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** Weekly Update
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A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
Sponsored by:
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In this week's edition: Students with disabilities spend more time in separate classrooms in New Jersey than they do in any other state ([link removed]) . Nebraska is a case study of what can happen when schools prioritize inclusion ([link removed]) . Plus, a pay-it-forward approach is helping students cover the cost of college ([link removed]) .
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[After spending time in a classroom just for students with significant disabilities, Terri Joyce’s son has enjoyed learning in a classroom that includes students with and without disabilities for the last two years. Credit: Yunuen Bonaparte for The Hechinger Report]
** Young kids with and without disabilities can learn side by side. One state has instead kept them apart for years
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Under federal law, students with disabilities — who once faced widespread outright exclusion from public schools — have a right to learn alongside peers without disabilities “to the maximum extent” possible. That includes the right to get accommodations and help, like aides, to allow them to stay in the general education classroom. Schools must report crucial benchmarks, including how many students with disabilities are learning in the general education classroom over 80 percent of the time.
More than anywhere else in the country, New Jersey students with disabilities fail to reach this threshold, according to federal data. Instead, they spend significant portions of the school day in separate classrooms where parents say they have little to no access to the general curriculum — a practice that can violate their civil rights under federal law.
Just 49 percent of 6- and 7-year-olds with disabilities in the state spend the vast majority of their day in a general education classroom, compared with nearly three-quarters nationally. In some New Jersey districts, it was as low as 10 percent for young learners. Only 45 percent of students with disabilities of all ages are predominantly in a general education classroom, compared to 68 percent nationwide.
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This week's newsletter is supported by:
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Meet the 2025 I Love My Librarian Award winners. ([link removed])
From bringing books to displaced families in Hawaii to creating hope for incarcerated youth in Delaware, these civic heroes are strengthening their communities every day.
Learn more. ([link removed])
** Nebraska invested in having special education students learn alongside their peers — and is seeing promising results
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One state is reimagining education for kids with disabilities.
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"Kids don’t earn their way into a general ed classroom. That’s where they belong ([link removed]) ."
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** A new way to help some college students: Zero percent, no-fee loans
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Under ‘pay-it-forward’ programs, graduates’ repayments lift up those behind them.
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"It’s a new way of thinking about scholarship support that lets you extend your dollars." ([link removed])
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** Reading list
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Education Department misses key deadline for delivering statistics report ([link removed])
No ‘Condition of Education’ report was delivered by June 1 this year
Tracking Trump: His actions to dismantle the Education Department, and more ([link removed])
The president is working to eliminate the Education Department and fighting ‘woke’ ideology in schools. A week-by-week look at what he’s done
A new way to help some college students: Zero percent, no-fee loans ([link removed])
Under ‘pay-it-forward’ programs, graduates’ repayments lift up those behind them
OPINION: Starting a school newspaper transformed the learning experience of my students and gave them joy ([link removed])
Trusted reporting is needed more than ever, so let’s have school newspapers pave the way for the next generation
STUDENT VOICE: A moment of reckoning for higher ed ([link removed])
We need to defend colleges and universities from attacks
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** Talk to us about Tuition Tracker
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Our Tuition Tracker website helps students, parents and educators research the true cost of a college degree. This interactive tool is used in thousands of classrooms nationwide.
We know this website has value — and we are committed to keeping this tool free for all to use. Help us make TuitionTracker.org ([link removed]) even better by filling out this short survey ([link removed]) . A few minutes of your time will make a difference in the lives of young people. (Extra credit: Share the website and survey link with a friend!)
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