MORIAH BALINGIT

AP Education Writers
Education Secretary Linda McMahon does a television interview at the White House, April 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Federal judge orders Trump administration to unblock pandemic relief money for schools
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Education Department to undo a freeze on the last of the U.S. relief money given to schools to help their students recover academically from the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Students help put away supplies at the end of a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Head Start survives Trump administration budget proposal
President Donald Trump’s administration apparently has backed away from a proposal to eliminate funding for Head Start. The preschool program educates more than half a million children from low-income and homeless families.
 
Students march at Arizona State University in protest of ASU's chapter of College Republicans United-led event encouraging students to report "their criminal classmates to ICE for deportations", Jan. 31, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
US government expands grounds for canceling international students’ legal status
The federal government is expanding the reasons international students can be stripped of their legal status in the U.S., where thousands have come under scrutiny in a Trump administration crackdown that has left many afraid of being deported.
 
Millicent Brown, right, and her daughter, Nova Brown, 5, pose for a photo outside their home at a public housing complex before school on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
When kids are evicted, they often lose both home and school
Schoolchildren threatened with eviction are more likely to end up in another district or transfer to another school. They’re more likely to miss school, and those who end up transferring are suspended more often.
 
Delaney Griffin, center, plays with toddlers at the child care center where she works, March 13, 2024, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan, File)
Scholarships for child care are drying up. Now families are paying the price
Many parents need child care scholarships to work. But qualified families are increasingly being turned away from state child care assistance programs, thanks to the rising costs of child care and the end of pandemic aid.
 
Students help put away supplies at the end of a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Mass layoffs rattle Head Start leaders already on edge over funding problems
President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday laid off scores of Health and Human Services employees, including many who ran the Head Start early education program.
 
President Donald Trump gestures after signing executive order in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Trump’s call to dismantle Education Department shows Republican rightward lurch and his grip on GOP
Since it was created in 1979, the Education Department has enjoyed enough bipartisan support to keep it in business, with some Republicans even embracing its role in funding and shaping public schools.
 
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, attends a hearing of the Health, Education, and Labor Committee on her nomination, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Education Department cuts half its staff as Trump vows to wind the agency down
The Education Department plans to lay off more than 1,300 of its employees as part of an effort to halve the organization’s staff -- a prelude to President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency.
 
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.
 
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Still locked out of federal funding, several Head Start preschools may need to close temporarily
Leaders of dozens of Head Start preschools said they might need to close temporarily because they remain locked out of their federal funding, a problem that first surfaced last week during President Donald Trump’s aborted effort to freeze federal grants.
 
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.
 
A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol, June 20, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
Some US lawmakers want more Christianity in the classroom. Trump could embolden their plans
Conservative lawmakers across the U.S. are pushing to introduce more Christianity to public school classrooms, testing the separation of church and state.
 
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, speaks with President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Committee's Holiday Reception at Willard Hotel in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Biden, Harris thank major Democratic donors and urge them to stay engaged after tough loss to Trump
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris thanked deep-pocketed Democratic donors who raised record sums in last month’s election loss to President-elect Donald Trump.
 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, wears a bandage on his face and wrist as he walks to cast a vote on the Senate floor after falling during a luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump nominees should ‘steer clear’ of undermining polio vaccine, McConnell says
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, said any of President-elect Donald Trump’s picks requiring Senate confirmation should “steer clear” of efforts to discredit the polio vaccine.
 
FILE - This combination of images shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at separate campaign events Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Ga., and Aston, Pa., respectively. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, left, Matt Rourke, File)
Trump and Harris both support a bigger child tax credit. But which families should get it?
Never before in a presidential election cycle has there been so much discussion of the child tax credit — a tool many Democrats and Republicans have endorsed as a way to lift children and young families out of poverty.
 
Leading Men fellow Davontez Johnson, right, interacts with a preschooler playing dress-up during choice time, a classroom period where children can choose their own activities, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, at Dorothy I. Height Elementary School in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Black male teachers are a rarity in preschools. This pioneering program wants to change that
A fellowship program is training young Black men to become literacy aides in preschool classrooms across the country.
 
FILE - A man walks near a flooded area near the Swannanoa river, effects from Hurricane Helene , Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco, File)
Many schools are still closed weeks after Hurricane Helene. Teachers worry about long-term impact
Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe — on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems — that some districts have no idea when they will reopen.
 
President Joe Biden speaks at a political event in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Biden says Harris will cut her own path as president, and her perspective will be fresh and new
President Joe Biden says Kamala Harris would “cut her own path” once she wins the 2024 election, allowing for daylight between him and his vice president as Nov. 5 draws near.
 
Preschool teacher Tinhinane Meziane, left, listens to her students on what characters of the TV show PAW Patrol they will vote for as their favorite character at the ACCA Child Development Center, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Annandale, Va. The students are getting foundational lessons on how to live in a democracy by allowing them to regularly vote on different things through out the day. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
How one preschool uses PAW Patrol to teach democracy
Preschools around the country are starting students early on civics education. The goal is nothing short of raising good citizens and strengthening democracy.
 
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Economic Club of New York, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump said fixing child care would not be very expensive. Here are price tags for other proposals
Asked recently how he would bring down the high cost of child care, former President Donald Trump said doing so would be relatively “not very expensive” — at least, not compared with revenue from tax hikes he would impose on foreign goods.
 
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Walz touts Democratic record of defending LGBTQ+ rights, says Harris will advance cause if elected
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz touted Vice President Kamala Harris’ record of defending LGBTQ+ rights, pledging to a supportive crowd that she will advance their cause if elected president.
 
FILE - Teacher Abi Hawker leads preschoolers in learning activities at Hillcrest Developmental Preschool in American Falls, Idaho, Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)
How to pick the best preschool or child care center for your child
Preschool options are growing as states expand early learning programs. That means parents face a dizzying array of choices. To find a high-quality preschool, parents should take a tour.
 
People pray before the start of the Moms for Liberty National Summit in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Moms for Liberty fully embraces Trump and widens role in national politics as election nears
This weekend’s gathering of Moms for Liberty has showcased how the group has moved toward fully embracing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his political messaging as November’s election draws closer.
 
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice during an event at the group's annual convention in Washington, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump questions acceptance of transgender people as he courts his base at Moms for Liberty gathering
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is lamenting the growing acceptance of transgender Americans.
 
FILE - Rylee Monn plays with children in her class at a child care center in Lexington, Ky., March 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan, File)
Having a family is expensive. Here’s what Harris and Trump have said about easing costs
Families are looking for relief from the high cost of caring for children. On this topic, the Democratic and Republican tickets for president have one main commonality: Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have supported a higher child tax credit.
 
Family Educator Lisa Benson-Nuyen, left, leads her students in a circle as they play music after eating breakfast in the Northern Lights classroom at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Biden administration hikes pay for Head Start teachers to address workforce shortage
The Biden administration is hiking pay for educators in the early childhood program Head Start as part of an effort to retain current employees and attract new ones in the midst of a workforce shortage.
 
The day of the school's closure is marked on a calendar as children, including Mariah Wallen, 5, march in a circle to music in the Stars classroom at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
This preschool in Alaska changed lives for parents and kids alike. Why did it have to close?
In rural Alaska, the federally funded Head Start preschool program has helped parents earn college degrees. It has put parents with drug addictions on paths toward recovery and educated children who have ended up in foster care.
 
Claudia Saenz, left, and Diana Carolina Guillen hug and cry during a sexual harassment prevention class for nannies and housekeepers on Saturday, April 27, 2024, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Nannies, housekeepers, and home care workers are excluded from many federal workplace protections in the United States, and the private, home-based nature of the work means abuse tends to happen behind closed doors. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Labor laws largely exclude nannies. Some are banding together to protect themselves
Nannies, housekeepers, and home care workers are excluded from many federal workplace protections in the United States, and the private, home-based nature of the work means abuse tends to happen behind closed doors.
 
Zaneta Billyzone-Jatta smiles at her two-year-old daughter Zakiah Jatta in her classroom at Akin's Early Learning Center in Auburn Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Auburn, Wash.. Zakiah is enrolled in Washington state's Early ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program). (Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times via AP)
Day care prices aren’t getting better. So states are stepping in
Child care has long been expensive for families, hard to find and financially precarious for day care owners and workers. Congress tried to alleviate some of these problems during the pandemic.
 
Pro-Palestinian students hold white t-shirts stating the message, "DIVEST," as they protest during the UC Berkeley graduation at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday, May 11, 2024. (Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protests dwindle on campuses as some US college graduations marked by defiant acts
Despite pro-Palestinian protests roiling some U.S. college campuses this spring, graduation ceremonies are going off largely peacefully so far.
 
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