BIANCA VÁZQUEZ TONESS

AP Education Writer
A sculler rows down the Charles River near Harvard University, at rear, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Harvard stands to lose $2.2 billion in federal funding. Researchers fear science will suffer
In a high-stakes standoff, President Donald Trump’s administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in federal research grants for Harvard University, which is pushing back on demands for changes to campus policy.
 
President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order at an education event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Trump has ordered the dismantling of the US Education Department. Here’s what that means
President Donald Trump’s order calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department has complex implications.
 
Dozens of people gather in downtown Niles, Mich., Thursday, March 20, 2025, to protest recent government cuts in the Department of Education. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
The Education Department was created to ensure equal access. Who would do that in its absence?
As the Trump administration moves to dismantle the Education Department, officials have suggested other agencies could take over its major responsibilities.
 
An American flag hangs in a classroom as students work on laptops in Newlon Elementary School, in Denver, Aug. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Schools around the US confront anxiety over Trump’s actions on immigration
President Donald Trump’s immigration policies already are affecting schools across the country. Officials have found themselves responding to rising anxiety among parents and their children, including those who are here legally.
 
En esta imagen de archivo, el entonces candidato republicano a la presidencia de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump (izquierda), aplaude al director general de Tesla y SpaceX, Elon Musk, tras un discurso en un acto electoral en Butler Farm Show, el 5 de octubre de 2024, en Butler, Pensilvania. (AP Foto/Alex Brandon, archivo)
DOGE cuts $900 million from agency that tracks American students’ academic progress
A federal research office that tracks the progress of America’s students is being hit with almost $900 million in cuts after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency found no need for much of its work.
 
The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Musk team’s access to student loan systems raises alarm over borrowers’ personal information
Democrats are opposing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency as it turns its attention to the Education Department, with lawmakers raising questions about DOGE’s access to internal systems containing personal information on tens of millions of Americans.
 
President Donald Trump gestures after signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump is targeting antisemitism in schools. Experts fear other civil rights will be ignored
The federal office that enforces civil rights at school across the nation has been ordered to prioritize complaints of antisemitism above all else as it molds to President Donald Trump’s agenda, raising fears that other rights violations will go unpunished.
 
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In Trump’s quest to close the Education Department, Congress and his own agenda may get in the way
President Donald Trump is preparing to gut the U.S. Education Department to the full extent of his power, directing his administration to slash spending while pressuring employees to quit.
 
Carmen, who only shared her first name out of fear she could be targeted by immigration officials, is photographed at her apartment Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in the San Francisco Bay Area. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Trump won’t ban immigration arrests at school. Some families are now weighing school attendance
As President Donald Trump cracks down on immigrants in the U.S. illegally, some families are wondering if it is safe to send their children to school.
 
Prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington, July 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Some elite US universities favor wealthy students in admissions decisions, lawsuit alleges
New filings in a 2022 class-action lawsuit contend that children of the wealthy and connected get special admissions consideration at some elite U.S. universities.
 
This photo provided by Trisha Bushey shows the evening sky and points of light near in Lebanon Township, N.J., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Trisha Bushey via AP)
US agencies should use advanced technology to identify mysterious drones, Schumer says
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is urging the federal government to deploy advanced drone-tracking technology following weeks of reported drone sightings in parts of New York and New Jersey that have stirred fear and bewilderment.
 
FILE - An American flag hangs in a classroom as students work on laptops in Newlon Elementary School, Aug. 25, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Schools are bracing for upheaval over fear of mass deportations
Regardless of whether President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to deport millions of immigrants, educators around the U.S. are bracing for upheaval.
 
Alisson Ramírez, right, listens to her social studies teacher during class Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
They came to America looking for better lives — and better schools. The results were mixed
The school system in Aurora, Colorado, is striving to accommodate more than 3,000 new students mostly from Venezuela and Colombia. Teachers have been helping them by translating vocabulary and handing out written instructions in Spanish.
 
Sofia Roca, a 49-year-old immigrant from Colombia, climbs a stairway inside her apartment complex in Aurora, Colo., on March 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
For migrant women who land in Colorado looking for jobs, a common answer emerges: No
As record numbers of South Americans come to the U.S. seeking better economic opportunities, many are landing in communities that are unprepared for them — and sometimes outright hostile.
 
Ivanni Herrera looks on during an interview in a park Friday, May 18, 2024, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
On the streets of a Colorado city, pregnant migrants struggle to survive
 
History teacher Matt Brophy, left, works with Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, of Medford, Mass., on making up late assignments during summer school at Medford High School, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Schools have made slow progress on record absenteeism, with millions of kids still skipping class
Years after COVID, nearly every state is still struggling with school attendance. Roughly one in four students remained chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year, according to an analysis by The Associated Press and Stanford University economist Thomas Dee.
 
University of Michigan computer science junior Josh Brown, center, hands out miniature blue and white flags of Israel while standing Wednesday, April 23, 2024, in front of a banner reading “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA," in Ann Arbor, Mich. The banner is part of a protest by students and groups demanding the Ann Arbor school divest from companies that do business with Israel. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Students protesting on campuses across US ask colleges to cut investments supporting Israel
Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in pro-Palestinian encampments with a unified demand to end investments supporting Israel’s war in Gaza.
 
FILE - A student wears a mask and face shield in a 4th grade class amid the COVID-19 pandemic at Washington Elementary School on Jan. 12, 2022, in Lynwood, Calif. Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and upended child care, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
The CDC has relaxed COVID guidelines. Will schools and day cares follow suit?
Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses. Gone are mandated isolation periods and masking.
 
This photo taken Aug. 15, 2016, shows the front of the Bellefonte Area School District certified school nurses office. Schools are confronting soaring absence rates. Some are calling for parents to send their children to class even if they are not feeling 100% well. During the pandemic, schools urged parents and children to stay home at any sign of illness. Now that the COVID-19 emergency has ended, guidance on when to keep children home varies widely. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends staying home with fever, vomiting or diarrhea, or when students “are not well enough to participate in class.” But many districts go far beyond that, delineating a dizzying array of symptoms they say should rule out attendance. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times via AP, file)
Cough? Sore throat? More schools suggest mildly sick kids attend anyway
Schools are confronting soaring absence rates. Some are calling for parents to send their children to class even if they are not feeling 100% well. During the pandemic, schools urged parents and children to stay home at any sign of illness.
 
Tameka's 8-year-old daughter ties her shoe before running out to play in Atlanta on Dec. 5, 2023. The little girl should be in second grade but has never attended school. Tameka's kids have essentially been out of school since COVID hit in March 2020. They have had a consistent place to live, but nearly everything else in their lives collapsed during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Bianca Vázquez Toness)
These kids want to go to school. The main obstacle? Paperwork
Thousands of kids went missing from schools during the pandemic. For some who have tried to return, school paperwork has proved a daunting obstacle.
 
Deneffy Sánchez, 15, rests on a bed he shares with his mother and little sister just feet away from their roommate's bed in Los Angeles, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. In Los Angeles, housing insecurity is one of the biggest reasons kids have missed school since the pandemic and struggle to catch up. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
At 15, he is defending his home and parenting his sister. One young man’s struggle to stay in school
Housing insecurity has hurt kids’ chances of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles and much of California.
 
Rousmery Negrón stands with her son at home in Springfield, Mass., on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. When in-person school resumed after pandemic closures, Negrón and her son both noticed a change: School seemed less welcoming. Parents were no longer allowed in the building without an appointment, Negrón said. Punishments were more severe. Everyone seemed less tolerant, more angry. Negrón's son even overheard a teacher mocking his learning disabilities, calling him an ugly name. He would end up missing more than five months of sixth grade. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Millions of kids are missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US
Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year.