In the new year, a new plan will put $448 million toward early childhood education in Virginia. Known as "Building Blocks for Virginia Families," Gov. Glenn Youngkin s plan provides funds to help child care centers address staff shortages and help families struggling to pay for care. .
Education experts are worried censorship laws could have profound long-term impacts on the teaching profession. Research from the National Education Policy Center showed laws censoring content in the classroom foster a climate of fear and anxiety among educators. In Ohio this year, parents and teachers sued the Forest Hills School District for banning discussions of critical race theory. .
North Dakota s affordable housing gaps came into focus at a public hearing yesterday. A legislative committee, tasked with studying the issue, heard from a range of agencies, community groups and residents. Department of Health and Human Services data revealed more than 15,000 people were experiencing homelessness when applying for the state s pandemic-related Rent Help program over the past couple of years. .
A new report showed New York City small businesses in communities of color are recovering more slowly post-pandemic. The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development survey found businesses run by people of color are more likely to close in the next year, and immigrant businesses are more likely to relocate in the same time frame. The pandemic is to blame for some of the problems, as are increasing rents and other economic factors. .
"We all live downriver from Hanford," is the message painted on the windows of the Patagonia store in Seattle s Belltown neighborhood. It is a reminder of the continuing danger created by the remaining toxic nuclear waste at the Hanford Site in Benton County. Advocates with the nonprofit Hanford Challenge painted the mural to remind people everyone will suffer if the waste seeps into the groundwater and into the Columbia River. .