 Dear reader,
What happens when a bunch of old friends — among them a journalist, a college professor and a first-grade teacher — go on their annual hiking trip and it’s rained out? They huddle inside and talk education, of course. That’s how it’s been going here on my vacation in rainy Vermont.
I’ve especially enjoyed hearing my friends’ reflections on the teaching profession and how they work to constantly improve their skills. Summer is a great time to reflect and recharge, and to glean insights on what happens in classrooms and on campuses from those who devote the academic year to this work. We’d love to hear your stories on improving your craft; please share!
Liz Willen, Editor
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 Main Idea |
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A growing number of students have started to forgo long summer breaks to cut costs and stay on track to graduation. And since many four-year institutions largely shut down between May and late August thanks to an academic calendar that predates the industrial era, many are going to community colleges.
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Reading List
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In recent years, there’s been an alarming surge in the number of students taking out big loans to finance their educations, with 17 percent of borrowers leaving school with more than $50,000 of federal student loan debt in 2014, up from 2 percent in 1990 and 5 percent in 2000.
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My story is for those who, like me, had no clue how to navigate college, much less saw value in higher education — to encourage and inspire others who come from similar backgrounds: a family with drug and alcohol addiction, single motherhood, a long gap in schooling and more.
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Some rural districts have started building their own broadband networks, and many others had hoped to follow their lead using a chunk of bandwidth long ago set aside by the federal government for educational purposes. Those hopes were dashed last week, when the FCC revised its rules and decided to sell licenses to that bandwidth at open auction.
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Across the United States, presidential candidates are proposing plans that will increase access to affordable child care for families with young children.
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Solutions
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This week’s solutions section came from SolutionsU powered by Solutions Journalism Network and their database of solutions journalism. Search for more solutions.
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Contact Nichole Dobo at [email protected] if you want to chat about story ideas or give feedback on any of The Hechinger Report’s newsletters. Did you know we produce four other newsletters with exclusive stories and analysis? Sign up for free today!
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We cover inequality and innovation in education with in-depth journalism that uses research, data and stories from classrooms and campuses to show the public how education can be improved and why it matters.
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