Austin School District Defies Texas Governor's Ban On Mask Mandates NPR's Noel King talks to Dr. Desmar Walkes, medical director and health authority for Austin, about Gov. Greg Abbott's mask mandate ban.
The U.S. Attracts Fewer International Students, Loses Billions In Revenue. Here's Why Colleges in the U.S. attract a million international students a year. The pandemic, visa restrictions, rising tuition and fears about safety in America have driven enrollment down. But there's hope. Karin Fischer/The Chronicle of Higher Education
As School Starts Again, Here's How To Keep Kids Safe From COVID Millions of American kids are headed back to school, this time as a fourth wave of the pandemic builds. We hear what parents should know about keeping them healthy. Pien Huang
Education Department Announces 'Final Extension' Of Student Loan Payment Freeze At the beginning of the pandemic, federal student loan borrowers were granted a reprieve on their loan payments. The U.S. Education Department says that reprieve will end on Jan. 31, 2022. Clare Lombardo
Florida School Districts That Require Masks, May Have Their Funding Cut School districts in the state are rebelling against an order by the governor banning them from requiring masks. If they violate the order, Gov. Ron DeSantis has threatened to pull their funding. Greg Allen
History Professor Calls For U.S. Inclusion Of Mexico Studies NPR's Kelsey Snell speaks with Harvard history professor Gabriela Soto Laveaga about her recent op-ed titled, "Every American needs to take a history of Mexico class."
Walmart Offering Full College Tuition And Books For Employees As a result, approximately 1.5 million part-time and full-time Walmart and Sam's Club workers in the U.S. will be able to earn college degrees or learn trade skills without the burden of debt. Jonathan Franklin
Kindergarten Enrollment Fell Last Year. Now Schools Wonder How Many Kids Are Coming It's too soon to say if schools will see a surge, but they do know that kindergartners are entering their first year of school with a wide range of experience. Clare Lombardo
Censorship Scholar On Book Bans And Critical Race Theory NPR's Michel Martin talks with Richard Price, author of the Adventures In Censorship blog, about trends in censorship and book banning.
Shari Davis: What If You Could Decide How The Government Spends Public Funds? Public places don't always fully meet the needs of a community. Shari Davis explains how participatory budgeting can give us all a voice in creating safer and more equitable public spaces. Manoush Zomorodi