U.S. Department of Education to erase debts of teachers, fix troubled grant program
A plan is being released to help teachers who have been wrongly hit with debts, sometimes totaling tens of thousands of dollars, because of a troubled federal grant program. Now, in a tacit acknowledgement that the terms of the TEACH Grant program have been too inflexible and punishing, the department is doing something about it.
For public school teacher Kaitlyn McCollum, even simple acts like washing dishes or taking a shower can fill her with dread.
"It will just hit me like a ton of bricks," McCollum says. " 'Oh my God, I owe all of that money.' And it's, like, a knee-buckling moment of panic all over again."
She and her family recently moved to a much smaller, older house. One big reason for the downsizing: a $24,000 loan that McCollum has been unfairly saddled with because of a paperwork debacle at the U.S. Department of Education.
AI live streaming shows off high school sports
An AI camera live streaming high schools sports? Even replacing an entire camera crew to broadcast a junior varsity soccer game? That's no longer a player's or a parent's (or an athletic director's) wildest fantasy.
Alaska uses CARES Act funds to prioritize distance learning
Getting new technology into schools in rural villages is very costly, so school districts must be very careful in stretching every dollar received.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott appoints Parkland parent to state Board of Education
The father of a student shot and killed during the Parkland school massacre has been appointed to the state Board of Education. An advocate for school safety, 52-year-old Andy Pollack is seeking accountability as well as better pay for teachers and close scrutiny of how money for schools is spent.