Every week our newsroom monitors the news for the top stories in education from a variety of sources ranging from the mainstream media to blogs and other analysis, and compile them for you. Here’s the latest in education:
Parents Sue Lucy Calkins, Fountas and Pinnell, and Others Over Reading Curricula
Education Week
Massachusetts parents have filed a groundbreaking consumer protection lawsuit against publishers and developers of popular reading curricula, alleging deceptive marketing and inadequate phonics instruction. The suit targets programs by Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pinnell, claiming they undermine students’ literacy by emphasizing cueing methods over systematic phonics. Plaintiffs seek compensation, class-action status, and warnings about the curricula’s deficiencies. This case coincides with a national push for evidence-based reading instruction, sparking debate among educators, researchers, and policymakers. Critics argue the lawsuit may intensify “reading wars,” while others view it as a necessary step toward addressing systemic failures in literacy education.
The Department of Education is meant to ‘advise and assist’ US schools
In 1980 President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Education to “advise and assist schools”, in 2025 Trump plans to eliminate it. Trump plans to return the responsibilities to the states and cut financial aid significantly. Currently the department functions with a $228 billion dollar budget, although this only accounts for 8% of schools funding. The rest is covered by state or local funding. In order for Trump to eliminate the department he would need to get congress’s approval, which could take months.
Georgia unveils its newest private school choice program
Recently, the state of Georgia has created the “Georgia Promise Scholarship” which would provide up to $6,500 per eligible student in the 2025-2026 school year. In order to qualify for the program students need to be living in a low performing attendance school zone and have attended public school the previous year. This program could impact between 21 and 22,000 students, if the program is successful then more seats would become available. Critics raise concerns saying that private schools show racial and socioeconomic segregation.
Inside the Effort to Shed Light on Districts’ Curriculum Choices
Education Week
Curriculum decisions in U.S. schools are highly localized, with districts often choosing their own materials and teachers supplementing with additional resources. This variability makes it difficult to track curriculum trends, though some states, like Massachusetts, have introduced dashboards to increase transparency and collaboration. These tools help districts identify high-quality, standards-aligned resources and connect with similar schools to share strategies. However, challenges remain in collecting comprehensive data, as state reports focus on adopted materials rather than actual classroom use. While some efforts to catalog curriculum intersect with partisan debates, advocates stress the importance of prioritizing instructional quality over cultural controversies.
‘Absolutely insane’: Parents fight to keep local neighborhood’s only elementary school
Local 12 News
A fight is brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio over a redistricting plan that would close the only public school in the West End district. Hays-Porter Elementary School would be closed if Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Shauna Murphy’s plan is carried out. Parents with children in the school district are not keeping quiet about their dismay over this plan and the upheaval the closure would cause in terms of the student population being forced into other schools. The redistricting plan is in response to concerns that revolve around overcrowding of the student body and a budget deficit that could send much-needed resources into other parts of the city. Saving the school will likely require support from the school board members and parental feedback.
