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** Weekly Update
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A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
In this week's edition: A grant-supported program that steers young people connected to gangs into higher education is under threat ([link removed]) . Colleges and students are racing to keep up with the demand for AI expertise ([link removed]) . Plus, a museum program ignites young people’s passion for science careers ([link removed]) .
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[Jose Ibarra, former director of the Phoenix Scholars program at Long Beach City College, talks to Oscar Jammott, 18. Credit: James Bernal for The Hechinger Report]
** From gangs to college students
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Lalo had almost put his pieces back together again, like a self-sufficient Humpty Dumpty. He’d gotten out of prison and moved into sober housing. He stopped responding to text messages from members of his gang. He went to a tattoo removal bar to have the ink in his face shattered into particles small enough for his immune system to break down. Lalo even got himself to Long Beach City College last year and told a woman in the registrar’s office that he hoped to become an addiction counselor. After enrolling in classes, he walked with her to the student center and was introduced to Jose Ibarra, the director of LBCC’s program for youth affected by gangs. Everything seemed to be coming together, and the sober housing his two roommates called hell — with its cheap linoleum flooring and showers separated by thin curtains — seemed to Lalo a land of promise.
Until, standing in one of the building’s colorless hallways, Lalo learned from the house manager that he was approaching the maximum number of days allowed and had just over 20 left to find somewhere else to live. He had no way to pay rent. He couldn’t move in with his parents because they lived in someone else’s garage. As Lalo focused on his classwork, the days ticked down to single digits. And that’s how, last September, Lalo found himself sitting on the edge of his metal-springed bed, or at least the bed that used to be his, head bent into hands.
Then Lalo remembered the playground in East Los Angeles with a fake castle. A slide joined with the castle’s roof to produce a concealed, dry space to sleep. He’d stayed there before.
Lalo would have again, if it weren’t for the Phoenix Scholars program LBCC created in 2022, when it received the first award under the federal government’s Transitioning Gang-Involved Youth to Higher Education Program (TGIY). During the three-year term of the grant, Phoenix Scholars served 180 students, a combination of LBCC students who had a history with gangs and gang-involved teens recruited to be students. The grant expired just after President Donald Trump took office.
Read the story ([link removed])
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** To employers, AI skills aren’t just for tech majors anymore
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Generative AI technology is rapidly changing the labor market. Employers are increasingly posting job listings that include AI skills for positions even outside of the technology sector, such as in health care, hospitality and media.
To keep up, students are increasingly looking for ways to boost their AI skills and make themselves more marketable at a time when there’s growing fear that AI will replace humans in the workforce. And their concerns are justified: There’s evidence to suggest artificial intelligence may have already replaced some jobs.
Read the story ([link removed])
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** High school sleuths search fish guts for clues to plastics pollution
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‘I fell in love with science’: Museum program ignites young people’s passion for science careers.
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"They are doing something here that is really useful for the researchers; it’s an education program, but they aren’t the only ones who are benefiting." ([link removed])
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** Reading list
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Behind the turmoil of federal attacks on colleges, some states are going after tenure ([link removed])
Faculty say this long-held academic practice is a safeguard of their right to free expression
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
OPINION: We have to work together to make our public schools great places to teach, work and learn ([link removed])
It’s time for politicians to stop using education as a political football and prepare children for their futures
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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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