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Recent Editions
Education Slice
National
The Senate Commerce Committee has advanced four bipartisan bills aimed at strengthening online protections for children, highlighting a growing divide with the House over how aggressively technology companies should be regulated. The centerpiece, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), would require online platforms to design products with minors’ safety in mind, strengthen protections for children’s data, and allow users to opt out of personalized algorithms. Senators emphasized that the bill’s "duty of care" provision, which legally requires platforms to mitigate harms to minors, is essential and criticized the House-passed version for omitting it. Supporters argued the Senate’s bipartisan backing should encourage the House to adopt the stronger version, while opponents, including tech industry group NetChoice, warned the legislation could unnecessarily restrict young people’s access to digital services. The committee also approved the Youth AI Privacy Act, the CHATBOT Act, and the Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act of 2026. However, the SCREEN Act, which would require age verification for websites offering content such as pornography, failed to advance after Democrats raised privacy concerns and too few senators were present to move the measure forward.
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Education Slice
California
California lawmakers have returned from their summer recess to consider a series of education bills before the legislative session ends on August 31, with proposals ranging from student online safety and mental health to special education funding, higher education access, and academic achievement. Gov. Gavin Newsom will have until September 30 to sign or veto any measures that reach his desk. Several of the highest-profile bills focus on student well-being and technology. One proposal would require schools to teach digital wellness, including responsible use of social media and artificial intelligence, while another would prohibit children under 16 from creating accounts on social media platforms with addictive algorithmic features and require age verification. Supporters argue the measures address growing concerns over youth mental health, while critics warn they could raise privacy and free speech issues. Other legislation would expand funding for students with significant cognitive disabilities, simplify the process for reclassifying English learners, improve the identification and reporting of Indigenous students, and make it easier for community colleges to launch bachelor's degree programs in areas with unmet workforce needs.
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Education Slice
Texas
A new study from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University suggests Texas’ $750m Teacher Incentive Allotment, the nation’s largest merit pay program, has helped reduce teacher turnover but may not offer large enough bonuses to attract and retain top educators in the rural and high-poverty schools it was designed to support. While more than 65,000 teachers received performance-based bonuses during the 2025–26 school year, researchers found many highly rated teachers continued to move to higher-income schools after receiving their initial awards. The study found that teachers generally needed more than $6,000 in additional annual pay to consider transferring to a significantly higher-poverty school, and even then, many remained reluctant to move. Teachers already working in high-poverty schools were more likely to transfer to wealthier campuses after earning merit designations, suggesting the recognition itself may increase their marketability rather than strengthen staffing in the schools with the greatest needs.
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Education Slice
Florida
In a recent address at Tortuga Preserve Elementary School, Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted Florida's impressive education achievements, stating: "We can say that we have been ranked number one in education freedom four consecutive years." The state has made significant investments in teacher salaries, raising the average minimum from $39,000 to over $50,000, with $1.56bn allocated for teacher pay in the current budget. DeSantis also announced that 76% of Florida schools received an A or B grade for the 2025-26 school year, and the high school graduation rate reached a record 92.2%. The implementation of a progress monitoring system has led to improvements in student performance, with a notable increase in those scoring at or above grade level in English language arts and mathematics. Dr. Henry Mack, Florida's new Education Commissioner, emphasized the state's leadership in education initiatives, stating: "Where Florida goes, so goes the nation."
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