Digital Urban Educator - April 2025

The November elections of 2024 resulted in a significant shift in federal leadership. The election of Donald Trump to the presidency, combined with a new Republican majority in the Senate joining the Republican-led House, changed the governing dynamic in Washington.

At a time when U.S. public school students continue to experience COVID-19-related academic and social setbacks, students attending Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, N.C., are showing academic gains. The district credits its homegrown tutoring program for the improvement.

For the first time in 58 years, voters in Kansas City, Missouri, approved a school bond measure that will bring increased funding to Kansas City Public Schools to address critical needs in the 14,725-student district.

A recent study conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools shows that superintendents currently leading the largest urban public school districts have not had the same longevity as their immediate predecessors.

NOLA Public Schools recently appointed Fateama Fulmore to permanently take the helm as the district’s superintendent. She has served as the interim superintendent of the 41,583-student school district since November.

The current presidential administration’s attempts to use civil rights law against protected groups present vulnerabilities for public school students, and school districts must be prepared to defend their students, said civil rights attorney and former U.S. Court of Appeals judge David Tatel.

Political commentator Tara Setmayer calls herself a “proud, proud, product of New Jersey Public Schools” and criticizes efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, calling such actions to be a direct threat to the future of students, teachers, and the nation’s economic and democratic stability.

Education policy expert Josh Cowen alerted educators to his view on what he thinks is the most pressing threat to public education: the aggressive expansion of school vouchers.

CNN journalist Manu Raju offered timely advice to educators: Press your case for public education both to Congress members and to local journalists.