Alliance Defending Freedom plans to file a federal Title IX complaint on November 2 for two Maine high school juniors who played against a transgender freshman on South Portland High School's girls soccer team. Maine's athletic association says state law requires its policy.
Mary Johnson
Full-time public school teachers reported working 52.0 hours in a typical week in 2020-21, about 13.6 more than the 38.4 hours their contracts required, according to federal survey data. About half of that time went to delivering instruction, and newer RAND surveys put the weekly total near 50 hours.
Kate Carter
East Davidson High School in Thomasville, North Carolina, ended its varsity soccer season on October 28 after a video showing players on a team bus responding to a racial slur spread on social media. The team was 17-4, and the state playoffs begin November 2.
Mary Johnson
Texas had 369,150 public school teachers in 2024-25, and a 2025 law now requires certification for K-5 reading and math teachers this year. Here are the routes, the exams, about $500 in exam and certification fees, and what four big districts pay new teachers in 2026-27.
Mary Johnson
The U.S. Justice Department sued Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland on October 27, alleging its gender identity policy violates two federal student privacy laws by keeping information from parents. The district says it complies with both laws.
Mary Johnson
St. Johns County posted the strongest spring 2025 FAST results of any Florida school district: 75.4% of students passed ELA and 78.3% passed math. Nassau County, which also borders Jacksonville, finished 0.7 points behind, and rural Lafayette County ranked third of 67.
Kate Carter
Parents and a student sued Lower Merion School District outside Philadelphia in August, arguing families should be able to opt out of device-based learning. A parent group against classroom screens now has about 230 chapters in 40 states, CNN reported, and 61% of teachers say students should spend less time on devices.
Mary Johnson
In 2022-23, 21.1% of Pennsylvania's public school students were served in special education, compared with 11.7% in Hawaii, federal data show. The national count reached 8,081,816 students in 2024-25, and Texas added 149,641 students in two years, the fastest growth of any state.
Kate Carter
New York City runs 466 public high schools, and 305 of them enroll fewer than 500 students. Here is how those schools break down by borough, and how the fall 2027 admissions cycle works, from the December 4 deadline to a new computer-adaptive SHSAT.
Kate Carter
Highland Park ISD posted the strongest 2026 STAAR results of any Texas district with at least 5,000 students: 92% of students at grade level in reading and 87% in math. Here are the top 25 of 192 districts, plus how the biggest systems stack up.
Kate Carter
The average U.S. public elementary class had 19.1 students in 2020-21, according to federal survey data, ranging from 14.2 in Maine to 23.0 in California. Here is every state, plus the reason class size runs higher than the student-teacher ratio.
Kate Carter
A new DC Public Schools teacher with a bachelor's degree earns $68,577 in 2026-27, while the top of the 10-month scale pays $141,761. Here are ET-15 salaries by step and degree, plus how IMPACT ratings add bonuses of up to $25,000.
Kate Carter
Two months after Omaha Public Schools had police stop carrying electric shock gloves, Millard Public Schools is keeping them, and parents there are pushing back. Officers in the Omaha area have used the gloves on students at least five times since 2022, CNN reported.
Mary Johnson
In 2024-25, 309 operating public schools had Montessori in their name, enrolling 98,480 students. A national count puts the total at 596 public Montessori schools and programs, many inside schools with ordinary names, and a 2025 lottery study found reading and memory gains by kindergarten.
Mary Johnson
Quabbin Regional High School in Barre, Massachusetts, will forfeit its next two varsity football games after injuries left fewer than 20 healthy players on the roster. Earlier this month, Millis High School canceled a game when injuries left about 15 players.
Mary Johnson
Massachusetts scored highest on all four 2024 NAEP tests, averaging 10.6 points above the national public school average, while New Mexico ranked last on every test. Mississippi placed 29th on raw scores, up from 39th in 2019, and first once the Urban Institute adjusts for student demographics.
Kate Carter
Police in Corona, California, arrested two 15-year-old girls on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder over an alleged plan to attack Corona High School. The FBI flagged their social media messages, and police said no weapons were found.
Mary Johnson
Substitute teachers in Alaska averaged $35.13 an hour in May 2025, nearly triple the $12.31 paid in Mississippi, according to federal wage data. Here is substitute pay in 49 states and DC, plus what it takes to sub in Texas, California, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Kate Carter
U.S. News & World Report released its 2027 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings on October 20. Here are the No. 1 schools in the 15 most populous states, and the patterns behind them: gifted programs, wide grade spans, and a few districts that keep showing up.
Arthur Chen
Public schools identified 1,548,191 homeless students in the 2023-24 school year, up 28.4% in two years, according to federal data. In New York, 7.4% of students were identified as homeless, more than triple the 2.2% rate in Texas, which enrolls more than twice as many students.
Kate Carter
