Kalyn Belsha

Kalyn Belsha

Senior National Reporter

Kalyn Belsha is a National Reporter for Chalkbeat based in Chicago. Previously, she covered education for The Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Chicago and the suburban Chicago Tribune. She is a former Spencer Fellow in Education Reporting at Columbia University and has taught journalism at Loyola University Chicago.

Federal officials say California must delete mentions of gender identity and trans people from federally funded sex ed materials that reach about 13,000 students, or else lose $6 million.

The Trump administration is withholding nearly $7 billion for education that has been approved by Congress and was supposed to go out starting July 1.

Tras las redadas migratorias de alto perfil, el Distrito Unificado de Los Ángeles aumentó las sedes para las escuelas de verano y ofreció transporte adicional para responder al temor de las familias de ser detenidas durante el trayecto.

Families in Montgomery County, Maryland, are allowed to opt their children out of reading books featuring LGBTQ characters and themes if the content conflicts with their religious beliefs, the Supreme Court decided. A federal appeals court will continue to consider the parents’ case.

Following high-profile immigration raids, Los Angeles Unified added 100 summer school sites, extra transportation, and virtual learning options to address fears from families about the possibility of being detained during school dropoff or pickup.

The Trump administration’s decision to defund hundreds of education research projects at the National Science Foundation is curbing efforts to get more girls and kids of color interested in STEM careers.

Nearly half of states offer multiple diploma options or pathways to graduation. But adopting that approach carries its own set of challenges.

Colorado, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin are among the state education agencies that lost federal funding to hire and train more school-based mental health staff. Now schools may have to lay off social workers, while colleges may shut down training programs.

The Education Department threatened the federal funding of states that wouldn’t comply with the administration’s anti-DEI interpretation of civil rights law. With that demand paused, states are suing to end it entirely.

The Trump administration said the orders would make schools safer and give teachers more tools to maintain behavior in their classrooms. The move is tied to the administration’s broader effort to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools.