🎓 The SuperBriefDaily Education News for School Leaders |
Good morning! It's Thursday, January 22, 2026. Your daily briefing on what's shaping K-12 education. |
💡 Quote of the Day "The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." — Robert M. Hutchins |
⚡ Quick ReadsEvening Breaking: California Governor Declares 'State of Emergency' on Literacy In a late-day press conference (6:00 PM PST), the Governor signed an executive order redirecting $200M in surplus funds to immediate 'Science of Reading' retraining, citing plummeting 3rd-grade test s... Read more → | EdSource Unions Announce 'National Day of Action' Following Mass Layoffs Responding to the 'ARPA Cliff' layoffs announced in Detroit and Philadelphia today, major teachers' unions have announced a coordinated protest scheduled for February 1st, demanding federal interventi... Read more → | AFT / NEA Joint Statement Protests Erupt at Tennessee Capitol Over Student Citizenship Bill Hundreds of students and teachers gathered in Nashville today as the 'Immigration Transparency Act' moved to the House floor. Opponents argue the bill violates student privacy and will deter enrollmen... Read more → | Chalkbeat Tennessee Schools Across Midwest Close as 'Winter Storm Indigo' Hits Major districts in Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis canceled classes today and have already announced closures for Thursday due to dangerous wind chills, returning briefly to remote learning. Read more → | USA Today Secretary McMahon Doubles Down on Title IX Investigations In a press gaggle this morning, Secretary McMahon dismissed criticisms of the 18 new investigations into trans athletes, stating 'federal funding is for compliant districts only.' Read more → | Politico Morning Education The 'ARPA Cliff' Hits Home: Detroit and Philly Announce Layoffs Major urban districts admitted today they can no longer sustain staffing levels post-ESSER, announcing immediate cuts to reading specialists and counselors effective next month. Read more → | Chalkbeat National Florida Expands 'Classical Education' Curriculum to All K-5 Schools The Florida Board of Education voted 5-2 today to adopt a new 'Western Civilization' focused standard for elementary schools, replacing previous ELA benchmarks effective Fall 2026. Read more → | Tampa Bay Times |
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📰 Today's Top Stories🤖 Ransomware Group 'DarkOverlord' Claims Hack of Rural SIS Provider A major Student Information System used by 300+ rural districts is currently offline. Hackers have demanded $5M in Bitcoin to prevent the release of student disciplinary records. Read more → | K-12 Dive 🤖 PowerSchool Announces AI Integration with Google Gemini PowerSchool announced a new partnership today allowing districts to use Google's Gemini models directly within their SIS for attendance prediction and grading assistance. Read more → | Tech & Learning 📰 Texas 'Voucher Deficit' Reaches $400M in First Full Year The Legislative Budget Board reported that the new universal Education Savings Account program has exceeded cost projections by 40% due to high participation from private school students. Read more → | The Texas Tribune 💰 Why California universities are still ‘on edge’ after Newsom proposed large budget increases After getting less funding than expected in recent years, the University of California and California State University say they need more from the state this year to support enrollment growth. Read more → | EdSource (California) 👨🎓 Federal oversight shift further disadvantages California students The Trump administration’s decision to move oversight of Title I, created to address the effects of poverty on learning, from the U.S. Department of Education to the Department of Labor will disrupt how education policy is implemented, monitored and coordinated across California. Read more → | EdSource (California) 📜 4 education legal and policy trends to watch in 2026 From civic education advocacy to religious public schools, here’s what K-12 leaders can expect in the legal and policy spheres. Read more → | K-12 Dive 💰 Bipartisan K-12 budget proposal would stall gutting of Education Department Senate and House leaders reject Trump administration plans to outsource management of Education Department programming. Read more → | K-12 Dive |
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🌐 What Educators Are Saying Online🔴 From Reddit "Update on HB 1017 (The 'Student Violence' Bill): It got deferred! The committee voted to postpone it because the definition of 'disruptive behavior' was too vague. Huge win for SpEd advocates who s..." — u/u/DakotaTeacher26View → 🐦 From Twitter/X "BREAKING: Tennessee Republicans unveil 'Immigration 2026' agenda. The package would require K-12 schools to verify student immigration status, a move critics say challenges the Plyler v. Doe preced..." — @@ChalkbeatTNView → "I sent a letter to Secretary McMahon demanding she reverse the cancellation of Full-Service Community Schools grants. We cannot strip funding from our most vulnerable districts. #Education #Paterson" — @@RepNelliePouView → 🦋 From Bluesky "The transcript for West Virginia v. B.P.J. (transgender athletes case) is now available. Oral arguments were held Jan 13. A decision is expected by June. Link below." — @@scotusblog.bsky.socialView → |
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📅 Upcoming EventsTASA Midwinter Conference 2026 📍 Austin, TX • 🗓️ Jan 25-27, 2026 • TASA Learn More → • In 4 days AASA National Conference on Education 2026 📍 New Orleans, LA • 🗓️ Feb 19-21, 2026 • AASA, The School Superintendents Association Learn More → • In 29 days SXSW EDU 2026 📍 Austin, TX • 🗓️ Mar 02-05, 2026 • SXSW Learn More → ASCD Annual Conference 2026 📍 Atlanta, GA • 🗓️ Mar 20-23, 2026 • ASCD Learn More → CoSN Annual Conference 2026 📍 Denver, CO • 🗓️ Mar 29 - Apr 01, 2026 • Consortium for School Networking Learn More → Have an event to share? Email us |
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