these involuntary transfers as a gentler alternative to expelling them outright, yet critics say they are being carried out with little or no due process.
Poor success and completion rates are plaguing our nation’s community colleges, for different reasons. A story from Hechinger’s Jon Marcus looks at a so-called reckoning for these institutions, where only a small fraction of students go on to receive a bachelor’s degree and fewer than half earn any kind of credential. The story is the first in a series on community colleges called “Saving the College Dream,” produced in partnership with Education Labs and journalists at The Associated Press, AL.com, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News in Texas, The Seattle Times and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.
Also this week, we take a look at ways climate change is disrupting education in Puerto Rico – and what that could mean elsewhere as schools face floods, fires and other traumatic natural disasters. As always, we want to hear your stories as well, so please, sign up for our newsletters and get in touch!
Liz Willen, Editor
|
|
Main Idea