Summer Story Ideas on the Education Beat

School might be out, but that doesn’t mean education issues take a vacation: Two experienced education journalists offer compelling story ideas to beat the summertime blues. Delece Smith-Barrow of The Hechinger Report and Lauren Camera of U.S. News & World Report join this week’s podcast to discuss a wide range of national topics ripe for localized summer coverage. For starters, a looming U.S. Supreme Court decision on adding a citizenship question to the U.S. Census could have serious implications for federal funding of programs on which many districts and schools rely. Also, where do the Democratic presidential candidates stand on education issues, from “free college” to the rising pushback against charter schools? The journalists also discuss how to cover changes to federal policy on consumer protections for students attending for-profit colleges, and changes to how postsecondary institutions use college entrance exams, particularly in the wake of the “Varsity Blues” admissions scandal.