Author: Jonaki Mehta

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia offers guided tactile tours aimed at blind and low vision visitors in a gallery called Signers’ Hall. Museum educator Sydney Wharton traces visitor Tim Kelly’s Jr. hands over the statue of Benjamin Franklin as she leads him and his father, Tim Kelly Sr., through the gallery. Rachel Wisniewski for NPR hide caption toggle caption Rachel Wisniewski for NPR Press the “Listen” button below to hear the story text, read by reporter Jonaki Mehta. PHILADELPHIA — About a dozen visitors pause at the entrance to a gallery filled with statues of 42 men who had…

Ninth grader Soraya Martin, left, has dyslexia, but using her cellphone and other technologies allow her to excel at school. Her mother, Heather Martin, says students with disabilities aren’t always being considered when it comes to school screen bans. Jonaki Mehta/NPR hide caption toggle caption Jonaki Mehta/NPR CONCORD, Calif. — Ninth grader Soraya Martin is a bubbly, social teenager who recently found a new passion. “I’m a very creative writer, I love to write stories for fun,” she says. Stories come naturally to Soraya, but reading and writing don’t. That’s because she has dyslexia. “Academically, school has always been a…

Mary Acebu, a special education teacher at Riverview Middle School in Bay Point, Calif., works with a student during a math lesson. She says using AI to help with the paperwork part of her job allows her to spend more time interacting with her students in a meaningful way. Talia Herman for NPR hide caption toggle caption Talia Herman for NPR Editor’s note: NPR uses only the first names of minors in this story because it discusses their learning disabilities and placement in special education. BAY POINT, Calif. — The sun would just be rising when teacher Mary Acebu began…

Education Secretary Linda McMahon shared plans Tuesday to hire more lawyers to work on civil rights after about half of the staff, including many lawyers, at the Office for Civil Rights were fired last year. Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images In a fiery hearing Tuesday, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended her work dismantling the very department she leads, with Senate Democrats saying the results have made life harder for parents and students. McMahon’s first appearance on Capitol Hill in nearly a year was intended to unpack the White House proposal…

Harold Rogers and Miranda Lacy met at West Virginia State University—they both still consider this campus home. They went on to graduate school at West Virginia University, where they say they’ve faced huge challenges as blind students. Kristian Thacker for NPR hide caption toggle caption Kristian Thacker for NPR Press the “Listen” button below to hear the story text, read by reporter Jonaki Mehta. Miranda Lacy and Harold Rogers became fast friends during their undergraduate years. They both shared their dreams with one another: Rogers wanted to use his education to become a psychotherapist, Lacy a social worker. So, they…

Any child born on U.S. soil has a right to citizenship. It was established by the 14th Amendment in 1868, and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme court 128 years ago. On Wednesday, the high court is set to hear oral arguments in a case that could narrow or even end birthright citizenship in Trump v. Barbara. The Trump administration has argued the “privilege” has been too freely applied to children of non-citizens. “Hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into our country under birthright citizenship, and it wasn’t meant for that reason,” President Trump said last year. If this constitutionally…

The Supreme Court will weigh a provision that guarantees automatic citizenship to all babies born in the U.S. Here’s a look at how their decision could impact different parts of the education world. Jonaki Mehta 2026-03-29 12:06:22 Source link

Jo Strogatz, 23, is the grand-prize winner of the NPR College Podcast Challenge. She spoke with NPR at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine, where she produced Just Friends. Greta Rybus for NPR hide caption toggle caption Greta Rybus for NPR When you listen to Jo Strogatz talk, you hear the wide-open world inside the brain of a young 20-something. And you also hear the uncertainties of the life ahead of her. “In college, I spent a long time trying to date people, convincing myself that I was happy doing it and not finding people that were…

Harvard University has refused to make changes in hiring, admissions and DEI programs. Brian Snyder/Reuters hide caption toggle caption Brian Snyder/Reuters The Trump administration responded quickly to Harvard University’s defiance on Monday, freezing more than $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts after the university rejected demands that it change hiring, admissions and other policies. Earlier in the day, Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, said in a letter to faculty and students that the university would not submit to a list of demands made last Friday. Among them are that it eliminate DEI programs, screen international students who are “supportive of…

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has provided relief for hundreds of thousands of borrowers. Brynn Anderson/AP hide caption toggle caption Brynn Anderson/AP President Donald Trump has signed an executive action that directs the U.S. Education Department to exclude certain federal student loan borrowers from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The action says “individuals employed by organizations whose activities have a substantial illegal purpose” will no longer be eligible for the program, known as PSLF. It comes three weeks after Education Secretary Linda McMahon said at her Senate confirmation hearing she would keep the program intact. Created by Congress,…