Education

A statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson stands tall on the grounds of the West Virginia Capitol building in Charleston.

West Virginia, Born Out Of The Civil War, Grapples With Confederate Monuments

7:48am June 20, 2020

by Dave Mistich

On June 20, 1863, West Virginia seceded from Virginia to align with the Union during the Civil War. It rejected the Confederacy then, but the state hasn't taken down any Confederate statues in 2020.

Amiri Nash, 18, co-founded an organization that creates signs about racial injustice to post in predominantly white neighborhoods.

Education

'I'm Willing To Fight For America': 5 Student Activists On Protesting For Change

1:13pm June 19, 2020

COVID-19 closed schools all over the world. But students are still taking the lead in the Black Lives Matter protests. So we ask student activists how they're organizing during the pandemic.

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos appeared on Capitol Hill in February, just weeks before the pandemic sent the economy reeling. The Education Department recently changed its guidance around reconsidering student financial aid awards.

Education Dept. Is Making It Harder For Colleges To Boost Student Aid During Crisis

10:08am June 19, 2020

A recent change has led to some colleges hesitating to help students affected by the economic downturn.

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Rugenia Keefe, left, a paraprofessional who assisted Cole Phillips for most of high school after he lost his sight, spoke with the graduating senior for a remote conversation from Bentonville, Ark.

He Went Blind Before High School. His Teacher Aide Thanks Him For 'Saving' Her

5:03am June 19, 2020

Graduating senior Cole Phillips lost his sight right before his freshman year. Rugenia Keefe was there to assist him in school. But, she says, Phillips was the one who got her through a dark time.

News Brief: Trump Campaign Rally, TSA Put Passengers At Risk, New Financial Aid Hurdle

5:03am June 19, 2020

President Trump will hold a campaign rally on June 20th. A whistleblower says the TSA put passengers at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. And, it may soon be harder for students to get financial aid.

Football coach Bob Wager (right) and sophomore safety Cameron Conley greet each other Thursday at the reopening of strength and conditioning camp at Martin High School in Arlington, Texas. State officials say they plan to open schools for in-person instru

Back To School For Real? Texas Officials Say Yes

5:37pm June 18, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

Texas' education commissioner says the state's public schools will be open for students to return in the fall. But not everyone thinks that's a good idea, as cases of COVID-19 keep rising there.

The University of Georgia's marching band, seen during a football game last November in Athens. The band's acting director, Brett Bawcum, announced that it would no longer play "Tara's Theme" from Gone with the Wind. The film has attracted criticism for i

Georgia Marching Band Drops Song From 'Gone With The Wind' For 'Georgia On My Mind'

1:37pm June 18, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

The Redcoat Band will no longer play "Tara's Theme" from the controversial film. And it already has an apt replacement in mind: the official state song, best known for Ray Charles' rendition.

Students behind the Flossy Podcast: Joshua Bovell, Jaheim Birch-Gentles, Brianna Johnson, Jamar Thompson, Ieszan McKinney, and Kamari Murdock in Canarsie, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Not pictured - Isaiah Dupuy)

'Climate Change Is Racial Injustice': Students Speak Their Truth In Winning Podcast

8:32pm June 17, 2020

by Elissa Nadworny

A group of students from Brooklyn see every day how climate change disproportionately affects their community. They made a podcast that asked: Why?

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PS 126/Manhattan Academy of Technology students Angelo Chen, Nicole Zheng, Kristi Jiang, Becky Liu, Leo Yu, Si Chen Xu and Zoe Jiang on a school field trip.

Education

Coronavirus, Racism And Kindness: How NYC Middle-Schoolers Built A Winning Podcast

4:11pm June 17, 2020

The middle-school top prize for NPR's second annual Student Podcast Challenge goes to ... The Dragon Kids.

The Board of Trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted to lift a moratorium on renaming campus buildings and memorials. About 30 campus buildings are thought to have namesakes with ties to white supremacy or slavery.

UNC-Chapel Hill Trustees Lift 16-Year Moratorium On Renaming Campus Buildings

2:41pm June 17, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

The freeze on renaming any campus buildings or monuments was implemented by the board in 2015, after it voted to change the name of a classroom building named for a reputed Ku Klux Klan leader.