Private, Public & Charter School's K-12

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The school bus driver shortage has improved slightly but continues to stress K–12 public education

The school bus driver shortage continues to play out across the country, making it more challenging for students to get to school and placing additional burdens on the K–12 public education system. As has been typical in recent years, the beginning of the school year brought forward a steady stream of reports documenting challenges schools are experiencing hiring bus drivers. Our latest analysis finds that school bus driver employment remains 9.5% below 2019 staffing levels.

https://www.epi.org/blog/the-school-bus-driver-shortage-has-improved-slightly-but-continues-to-stress-k-12-public-education/?

Education inequalities at the school starting gate

Summary: As economic inequities in the United States endure and, in some instances, grow, and the large achievement gaps they help drive persist, calls for policy strategies to address these gaps increase as well. It is increasingly apparent that performance gaps take root in the earliest years of children’s lives and do not vanish. It is thus critical that we assess the various aspects of early inequities in both the home and paid care/school contexts. This three-part study combines a statistical analysis of current early gaps and changes over time in the gaps with a qualitative study of multifaceted strategies to narrow them. Altogether, the report provides a strong evidentiary base for identifying promising strategies and for informing research and policies to tackle skills gaps.

 

https://www.epi.org/publication/education-inequalities-at-the-school-starting-gate/?

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She wanted to keep her son in his school district. It was more challenging than it seemed

It was the worst summer in years. Sechita McNair’s family took no vacations. Her younger boys didn’t go to camp. Her van was repossessed, and her family nearly got evicted — again. But she accomplished the one thing she wanted most. A few weeks before school started, McNair, an out-of-work film industry veteran barely getting by driving for Uber, signed a lease in the right Atlanta neighborhood so her eldest son could stay at his high school. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

PHOTO ESSAY: One single mom’s quest to find housing after an eviction Takeaways from AP’s story on the links between eviction and school Getting the story: How an AP reporter chronicled a sensitive story about school and eviction

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?‍? Bot for teacher

Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios OpenAI is rolling out a new ChatGPT designed for K-12 teachers, Axios' Megan Morrone reports. ? ChatGPT for Teachers is a purpose-built version of the world's most popular chatbot designed to help with classroom busywork, OpenAI says. ?️ The offering includes vanilla ChatGPT plus some bells and whistles, including: Collaboration features designed for teachers, plus unlimited messages with GPT-5.1 Auto, search, file uploads and image generation. ? Enhanced security and compliance with federal student privacy rules. Administrative controls for school and district leaders. ? ChatGPT for Teachers will be free until June 2027, after which OpenAI says it will try to keep the price "as affordable as possible." Go deeper ...

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? Charted: Gen Z's marriage divide

Reproduced from Pew Research Center. Chart: Axios Visuals The share of 12th-grade girls in America who are interested in getting married someday has dropped 22 points in the last three decades — from 83% in 1993 to 61% in 2023, Axios' Erica Pandey writes. The percentage of boys who want to get married has remained roughly the same, according to a Pew analysis of University of Michigan survey data. Why it matters: It's yet another data point illustrating the deep divide between young men and women — in politics, religion and life goals.

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Judge: Private school accepted state vouchers for students 130 miles away

A private school in Brooksville should be barred from access to state school vouchers after its operator admitted it wasn’t educating students the state paid it to teach, an administrative judge recommended Wednesday.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/25/judge-private-school-accepted-state-vouchers-for-students-130-miles-away/?

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? Books are out, articles are in

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios Many American high schoolers are being assigned fewer books to read cover to cover in favor of shorter material, The New York Times reports. That's based on research and informal surveys, and comes as high school reading scores are falling. ?Some teachers who responded to the Times' survey complained about tech sapping students' attention spans. ? But many also said curriculum programs and test prep leave little time for entire books. ❤️ Some educators say their students still love books — if they can fit them in. Andrew Polk, a 10th-grade English teacher in Ohio, said, "Students absolutely can and do rise to the occasion. It's just a matter of setting those expectations." Gift link.

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Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled A 13-year-old girl at a Louisiana middle school got into a fight with classmates who were sharing AI-generated nude images of her. She wound up getting expelled. The case highlights the challenges schools face with AI-related cyberbullying. Read more.

What to know: The girl’s attorney said he has no knowledge of any school discipline for the classmate accused of sharing the images. However, when law enforcement looked into the case, they charged two of the boys who’d been accused of sharing explicit images — and not the girl. The district said in a statement that federal student privacy laws prohibit it from discussing individual students’ disciplinary records.   AI deepfakes can, and do, upend children's lives — at school, and at home. And while schools are working to address artificial intelligence in classroom instruction, they often have done little to prepare for what the new tech means for cyberbullying and harassment.   As kids increasingly use new tech to hurt one another, adults are behind the curve, said Sergio Alexander, a research associate at Texas Christian University focused on emerging technology. “When we ignore the digital harm, the only moment that becomes visible is when the victim finally breaks,” Alexander said.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ The rise of deepfake cyberbullying poses a growing problem for schools

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? Ditching phones

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Two experiments with phone bans — one on a Yale study-abroad program and another at New York high schools — delivered similar results: When phones disappear, real life rushes back in, and students say they're relieved, Axios' Erica Pandey writes. Why it matters: Phone bans — and even all-out social media bans — are gaining popularity. Evidence is mounting that too much screen time and too little hanging out with friends fuel anxiety and depression. ? Case in point: Colleen Kinder, a writer and instructor who leads a Yale summer writing program in France, seizes her students' phones at the beginning of the summer. Each year, she faces less resistance. "My students hungered for an absolute disconnect," Kinder writes in a N.Y. Times op-ed (gift link). "Adults need to step up and set parameters so that it's not on these kids to self-regulate," Kinder writes. At the end of their phone-free summer, Kinder's students often report that they're sleeping, reading and focusing better. Teachers at New York public schools have also noticed unexpected benefits after the bell-to-bell phone ban went into effect this fall, Anya Kamenetz writes in New York Magazine. "There's a pleasant buzz in the lunchroom, chatter in the hallways, and an alphabet of new analog hobbies popping up just about everywhere." ♠️ Cards and board games — from Sorry! to dominoes to Texas Hold'em — are back in style.

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? Teens split on phone bans

Data: Pew Research Center; Chart: Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios Teens are divided on cellphone bans during class, with 51% opposing and 41% supporting, a new Pew Research Center survey finds. ? They're far more united on phone bans covering the entire school day, with 73% opposing and just 17% supporting. That's based on survey results from 1,458 U.S. teens aged 13–17 conducted Sept. 25 to Oct. 9, 2025, through Ipsos. ? Adults are much more supportive of phone bans, with nearly three-quarters saying in a prior survey that middle and high schoolers shouldn't be allowed to use their devices during class. A growing number of states and countries are experimenting with phone bans to keep kids focused on classwork. Full results.

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As literacy rates lag, a pediatric hospital is screening for reading ability

For some young children in Columbus, Ohio, reading assessments don’t start in the kindergarten classroom — they happen first in the doctor’s office. With concerns rising about lagging childhood literacy rates across the country, Nationwide Children’s Hospital has begun screening children’s literacy skills starting at age 3 during pediatrician visits. Read more.

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Young kids missed the pandemic’s school disruptions. Their reading scores are still behind Young students are still struggling to bounce back academically from the pandemic, even though many were babies at the time. In new data from research and testing group NWEA, first and second graders are scoring below kids pre-pandemic in math and reading. Read more.

Why this matters: Researchers say the problem looks bigger than impacts from the pandemic. They point to emerging data that suggest parents are reading less to kids. Testing for younger kids is less common, so the report offers insights into the depth of the academic disruption.   The federal government gave billions of dollars to school districts to help students catch up — with mixed results. In 2024, reading scores for fourth and eighth graders continued a downward slide, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Math scores, however, trended upward.    Schools are beginning to make concessions to accommodate students with weaker literacy skills and short attention spans. Many teachers no longer assign books to their students.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Preparing to study abroad requires knowing what might go wrong during and after the trip   A Senegal boarding school that drew students from the US is at the center of an abuse investigation

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📊 Teens' trusted sources

Data: AP-NORC. Chart: Sara Wise/Axios The generational divide in preferred news sources is stark in new AP-NORC polling. "Old" platforms (print, radio, TV) are slightly preferred by adults. "New" platforms (AI chatbots, social media, search engines) are much more widely used by teens aged 13-17. Why it matters: Younger users are getting their news served to them via algorithm by tech companies that lack editorial accountability — all before they've ever built a habit of navigating directly to a traditional news source. There might be a bright spot: Noah Smith argued on Substack that AI could serve as a "digital Cronkite," an unbiased, moderating source of information that could drive Americans closer toward consensus. Explore the data.

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‘Reading recession’

Test scores have been declining since long before the pandemic disrupted classrooms — and they continue to fall across the country. A few states are making progress, though. Here’s how.

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Some parents don’t want their kids to use tech at school. But districts are pushing back

Parents across the country who are worried about excessive screen time in schools are lobbying educators to go back to pencils and paper. In places like Pennsylvania's Lower Merion School District, some families are taking it even further. Over 600 people have signed a petition asking to preserve parents' ability to opt their children out of digital devices, setting off a clash with the school district. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Kids are in a ‘reading recession,’ as test scores continue to decline  More kids than ever are attending state-funded preschool, with California’s surge leading the way WATCH: Pediatricians say schools need to make time for recess for kids of all ages

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College-educated dads step it up at home

Data: American Time Use Survey via American Institute for Boys and Men. (Covers partnered parents with at least one child under age 6.) Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Dads are spending less time doing paid work and more time doing things like child care and chores at home, Axios' Emily Peck writes from a new analysis of Census data. 👨‍🍼Why it matters: Millennial and Gen X men are more involved fathers than previous generations, a pattern that appears to have accelerated in the post-pandemic period. The difference is particularly pronounced among college-educated men who are part of a couple, finds a new working paper from Ariel Binder, a research fellow at the American Institute for Boys and Men. 🧺 Reality check: Women still do much more unpaid work.

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America’s schools face a backlash on digital devices as screens saturate classrooms

Just a few years ago, America’s public schools were rushing to get every child a laptop.  Now, the conversation has flipped. After pouring billions of dollars into laptops, tablets and learning apps, many schools are facing a digital reckoning. Classrooms have become saturated with screens, and a growing number of parents, teachers and school districts are saying it is time to scale back. Read more.