Correction appended Sept. 30

Educators and advocates from across the country — many of whom say they have already seen the effects of anti-immigrant political rhetoric on their students — convened Wednesday night to strategize on how to counter it in their schools. 

Adam Strom, director of Re-Imagining Migration, told the webinar’s 93 attendees to take an active role in combating prejudice by facing the issue head-on. He encouraged participants to address bullying against immigrant students specifically in school policy — and to teach about stereotypes without unintentionally reinforcing them. 

“Xenophobia harms all kids,” he said, “particularly immigrant youth.” 

The meeting came two weeks after former President Donald Trump claimed during a presidential debate that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, . Debunked by multiple official sources, Trump and his Republican running mate, JD Vance, have persisted in repeating the lie, which resulted in bomb threats that shuttered six Springfield schools and two local colleges. 

Less than 30 miles away in Dayton, Joni Watson, a retired public school teacher, works for an adult literacy nonprofit that helps participants earn their GED. Watson’s group also helps Dayton-area newcomers learn to read and write English through free one-on-one tutoring. 

“This topic is near and dear to my heart as I am really in the thick of it on a daily basis,” she told ����Ӱ��. “I am just sick about what Vance and Trump are doing and saying.”

In a pre-webinar survey of 74 respondents, 31% said they knew of immigrant children who had reported being bullied or teased at school. Twenty-three percent said they heard students make anti-immigrant comments on campus this school year while another 23% heard staff make such statements since the beginning of the year. Eleven percent said they heard or witnessed staffers make anti-immigrant comments to families and caregivers.  

Strom advised educators to reach out to young immigrants and their families to check in on how they are feeling during this turbulent time and to tell all students that bullying of newcomers is unacceptable. He said, too, that educators should respond immediately when such incidents occur. 

During the session, Strom unveiled Re-Imagining Migration’s new . The AI-powered tool, which fed off thousands of pages of information from the organization’s website, including reports and lesson plans, was developed to help users identify misinformation. 

It encourages them to check the validity of such claims by consulting credible fact-checking sites such as — and to learn and spread correct information to their school communities. Since putting Springfield , Trump has moved to inciting false fears over immigrant communities in and .

Psychotherapist Liz Carrasco said she wanted to attend the webinar because she’s seen the impact of hate speech on her students. 

“Many worry that their families could be torn apart, or that they will face discrimination in their pursuit of education and work,” she said. “For these students, political rhetoric is not just words — it has very real and immediate consequences for their safety and their future.”

A U.S. citizen who was born in Mexico, Carrasco works with UNLV PRACTICE Nevada Rural Communities Mental Health Outreach Program, which supports young people ages 12-25, and teaches at the university’s School of Social Work. Carrasco, who was not speaking on behalf of UNLV, said she works with immigrants who have gone through horrific ordeals, including some who were victims of human trafficking.

Strom asked participants to be honest about whether and how they teach about migration and instructed them to develop better, more robust lessons that capture immigrant students’ experiences. 

He said this can be done at all grade levels.  

“Think about how you might use childrens’ books to normalize the stories of newcomers,” he said during the hour-long event.  

Anindita Das, community engagement strategist at an Iowa college, said she was compelled to attend the event because reducing prejudice helps build a more inclusive and harmonious society.

“Being an immigrant myself, I know immigrants bring diverse cultures, perspectives and experiences, enriching the social fabric of the host country,” she said. “Immigrants contribute significantly to the economy through their labor, entrepreneurship and innovation. Addressing prejudice ensures they can fully participate and contribute.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story had an outdated description of Liz Carrasco’s job with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

As vice presidential candidate and Ohio Sen. JD Vance makes clear  to the public on the campaign trail, his fake claims have caused real panic at schools in his home state. 

As Vance and GOP presidential running mate Donald Trump spread a vile and racist rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are abducting and eating their neighbors’ pets, six local  temporarily after receiving bomb threats. Two area colleges were also pushed into remote learning after the Republican duo’s disinformation campaign prompted .

 were deployed to Springfield’s public schools Tuesday after they received dozens of bomb threats in the last week alone. 

“Our students, staff and school community  by senseless threats of violence,” district Superintendent Bob Hill said.

The false claims coming from Trump and Vance spurred a response from Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, who said the rumors are harmful and “need to stop.” Springfield officials have erected a security tower with surveillance cameras outside City Hall as the candidates double down on the unfounded claims despite the growing number of bomb threats against city agencies — 

Big picture: Schools are routinely haunted by copycat perpetrators. Now, the politically fueled disruption of schools in Ohio — and a mass shooting at Georgia’s Apalachee High School this month — have reportedly contributed to a national surge in these unnerving events. | 

In the news

More on the disinfo campaign trail: In a Moms for Liberty speech, Trump made the baseless claim that schools perform surgery on transgender youth. Children go to school and come home “a few days later with an operation. The school decides what’s going to happen with your child.” | 

The Federal Communications Commission has opened applications for its $200 million cybersecurity pilot program, designed to defray school and library expenses for firewalls and other data security services. | 

• What they’re saying: “School districts and libraries across the country have proven to be prime targets for cybercriminals,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a media release. “The vulnerabilities in the networks are real — and growing.” 
• Big picture: A quarter of young people’s identities will be stolen before they turn 18 as cybercriminals run up major debt using the minors’ credit. | 

ByteDance bites back: Chinese-owned ByteDance, which runs the teen obsession/social media platform TikTok, was in a federal appeals court this week to fight a law that would force the company to sell the app or face a nationwide ban over national security concerns. | 

New Mexico officials have sued social media app Snapchat after an undercover investigation accused the platform of being a leading source “for sharing child sexual abuse material” and using an algorithm that “serves up children to adult predators.” | 

As social media platforms face scrutiny over their effects on youth mental health, Instagram is rolling out “teen accounts” that limit their screen time, the types of content they see and the people they’re able to message. | 

A free teletherapy program launched in New York City public schools could misuse students’ information and run afoul of state and federal student privacy laws, data security advocates allege. | 

School (in)Security exclusive: Education technology company AllHere, which built a much-hyped $6 million chatbot for the Los Angeles school district that allegedly violated students’ privacy, has filed for bankruptcy. | 

The Department of Homeland Security awarded a $450,000 grant to a gun violence research consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government to study mass shootings, including those in schools, and develop bystander intervention training to prevent assaults. The training will be piloted at 10 New York school districts. | 

Teachers split on active-shooter drills: Less than half of teachers said active-shooter drills have prepared them for a school shooting, according to a new RAND survey. More than two-thirds said the drills have had no impact on their perceptions of campus safety and just a fifth said they make them feel more safe. | 

The Charlotte, North Carolina, school district broke the law when leaders withheld records that detailed incidents of student rape and sexual assault, a court ruled. | 

An Oklahoma school resource officer was credited with using a tourniquet to save the life of a teenager who, in an act of apparent rage over bullying, punched through a school bus window, cutting an artery in his right arm. | 

Colorado student suspensions have surged 25% since 2018, as schools struggle with children’s post-COVID mental health challenges. | 

A West Virginia elementary school custodian was arrested on charges he stored a gun in his car in the campus parking lot and that an 11-year-old threatened to use the weapon to shoot a classmate and himself. | 

How a poppy seed salad from Costco upended a mother’s life: Inaccurate drug tests have taken a toll on parents nationwide, an investigation found, as they face scrutiny from — and sometimes lose their babies to — child protective services. | 

An Apalachee High School Spanish teacher describes how she kept her students calm during the deadly campus shooting in Georgia earlier this month: “I lied.” | 

ICYMI @ ����Ӱ��

Emotional support

“I’m not floofy, YOU’RE floofy!” 

– Marz

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This project-based learning experience is one of many new community-inspired initiatives that are part of a six-year strategic plan to reimagine Springfield schools. It’s the result of the “Portrait of a Graduate” project that the district worked on with 12 other communities across New England with funding from The Barr Foundation and technical support from The Learning Agenda. Springfield Public Schools is the second-largest district in New England, serving a population of nearly 24,000 students that is 18% Black and 68% Latino. English is a second language for nearly 30% of the students, 25% have a disability and nearly 90% come from low-income households.

The idea behind “Portrait of a Graduate” is simple: It’s a guiding vision for student success. Although a major goal of K-12 educators is to watch their students grow up and eventually wear caps and gowns at graduation, it is also important to make sure students have the skills necessary for success when they do, whether they choose to work or pursue higher education. Reading, writing and arithmetic are important but not sufficient. There’s just so much more that’s necessary to navigate the world and thrive.

When we examined data on outcomes for Springfield’s students after high school graduation, we saw that too few were matriculating to postsecondary education, persisting and earning degrees. Students needed to be able to overcome challenges. They needed to know where to go to for help. They needed to know how to advocate for themselves and others.

When formulating our “Portrait of a Graduate” plan, we didn’t talk only to educators. We had 200 community conversations and got input from a diverse group of 2,000 stakeholders including leaders of local businesses, colleges, nonprofits and faith-based organizations, first responders, families and students. They told us what they think students need to know and be able to do. A major theme was that people wanted what students learn in school to be relevant to them outside the school setting. Once we gathered input from the community, we created a “Portrait of a Graduate” that became a blueprint outlining our vision of what we want for every student who graduates high school, and how to get there.

Now, we are putting the plan into action. We are creating opportunities for students to gain knowledge and skills they will need after graduation, such as communication, collaboration, persistence and critical thinking. For example, a major theme across the board in our community conversations was that students need to know more about money. As a result, we have made financial literacy classes available to our high school students.

We’ve got a long way to go, but early results are promising. So far, we have rolled out our new approach aligning teaching and learning with the “Portrait of a Graduate” in 16 Springfield schools — nine last year and seven this fall — and reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Educators like the ability to try something new, and administrators appreciate how this new vision is tailored to who their students are. Community members are grateful that their ideas and needs are being heard and turned into programming that is building the skills their future workers and community members will need to succeed. Students appreciate that their voice is being heard in the reimagining of school and that the district is prioritizing opportunities for them to express choice and their unique identity in their learning.

Anchoring meaningful school transformation in a community-driven “Portrait of a Graduate” that serves as north star can be a model to help close the education gap and prepare students for their future path, whatever direction it may take. It has reinforced our belief that there are multiple pathways for students to take, and that it is our job to support their development so they have the knowledge, skills and confidence to pursue those paths after graduation. Through this process we have also reaffirmed the value of community input — so much so that the superintendent created a new district position, chief of family and community engagement, with an office that includes family liaisons in each school.

The seeds of knowledge planted in an elementary school classroom in Springfield could blossom into innovative strategies and skills that benefit students and communities for many years to come.