Keeping up with students’ growing mental-health needs was a concern for districts long before the pandemic began. It’s even harder now, educators and psychologists say.

The case being heard by the Supreme Court next week deals with a debate that has raged since the 19th century about federal education funding for private religious schools.

The 5-4 decision involving a dispute in Montana appears to cast doubt on as many as 30 state constitutions that bar aid to religious schools.

Montana Superintendent Elsie Arntzen offers practical advice to schools that could open as early as May 7, even as she says "how they open schools and how learning takes place is up to them."

As Montana's governor pursues a plan to gradually reopen the state, the state education department is relying in part on public opinion to decide whether to reopen schools this year.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit turns away claims of religious discrimination by families seeking to use Maine's "tuitioning" program.

The lawsuit, filed in 2014, alleges that the state was severely underfunding schools, forcing school districts to lean heavily on property taxes, which especially disadvantages students in property-poor areas.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has become increasingly critical of charter schools this year, and his new proposals for charters would change how they operate and how they are funded.

Pennsylvania's rejection of a formal complaint from the state Catholic Conference over COVID aid and private school students highlights a messy dispute taking place in many states.

Social distancing is forcing school business to be conducted virtually, putting school boards in the difficult spot of making crucial decisions on spending and other issues without the same level of public input.

Facing big transportation costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some school districts will pay parents or caregivers to get their kids to school, or charge them for the bus ride.

Rhode Island's Council on Elementary and Secondary Education has postponed a decision on whether school districts can charge for summer school.

This map of Rhode Island shows per-pupil spending by school and just how much spending varies among the schools within individual districts.

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo proposes to allow traditional public schools to be free of certain regulations, including opening up enrollment outside their neighborhoods.

The two states are the first in 20 years to add such a requirement.

The law passed after parent groups lobbied for it and will require schools to provide 20 consecutive minutes of recess daily for students in kindergarten through 6th grade.

Gov. Kate Brown ordered the public release of annual school performance ratings last week after Oregon's biggest newspaper reported that a Brown appointee had delayed the release of the statistical rankings until after the high-stakes gubernatorial election Nov. 6.

In this fourth installment on the growth in dual-language learning, the director of dual-language education in Portland, Ore., says schools must have a clear reason for why they are offering dual-language instruction.

Three Oregon school employees sued their union in federal court last week, arguing it's unfair that the teachers' union only lets members drop out and stop paying dues during the month of September.

North Dakota's Senate has endorsed legislation that would bar felons from serving on school boards.

Wayne Sanstead, who has been North Dakota's state schools superintendent for nearly three decades, has decided not to run for an eighth term this fall.

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple, a Republican, signed a bill into law providing $3 million in state grants to preschool programs for students from low-income families.

Some states, such as California, Kentucky and North Dakota plan to use the Every Student Succeeds Act to bolster the decision-making powers of their local school boards in the coming years.

Facing big transportation costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some school districts will pay parents or caregivers to get their kids to school, or charge them for the bus ride.

Ohio auditor Dave Yost, a Republican, says that virtual schools should be compensated based on what their students learn.

Police in northeast Ohio have placed a school resource officer on unpaid leave for activating a Taser to wake up a sleeping student.

Attendance and login records show that Ohio's Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow was paid for 9,000 students more than it should have been, according to a state audit.

Academic achievement at Ohio schools eligible for School Improvement Grants during the Obama administration increased for a few years, a new study says, but SIG's legacy remains complicated.

A bill shielding what is now Ohio's largest online school and its sponsor from the negative consequences of accepting thousands of former Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow students is headed to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

"We have a responsibility to save lives," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on Twitter. "We could have waited to close schools, but based on advice from health experts, this is the time to do it."

Maryland's announcement Wednesday that school buildings won't reopen this academic year marked a a sobering milestone in the disruption to American education caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Several states already offer a state-sanctioned LMS option to their schools, with some encouraging results in their efforts to cut costs and improve technical capabilities.

Wyoming once again takes the top spot in Quality Counts' annual ranking of the states on school finance, while 22 states receive grades between C-minus and D-minus.

"In communities most devastated by COVID-19, academic achievement is pretty far down on the priority list—this is the reality," says Wyoming state chief Jillian Balow.

States’ efforts so far suggest there won’t be enough money to go around for all the learning losses of students with disabilities from COVID-19 school shutdowns.