Arizona diesel averaged $6.37 a gallon on October 19, up from $3.59 a year earlier, according to AAA. Deer Valley, Gilbert, and Cave Creek schools are adding money to budgets, combining routes, and charging more for field trips.
Mary Johnson
The average public school day lasted 6.7 hours in 2011-12, according to state-by-state survey data from NCES. Texas led at 7.3 hours and California trailed at 6.2, a gap of 66 minutes a day. See every state, plus how day length differs from required instructional time.
Kate Carter
100,119 public schools in the 50 states and D.C. enrolled 49.1 million students in 2024-25, across 13 grades from kindergarten through 12th. Here is how the levels, ages, districts, and core subjects fit together, with federal figures on charter, private, and homeschool shares.
Kate Carter
A security officer at Millbrook Magnet High School in Raleigh went into labor at school on Thursday morning, and Principal Monica Sawyer and bookkeeper K'Mani Freeman helped deliver a baby girl within minutes. Mom and baby are doing well, the principal said.
Mary Johnson
PISA 2025 tested 15-year-olds in 91 education systems, and U.S. students scored 490 in reading, 502 in science, and 463 in math. That put them above the OECD average in reading and science and level with it in math, where 19 systems scored measurably higher.
Arthur Chen
A 16-year-old killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, before a community member followed him inside and stopped him. Federal research on school attacks points to steps families can take, starting with how guns are stored at home.
Mary Johnson
Texas hands out one diploma, but three moving parts trip up families: a 22-credit floor, an endorsement almost everyone has to pick, and five STAAR exams you have to pass. Here is each piece with the real numbers.
Kate Carter
Some high school seniors are taking Cornell off their college lists after a former student sued the university over an alleged 2024 gang rape at a fraternity house, CNN reported. Cornell has apologized, suspended fraternity parties, and written to high school counselors before its November 1 early decision deadline.
Mary Johnson
New York still runs on 22 credits and the Regents exams, but the exam requirement is being dismantled. The last Regents tests required to graduate come in August 2027, three diplomas collapse into one, and a new framework takes over. Here is where it stands.
Mary Johnson
Minneapolis Public Schools will not close any schools through the 2027-28 school year after the superintendent reversed course and the board passed a resolution. The district had proposed closing or merging up to 16 schools as enrollment fell from 36,357 students in 2017-18 to 29,928 in 2024-25.
Mary Johnson
There are 100,119 operating public schools in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., serving about 49.1 million students, according to 2024-25 federal data. California has the most schools, and Delaware has the fewest. Here is the count for every state.
Arthur Chen
Three Manheim Central High School students are charged after prosecutors say they made Black teammates pay a "Black tax" to enter the football locker room and assaulted a 16-year-old. A teacher is charged with failing to report the abuse after two students told him about it in April.
Mary Johnson
About 3% of U.S. public schools ran on a 12-month calendar in 2017-18, down from 5.5% in 2007-08. Most keep about the same number of school days and shorten summer, and studies of schools that switched found little or no gain in test scores.
Mary Johnson
Two proposed amendments to Alabama's constitution would make every local school board adopt policies on the daily Pledge of Allegiance, student-led prayer, and a weekly broadcast of the national anthem. Voters decide in November, and one constitutional scholar says the prayer piece could run into Supreme Court precedent.
Mary Johnson
About a dozen states and D.C. offer free pre-K to every 4-year-old, but enrollment in those programs ranges from more than 90% to about half. Here is where each state stands, the six with no state program at all, and what states spend per child.
Kate Carter
Forty-two percent of U.S. public schools offered high-dosage tutoring in June 2025, the type school leaders rate highest. Randomized studies find large gains when tutoring is frequent, in small groups, and held during the school day, though the gains shrink as programs grow.
Arthur Chen
Thirty states now guarantee high school students a standalone personal finance course, and 73% of U.S. public high school students live in them. But in 19 of those states, the first class required to take it hasn't graduated yet. Here is each state's requirement and start date.
Kate Carter
Oxford Area High School in Chester County, Pennsylvania, closed on October 9 after a confirmed measles case in the school community. Unvaccinated students and staff must stay away for 21 days after a possible exposure, as Pennsylvania's outbreak tops 1,000 cases.
Mary Johnson
Nine states require passenger seat belts on school buses, and Arkansas and Louisiana tie their requirements to funding. Federal rules still require belts only on small buses, while the NTSB says lap/shoulder belts give riders the most protection in every type of crash.
Mary Johnson
Bellamy Dawkins-Morris, 5, died after a 120-pound video display board fell on him at Riviera Elementary School in Palm Bay, Florida. Police called it a tragic accident on the surface and are investigating, while his family questions whether the board was secured and whether he was supervised.
Mary Johnson
