After several weeks of public comment, bills addressing school finance in Texas will be presented to the House of Representatives.

House Bill 2 is the public school funding bill and Senate Bill 2 is the voucher proposal, along with its companion bill, House Bill 3.

Chandra Villanueva, director of policy and advocacy for the group Every Texan, said the proposed voucher initiative, which would provide students $10,000 to help pay for private school, would hurt public schools and low-income families.

"Our schools are funded based on attendance, so when kids leave the system, the schools will get less money," Villanueva explained. "Until you can actually close a campus, you still have all of your same fixed costs around utilities, teachers. You'll see more overcrowded classrooms."

Backers of school vouchers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have said public schools will not be negatively affected. This is the second legislative session where Abbott has made a voucher program his top priority.

Teachers, advocacy groups and even members of the Republican Party have spoken out against vouchers. Many Texas teachers spent their spring break testifying before the legislative committee. Villanueva emphasized although the proposal is out of committee, they are not giving up.

"Members need to hear from their constituents," Villanueva stressed. "The public education committee has been targeted the most -- but even now, if your member is not on that committee, they're going to be the ones who are hearing this bill. And a lot of amendments are going to be offered up on the House floor. So that's an opportunity to try to limit the voucher, try to put more guardrails on it."

Both bills are expected to be brought to the House floor at the same time, but a date has not been set.


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Michiganders who left college early might now have a shot at finishing.

The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential's growing partnership with ReUp Education is designed to help qualified residents with some college under their belt finally get that diploma.

The initiative involves teaming up with community colleges across Michigan to help bring back 21- to 24-year-olds who started college but didn't finish -- many whose education was disrupted by the pandemic.

Sarah Szurpicki, director of MiLEAP's Sixty by 30 office, said they identified 40,000 eligible Michiganders.

"We know that having a talented workforce in Michigan is, in my view, the most important thing we can do to be helping all of Michiganders be set up for a prosperous future," said Szurpicki, "to have choices in what they're doing."

More than 1 million Michigan residents of working age have some college experience, but no degree.

The goal of the Sixty by 30 initiative is for 60% of the state's working-age adults to have a post-secondary degree.

A recent report from MiLEAP shines a light on why so many adults step away from school - which include work and family pressures, mental-health struggles, tight finances -- and housing and transportation issues.

Szurpicki emphasized that this effort is also about equipping colleges with what they need to support students working toward finishing their degrees.

"ReUp also provides that sort of like an outsider's perspective on anything a particular college can do" said Szurpicki. "They provide feedback directly to the colleges of what they're hearing from the students that they're reaching out to."

According to MiLEAP, more than 200,000 Michiganders who left college now have access to ReUp's coaching and re-enrollment support, many of them qualifying for free tuition through the Michigan Reconnect program.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.



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Mississippi's education improvements could unravel unless the state addresses its teacher compensation crisis.

Toren Ballard, a former teacher and education policy researcher gave the warning and stressed the Magnolia state's 2022 pay raise temporarily boosted recruitment but did not solve retention. He pointed out when adjusted for inflation, teacher salaries remain below 21st century levels, with the most severe gaps in poorer districts unable to offer anything past a base salary.

"In recent years we have seen more people going into the profession, which is a good data trend but we've also seen the number of teachers leaving Mississippi classrooms explode," Ballard reported. "In recent years, in the average district, losing nearly one in four teachers each year."

Ballard praised Mississippi's new weighted student funding formula for addressing equity concerns. However, he highlighted competitive base salaries are critical to keeping up the state's education progress.

Ballard noted Mississippi's teacher shortage affects high-need districts and critical subjects like math and science. He argued paying teachers more is not necessarily about fairness.

"No, it's microeconomics," Ballard emphasized. "If we are going to offer more competitive salaries to Mississippi teachers, we are going to get more people interested in coming to Mississippi to begin with and more importantly, staying in Mississippi if they're already here."

Mississippi saw reading gains following the 2016 Literacy-Based Promotion Act, with fourth-grade test scores rising as other states declined.

Ballard hopes lawmakers now turn to current challenges, like rising health insurance premiums eating up a quarter of new teachers' salaries. There will also be reduced pension benefits for those hired after March 2026.


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A high school educator from Pennsylvania has been named National Teacher of the Year, one of the highest honors in the field.

The prestigious award is for educators who have demonstrated excellence in the classroom and exceptional commitment to their students.

Ashlie Crosson, who teaches advanced placement language and composition, English 10 and survival stories at Mifflin County High School, said she is honored to receive the award. Inspired by great teachers growing up, she has been an educator for more than 14 years and called teaching one of the oldest and most rewarding careers, and one the world will always need.

"I had amazing teachers who valued me and invested in me and made me feel confident and smart and important," Crosson recounted. "If you can do a job where you get to make other people feel like that, that's a good way to spend a life. And I think that's what we try to sort of focus on or celebrate for students."

Crosson also teaches the journalism program, which publishes the school newspaper and the district magazine. She has had a positive effect on her students' academic and career paths as some of her former students now work at the local newspaper.

With the Trump administration proposing to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, Crosson acknowledged policies may shift with each new administration but her students' needs will always remain her top concern.

"In my classroom and talking to my colleagues, we are still focused on what's going on in our classroom," Crosson emphasized. "Because that's our job, day in and day out, and we know that there's going to be ebbs and flows and changes, because that's what it means to be a teacher. But the thing that doesn't change is your students' needs, and so those will always be our priorities."

Looking to broaden horizons for both her colleagues and students, Crosson started "MC Goes Global," a travel program bringing learning to life through international trips. Her students do not just stick to books and essays, they dive into real-world research on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and even build websites, blending global awareness with hands-on learning.


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