The Texas Education Agency last year launched plans to take over four school districts due to low academic performance, confiscating decision-making power from elected leaders based on state-issued F grades at six campuses.

All six trigger schools share notable similarities.

Between 80% and 97% of their students live in low-income households, far above the state average of 60%.

Black and Hispanic children make up the dominant majority of the student populations, from 88% at Marilyn Miller Language Academy near Lake Worth to almost every child at Fehl-Price Elementary School in Beaumont.

And nearly half of students at each school are on the fringes of dropping out 鈥� including 64% to 92% of kids on five of the six campuses.

罢别虫补蝉鈥� places a momentous decision in the hands of the state鈥檚 education commissioner. When at least one school receives an F for five years in a row, the commissioner must order the campus closed or initiate a state takeover of the entire district, replacing elected school board members with leaders of the education chief鈥檚 choosing.

Commissioner Mike Morath, in his decade as leader of the Texas Education Agency, has ordered two campuses closed: Snyder Junior High and Travis Elementary, both in West Texas. Snyder Junior High, located in the Snyder Independent School District, has since using a new academic framework. The Midland Independent School District with a charter school operator to overhaul Travis Elementary.

Over the same 10-year span, Morath ordered seven district takeovers based on academic performance, concluding that school leaders consistently demonstrated an inability to govern effectively and stood in the way of kids reaching their full potential.

But critics of the accountability system say state takeovers penalize districts based on factors beyond their control. Schools alone cannot solve inequality tied to race and poverty. Yet that inequality, critics say, helps explain why many of the takeover trigger schools in Texas share nearly identical characteristics.

鈥淣ot everybody gets a hot breakfast and Mom taking them to school or putting them on the bus and giving them a kiss on the cheek,鈥� said Jill Bottelberghe, superintendent of the Connally Independent School District.

Morath last year announced his intention to appoint superintendents and replace the school boards of the Fort Worth, Beaumont, Connally, and Lake Worth districts due to five consecutive F grades at . The Beaumont and Connally districts each had two schools that met the takeover threshold.

Morath said the districts鈥� inability 鈥渢o implement effective changes to improve the performance of students鈥� justified his decision. He also cited elevated percentages of children not meeting grade-level expectations across each district, not just at the trigger campuses.

In Fort Worth鈥檚 case 鈥� the second-largest takeover in state history, 鈥� Morath pointed out that districts of similar size and demographics had found ways to produce stronger academic results.

罢别虫补蝉鈥� accountability system measures school performance on an A-F scale. Based largely on the state鈥檚 standardized exam, ratings are intended to measure how well students learn, how students progress academically through the school year, and how schools perform compared to campuses with similar percentages of low-income students.

An F means at least 65% of children at the school tested below grade level.

鈥淕etting an F is really, really hard to do in our system,鈥� said Iris Tian, deputy commissioner of analytics, assessment and reporting for the Texas Education Agency. 鈥淔or a campus to have gotten an F five years in a row, it is a disaster 鈥� it is truly an emergency.鈥�

Low-income schools, including those educating mostly Black and Hispanic students, can thrive in Texas’ A-F system. In the most recent ratings, 382 out of 3,203 high-poverty campuses, or 12%, earned an A, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.

But those campuses were the exception. Schools with high poverty were the least likely to earn an A and the most likely to receive Ds and Fs. Compared to low-poverty schools, those campuses were more than 30 times as likely to receive a D or F.

Similar disparities exist when factoring in race and ethnicity. Majority-Black schools were more than four times as likely as majority-white schools to receive a D or F, while majority-Hispanic schools were more than twice as likely.

Critics of the system argue that the state punishes schools without holding itself accountable, particularly when it comes to providing resources for a public education system that serves 5.5 million children 鈥� most of whom are Hispanic and Black and come from low-income households.

Research points to several strategies for improving outcomes for Black and Hispanic children, including , , and .

In Texas, however, schools spent six years without an increase in the state money they typically devote to salaries and operations, before the Legislature passed in 2025. The state has made it easier for schools to . Districts can no longer . And teachers are in how they can talk about race and gender in the classroom.

Texas also fails to address educational inequality when it focuses attention on testing outcomes at the expense of other in-school factors that impede the academic progress of Black and Hispanic students, said Andrew Hairston, a civil rights attorney who directs the Education Justice Project at Texas Appleseed, an advocacy organization.

Students of color, for example, have faced discipline because their . Some have sat through lessons that . Others have

鈥淲hat good is it to have moderately improved reading levels that come from a state takeover when the children are being called the N-word every day and cannot have a peaceful environment in which they learn and seek to grow?鈥� Hairston said.

Hairston expressed frustration that the accountability system also does not consider the lingering effects of residential segregation, community resistance to integration, or cuts to federal and state resources. That means, he said, Texas is not adequately measuring schools鈥� ability to deliver holistic educational services to the students who need them most.

The best school leaders and education reform efforts take those societal factors into account, said Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk, a research and advocacy organization focused on poverty and inequality.

When that doesn鈥檛 happen, he said, students in need of the most help can end up worse off.

鈥淚f we want our children to be successful in Texas, we have to pay attention to those districts where parents aren’t making as much money, where there’s lower levels of educational attainment,鈥� Sanborn said. 鈥淭hat often translates into immigrant communities, Black and brown communities, and I think people don’t like to talk about that in Texas.鈥�

鈥淢eeting the needs of all students鈥�

The Texas Education Agency insists the A-F system helps districts improve outcomes by 鈥渁ccurately and fairly evaluating school performance.鈥�

鈥淚nequality cannot be addressed by hiding outcomes, but instead, must be addressed by improving them,鈥� agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky said in a statement. 鈥淥ur state鈥檚 legal framework ensures that school leaders remain focused on meeting the needs of all students, regardless of their background.鈥�

In recent letters to school leaders announcing the state鈥檚 intention to intervene in their districts, Morath said unacceptable performance in a single year represents a 鈥渟ignificant academic weakness.鈥� When it continues for multiple years, he wrote, 鈥渢he children in those campuses develop significant academic gaps.鈥�

鈥淲e clearly have a school system that has prevented children from getting the education to which they are morally entitled,鈥� Morath said last year at the University of Texas, where he spoke about the academic takeover in Fort Worth. 鈥淲hat do you do when you have a situation where our locally elected school board has, for really over a decade, been sort of incapable, for whatever reason 鈥� sins of omission, sins of commission 鈥� of giving kids a shot at success in America?鈥�

Bottelberghe, superintendent of the Connally school district, understands why the commissioner often attributes school struggles to governance, saying district leaders in her community did not adequately respond to students鈥� academic shortcomings prior to her appointment in 2023. 

But Bottelberghe also feels state leaders do not fully understand how factors outside of school can hinder academic performance. The state鈥檚 accountability system gives schools some grace by taking into account socioeconomic makeup and measuring academic growth beyond just kids鈥� mastery of content, but she doesn鈥檛 think the system goes far enough.

Bottelberghe鈥檚 Waco-area district includes students who have to wake themselves up in the morning because their parents cannot, athletes who rely on coaches for rides because buses don鈥檛 run early enough, and children who don鈥檛 always know where they鈥檙e going to lay their head at night.

鈥淚t’s very unfortunate that we have so many kids that are in that situation,鈥� Bottelberghe said. 鈥淚 think people lose sight.鈥�

Tian of the Texas Education Agency acknowledges that academics are not the only important factor in education.

But one of the primary goals of the accountability system, she said, is to direct attention to where children need academic support. Schools can have strong internal cultures and positive relationships with their communities, but if they lack rigorous quality instruction, Tian said, 鈥渒ids are not going to be where they need to be.鈥�

鈥淩eally, all the intervention is, is like, 鈥楲et’s try something new because what we’ve been doing for the past few years has not been working.鈥� These kids are not getting what they deserve. And we have to do something different,鈥� Tian said.

鈥淲e felt alone鈥�

State takeovers can severely disrupt community morale, said Kevin Jackson, who provides behavioral support to children at the Disciplinary Alternative Education Program in Beaumont.

More than a decade before the state announced plans to replace its school leaders for academic reasons, the Beaumont district was taken over due to concerns about its financial practices. Jackson, a 25-year veteran of the district and president of the Beaumont Teachers Association, said the previous intervention left educators and students feeling punished for acts they weren鈥檛 responsible for.

鈥淲e felt alone,鈥� Jackson said. 鈥淲e felt like we were put on an island out there by ourselves, because you remove the people that we elected to work with us and protect us and help us create a better district. You removed all of the board and everyone from their positions, and you brought in your own people. And as a result, that didn’t look well, because the people that you brought in weren’t familiar with this area. I don’t believe you were really tuned in to what was really going on here in Beaumont.鈥�

The education agency and supporters of the accountability system often cite the Houston Independent School District as an example of what takeovers can accomplish. 罢别虫补蝉鈥� largest school district educates a population of mostly Black and Hispanic children, while roughly 80% of students come from low-income households.

Since the state takeover in 2023, the Houston school district has seen in test scores. Last school year, it had 鈥� down significantly from before the intervention.

But critics say the takeover also serves as an example of what can happen when leaders emphasize testing metrics over the broader school climate.

Teachers and students have . District leaders have struggled to earn trust, as evidenced by 58% of 450,000 voters aimed at improving school infrastructure. Some Houston residents are skeptical about whether short-term academic success on standardized exams will lead to sustained progress in the years to come.

Education research on offers a wider glimpse at the potential impact on students:

• Takeovers across the U.S. are more likely to occur in districts where students of color and low-income children constitute a majority of the schools鈥� populations.
• Takeovers tend to increase per-student spending and some measures of schools鈥� financial health.
• Takeovers have demonstrated more positive academic effects on districts with large concentrations of Hispanic students but have affected Black students more neutrally or even negatively.
• Takeovers, on average, do not improve test scores.

The Texas Education Agency says comparing academic performance before and after takeovers shows improved governance and higher test scores in nearly all state-operated districts, defying the national trend.

Beth Schueler, an education professor and researcher at Stanford University, said it鈥檚 also important to evaluate simultaneous trends in similarly sized districts not under state control, providing a more reliable measure of a takeover鈥檚 impact.

Still, Schueler noted, conversations about how to best serve the most vulnerable children are common nationwide, with broad agreement that education must focus on what鈥檚 best for children before opinions differ on which policies can best make that happen.

The presence of so many societal constraints leaves an important question for state leaders and local educators: What are reasonable expectations for schools?

鈥淚 don’t think we want to lose sight of the fact that the demographic composition of a school system is the thing that’s going to be the most predictive of variation in performance and outcomes,鈥� Schueler said.

鈥淏ut I do think there’s room for education systems to make a difference, because we’ve seen that they can make a difference,鈥� she added. 鈥淭here’s limits to what they can do, and I think that’s important context. But it’s not as though we should give up, I think, on trying to make more effective education policy.鈥�

Alex Nguyen and Rob Reid contributed to this story.

Disclosure: Texas Appleseed and Texas State Teachers Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .

This first appeared on .

When Idaho lawmakers consider a policy change affecting public schools a detailed spreadsheet is usually nearby.

When it comes to private schools, however, data is scanty. The state doesn鈥檛 regulate private schooling, so it doesn鈥檛 collect much information on private schools or their students.

This information is in high demand as the Idaho Legislature is preparing to consider proposals that would send taxpayer funds to private school students to help them pay tuition and other expenses.

There is some publicly available data on private schools, and it鈥檚 likely to shape debates about who would benefit from a private school choice program.

For instance, Idaho鈥檚 private schools are concentrated in urban areas, while there鈥檚 just one private school or none in more than half of the state鈥檚 counties. And most private schools are religious, teeing up likely debates over whether the state should fund religious institutions, and if so, how much oversight the state should have.

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How many private school students are in Idaho?

Data on private school enrollment is sporadic and collected through voluntary reporting or crowd-sourced information.

The conducts voluntary surveys of private schools 鈥� most recently during the 2021-22 school year 鈥� and websites like curate data submitted by school administrators and private school parents.

The Idaho State Department of Education also maintains a. And earlier this year, Bas van Doorn, a researcher for the Idaho State Board of Education, published a of private school data relying on similar sources.

These sources offer more of a sketch than a clear picture of private school enrollment, which shows:

• Idaho has between 117 and 155 primary and secondary private schools,
• These schools enroll between 16,843 and 22,271 students,
• Private school enrollment increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and
• Today, private schoolers represent between 5% and 6% of school-age children.

By comparison, 313,160 attended public schools this fall. Idaho鈥檚 public school enrollment has increased every year of the last decade, except for one 鈥� 2020-21 鈥� while growth has slowed over the last year, with several of the largest school districts seeing enrollment dips.

Leaders in the Boise and Nampa school districts have said aging populations and housing trends are causing their drop-offs, but transfers to private schools likely contributed as well.

Nationally, private school enrollment has increased in recent years as public school enrollment has dipped. that the pandemic accelerated this pre-existing trend.

Forthcoming bill will target low-income families

Lawmakers could consider a full menu of devices that deliver subsidies for private education: Vouchers, education savings accounts (ESAs), tax credits. And they could add restrictions, limiting eligibility based on income or disability, or open it up to anyone.

Idaho Rep. Wendy Horman last legislative session proposed a tax credit program, and she鈥檚 preparing to introduce a new version that targets low-income students. The Republican from Idaho Falls previously pitched a refundable tax credit worth $5,000 鈥� or $7,500 for special needs students 鈥� covering private school tuition and other non-public school expenses.

House Bill 447 made $40 million in tax credits universally accessible to non-public school students, reserved another $10 million for students from low-income families and capped spending at $50 million. Horman didn鈥檛 share many details on the new bill, including the total cost, but said it will be more focused on 鈥渓ow-income families who need options.鈥�

A $50 million private school choice program would be a fraction of what the state spends on public schools, which was about $2.7 billion last fiscal year. And Horman noted public school spending has doubled since a decade ago, after a series of investments that she supported.

鈥淭here are still some students for whom the public system doesn鈥檛 work,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ost people are still going to choose the public system, and I will continue my work of supporting the public system, but this is a bill about helping kids who can鈥檛 afford other opportunities.鈥�

But lawmakers could lift a spending cap or remove income restrictions in future legislative sessions. Horman, co-chair of the Legislature鈥檚 budget committee, acknowledged these are possibilities, but she pointed to that shows public support for a tax credit available to non-public school families.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of priorities,鈥� she said. 鈥淩evenues are still looking strong for Idaho鈥o me, it鈥檚 impossible to put a price tag on the value of a child being successful in getting an education that works best for them.鈥�

Rod Gramer is the former CEO of Idaho Business for Education and one of the state鈥檚 most vocal opponents of private school tuition subsidies. After studying similar programs in other states, he estimates that a universal program in Idaho could cost up to $300 million, and universal eligibility is likely the goal of advocacy groups and lobbyists pushing for private school choice in Idaho. 

鈥淭hey鈥檒l just keep hammering until they get universal vouchers with no sideboards, no income limit,鈥� he said.

Gramer pointed to Arizona, where lawmakers lifted all restrictions on ESAs in 2022. The universal program has been popular but costly amid a budget deficit spurred by tax cuts. that the state is spending $800 million on the ESAs, well beyond initial projections, and they鈥檙e expected to reach $912 million next year. Arizona has about three times as many school-age children as Idaho.

Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who signed the universal expansion into law, is scheduled to appear at a news conference next month at the Idaho Statehouse, where the Mountain States Policy Center is debuting a bill.

Following Arizona鈥檚 lead would threaten Idaho鈥檚 budget, and ultimately its ability to fund public schools, Gramer argues.

鈥淭his is just common sense鈥very state has just so much money to go around.鈥�

Where are private schools located?

Most of Idaho鈥檚 private schools are concentrated in urban areas. Ada, Canyon and Kootenai are home to 65% of the state鈥檚 private school students compared to 56% of Idaho鈥檚 overall population, according to an EdNews analysis of Private School Review鈥檚 data.

Cole Valley Christian Schools is Idaho鈥檚 largest private school with about 1,400 students across campuses in Boise and Meridian. Enrollment has doubled the last four years, according to superintendent Allen Howlett.

Howlett credits much of the rapid growth to new families moving in from out of state, while a minority have transferred from public schools in the area. School leaders are now raising donations for a , consolidated campus that will add capacity for 400 students. and first reported the plans.

Meanwhile, Howlett is part of a coalition of private school leaders that鈥檚 urging state lawmakers to adopt a private school choice program. Howlett said he doesn鈥檛 know whether it would quickly fill the seats at the new campus, and full financing for construction is years away.

But he believes the state aid would help his neediest families, and it would boost competition between private schools and public schools, leading to better performance across the board.

鈥淚 am in favor of competition, period,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verything that I see that is positive about our community, our society, competition is one of the things that drives excellence.鈥�

Studies on whether tuition subsidies lead to better academic performance in private schools have produced mixed results, . But research suggests that a competitive education market improves public school students鈥� performance.

Meanwhile, 17 of Idaho鈥檚 44 counties don鈥檛 have a private school and nine counties have just one. Plenty of rural students are home-schooled, and they鈥檇 have access to state funds for micro-schools, Horman noted.

鈥淭his would be a continued investment in students in Idaho, no matter where they鈥檙e learning, whether that鈥檚 Sandpoint or Boise.鈥�

But critics argue that taxpayers shouldn鈥檛 have to subsidize private schools without having access to them.

Quinn Perry, policy and government affairs director for the Idaho School Boards Association, noted that most recipients of these 鈥渆ntitlement programs鈥� in other states already attended private schools. That鈥檚 been the case in Arizona as well as , Iowa, and , where lawmakers have recently enacted private school choice programs or expanded eligibility for existing ones.

鈥淩ural taxpayers are saying 鈥榃e鈥檙e not going to foot the bill for kids in Boise to go to private school,’鈥� Perry said.

Additionally, rural communities face unique challenges when it comes to funding public schools, said an . Compared to urban school districts with more robust tax bases, rural school districts have limited local resources to lean on and rely for heavily on state funding. In other words, if the state tightens spending on public schools in favor of private education, rural school districts will be the first to feel it.

鈥淲hile the negative financial consequences of voucher programs are felt statewide, rural communities are hit especially hard,鈥� the analysis said.

How many private schools are religious?

Nearly two in three private schools in Idaho are religious, according to van Doorn鈥檚 analysis for the State Board. Most are Protestant while one in five are Roman Catholic.

Religious school leaders say faith-based education is a draw for families but not everyone can afford it. Tammy Emerich, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Boise, in March urged state lawmakers to support the tax credit bill. The Diocese has 14 schools with nearly 4,000 students across the state, she said, and 10 of these schools qualify for federal services targeting low income families.

鈥淭he reality for families is that public school is not the perfect fit for every child,鈥� Emerich told the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. 鈥溾�any of our parents are making huge financial sacrifices to send their children to a school that aligns with their values.鈥�

But the prospect of sending public funds to religious schools has led to unease on both sides of the debate over private school choice.

Opponents argue it entangles the government with religious institutions in violation of longstanding church-state barriers. Framers of the Idaho Constitution prohibited taxpayer funds from benefitting religious schools in two different sections of the 1890 document, Gramer noted.

鈥淭hey were very clear,鈥� he said.

Idaho wouldn鈥檛 be alone in financing religious education, however. A nationwide uptick in new tuition subsidy programs followed a series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that said states giving money to private schools couldn鈥檛 exclude religious schools.

An this summer found that between 82% and 98% of private school vouchers and ESA funds have gone to religious schools in Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, Florida and Wisconsin.

Some Christian school leaders, meanwhile, are wary of new regulations that could come with the public funds. Idaho鈥檚 religious schools have long enjoyed the freedom to teach, test and select students on their own terms, but private school choice proposals in the past have failed amid calls for more oversight and accountability.

Cole Valley Christian mostly follows the Idaho Department of Education鈥檚 content standards, Howlett said. But it diverges when the standards are 鈥渋n contradiction to our biblical values.鈥� The school also doesn鈥檛 admit students from families without at least one 鈥淏ible-believing Christian鈥� parent.

鈥淢any of our school boards and parents would not support something that would jeopardize our autonomy,鈥� Howlett said.

A handful of states require that private schools report testing results as part of their private school choice programs. A recently enacted for instance, requires that schools receiving the money

HB 447 didn鈥檛 include a similar provision measuring academic progress, and Horman declined to say whether she added one to her new proposal.

鈥淚鈥檓 going to defer answering that question,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 will say that there is strong accountability in the bill for use of the money.鈥�

Howlett said he wouldn鈥檛 oppose an assessment, as long as schools could choose the test, but anything that would 鈥渢ell us what we have to teach and how we teach it鈥� is a potential dealbreaker for Christian schools. Parents hold private school leaders accountable, he said.

鈥淚f they don鈥檛 feel like we鈥檙e meeting the needs of their kids or meeting their expectations, they take their money and go.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.

In March 2023, Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf went before the Minnesota Senate Taxes Committee with a critical plea.

Not enough parents could take advantage of a state tax credit for low-income families for tutoring services from companies like his, Success Tutoring.

鈥淲hat we have here is not an achievement gap, we have an opportunity gap. We have students who are not able to get the help that they need because the parents cannot afford it,鈥� .

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Sheik-Yusuf, wearing a plum-colored suit and Louis Vuitton scarf, said Success Tutoring had helped hundreds of students overcome the 鈥渓iteracy curve.鈥� And they could help even more disadvantaged students if lawmakers would support a bill to raise the income ceiling and increase the amount of the credit.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a saying that we used to use in the classroom: Today鈥檚 reader is tomorrow鈥檚 leader. If we invest in education, it鈥檚 an investment in the child鈥檚 future,鈥� Sheik-Yusuf said.

Sheik-Yusuf鈥檚 testimony was well received by both parties, who鈥檝e long supported the K-12 Education Credit. The bill was folded into a larger tax package and passed with little attention. In fact, it was one of the few noncontroversial items of the 2023 session, when the Democratic trifecta passed a sweeping progressive agenda.

What lawmakers were unaware of at the time were the many disgruntled parents who say Success Tutoring and a related company called Achievers Tutoring outsource instruction to foreign teachers online whom their kids couldn鈥檛 understand.

Nor did lawmakers anticipate the outrage those parents would feel when they would later find thousands of dollars missing from their tax refunds to pay debts to Success Tutoring and Achievers Tutoring for services they say their kids barely used and didn鈥檛 benefit from.

The allegations surrounding the K-12 Education Credit come amid a larger crisis of fraud in state government, with hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly siphoned away from programs supposed to fund child nutrition, autism services, transportation and interpretation assistance.

The bill to increase spending on the tax credit was authored by Rep. Matt Norris, DFL-Blaine, who prior to his election to the Legislature, founded Minnesota Afterschool Advance to help more people use the credit. The organization, a collaboration between Venn Foundation and Youthprise, gives families zero-interest loans to pay for tutoring, music lessons or driver鈥檚 ed and collects the money from their tax refund. Norris helped grow the program to $1.8 million in funding for educational programs in 2022, according to .

Norris had lobbied lawmakers for years to raise the income threshold and, after being elected in 2022, it was one of the first bills he authored. The bill () expanded the tax credit from $1,000 to $1,500 per child and more than doubled the income threshold to $70,000, with higher earners eligible for a smaller credit. The bill also tied the income threshold to inflation, so it may increase every year.

After the law passed, state spending on the credit more than doubled, from $5.3 million in 2022 to $13.7 million in 2023.

Norris, who left Minnesota Afterschool Advance when he entered the Legislature, says he was unaware until recently of the mothers鈥� complaints 鈥� and debt.

Lul Mohamud鈥檚 story

Lul Mohamud learned about free tutoring help for her four children at the mosque she attended, Dar Al-Farooq, in Bloomington one day in summer 2022.

After prayer time, three men told the congregation that they could get their children back on track after the pandemic caused so many to fall behind in reading and math. The tutoring was completely free for low-income parents, she recalled them saying.

Mohamud said a mosque leader who previously ran the youth program encouraged families to sign up. So did members of a group that she respected called the Muslim Coalition.

鈥淭hey were introduced at the mosque as good people so I trusted them,鈥� Mohamud said in an interview in Somali through an interpreter. 鈥�(They) said if you don鈥檛 help your kids, your kids will fall behind.鈥�

As she was leaving the mosque, the men were standing outside the exit signing people up, and she gave one of the men her phone number. The man called her later that day. She gave him her Social Security number, and he gave her an address in Bloomington.

Mohamud says she didn鈥檛 bring her kids to begin tutoring until some months later, as school was getting back into session. She went to the address of a nondescript, three-story office building. It wasn鈥檛 at all like she pictured. It was a small office space without any clues that children learned there 鈥� no chalkboard or textbooks.

A representative for Achievers Tutoring said she would need to buy $50 laptops for each of her kids, ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade, to do the tutoring online. Mohamud didn鈥檛 have $200 for four computers 鈥� the man only accepted cash 鈥� but she was able to get two. Her two other kids could use the laptops they had from school.

Mohamud said he directed them to go to another address in Bloomington the following week for online tutoring sessions.

But that turned out to be no more promising. Instead of teachers, there were half a dozen or so young men there, scrolling on TikTok. One directed her to set up the laptops for the kids to use and told her she could leave and come back later to pick them up.

鈥淲hen I saw the place, I determined it wasn鈥檛 a place I could leave my children alone,鈥� Mohamud said.

She stayed, and watched her kids log into a virtual class with an instructor whom she believes was in another country. Mohamud speaks Somali and only a little English, but her kids are native English speakers and said they couldn鈥檛 understand the teacher. After about 40 minutes, the lesson was over.

It seemed like a joke, but Mohamud said she tried bringing them back one more time. After that, she decided to pull her kids out. She went back the next week to return the laptops, both of which had already stopped working.

Months later came a horrible surprise 鈥� thousands of dollars were taken out of her tax refund to pay for the two subpar tutoring sessions. Her refund wasn鈥檛 enough to cover the entire expense, so she went into debt.

Mohamud had signed up with a company called Achievers Tutoring, a company created in 2021 by Osman Sheik-Yusuf, who shares a last name with Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf, the Success Tutoring founder, according to records from the Minnesota Secretary of State. (The men did not answer a question from the Reformer on how they鈥檙e related).

Both companies were registered with the same business address in Bloomington. Both companies have nearly offering online courses in math, English, coding and public speaking. Both boast 鈥�975+ satisfied students, 150+ teachers and 27+ years in experience.鈥� And both websites have identical testimonials from four satisfied individuals all named 鈥淕riffin Wooldridge鈥� with different stock images.

When sent a list of questions by the Reformer, both companies sent nearly identical statements with the same lawyer copied on the email.

The statements say Osman Sheik-Yusuf and Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf launched their respective companies to help students of color overcome the achievement gap.

鈥淔or those who have not received the credit, we encourage them to Adhere to the guidelines set by the Minnesota Department of Revenue and Minnesota Afterschool Advance,鈥� the statement from Osman Sheik-Yusuf said.

Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf, when asked again about the list of questions sent by the Reformer, wrote 鈥淲e compliance (sic) with all guidelines.鈥�

Mohamud says dozens of Somali mothers who signed up for tutoring services with the two companies have formed a WhatsApp group to try to help one another. Eighteen moms shared their stories with , which first reported complaints about Success Tutoring.

The companies promote their services on social media, mostly in Somali. In one TikTok video for Success Tutoring, Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf sports a large gold watch and tells viewers from a black SUV that the only thing parents need to make their children successful is to sign up for Success Tutoring. In another video for Achievers Tutoring, Osman Sheik-Yusuf flashes the peace sign from a Tesla Cybertruck.

The two men also posted videos with grinning parents and children holding certificates, saying they鈥檝e caught up to grade level in math and reading.

In a June 2023 letter, the Minnesota Department of Revenue told Mohamud she was being audited because of the $3,000 she claimed for the K-12 Education Credit.

The agency requested a dizzying number of documents showing what programs her children were enrolled in, the dates her children met with a qualified instructor and the type of tutoring they received.

They wanted to see that she had paid for 25% of the tutoring services, as required by state law, and the contract she supposedly entered into with Minnesota Afterschool Advance. They also wanted her children鈥檚 birth certificates and school records or medical bills showing she is their guardian.

Mohamud was overwhelmed. The letter was in English, not Somali. They were also asking for things she never had: She didn鈥檛 sign a contract; she said she gave her information over the phone. She didn鈥檛 have a receipt for what she paid; she was told it was free. She didn鈥檛 have verification that the instructor was qualified; she didn鈥檛 know the teacher鈥檚 full name.

With her tax credit claim denied, in September, she received a letter from the Department of Revenue saying the entirety of her state tax refund 鈥� $2,418.43 鈥� was used to pay for her debt to Minnesota Afterschool Advance, which had advanced the money to Achievers Tutoring.

Like most low-income parents, Mohamud was counting on her tax refund 鈥� bolstered by the child tax credit 鈥� to pay for necessities and a trip to Texas with her family.

It didn鈥檛 just happen once. The next year, in 2024, more of her tax refund disappeared.

The Reformer interviewed two other women who enrolled their kids in Success Tutoring and whose stories are strikingly similar to Mohamud鈥檚 experience with Achievers Tutoring: They gave their Social Security numbers over the phone for supposedly free tutoring that would help their children recover from pandemic learning loss. Then, they got cheap laptops for the online sessions.

Raho Hussein said her 10th grader, a native English speaker, was put in a tutoring session where the instructor was teaching 鈥淎BCs鈥� and 鈥�1-2-3鈥檚.鈥� Sometimes the instructor didn鈥檛 show up at all. She had thousands of dollars taken from her tax return.

So did another mom, Sawda Ali, for her four kids. She said she only intended to sign up her two oldest children but she was also charged for tutoring for her 3-year-old and 4-year-old even though they are too young and never attended tutoring.

The women also said their kids, who are native English speakers, couldn鈥檛 understand their instructors because of their heavy accents. They looked Asian, and the mothers believed they were in a foreign country.

Tutoring from the Philippines

Julieross Elve帽a, an Achievers Tutoring instructor based in the Philippines, said she was recruited through a Facebook page for Filipino freelancers about four years ago.

She spoke to a Reformer reporter who logged into her virtual classroom one evening this month through a publicly available link on the Achievers Tutoring website. The Reformer also entered two other virtual classrooms, both led by instructors based in the Philippines.

The instructors aren鈥檛 licensed to teach in Minnesota, although at least two do have baccalaureate degrees according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Elve帽a spoke with clear English, which is one of the official languages of the Philippines, although the other two instructors the Reformer spoke to had thicker accents.

She said she has 17 students with Achievers, who are divided into two groups she meets with twice a week. She said she鈥檚 mostly there to answer questions as the kids work through online modules in reading and math.

Elve帽a has been able to help students catch up to grade-level in reading and math, some more quickly than others, she said.

鈥淚 do love teaching,鈥� she said.

She said she gets paid $4.50 per hour.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that much I guess compared to if I work in Minnesota,鈥� Elve帽a said, laughing.

Achievers Tutoring charges parents $166 per month per child for two subjects, according to the company鈥檚 website. Contracts posted to Success Tutoring鈥檚 website start at $150 per month, with a three-month minimum and no refunds.

Parents are also charged for tutoring regardless of whether children actually attend, according to contracts available on both companies鈥� websites.

Refunds denied

Mohamud and the other mothers have been trying for months to get their money back. She started with Osman Sheik-Yusuf, who she says told her he would get the necessary paperwork to the state authorities.

Had he done so, taxpayers would have underwritten the unsatisfactory tutoring services.

So long as parents submit paperwork showing the educational expenses qualified for the tax credit, the state pays for 75% of the cost. But if the expenses are not qualified, or paperwork is missing, the funds are paid back through the parents鈥� tax refund.

Because the process is so complicated, Minnesota Afterschool Advance advertises free tax preparation help to families who take out loans for tutoring with them.

It鈥檚 unclear how much Achievers and Success have received from state funds. The Minnesota Department of Education certifies tutoring companies for the tax credit program but doesn鈥檛 track how much tutoring companies are paid. The Department of Revenue only provided the total amount claimed under the credit, but said they don鈥檛 know how much was paid to individual tutors or lenders like Minnesota Afterschool Advance because it comes from individuals鈥� tax returns, which are private.

Mohamud said Osman Sheik-Yusuf stopped returning her calls, so she went to another man she knew to complain. But he blocked her number.

She and other moms complained about the men on social media and warned others not to use their services. That seemed to motivate Osman Sheik-Yusuf to resolve their complaints: the Venn Foundation contacted her with a form that would give them business power of attorney to represent her before the Department of Revenue. But she wasn鈥檛 sure what the form meant and was by that point too distrustful to sign anything she didn鈥檛 understand.

Mohamud says Osman Sheik-Yusuf also asked for a meeting with her and an imam at the Dar Al-Farooq mosque to mediate the dispute. But she says it ended with Sheik-Yusuf insulting her with a pejorative for a rural, uneducated person. Mohamud says she and her children no longer go to the Dar Al-Farooq mosque, having lost faith in its leaders.

A spokesperson for Dar Al-Farooq denied that an imam ever mediated a dispute at the mosque with a parent and Osman Sheik-Yusuf. Mohamud shared screenshots of text messages between her, Sheik-Yusuf and a religious leader connected to the mosque.

The spokesperson for Dar Al-Farooq also denied representatives from the companies ever addressed the congregation and said the mosque has 鈥渘o formal or informal ties鈥� with Osman and Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf.

The Dar Al-Farooq spokesperson also sent a recent , however, promoting Success Tutoring, saying it would provide 鈥渧aluable context for your story鈥� including the 鈥渟ystemic challenges minority families face 鈥� accessing the education tax credit.鈥�

While the mosque claims it has no ties with Osman Sheik-Yusuf and Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf, the two appeared in a video promoting their services as recently as last month with a man who is the board secretary for Dar Al-Farooq, also known as the Al Jazari Institute, according to the organization鈥檚 most recently available tax filing. The man is also a lead organizer for ISAIAH鈥檚 Muslim Coalition, the group that Mohamud trusted.

Asked about the video, the spokesperson for Dar Al-Farooq said the man was there in his 鈥減ersonal capacity.鈥�

Mohamud and other Somali mothers said they sent a letter to Attorney General Keith Ellison in April but have yet to hear back. The Attorney General鈥檚 Office did not respond to requests for comment about whether they鈥檙e investigating the mother鈥檚 complaints.

This year, after Mohamud鈥檚 tax return was garnished again, she and the other mothers became more assertive.

They went on a Somali-language YouTube channel to warn other families not to sign up for the services, after which she says she and the other women received threatening phone calls. They filed a police report in Minneapolis, but the case went nowhere. A spokesman for the police department said the case is inactive.

They went to the Department of Revenue and were advised to call a consumer complaint line. They had already done that, too.

Mohamud had met with Rep. Hodan Hassan, a Democrat from Minneapolis, who had helped her find the address for the Venn Foundation. So she and seven other moms went to the address, which turned out to be the home of Venn Foundation Director Jeff Ochs. (Hassan did not return calls or an email seeking comment.)

That was in the summer, and while he seemed helpful, the women still haven鈥檛 been made whole.

鈥淲e have gone everywhere looking for assistance,鈥� Mohamud said.

In response to an interview request, Minnesota Afterschool Advance Director Erin Martin shared a joint statement with its parent organizations Youthprise and Venn Foundation saying they have a formal process for families with concerns.

鈥淲hen there are breakdowns in the system that ultimately result in MAA families not receiving the (Minnesota Education Tax Credit) and instead repaying MAA from their normal tax refund, we understand and share their frustration,鈥� the statement said.

鈥淢AA is actively working with a number of stakeholders, including Minnesota Department of Revenue and a local faith leader, to understand and help address the concerns of a group of families, as well as to work on improving the overall (Minnesota Education Tax Credit) and assignment system for all involved moving forward.鈥�

Mohamud said there have been three meetings with a different imam and representatives from Minnesota Afterschool Advance, but they鈥檝e since broken down.

Martin testified before the Legislature in support of the bill expanding eligibility for the credit in March 2023, even holding up Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf鈥檚 Success Tutoring as an example of one of the many Black-owned organizations they partner with that provide 鈥渃ulturally relevant鈥� services to low-income students in 鈥渘ew and creative ways.鈥�

Asked if Minnesota Afterschool Advance still works with Success Tutoring and Achievers Tutoring, a spokeswoman said the businesses 鈥渁re not an offering on MAA鈥檚 of available service providers.鈥�

A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Education would not say if the agency is investigating Success Tutoring and Achievers Tutoring, saying only the companies are no longer certified as eligible to be paid through the tax credit. Certification expires after two years, and there are only five providers currently certified, according to the Department of Education. That means many providers on MAA鈥檚 menu are not certified.

Youthprise spokeswoman Lynne Matthews also said Minnesota Afterschool Advance will periodically visit tutoring sites in person. If their expectations are not being met those tutors could be removed from their services menu, she said.

Asked if the organization would make the mothers whole, Matthews wrote, 鈥淒espite having no responsibility or legal obligation to do so, MAA wants to do what it can to help ease the burden that families may be experiencing as a result of systems failure, in certain circumstances.鈥� 

A spokesperson for the Department of Revenue did not say if the agency is investigating Success Tutoring and Achievers Achievers, saying the agency can鈥檛 comment on specific cases. The spokesperson said they had met with 鈥渕ultiple taxpayers鈥� with concerns about the tax credit.

鈥淲e are working with all parties involved to ensure specifics of the program are being properly communicated,鈥� spokesman Ryan Brown wrote in an email.

Tutoring companies continue expansions

The tax credit remains popular with key legislators, including Republicans. Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, was one of the architects of the credit when it was created in 1997 as the head of a group called Minnesotans for School Choice. Robbins and Norris, who expanded the credit鈥檚 use as the head of Minnesota Afterschool Advance, defended its value despite allegations of misuse.

鈥淩egardless of the issue with Success Tutoring, this is a tax credit that serves tens of thousands of families across the state,鈥� Norris said. 鈥淎nd the income limit and the credit limit hadn鈥檛 been updated in over 25 years.鈥�

Norris said he didn鈥檛 have enough information to say what the state should do to ensure low-income families aren鈥檛 losing their tax refunds to pay for substandard tutoring, but said it is something that should be looked at.

Robbins called the women鈥檚 experience 鈥渢errible鈥� and was surprised to learn that it was possible for non-government organizations like Minnesota Afterschool Advance to be repaid from parents鈥� tax refunds and other credits 鈥� like the child tax credit and earned income tax credit 鈥� if the Education Tax Credit wasn鈥檛 awarded by the Department of Revenue.

She said that wasn鈥檛 the case when she advocated for its creation in the 1990s and she said she鈥檚 troubled by the existence of middlemen like Minnesota Afterschool Advance who have a claim to parents鈥� entire returns.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 a loophole that says they can claw back from other parts of the tax return, that should not be,鈥� Robbins said. 鈥淚f the tutoring service doesn鈥檛 provide the service and the family wants to withhold the payment, then that鈥檚 something the family and the tutoring service have to work out.鈥�

Meanwhile, Mohamud and the other mothers say they continue to receive threatening phone calls and text messages from anonymous numbers for speaking out about their experiences.

And Achievers Tutoring and Success Tutoring continue to recruit families to their services.

Achievers Tutoring recently posted a video on TikTok and Facebook, which was shared by Success Tutoring, with Osman and Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf meeting with an imam at the mosque and lead organizer with ISAIAH鈥檚 Muslim Coalition.

They were in Columbus, Ohio, promoting their tutoring services to families there. Ohio鈥檚 program that funds tutoring services is easier to navigate, according shared by Dar Al-Farooq in its email to the Reformer.

The men asked viewers to come to the Minnesota Capitol in January for Youth Day to advocate for making tutoring funding easier to access.

鈥淲e need to make the funding accessible. We need to make the funding something that is practically usable,鈥� Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.

Like learning to read by third grade, taking eighth grade math is a pivotal moment in a child鈥檚 education. Students who pass Algebra 1 in eighth grade are more likely to sign up for more advanced math courses, and those who pass more advanced math courses are more likely to graduate from college and earn more money. 鈥淎lgebra in eighth grade is a gateway to a lot of further opportunities,鈥� said Dan Goldhaber, an economist who studies education at the American Institutes for Research, in a recent webinar.

Researchers are trying to understand why so few Black and Hispanic students and low-income students of all races are making it through this early gate. While 25 percent of white students passed algebra in eighth  grade in 2021, only 13 percent of Black students did, according to the most recent .

A collection of surveys of teachers and principals, conducted by the research organization RAND, suggests three problems at the poorest middle schools, which are disproportionately populated with Black and Hispanic students. Many don鈥檛 offer algebra at all. Their teachers have less training and math expertise, and they describe how they spend classroom time differently than teachers do at wealthier schools. That means the most advanced students at many middle schools in poor communities don鈥檛 have the opportunity to learn algebra, and many students at high-poverty schools aren鈥檛 receiving the kind of math lessons that could help them get ready for the subject. 

In 2023 and 2024, RAND surveyed more than 3,000 school principals and almost 1,000 math teachers across the country. The educators are part of a specially constructed national sample, designed to reflect all public schools and the demographics of the U.S. student population. A  analyzing some of the survey findings was released in October 2024. (That analysis was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is among the many funders of The Hechinger Report.)

The poorest 25 percent of schools had vastly different course offerings and teachers than the wealthiest 25 percent. Most strikingly, nearly a quarter of the highest poverty schools didn鈥檛 offer algebra at all to any eighth graders, compared with only 6 percent of the wealthiest schools. 

Conversely, poor schools are much less likely to adopt an algebra-for-all policy in eighth grade. Nearly half of the wealthiest schools offered algebra to all of their eighth grade students, regardless of math ability, compared with about a third of the poorest schools. 

Math teachers at high-poverty schools tended to have weaker professional preparation. They were far more likely to have entered the profession without first earning a traditional education degree at a college or university, instead completing an alternative certification program on the job, often without student teaching under supervision. And they were less likely to have a graduate degree or hold a mathematics credential. 

In surveys, a third of math teachers at high-poverty schools reported that they spent more than half of class time teaching topics that were below grade level, as well as managing student behavior and disciplining students. Lecture-style instruction, as opposed to classroom discussion, was far more common at the poorest schools compared to the wealthiest schools. RAND researchers also detected similar discrepancies in instructional patterns when they examined schools along racial and ethnic lines, with Black and Hispanic students receiving 鈥渓ess optimal鈥� instruction than white students. But these discrepancies were stronger by income than by race, suggesting that poverty may be a bigger factor than bias.

Many communities have tried putting more eighth graders into algebra classes, but that has sometimes left unprepared students worse off.  鈥淪imply giving them an eighth grade algebra course is not a magic bullet,鈥� said AIR鈥檚 Goldhaber, who commented on the RAND analysis during a Nov. 5 . Either the material is too challenging and the students fail or the course was 鈥渁lgebra鈥� in name only and didn鈥檛 really cover the content. And without a college preparatory track of advanced math classes to take after algebra, the benefits of taking Algebra 1 in eighth grade are unlikely to accrue.

It鈥檚 also not economically practical for many low-income middle schools to offer an Algebra 1 course when only a handful of students are advanced enough to take it. A teacher would have to be hired even for a few students and those resources might be more effectively spent on something else that would benefit more students. That puts the most advanced students at low-income schools at a particular disadvantage. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a difficult issue for schools to tackle on their own,鈥� said Goldhaber. 

Improving math teacher quality at the poorest schools is a critical first step. Some researchers have suggested paying strong math teachers more to work at high-poverty schools, but that would also require the renegotiation of union contracts in many cities. And, even with financial incentives, there is a shortage of math teachers. 

For students, AIR鈥檚 Goldhaber argues the time to intervene in math is in elementary school to make sure more low-income students have strong basic math skills. 鈥淒o it before middle school,鈥� said Goldhaber. 鈥淔or many students, middle school is too late.鈥�

The annual 鈥渆nd of year report card鈥� from and the surveyed more than 2,000 students in grades 5 through 12, who gave their schools鈥� an overall grade of 鈥淏-鈥� 鈥� the same score for the .

But students ages 12 to 19 had disparate opinions depending on their household income, with lower income students giving a 鈥淏-鈥� compared to higher income students giving a 鈥淏鈥� grade.

Stephanie Marken, Gallup senior partner for U.S. research, said students鈥� 鈥渘eutral鈥� remarks are concerning 鈥� particularly among those from lower income families who are 鈥渆ven more likely鈥� to miss out on the support needed to thrive in school.

鈥淎t a time where we need an education experience to be anything but average, we continue to see students give their schools neutral scores on the metrics that matter most,鈥� Marken said in a statement.

Here鈥檚 a snapshot of how students graded their schools this year:

Disclosure: The Walton Family Foundation provides financial support to 蜜桃影视.

Democratic lawmakers in Harrisburg took the first steps last week to provide $5.1 billion in new funding for Pennsylvania public schools to close a gap between the wealthiest and poorest districts that a court last year declared unconstitutional.

The legislation in the state House, proposed by Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster), follows the recommendation of a bipartisan commission on education funding to comply with a Commonwealth Court judge鈥檚 order to fix the education funding system.

The General Assembly has a constitutional imperative to end the funding disparity starting with the 2024-25 budget, Democratic lawmakers say.

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鈥淭he judiciary has spoken and we have a responsibility to address the unconstitutional nature of our education system,鈥� House Appropriations Committee Chairperson Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) told the Capital-Star on Monday. 鈥淔or me, I don鈥檛 know how we can deal with anything else without dealing with that.鈥�

But Harris鈥� Republican counterpart on the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Seth Grove (R-York), criticized the proposed legislation for not including revenue to pay for the plan. Grove said he also believes resetting the system through zero-based budgeting is the answer.

鈥淣othing in the Commonwealth Court ruling says we need more money,鈥� Grove said.

House Democrats have a narrow one-vote majority and are likely to pass a budget that reflects their legislative priorities. But Republicans who control the state Senate fired an opening shot in budget negotiations last week clearly signaling their intention to slash Gov. Josh Shapiro鈥檚 $48.8 billion spending plan.

On May 7, the upper chamber passed a bipartisan reduction in the personal income tax and eliminated the tax on electricity that would add up to an estimated in revenue.

The Senate also took steps to to provide tax dollars of up to $10,000 for private school tuition. An impasse over the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) program stalled budget negotiations for nearly six months last year.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) in a statement Monday noted that the General Assembly has provided record increases in funding in the last two budgets. In 2022, the Legislature approved a $525 million increase, but less than the $1.25 billion Gov. Tom Wolf proposed in his final budget. Last year, lawmakers agreed on a $567 million increase; Shapiro had proposed a $900 million in his first budget.

鈥淭here are 500 school districts across the commonwealth, and each have their own definition of what fair funding means. Both the majority and minority Basic Education Funding Commission reports did reach agreement on formula modifications to provide predictability and stability to school districts,鈥� Pittman said, adding, 鈥渨e will continue to look for ways to reach common ground and respect taxpayers as part of this year鈥檚 budget.鈥�

The fair funding proposal in Sturla鈥檚 forthcoming legislation is the product of more than a decade of litigation and days of hearings by the Basic Education Funding Commission, which include lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate and members of Shapiro鈥檚 cabinet.

鈥淣othing in this piece of legislation should come as a surprise to anybody,鈥� House Education Committee Chairperson Peter Schweyer (D-Lehigh) said. 鈥淚t is the work that the legislature has been doing ever since the fair funding decision came down.鈥�

Commonwealth Court President Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer said in a that the General Assembly has not fulfilled its legal mandate and has deprived students in school districts with low property values and incomes of the same resources and opportunities as children in wealthier ones.

The funding commission found that 371 of Pennsylvania鈥檚 500 school districts have an adequacy gap, meaning they spend less than $13,704 per pupil. That鈥檚 the median per pupil spending by the districts that meet the state鈥檚 academic performance standards.

The decision, which lawmakers chose not to appeal, followed a four-month trial in a lawsuit filed in 2014 by a group of parents and school districts who claimed the state had failed the state Constitution鈥檚 mandate to provide a thorough and efficient system of public education.

Cohn Jubelirer, a conservative judge, did not instruct the General Assembly on how to fix the system, leaving the solution for the Legislature and executive branch to determine.

Last year, the Basic Education Funding Commission held dozens of hearings across the state where students, parents, educators, and administrators spoke about the challenges and deprivation they faced in the state鈥檚 neediest districts, both urban and rural.

In January, the commission voted 8-7, largely along party lines, to adopt a report that determined there is a $5.4 billion gap between what schools receive now and adequate funding as determined by the spending of the state鈥檚 most academically successful schools.

The $5.4 billion figure includes $291 million that is the responsibility of school districts that have lower taxes despite less-than-adequate funding. The remaining $5.1 billion is the state鈥檚 responsibility.

Sturla鈥檚 bill would also include $1 billion in tax relief over the next seven years for districts that have hiked taxes in an effort to generate adequate funding, money to reset the baseline funding that all school districts receive, and it would reform to provide several hundred million in savings for school districts.

鈥淭his is a very comprehensive piece of legislation,鈥� Schweyer said.

Republican budget maven Grove said the proposal doesn鈥檛 include the property tax increase and fails to provide a revenue source other than the state鈥檚 reserves. Shapiro鈥檚 office has projected that the state鈥檚 surplus and rainy day fund will total $14 billion at the end of this fiscal year on June 30.

鈥淚鈥檇 actually like to thank them for being honest 鈥� on how much they want to spend over the next seven years,鈥� Grove said of the Democratic plan. 鈥淚f they want to spend the money over the next seven years it needs to come with a tax increase.鈥�

Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, senior attorney at the Education Law Center, said Grove鈥檚 assertion that the Commonwealth Court order doesn鈥檛 require the state to spend more is incorrect.

鈥淲hat they鈥檙e hanging that on is this line [from the decision] that the remedy doesn鈥檛 need to be entirely financial,鈥� Urevick-Ackelsberg said, adding that the ruling identified deficiencies in funding that affected the ability of districts to provide sufficient staff, instruments of learning and safe and modern schools.

Harris, the House Democrats鈥� chief budget negotiator, said he is open to proposals from House and Senate Republicans.

鈥淚f there is another proposal that they have to address the Commonwealth Court ruling, we would love to see it. We can talk about that,鈥� he said.

But faced with an obligation to Pennsylvania鈥檚 students and the possibility of additional litigation if the Legislature fails to act, Harris said doing nothing is not an option.

鈥淭his is not a nice-to-have. This is a must-do,鈥� Harris said.

(This article was updated at 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 14, 2024, to include a statement from Sen. Majority Leader Joe Pittman.)

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on and .

After years of cash windfalls, California schools are bracing for a stretch of austerity that could jeopardize students鈥� already precarious recovery from the pandemic.

An end to billions of dollars in federal COVID relief funds, declining enrollment, staff raises, hiring binges and stagnant state funding should combine over the next few months to create steep budget shortfalls, with low-income districts affected the most. 

鈥淭he fiscal cliff is going to vary,鈥� said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. 鈥淭he districts that got the most COVID relief dollars, those that have the most low-income students, are going to face the biggest losses.鈥� 

In his , Gov. Gavin Newsom largely spared schools, keeping intact popular initiatives like transitional kindergarten, universal school meals, community schools and after-school programs. He proposed dipping into reserves and delaying some expenses to make up a projected  shortfall.

But the exact numbers are shifting. The Legislative Analyst鈥檚 Office predicted that the  than Newsom calculated and cuts will be unavoidable. Newsom will release a revised budget in May, and the Legislature has until June 15 to pass a final budget.

Meanwhile, federal COVID relief funding for schools will end in September. In a series of grants known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, the federal government gave California schools $23.4 billion to pay for everything from air purifiers to after-school tutoring. 

That funding was distributed based on the number of low-income students districts have. Districts with lots of low-income students got more money, which means they鈥檒l lose the most when the funding ends. 

In the beginning of the pandemic, schools tended to spend the money on one-time expenses, like tablets and Wi-Fi hotspots for students attending school remotely. But as schools reopened, they started spending money on ongoing programs intended to help students catch up academically and recover from the mental health hardships of remote learning. That could include tutors, longer school days or summer and after-school programs.

San Bernardino City Unified used $8 million of its $230 million in COVID relief funds to beef up its after-school program. Thanks to the extra funding, the district has been able to offer free after-school activities, tutoring, transportation and mental health support at every school. 

Keeping the 鈥榮parkle in kids鈥� eyes鈥�

Mia Cooper, a parent with three children in San Bernardino City Unified, said her childrens鈥� after-school program has been a life-saver. In fact, it鈥檚 the main reason they want to go to school, she said.

They not only benefit from tutoring, but they get to enjoy ballet and acting lessons, field trips to science museums and Disneyland, robotics classes, performances by folkl贸rico dance troupes and other fun activities. 

During the pandemic, one of Cooper鈥檚 daughters was withdrawn and depressed, but the after-school program helped her reconnect with friends and fall in love with school again. Keeping the program intact should be a priority, Cooper said.

鈥淭he kids were exposed to so many different activities and cultural things,鈥�  she said. 鈥淚f a program is working for kids and we鈥檙e seeing good outcomes, I think it鈥檚 something we need to keep. 鈥� We shouldn鈥檛 lose that sparkle in kids鈥� eyes.鈥�

A budget reckoning for some districts

But some district鈥檚 use of COVID relief funds could worsen their budget prospects, Roza said. Districts that invested one-time funds in ongoing expenses, such as new staff, raises and bonuses, might be headed for a reckoning. Nationwide, school staff increased 2% since the pandemic while enrollment decreased 2%, according to Georgetown鈥檚 Edunomics Lab.

Salaries for existing teachers have risen, too. Districts in , ,  and  鈥� all of which have declining enrollment 鈥� agreed to hefty teacher raises and bonuses in the past year.  

Still, the fiscal outlook is not as dire as it was during the 2008 recession, said Julien Lafortune, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.  has risen dramatically since then, lifting California from the bottom half of states in school funding to . In addition, the state鈥檚 shift to  a decade ago has provided more money for students with higher needs, although inequities persist. 

But that doesn鈥檛 mean these cuts won鈥檛 hurt, Lafortune said, especially for students who were most affected by the pandemic. Low-income, Black and Latino students disproportionately bore the brunt of school closures, , because they were more likely to suffer economically from the pandemic, less likely to have adequate technology at home, and less likely to have a parent available to help them with distance learning.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like the Great Recession, but I think the challenges are greater now,鈥� Lafortune said. 鈥淎 lot of the academic progress we made was erased by the pandemic.鈥� 

Roza worries that arguments over potential cuts in the next year will eclipse concern over learning loss. Potential school closures and teacher layoffs will inevitably elicit loud protests, but school boards should stay focused on services that directly help students, such as math tutoring and literacy, she said.

鈥淪ome districts will be focusing on staff retention instead of kids鈥� needs,鈥� Roza said. 

These decisions may be so divisive that Roza predicts a high rate of turnover among school administrators and board members unwilling to make unpopular decisions. She also expects to see some districts refuse to make sufficient cuts and risk insolvency or state takeover.

Planning pays off in Fresno

Fresno Unified is among the districts facing a double whammy of declining enrollment and a large loss of relief funds. The 70,000-student district received more than $787 million in state and federal relief money, one of the largest allotments in California.

But the district was careful to build reserves, rely on state grants when possible and not overly invest in ongoing staff salaries. Instead, it used most of its money to train teachers in math and literacy, extend the school day and provide a high-quality summer program. It also brought in social workers, restorative justice counselors, attendance specialists and other staff to boost students鈥� mental health.

The investments have apparently paid off. The number of students meeting California鈥檚 math benchmark rose almost 3 percentage points last year, even as the state average remained unchanged. And chronic absenteeism fell significantly, from 51% in 2022 to 35% last year.

Still, the district expects to make some cuts, probably affecting the district office but not schools directly 鈥� at least at first, said the district鈥檚 chief financial officer, Patrick Jensen.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like we鈥檙e in a boat and we can see a storm coming,鈥� Jensen said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to be dashed against the rocks but we still need to find a safe harbor.鈥�.

San Bernardino City Unified, among California鈥檚 lowest-income districts, also received a high  relief funding payout: $230 million for 46,000 students. But the district isn鈥檛 anticipating a financial disaster once the funding expires. It plans to shift some of its state block grant money to pay for programs funded with relief money, where necessary, and has been conservative with planning. It鈥檚 also closely monitoring the state budget and economic outlook, said Associate Superintendent Terry Comnick.

But there鈥檚 still likely to be some cuts, and the district will have to look closely at what programs have been effective and which didn鈥檛 live up to expectations. In addition to the after-school program, a 鈥渞esident guest teacher鈥� program had positive results, Comnick said. The district hired substitute teachers to work one-on-one or in small groups with students who were the furthest behind. The $4.5 million program, which was at every school, resulted in higher test scores among the highest-needs students.

So far, it looks like the district will be able to keep both programs, at least for the next few years, Comnick said.

鈥淧eople call it a (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) cliff because the money just ends,鈥� Comnick said. 鈥淏ut for us it will hopefully be a gentle slope.鈥�

The most recent state budget made changes to allow more students to be fed at no cost, but the battle to quell child hunger is still ongoing in Ohio.

The budget bill passed last year provided more than $4 million in funding to allow any students qualified for reduced-price of free breakfast and lunch can get the meals at no cost for the .

It鈥檚 not quite the universal meals that when budget talks began, but the are progress in the right direction, child and education advocates in the state concluded.

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The programs that are still attempting to help stem the flow of student hunger are seeing the struggles that inflation has on the cost of food, and Katherine Ungar, senior policy associate with the Children鈥檚 Defense Fund of Ohio, said the stigma of the income-based school food programs is still a barrier.

鈥淚t鈥檚 creating these categories that can create that stigma,鈥� said Ungar.

Ohio has taken strides to help in the future by pledging to use federal dollars to establish a summer program that will give low-income families with child of school-aged children 鈥済rocery-buying benefits鈥� while schools are closed, according to the USDA, who estimates more than 29 million children nationally could benefit.

鈥淒uring the summer months, we estimate almost 1 million kids 鈥� lose access to meals,鈥� Ungar said.

CDF-Ohio researched the whole-child impacts of categories like housing, health care and food insecurity. In fiscal year, 2023, the group鈥檚 showed an increase in the state鈥檚 students who were eligible for reduced-price or free school meals and considered 鈥渆conomically disadvantaged.鈥�

The number of kids qualifying for the no-cost or low-cost lunches, for which any student in a household with up to 185% of the federal poverty line is eligible, when from 46.6% in the 2021-22 school year to nearly 50% in the 2022-23 school year.

This new summer benefit will be eligible to about 837,000 Ohio children, according to Ungar, and the economic impact of the benefit could bring $150 million into local economies.

The (EBT) gives eligible families who apply pre-loaded cards with $40 per child per month. The EBT program works in conjunction with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) funds and other nutrition assistance efforts.

But the program can only be used if eligible families apply. Children who are certified as eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school would be eligible for the Summer EBT as well, but still have to apply through the same process as the free-or-reduced-lunch application.

鈥淲e know there are families who qualify but have not completed the application form,鈥� Ungar said. 鈥淪ome families may not think they鈥檙e eligible, but it鈥檚 important that anyone who could be eligible applies, so that those benefits can get to the people who need them.鈥�

A similar program was available during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the USDA found that the program decreased 鈥渃hildren鈥檚 food hardship鈥� by 33%, and took between 2.7 and 3.9 million out of hunger across the country.

According to research by the , the pandemic EBT program brought Ohio children an estimated $2.2 billion in nutrition assistance between Spring 2020 to Summer 2023, the end of the pandemic program.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

Outcomes are starkly different for those who have that opportunity. High-achieving Black, Latino and lower-income students who do gain access to advanced math classes in high school have better academic outcomes across multiple measures: stronger high school graduation rates, higher GPAs and greater college admission and persistence rates. They were also more likely to attend a highly selective college and earn more STEM credits there, a pathway to landing lucrative jobs in those fields.

Just Equations and The Education Trust released their report Thursday. Together, they analyzed eight years of data following 23,000 ninth graders from 900 private and public schools throughout the country, information collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. The study group was tracked through high school and college starting in 2009. 

Both Ed Trust and Just Equations advocate for educational equality with a focus on children who have been traditionally underserved. Earlier research cited in the report shows Black, Latino and impoverished students, regardless of their capabilities, are less likely to be assigned AP math courses, enroll in STEM majors or attend top-tier colleges than their wealthier, white or Asian peers.

鈥淭his study challenges the notion that access to advanced math courses is purely the byproduct of talent and academic achievement,鈥� said Melodie Baker, national policy director at Just Equations. 鈥淥ur analysis confirmed that all too often, factors such as race, wealth and privilege 鈥� rather than students’ aptitude and proficiency 鈥� can be hidden prerequisites for access to courses that lead to STEM and college opportunity.鈥�

While 46% of high-achieving Asian students, 19% of white students, and 29% of students from high socio-economic backgrounds took college-level AP/International Baccalaureate calculus by the end of high school, just 10% of Black, 15% of Latino and 11% of lower-income high-achievers did the same. 

Race and income disparities in high school graduation rates appear to level off for this high-achieving, underrepresented group when they take advanced math courses: 99% of Asian and white students, 98% of Black students, and 96% of Latino and lower-income students graduated in four years. Four-year high school graduation rates declined among all high-achievers who did not take advanced math classes and gaps opened up along racial and socioeconomic lines, although the drop in graduation rates was starkest for Asian students and least-felt by affluent students.

鈥淲e know that it is so important for students to feel engaged and that their learning experiences are relevant,鈥� said Ivy Smith Morgan, EdTrust鈥檚 director for P12 research and data analytics. 鈥淲hat this conjures for me is the anecdotes about students who are so smart but stop paying attention in class because they are not challenged. They are not getting the opportunities that align with their ability.鈥�

Smith Morgan noted U.S. students’ performance in mathematics as compared to their peers internationally has been highly scrutinized for years, with last week’s release of the latest PISA scores showing unprecedented 13-point declines for American students and an average 15-point loss globally. The U.S., still reeling from COVID learning loss, along with other countries, now ranks 26th in its math scores. Smith Morgan said a failure to mine students’ talents will have dire economic implications. 

鈥淲hat we are talking about is losing a future workforce with the skills, training and technical knowledge we need to fill all of the STEM jobs that will exist 鈥� not the ones we have right now, but the ones we have not even thought of yet,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are shooting ourselves in the foot.鈥� 

The study notes the disparity in opportunity starts well before students enter high school: Just 24% of Black students, 34% of Latino students, and 25% of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds took Algebra I or higher in eighth grade, compared with 39% of white children, 64% of their Asian peers and 57% of students from higher income backgrounds. 

鈥淎nyone who is paying attention knows that our mathematics education systems are deeply inequitable,鈥� said David Kung, director of strategic partnerships at The Charles A. Dana Center in Austin. 鈥淏lack, brown and poor students get shafted when it comes to access, teaching and advising.鈥�

The Dana Center, which seeks to ensure all students have access to excellent math and science education, has been working with several states across the nation as part of its to revamp mathematics curriculum, making equity and student interest a top priority.  

鈥淭his report is another reminder that whenever there are decisions to be made 鈥�  to take algebra in 8th grade, to enroll in an advanced math class, to apply to college, to choose a STEM path 鈥� equity gaps open,鈥� Kung said. 鈥淲e must reform our systems so those critical transitions are smoother, especially for students from groups we have historically under-supported.”

The new study found, too, that high-achieving underserved students who took more challenging high school mathematics coursework often had math teachers who established clear goals and school counselors who set high standards. Such positive influences may have aided in their success. 

Researchers say 74% of Black and 81% of Latino high-achieving students who were enrolled in advanced high school mathematics courses went on to follow a standard process of getting into and staying enrolled at college after high school. 

Not so for those who did not: Only 58% of Black students and 53% of Latino high-achieving students who did not take these classes had that same outcome. Results were similar for students from lower-income backgrounds: 77% of those who took advanced math courses experienced standard college enrollment and persistence versus 53% who did not take more challenging courses.  

The study showed Black and Latino high-achieving students who took advanced math courses in high school had better first-year college GPAs: roughly 0.5 points higher. Lower income students had a 0.6-point gain. 

EdTrust and Just Equations recommends Congress support and incentivize state and district leaders to greatly expand access to challenging coursework in all topics, including math. 

They said, too, that the government should increase funding for whole-child support services that would allow districts to hire an appropriate number of well-trained restorative justice coordinators, school counselors, psychologists and nurses. 

States and districts should also boost professional development efforts and coaching with the goal of reducing bias and incorporating anti-racist mindsets. 

They can also automatically enroll students in higher-level math courses, like the Dallas school system, which moved from an opt-in model to an opt-out policy in the 2019-20 school year. The followed that example: Gov. Abbott, earlier this year, signed that requires the automatic enrollment of children in advanced math based on their test scores, not on a recommendation. 

The Commit Partnership, a Dallas-based nonprofit focused on education, applauded the move. Chelsea Jeffery, its chief regional impact officer, said she looks forward to other districts doing the same, not only changing their policies but providing students with the support necessary to graduate high school ready for college and the workforce. 

鈥淲e celebrate Dallas ISD for their innovative approach to this critical subject area and to policymakers for passing legislation that will benefit our students and community,鈥� she said. 

The study classified a student as high-achieving if they passed 鈥� with an A, B, or C 鈥� Algebra I or higher in middle school. Others who made the cut scored in the highest one-fifth on a math assessment given to students in ninth grade. 

Disclosure: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides financial support to Just Equations, The Education Trust, The Charles A. Dana Center and 蜜桃影视.

Chris Riback:聽Councilmember Dew, thank you so much for coming to the studio.

Pippin Dew:聽Thank you for having me.

Chris Riback:聽I look forward to-

Pippin Dew:聽I’m excited to be here.

Chris Riback: Yes, I was excited to have you here. Tell us about Vallejo Solano County, and what’s the state of early childhood learning in your community?

Pippin Dew:聽Yes, Vallejo is one of the most diverse cities in the country, actually. Our demographics are 25%, pretty equally split among Caucasian, Latinx, African American and Asian Pacific Islander.

Chris Riback:聽Wow.

Pippin Dew: One of the great things about our community is that we celebrate and embrace all of our ethnicities and diversity. And so, it’s really exciting from that standpoint. Solano County is one of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. However, we are the poorest, least invested-in county. The city of Vallejo is also the poorest city in the county. We’re 107,000 people strong.

Chris Riback:聽Wow.

Pippin Dew:聽But in comparison to San Francisco, we’re small but mighty, but we’re always fighting for those funding dollars.

Chris Riback: Yes, for sure. Well, that’s why they have you in the job.

Pippin Dew: Yes.

Chris Riback:聽What is First 5 Solano?

Pippin Dew:聽First 5 Solano is a commission by the county agency that supports early learning, zero to five children and their families, providing programs and services for them in that regard.

Chris Riback:聽How does it work with the Vallejo City Council?

Pippin Dew:聽It hasn’t had a long history of partnership, but over the last several years, First 5 Solano did some research, and based on the information they had available, they decided to open the first ever First 5 Center in Vallejo and then recently came forward with an Early Learning Center proposal that-

Chris Riback:聽The Beverly Hills Elementary School?

Pippin Dew:聽Yes.

Chris Riback:聽Yes.

Pippin Dew:聽Yes. And so, that was really exciting for me to hear about. I had supported the First 5 Center and lobbied with my council and got council support for center. And now, I’m going to be moving forward to also ask for support on this project as well.

Chris Riback:聽What’s the vision for it? And why is it needed specifically?

Pippin Dew:聽Yes. Beverly Hills Elementary School is in a census track that 95% of the elementary school children qualified for the free or subsidized lunch program prior to the pandemic. It was shut down during the pandemic, so it is now an unused resource. And so, the vision is to reopen it as an early learning center that would support our children; 300 children and their families, from zero to five, and provide these early education, robust, comprehensive curriculum from zero to transitional kindergarten and preschool Montessori; the whole gamut of opportunities. So, really looking at supporting, not just those children, but their families as well.

Chris Riback:聽As I’m listening to you, I’m hearing the need for that school. And at the same time, you talked about the socioeconomic situation of your city. And what I can only assume is a full range of challenges.

Pippin Dew:聽Yes.

Chris Riback:聽Health, education, environment, infrastructure. How do you balance, how do you coordinate, and how do you prioritize so that focus can stay on early childhood learning?

Pippin Dew:聽Yes. Vallejo is, as I mentioned, really celebrating our ethnicities and our diversities. But we’re also well known for our high crime, our high poverty, and our poorly-rated schools. And so, when we are looking at how to solve all of these problems, we also have less than half of our children go to preschool. Less than a quarter of our children have access to licensed childcare services. And so, we know that by investing in this early education space, that that is going to have incredible returns long term. It will set our children up for success in the future in education, as well as their families being able to focus on the workforce development that they need to be able to lift themselves up in their own daily lives and become the most productive people that they can be as well.

Chris Riback:聽And any guidance, tips, experience for other people in your roles in other communities?

Pippin Dew: Absolutely. Never give up, and be like water. Always look for ways around those obstacles, whatever they might be. There’s ways to overcome those challenges. You just have to be determined and keep focused on the end vision of successful, thriving families and neighborhoods.

Chris Riback:聽I like that, be like water. You’re right, it always finds a way.

Pippin Dew: Yes.

Chris Riback:聽Yes. Councilmember Dew, do thank you so much for joining us.

Pippin Dew:聽Yes. Thank you so much for having me.