Our team is always seeking the latest news in the field of education. As advocates for a high-quality education for ALL students, we know we have to stay up-to-date on everything that’s going on in the education spheres of our nation…from the White House to the local public school district, from new legislation to the small acts of bravery and kindness made by a single teacher, from the milestones and celebrations to the hazardous injustices affecting many of our nation’s students.

Here are the stories that we are focused on this week.

Big Stories that Drove the Week

Philando Castile’s Mother Wipes Out School Lunch Debt, Continuing Son’s Legacy via NPR

Three years after the shooting death of Philando Castile, his legacy of helping others continues. His mother, Valerie Castile, has given $8,000 to a Minnesota high school to settle school lunch debts.

Philando Castile frequently paid for the lunches of students who owed money or couldn’t afford them. “He understood that the children are the future leaders of this country, and it was his obligation to take care of them best he could, while they were in his company,” Valerie Castile told NPR.

‘Threatening the Future’: The High Stakes of Deepening School Segregation via The New York Times

Today, the decreasing white share of the public school population across the country may lead some to believe that schools are becoming more integrated. But the reverse is true, according to the report. The percentage of intensely segregated schools, defined as those where less than 10 percent of the student body is white, tripled between 1988 and 2016, from 6 to 18 percent.

In “a heightened period of racial conflict in our public life,” the report warns, deepening school segregation by race and class “are very high stakes trends threatening the future.”

Preschool has enduring benefits for disadvantaged children — and their children, new research finds via Chalkbeat

It’s not just at-risk children who reap long-term educational and earnings benefits from high-quality preschool programs. It’s also their siblings and their eventual offspring.

The potential for preschool to lift multiple generations out of poverty is one of the key findings from a pair of new studies from University of Chicago professor James Heckman, known for his groundbreaking research on the economics of early childhood education.

One thing to read this weekend

Pushed out and punished: One woman’s story shows how systems are failing black girls via USA Today

Black girls are being criminalized at alarming rates. They are hobbled by negative societal stereotypes that stretch back to slavery. By educators, counselors, caseworkers, and judges who fail to address their trauma and emotional needs. By school discipline policies that push black girls out of school and punish them more often and more harshly than their white peers.

Did any of these articles particularly speak to you? We would love to know your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below: