These student poems published in Education Week are a good way to close out National Poetry Month.
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A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and highlighted by First Five Years Fund examined turnover among health care workers. The study found that turnover rates were 43% higher for women with children under five than the rest of the health care workforce.
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State
As of the first of the month, the 60-day postpartum Medicaid benefit for new mothers in Ohio has been extended to one year. The American Heart Association says that this extension of coverage will “help ensure new moms have continuous, uninterrupted access to care to address their ongoing health needs, including those unrelated to pregnancy.” Relatedly, this piece from the Conversation highlights research from health economists showing that children receiving health insurance through Medicaid or CHIP benefits their families as well. This was particularly true for mothers receiving benefits, who were 5% more likely to be in a stable marriage and to experience a 5.8% reduction in stress levels. |
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Federal
U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Anthony Brown (Maryland) recently introduced legislation to increase the out-of-pocket classroom expense tax deduction from $250 to $1,000 per year. The legislation also proposes to adjust the deduction based on inflation and would expand to cover school counselors, principals, and aides.
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Our partner school’s principal Anneliese Johnson was recently featured in an EHE Inspire article on Campbell Hall, which describes how the A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning has evolved almost 25 years after she began working at the school.
This new brief for parents of kindergarteners outlines tips for helping them during this important transition window. It was written by kindergarten transition coordinator Timea Pap and ASR principal Anneliese Johnson.
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The federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has altered its parameters to include SNAP benefits among “public assistance” programs that determine Head Start eligibility. (Previously, TANF and SSI were considered public assistance, but SNAP was not.) The policy change will simplify the eligibility determination process and hopefully provide greater access to programming for families who need it.
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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the state’s universal pre-K bill this week, meaning every 4-year-old in the state will be able to attend 10 hours a week of free preschool starting in 2023. Also in Colorado, lawmakers have proposed a $100 million investment to support child care providers and create additional child care slots.
This article highlights state efforts to provide universal school meals now that the federal waiver has expired. In a similar vein, the Hechinger Report looks at state efforts to bolster the child care industry (especially wages for early educators) as the nation awaits action by Congress. These efforts are creative and laudable but far less expansive than the dedicated federal funding streams that were envisioned by the Biden Administration.
On the topic of teacher pay, Hawaii and Mississippi are both implementing historic increases in compensation for special education educators and K-12 teachers, respectively.
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Education Week explains findings from a Common Sense Media survey gauging reading behaviors and media use among children ages 8-18. It found social media use, and media use in general, went up significantly – while time spent reading for pleasure remained flat.
Dana Suskind, author of the new Parent Nation book, pens an op-ed that explains the “why” behind her new book and frames a question many of us have long been wondering: Is society “doing enough to help young parents give their children the time, attention and resources they so richly deserve”?
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An OSU research study used fMRI brain scans of newborn babies to examine the presence of brain networks (five of which resemble those also found in adults: visual, default, sensorimotor, ventral attention and high-level vision networks, with two not gained until later in life) and to examine the variability of brain organization in infants. The authors raise what they call “a fundamental question of neuroscience and psychology: Is the organization of the human brain innate and what individual variability in this organization exists at birth?” They found some individual differences or variability within brain networks, with others appearing to be more homogenous, and point out that the findings “indicate some proto-organization at birth, while also highlighting the necessity of experience for full adult-like organization.”
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This edition written by: Jamie O'Leary and Caitlin Lennon |
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