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Erica Meltzer

@ericameltzer.bsky.social
3.5K followers 545 following 660 posts

National Editor at Chalkbeat. I write about education and politics. Reach me at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org

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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Alaska Beacon @alaskabeacon.com · 28/09/2026
Feds target school internet subsidies in ed-tech backlash even as Trump touts AI, writes @ericameltzer.bsky.social for @chalkbeat.org alaskabeacon.com/2026/09/28/f...
alaskabeacon.com
Feds target school internet subsidies in ed-tech backlash even as Trump touts AI | Alaska Beacon
The changes to the e-rate under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission could be financially devastating and deeply disruptive to classrooms and daily school operations, district leader...
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Larry Ferlazzo @larryferlazzo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This piece by @ericameltzer.bsky.social & others provides an excellent overview of this whole story ------ Nikole Hannah-Jones’ essay on school integration sparks a reckoning for parents and education advocates www.chalkbeat.org/2026/09/25/h...
chalkbeat.org
Nikole Hannah-Jones thought school integration was worth the risk. Her daughter’s pushback changed the debate.
Black parents said Hannah-Jones’ essay illustrates the Catch-22 they’ve encountered: If they choose a school with a better academic reputation and a higher share of white students, will that come at t...
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I straight up remembered the ending of Breaking Bad being that Walter White died alone in the cabin. That was so clearly the correct ending for the show, that I rewrote the memory in my brain to make that the ending. I was shocked when I rewatched it!
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It's only 2026. Have we really had 100 *great* TV shows this century?
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Trump administration is riding a broader backlash against education technology to call for major changes — or even the elimination — of school internet subsidies. This comes even as the White House continues to promote AI in educaiton. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/09/23/e...
chalkbeat.org
Trump’s support for AI in schools could be undercut by his own administration’s screen-time fears
Federal regulators are scrutinizing E-Rate school internet subsidies in the name of controlling screen time. School district leaders fear the fallout.
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Alison Young @alisonannyoung.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Nearly a century ago, Americans seeking an easy way to lose weight put their faith in what promoters sold as a potent fat-burning drug. Some went blind. Others died. Now this dangerous chemical has been detected in a supplement marketed online. healthbeat.beehiiv.com/p/the-troubl... #publichealth
A screenshot of an article image with a composite photo showing old bottles of dinitrophenol weight loss remedies and old newspaper articles. A larger headline says: FDA finds dangerous hidden ingredients in weight-loss supplements. Some have notorious pasts. Since June, the FDA has issued 7 alerts about weight-loss products with undisclosed drugs or chemicals, more than in 2024 and 2025 combined.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
So appreciate these stories — I'll be in shul but I especially appreciate hearing from the people who still recognize this day even if shul is not where they want to be. And in true Jewish fashion, I'm one degree removed from one of the people featured!
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Every year it's the same deal. A week before Yom Kippur, I start the seven-day period of chanting, "Tomorrow, I'll reduce my coffee consumption. Tomorrow."
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
At least 40 states have some requirement that schools address 9/11, but those lessons are much more personal in New York City. Three teachers spoke with @amyzimmer.bsky.social about how they teach 9/11. www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...
chalkbeat.org
25 years later: NYC teachers share their memories of 9/11 and how they teach about it today
A quarter of a century after 9/11, many NYC students were not yet born when the towers fell. Three educators reflect on their memories and share how they approach teaching the historic tragedy today.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
In a weird way, it's validating to see this. It was really hot.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
These are truly devastating layoffs. I was an intern at the Lexington Herald-Leader about a million years ago, and I learned so much from so many talented journalists. We desperately need strong, robust regional papers, and the cuts never stop. www.poynter.org/business-wor...
poynter.org
McClatchy cuts more than 90 staff in its most severe layoffs in years - Poynter
At least 13 papers — including The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee and The Kansas City Star — lost reporters
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Graduation rates are up. So is the use of credit recovery @lilyalta.bsky.social reports. Got thoughts? We have a survey at the end of this story and especially want to hear from educators to work in this space. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/09/08/c...
chalkbeat.org
More high schoolers are taking credit recovery post-pandemic. Is it helping them graduate or hurting learning?
Enrollment in credit recovery grew 13% nationwide in the years following the pandemic, according to a Chalkbeat analysis. While the courses keep students on track to graduate, experts warn they may sa...
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Kyle Clark @kylec.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
NEW: Denver is preparing for emergency lines to be swamped by callers on 9/11 as United Airlines flies a passenger plane flanked by fighter jets over the city for a "private ceremony" www.9news.com/article/news...
9news.com
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This comes just as special education staff are set to move to HHS — but Kelly Rogers wasn't there very long and was acting. The first person they tapped for this job is now an autism advisor to RFK. There's been a persistent lack of leadership. www.npr.org/2026/09/09/n...
npr.org
Special education head at Education Department abruptly resigns
The leader of the Education Department's special education office told employees she is resigning less than four months in the role and as the agency overall is morphing and shrinking.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
If we do this long enough, eventually we're going to have casualties from an accident related to a 9/11 memorial flight.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
We truly value women so little.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
New theory of educational decline. Step aside "the end of No Child Left Behind" and "the phones did it."
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
While some districts make a pedagogical choice to reduce reliance on screens, it appears that Memphis just ... stopped ... because they couldn't afford to give every child a laptop anymore. But classrooms don't necessarily have enough paper materials or books. www.chalkbeat.org/tennessee/20...
chalkbeat.org
Did Memphis schools stop giving laptops to every student?
Parents at one Memphis high school said the district has ended a yearslong policy that gave each student their own personal laptop to take home. It’s unclear how many schools are affected.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Declines in learning in recent years have affected many countries with vastly different education systems. These scores should sound and are sounding alarm bells. But are there aspects of the U.S. education system that prevented things from being even worse? www.chalkbeat.org/2026/09/08/p...
chalkbeat.org
U.S. students score above average in reading. Here’s why that’s not good news.
PISA international test results show concerning global declines in student learning. U.S. students posted some of their lowest scores ever in math and reading, but other countries are doing worse.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The van with seven people inside was owned by an airline cleaning contractor. The NTSB chair described it as “torn apart. It certainly must have been devastating."
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
When I was in Peace Corps, we joked that you could charge people in the U.S. money to live a simulation of Paraguayan daily life as a training regimen. And here we are: $15 to walk barefoot and connect to the earth.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
A dear colleague and wonderful journalist needs some help, if you can spare something. www.gofundme.com/f/support-mo...
gofundme.com
Donate to Support Mónica Rhor’s Cancer Fight, organized by Arelis Hernández
There is little any of us can control in this world. That’s why we cultivate our c… Arelis Hernández needs your support for Support Mónica Rhor’s Cancer Fight
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Rachel Cohen Booth @rcobooth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Washington’s proposed ban would go further than red-state bans in one key way. All girls seeking to participate in athletics would need to verify their sex assigned at birth, not just those whose eligibility is challenged www.vox.com/politics/501...
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
It's normal for, say, the Boulder elementary school on the edge of mountain open space to go on secure perimeter for bears. It is NOT normal for bears to be roaming all over the suburbs and even in the middle of Denver.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Oklahoma Republican voters chose a totally normal guy to be their candidate for state superintendent after the departure of Ryan Walters last year. Franklin says he'll work in the mode of Lindel Fields, the career educator appointed to finish Walters' term. oklahomavoice.com/2026/08/25/r...
oklahomavoice.com
Robert Franklin wins GOP runoff for Oklahoma state superintendent • Oklahoma Voice
Longtime educator and school administrator Robert Franklin won a key GOP nomination for Oklahoma state superintendent on Tuesday.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Nobody is going to college anymore ...
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The Education Department's social media feed is truly something else. www.the74million.org/article/from...
the74million.org
From Nemo to Super Mario, Ed Department’s Social Media Feed Draws Backlash
The department employed Franklin the Turtle to promote the agency’s closure, and on Monday, the White House featured ‘The Magic Deportation Bus.’
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Coming from an open enrollment state, these stories always shock me. A Massachusetts school district agrees to end an anonymous tip line for reporting suspected non-resident students. Black students were much more likely to be reported and investigated. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/19/m...
bostonglobe.com
Milton schools to scrap anonymous residency tip line, begin regular reports on investigations following Globe report - The Boston Globe
Changes discussed Wednesday include better data collection on factors such as a student's race and housing conditions. They come amid demands from families that the town stop using police to surveil c...
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
When the first day of school arrived Monday, some students tried to bring their backpacks. Other students left their backpacks at home only to find that the binder bags hadn’t arrived yet. 🤦‍♀️ Read more at: www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e...
newsobserver.com
Wake middle school is banning backpacks. Now. Parents wish they’d had some notice.
The school is now phasing in the change following parental complaints about the late notice about the backpack ban.
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 17/08/2026
Civil liberties groups asked the Supreme Court to hear their challenge of a Texas law requiring that all public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments, potentially setting up a landmark clash over the separation of church and state.
washingtonpost.com
Supreme Court asked to hear case on Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in schools
The case could set up a landmark clash over the separation of church and state.
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Matt Sebastian @mattsebastian.com · 17/08/2026
“It’s really hard to see how you run the government as if it was a partisan protection racket and maintain democratic norms,” said Aziz Huq, a law professor at the University of Chicago. “It’s really hard to see how you square this with any kind of commitment to democracy as a going concern.”
denverpost.com
Trump administration’s efforts against Colorado unprecedented and likely illegal, experts say
The Trump administration’s apparent efforts to coordinate a series of retributive actions against Colorado late last year are largely unprecedented and were likely not legal, constitutional law profes...
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
An estimated 20,000 DACA recipients work as educators. These processing delays affect those teachers first and foremost, when they can't work, but they also affect entire school communities.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The big swings in New York reading scores are raising questions about whether something went wrong with the test or how it's scored. As one assessment expert told Chalkbeat, people are much more eager to look under the hood of large declines than large increases. www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...
chalkbeat.org
Testing experts say New York’s reading score whiplash deserves a closer look
New York celebrated a dramatic rise in elementary reading scores last year. Now much of that gain has vanished, and testing experts are asking what happened
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I love this story. I know a few people whose fathers or other relatives have their names on Denver sidewalks, marking their work to build this city. I've noticed more recent ones have company names rather than individuals. www.rmpbs.org/news/history...
rmpbs.org
John Sandoval’s name is stamped across Denver’s sidewalks. Now his grandson is documenting them all | Rocky Mountain PBS
The City of Denver recently held a contest asking people to submit stamp designs that the city will use when pouring new sidewalks.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Once again validated by finding something easily on my complete mess of a desk. There it is! Right where I left it! Just like archeology.
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
No, there's no reason to split up the MMR vaccine. No, vaccines don't come in vats. Yes, a lot "bad can happen from what we’re doing."
nytimes.com
Fact-Checking Trump’s Claims About Childhood Vaccines After Executive Order (Gift Article)
Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Monday calling to scale back the number of vaccinations American children receive.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
My younger child is getting her driver's license soon, and I asked her if she knew what to do if she got pulled over. I was wondering if she knew which doc was the registration. She said, "Yeah, keep your hands visible and don't make sudden movements." This was covered in driver's ed.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Don't worry. I'm officially old enough I can't sleep in anyway. It's just sleep debt all the way to an early grave.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Few parents serve on school boards, and parents are usually underrepresented even among voters in school board elections. How would school governance look different if parents were at the table?
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Not sure I follow. Catholic schools have the religious freedom to turn away LGBTQ students but not to set their own vaccine policy. And to make this claim, we have the state interpreting Catholic doctrine. www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/f...
nbcmiami.com
Florida AG Uthmeier warns Catholic Church to accept vaccine exemptions
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is putting the Roman Catholic Church on notice – if they take taxpayer funded vouchers for their schools, they should accept vaccine exemptions for students, to...
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Only Congress can abolish the Education Department. The bill that advanced out of the Senate education committee this week — even if it never becomes law — shows Trump doesn't have the votes. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/07/31/t...
chalkbeat.org
Only Congress can abolish the Education Department. A bipartisan bill shows why that won’t happen.
A Senate committee vote to reverse some of Trump’s moves to break up the Education Department shows even some Republicans don’t support a major piece of his education agenda.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
“I never intended to talk to my children this young about the Ten Commandments."
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Matt Barnum @mattbarnum.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
New: There's been a notable and, in many cases, sustained rise in teachers leaving the classroom over the last four to five years, according to new data I collected. The uptick in any one year was modest but the cumulative loss of teachers has been substantial. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/07/30/t...
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The Classical Learning Test, which pitches itself as a rigorous alternative to the SAT, has become a go-to remedial test in Florida, allowing students to graduate by doing simple math problems. www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...
usatoday.com
Hegseth’s ‘gold standard’ college exam tests middle-school math
Held up as a new route to college admissions, the Classic Learning Test has instead become a remedial high-school graduation test in Florida.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I'm so sad to hear about the passing of Pete Moutzouris. This grocery store is a neighborhood institution and the kind of small grocery that is endangered outside the largest cities. He was so kind, so committed to quality. www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
cbsnews.com
Grocer in Denver's Hilltop neighborhood dies at 79, leaves behind a legacy of community
A longtime Denver business owner remembered for his kindness and deep ties to the Hilltop neighborhood has died.
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Facing federal science budget cuts, biologist Daniel Blumstein resorted to uploading marmot videos to OnlyFans to raise funds for his marmot research. However, when he uploaded his driver’s license for verification, OnlyFans informed him that his appearance didn’t match the marmots in the videos.
nytimes.com
‘OnlyMarms’: Marmots Are on OnlyFans to Raise Money for Research (Gift Article)
A team of scientists uploaded videos of the squirrel-like rodents in the wild on the adult-content site OnlyFans to raise money amid government budget cuts.
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Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Upwards of 200,00 people may have lost their jobs today; or will in the upcoming days. There is a palpable sense of fear among the Haitian community right now. They need your support.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Bus preachers have finally made it to the US, I see.
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Erica Meltzer @ericameltzer.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Raiding my parents' bag of bags because plastic bags are illegal in my state.
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