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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

MT: Education

The union that represents Montana's public school teachers has filed suit to stop a pair of school choice bills in the state. One would create Educational Savings Accounts, the other a charter school system, both of which would be funded with state education money. (Adobe Stock)
MT teachers union files pair of 'school choice' lawsuits

Montana's largest teachers union has filed two lawsuits against "school choice" measures in the state. Montana lawmakers passed House Bill 393 last …

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Heart Butte, Mont., population 600, is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The suicide rate for Montana's Native American youth is more than five times the statewide rate for the same age group, according to the Montana Budget and Policy Center. (Amanda MorningStar)
MT Tribes grapple with crippling suicide rate

By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Mark Moran for Big Sky Connection reporting for the KFF Health News/Public News …

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Montana House Bill 393, which would create Educational Savings Accounts for special education students, is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2024. Critics vow to challenge it in court. (Adobe Stock)
MT teachers oppose special-ed voucher program

The union that represents Montana teachers opposes a move to legalize private school vouchers in the state. Educational Savings Accounts, or ESAs…

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Public schools and colleges are working together to build a pipeline of homegrown talent to help address the teacher shortage in Montana's K-12 classrooms. (Working Nation)
Creating a local pipeline for Montana teaching jobs

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Mark Moran for Big Sky Connection reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Collabora…

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Some 43.5 million Americans have some form of federal or private student loan debt, which is 13% of the population, according to the Federal Reserve's Consumer Credit report. (Adobe Stock)
MT Sees Sluggish Signup for SAVE Program to Reduce Student Debt

The U.S. Department of Education said more than 4 million Americans have enrolled in the Biden administration's college loan repayment program…

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports there are about 220,200 openings for nursing assistants and orderlies each year over the course of a decade. (Adobe Stock)
MT Partnership Trains Nursing Assistants to Address Critical Shortage

Facing a critical shortage of front line health care workers, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry has partnered with the Blackfeet Indian …

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There were 7,547 charter schools throughout the United States in the 2019-2020 school year, compared with 1,993 in the 2000-2001 school year, according to Statista. (Adobe Stock)
Parents, Teachers Sue Over Montana School Privatization

A coalition of parents and public-school teachers has sued to prevent the privatization of schools in Montana. Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed House …

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The rate of children under age 19 without health insurance dropped to 5% in 2021, an estimated 4,165,000 million kids nationwide, down from 6% in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (Adobe Stock)
Healthy Kids Study Shows Dramatic Lack of Montana Child Care

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Book ranks Montana 18th nationally in overall child well-being. The just-released numbers showed …

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As of 2022, 448 statehouse reporters across the U.S. work at newspapers, making up 25% of the statehouse corps. That's down from 604 statehouse reporters - 38% of the total - in 2014. (Adobe Stock)
University Students Add to MT Statehouse Reporting

Student reporters are stepping up to fill gaps in news coverage as the number of full-time statehouse reporters continues to decline. State …

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Miles Community College is a small college in eastern Montana. (David Schott/Wikimedia Commons)
Report: Students Happy with College's 'Digital Transformation'

Digital learning has become the new normal for colleges since the pandemic, and a report finds community college students are largely satisfied with …

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Blackfeet Community College is in Browning, Mont. in Glacier County near the Canadian border. (David Adamec/Wikimedia Commons)
Grant Boosts Student Parents at MT Tribal College

A grant is helping student parents at a college in northwestern Montana. The Aspen Institute has announced Blackfeet Community College and seven …

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More than 78,000 Montanans who received Pell grants were eligible for up to $20,000 in student debt relief under President Biden's loan forgiveness program. (zimmytws/Adobe Stock)
MT Student Borrowers Await Fate of Loan Forgiveness Program

About 120,000 Montanans qualified for the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness program, but the program's future is still in limbo…

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