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Back to School Reading List


Getting ready for back to school season? As schools reopen for the academic year, we hope these stories, resources, and essays help students, teachers, and parents have a smoother transition.

By the time I was 11, I was exposed to toxic comments and content.

Nearly a third of city students start kindergarten at age 4. Not all of them are ready.

Growing up in a mischaracterized city and researching news deserts painted a clear picture that reporting is not a one-way street.

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This major policy change treats Head Start as a welfare program rather than an educational one.

SEPTA plans to reduce its service by 20% beginning in August. If those cuts go through, transportation officials say more than 55,000 Philadelphia students who rely on the public transit system will have a more difficult time getting to school.

Illinois lawmakers proposed a bill that would have required parents to notify school districts if they were going to homeschool their children. But opponents called it “draconian” and vowed to keep fighting it.

The Detroit school district surveyed high school students to get their thoughts on how to reduce chronic absenteeism.

Amid state budget troubles, alternative schools lost more than $4 million in funding.

Teachers and school district leaders spoke with Gov. Jared Polis about the impact of the withheld federal education funding.

CPS owes teachers retroactive raises for last school year and could be making more school-based cuts this month as it works to close a gaping deficit.

The proposed changes are aimed at providing more students the opportunity to move up a grade or take accelerated classes. Officials say internal data show most acceleration applicants come from the north side of the city, which is wealthier and whiter than other parts of Chicago.

Crime rates suggest Detroit is a safer place. But recent incidents, such as the fatal shooting of two youths in a Detroit park, contribute to safety concerns among young people.

By the time I was 11, I was exposed to toxic comments and content.

Tennessee students showed slight progress in statewide testing this year, though a majority of third graders did not meet a significant reading benchmark.

The state’s largest district saw the biggest gains in elementary school reading proficiency and algebra scores. But the majority of third-graders still didn’t pass a critical reading test.

The training center based in New York City will provide free lessons and workshops for as many as 400,000 teachers nationwide. In turn, tech companies will learn about how teachers actually use AI.

The teachers union, which is NYC’s second largest, endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor in the general election, reversing its primary stance.

Newark Public Schools has appointed district vice principals, two from the outside, to step into a principal role for the first time.