With more than half of students frequently absent, Pittsburgh Arlington has one of the highest rates of chronic absence in the district. Because of that, the nanas program tries to intervene early on.

Why do schools turn kids into little salespeople? And why do we let companies come in and dangle prizes in front of students? NPR spent a year with one elementary school, following their fundraising efforts, to see how much they raise, and what the money goes to.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, otherwise known as the Nation's Report Card, shows reading scores among 13-year-olds have dropped since 2012, with a sharper dip during and after the pandemic.

The Music Educator Award, presented by the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum, recognizes those who have made a "significant contribution and demonstrate a commitment to music education."

"Some of the books that I've read are books like Hood Feminism, The Poet X, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces," says a 17-year-old senior with round glasses and long braids. The books, she says, sparked her feminist consciousness. "I just see, especially in my community, a lot of women being talked down upon and those books [were] really nice to read."

For more than a decade, school nurses, pediatricians, lawmakers, and others have warned that restraint and seclusion can cause long-lasting trauma and escalate negative behaviors. In the worst cases, children have reportedly died or suffered serious injury.

Talking about schools is a reliable applause line for Republican candidates. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, former President Donald Trump got a roar of approval when he talked about race and sexuality in schools.

Perched above a major highway in central Los Angeles sits an unassuming high school where students are all too familiar with the sound of ambulance sirens. This fall, the principal has called an ambulance about five times because of suspected student drug use.