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Liz Willen Dear reader,

At The Hechinger Report, we’ve long focused on obstacles to college completion. But the findings of a recent investigation ([link removed]) by Hechinger’s Meredith Kolodner surprised even us.

Turns out, some 16,000 students from the State University of New York have been taken to court since 2013 by the state attorney general for unpaid bills. Many ended up in default because they couldn’t make it to the state capitol in Albany to defend themselves in court, as the system required. One student we spoke with was just three credits short of graduation, and spent three years struggling to pay a settlement of $2,900 on a debt she didn’t believe she owed in the first place.

After Kolodner started asking questions, the AG's office said it intends to make changes to the system and begin filing lawsuits in counties other than Albany.

I also wanted to point out another must-read story this week, on the enormous disruptions ([link removed]) students in New Orleans continue to experience from tropical storms and the pandemic. Columnist Andre Perry reminds us of this city’s heartbreak both past and ahead – even when schools reopen this fall, they may not be ready for students. We hope you all have more upbeat tales to share from school reopenings last month and this. As always, we love hearing from our readers.

Liz Willen, Editor

Main Idea


** Why does New York state sue its college students? ([link removed])
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Thousands have been taken to court, and can defend themselves only in Albany — even if they live hundreds of miles away.

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Reading List


** New Orleans students are still vulnerable to Ida and other future storms ([link removed])
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When schools reopen, students may not be ready to enter them.



** Getting educated while on active duty is getting harder as military rolls back benefits ([link removed])
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College classes are only spottily available to service members, and the Pentagon keeps trying to slash the perk.



** Tuition freezes cool prices for some while affecting financial aid ([link removed])
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A post-pandemic trend in higher education has historically helped wealthy families more than those struggling with college costs.



** How the AIDS epidemic prepared a small town to combat Covid ([link removed])
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Community trust held strong — and helped schools combat the virus — thanks to collaboration in Austin, Indiana.



** An Appalachian county kept school Covid cases down with strong community partnerships ([link removed])
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Wi-Fi, food and lots of information allowed the school district to bring kids back in person safely in Garrett County, Maryland.



** Relying on personal responsibility to prevent Covid spread in schools ([link removed])
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In a West Texas school district, officials kept cases down by sharing information.

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Solutions
"As students return, CSU works to help them adjust to campus life during COVID," Chalkbeat ([link removed])

This week’s solutions section came from SolutionsU ([link removed]) powered by Solutions Journalism Network and their database of solutions journalism. Search ([link removed]) for more solutions.
👋 Contact Nichole Dobo at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) to give feedback on The Hechinger Report’s newsletters. Did you know we produce newsletters on early childhood ([link removed]) , education research ([link removed]) , the future of learning ([link removed]) and higher education ([link removed]) ? And it helps us if you recommend our newsletters to a friend.
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