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More resources and training for teachers, school administrators, families and communities are on our Learning Goes On website. See Spanish-language version of this edition.

Federal Student Loan Changes Meant to Address Debt Crisis   

Even as the cost of a college education increased dramatically over the past several decades, federal financial support for students – particularly those from families with limited wealth and income – failed to keep up. Students leaving institutions of higher education (some without completing their degrees) are entering the work-world saddled with debt. Analyses show that student debt contributes to the racial wealth gap, as Black borrowers are more likely to take on and hold educational debt. Additionally, the cost of post-secondary opportunities prevents many young people from enrolling in and completing college.

This month, the Biden Administration announced it would take action to address the student debt crisis by:

We must also tackle the deep economic inequities that contribute to poorly- and inequitably-funded schools. These economic inequities – perpetuated by policies that promoted housing segregation, restricted access to jobs, and limited investments in communities of color – result in differences in access to educational opportunities. These differences are particularly stark for students of color and students from families with limited economic means – the very same students disproportionately impacted by the student debt crisis. For more information, please see our newest brief: How Texas Schools are Funded, and Why That Matters to Collective Success.

Learn more about IDRA’s work to ensure college access and success and our research and policy positions around fair school funding.

Please join us as we fight to ensure excellent educational opportunities for students across the U.S. South.

Parents can get answers on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website. TEA has provided HB 4545 frequently asked questions and videos to help answer many of those questions. Also see TEA’s High Impact Tutoring Toolkit.

Hosted by tbe Student Engagement and Attendance Center (SEAC) and

the IDRA EAC-South

The webinar will explore a big question many state and local education agencies are considering: How do your attendance policies, data systems and practices improve equity for students of color, students with disabilities, or other student groups who have been historically marginalized?

This interactive webinar will feature a panel of students, families and agency staff who will use discussion prompts about authentic engagement in attendance-related practices.

Across the U.S South, several different states have passed legislation that bans the practice of requiring masks for children in schools. This legislation is proposed as a part of a larger package of measures aimed at increasing parent control in educational spaces.

These measures have been enacted despite evidence that those that wear a mask in indoor public settings have up to an 83% lower chance of testing positive for COVID-19. Specifically, researchers have studied the impact of masking in K-12 school environments and assert that consistent and correct mask use is a critical strategy for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Over the last two years, governors and legislatures across the U.S. South have attempted to ban mask mandates in schools. For example, during the 2022 legislative session, leaders in Georgia passed the “Unmask GA Students Act” (GA SB514/Act 586, 2022) with Governor Brian Kemp’s full endorsement. The law prevents any local boards of education, charter school boards, local superintendents, local teachers, administrators or other school personnel from creating or enforcing any rule that requires students to wear masks, without exception.

Similarly, Governor Ron DeSantis issued an order authorizing the Florida education department to withhold funding from school districts that enact mask mandates and cited Florida’s new Parents’ Bill of Rights legislation (FL HB 241/Chapter No. 2021-199, 2021) prohibition on state and government institutions interfering with parents’ authority to make education or healthcare decisions for their children.

Additionally, in Virginia, both Governor Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia legislature have sought to ban mask mandates. Governor Youngkin’s second executive order sought to give the power to decide whether or not children must wear masks to each individual parent. Similarly, the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill that allows parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates and requires schools to stay open five days a week for in-person instruction (VA SB379, Chapter 2, 2022).

Other measures that have been enacted include an executive order by Governor Greg Abbott in Texas. Tennessee legislators passed legislation rolling back several COVID-19 protections, including placing additional requirements on schools that institute mask mandates and prohibits state money from being used for that purpose (TN SB 9014/Pub. Ch. 6, 2021). In South Carolina, legislators wrote the mask mandate ban into law via the state budget (SC HB 4100, 2021).

Parents, school districts and advocates have challenged many of these laws in court. In Florida, advocates were unsuccessful in their challenge as, after an original ruling against this executive order, the Florida Court of Appeals ruled in the governor’s favor and allowed the order to remain in place, largely upon procedural grounds. The result of this ruling was that districts like Miami-Dade public schools, the fourth largest district in the nation, and seven other school districts had money withheld. This money was later reimbursed by the Florida Department of Education and was the subject of a cease and desist complaint from the U.S. Department of Education.

In South Carolina, both the state supreme court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit have allowed South Carolina’s budget measure banning mask mandates to stand.

In Texas, a federal appeals court allowed the governor’s mask mandate executive order.

Other advocates have had more success, particularly when considering the impact on the mask mandate ban on students with disabilities. In Arkansas, a federal judge struck down the 2021 law banning school mask mandates (AR SB 590/Act No. 1002, 2021) as unconstitutional (McClane v. Hutchinson, 2021). In Virginia, courts ruled that Governor Youngkin’s executive order and Virginia’s SB 739 could not be enforced against students with disabilities (Seaman v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 2022).

Similarly, in South Carolina advocates were able to secure an injunction against the operation of a mask mandate for students with disabilities when a judge struck down that law as unconstitutional. Similarly, in Tennessee, a federal district circuit court allowed schools to institute mask mandates.

As small but loud factions attack public education, students and families across the U.S. South are pushing back. IDRA’s new Southern Education Equity Network (SEEN) trains and assists communities in improving education policy and practice across the South and provides an online and mobile space for community members and coalitions to coordinate their advocacy.

IDRA's report highlights how school districts can use federal funds to invest in strategies that ensure culturally-sustaining schools for all students. The strategies were identified during IDRA’s community sessions with young people, families, advocates and other education experts.

With Amazon Smile, you can shop while raising money for a cause you care about! Visit smile.amazon.com and select IDRA as your charity. Thank you for helping IDRA support teachers and families to ensure that Learning Goes On during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond!