Gail Cornwall

hechingerreport.orgThe hidden financial aid hurdle derailing college studentsLittle-known rules requiring that students make ‘satisfactory academic progress’ to receive federal grants have derailed countless college students. But legislators are finally taking notice.

11 Nov 2023

A little-known requirement meant to incentivize academic performance has been doing the opposite for decades, disqualifying capable students from financial aid for life & becoming “a de facto end” to their education. It’s not fair or smart. My latest for @hechingerreport.org & @washingtonpost.com.

kmuw.orgFree school lunch is no longer on the menu for many kids. It's one of many strains on cafeteriasSchools in the U.S. serve almost 30 million lunches every day. But rising food costs, regulations and cuts to food assistance mean school kitchens have to do more with less.

Right. Cool. This makes sense, since the “USDA says millions of students rely on school meals and snacks for more than half of their food intake during the school week.” www.kmuw.org/2026-10-19/s...

nytimes.comHegseth Barred Trans Troops. Military Boards Are Rejecting Those Orders. (Gift Article)The service members at Navy and Marine Corps hearings are finding ways to keep trans troops in uniform.

“They just cared that I did my job well.” And they put loyalty above pageantry. As a pacifist, I can’t cheer on the military, but a human, I can admire these boards and the individuals saying no to cruelty at potentially high personal cost. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u...

nbcnews.comHow YouTube junk is infiltrating classroomsSchools wanted educational videos. Students got clickbait. A first-of-its-kind analysis reveals how students are drawn into a platform that keeps them scrolling during class.

Also, I have a follow-up idea for @tktk.bsky.social: Survey parents to see what percent have been asked for this sort of consent in a REAL way: “Since 2018, Google … requires administrators to obtain parents’ permission annually before enabling [YouTube access].” I’m banking on a low single digit.

Gail Cornwall@gailcornwall.com

“Teachers occasionally yelled at him to stay on task, he said, but they also assigned him work that required his laptop, & they often shared links to YouTube videos to watch for class.” @tktk.bsky.social illustrating a hard-to-measure but universally-felt problem. www.nbcnews.com/specials/hoo...

cato.orgDOJ Sues to Prevent Certification of Alaska Senate Winner (If It's a Democrat)The U.S. Department of Justice today sued the state of Alaska, seeking to enjoin it from certifying a narrow Democratic win in the Alaska senate race — at least if the winner is a Democrat and the res...

Gail Cornwall reposted

Walter Olson

@walterolson.bsky.social

My take at Cato on why DOJ's lawsuit against Alaska is borderline frivolous, abusive, contemptuous of federalism and more. "In the aftermath of the 2020 election, courts made clear that they would not allow meritless litigation to steal an election. They may soon have to make that clear again."

Gail Cornwall reposted

Elizabeth Weil

@lizweil.bsky.social

Dan wrote a gorgeous story about his incredible father. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

nytimes.comProcessing My Father’s Death by Climbing in His Footsteps (Gift Article)Yosemite is where my father taught me to climb. It’s also where he made a mistake that nearly cost me my life.

newyorker.comThe Doxing of Jane DoeThe alleged perpetrators in the “Cornell Seven” case were doxed. But so was the victim. And the person who doxed her. And people with no connection to the case at all.

This doxing, on all sides, represents a horrifying level of societal dysregulation and cruelty. www.newyorker.com/news/america...

stephaniehmurray.substack.comWe Could Just Be Normal About ChildcareLots of moms want it. Lots of moms don’t. We don’t have to complicate it any further.

“The correct take on childcare is the boring apolitical one. Lots of moms want it. Lots don’t. We can build a system that leaves room for those varying preferences. Other countries have.” @stephhmurray.bsky.social with nuance for the win. stephaniehmurray.substack.com/p/we-could-j...

nytimes.comBondage Photos Weren’t Part of the Campaign Plan (Gift Article)But Chris Gallant, a Black Hawk pilot and Democrat who is running to represent Long Island in Congress, is making the most of life post-tabloid reveal.

Sometimes an entire article is written so that one line can dazzle: “Gallant seemed to decide that the photos were a chance to show that a person in public life can contain multitudes.” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/s...

newyorker.comMillions from the Opioid Settlement Are Being Spent on Law EnforcementPeople often call money from the opioid settlement “blood money,” and you might expect that it would go mostly to the families of people who died of overdoses. But much of it has gone to law enforceme...

A travesty imbued with the darkest of ironies: “Irvington, in New Jersey, spent more than $600K of its settlement money on ‘opioid awareness’ events that included large concerts…. More typically, municipalities have spent the money on law enforcement.“ www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Gail Cornwall reposted

The Hechinger Report

@hechingerreport.org

Putting needed housing on empty campuses uses one problem to solve another — but is harder than it seems.

hechingerreport.orgAs more colleges close, advocates are calling for them to be turned into housingQUINCY, Mass. — Waist-high weeds climb through cracks in the tennis courts. Ivy snakes across the locked-shut entrance of a redbrick former women’s dormitory. Canada geese graze on the baseball field. Wild turkeys scratch in the underbrush. Nature is reclaiming what remains of Eastern Nazarene College, which closed last year after its enrollment plummeted and its liabilities ballooned to an unsustainable $18 million. It’s one among a growing number of closed colleges sitting empty, some for years stretching into decades, as communities fight over what they should become and trustees struggle to pay off creditors.

sacbee.comICE arrests father on college campus in what may be unprecedented action in California“When ICE started showing up ... I promised my dad I would protect him. I couldn’t. I broke my promise, today.”

ICE pounced on a dad dropping his daughter off at school. For shame. As UC Davis Law professor Kevin Johnson, a national expert on immigration law, told @sacbee.com’s Mathew Miranda: “Under this administration, no place is off limits from immigration enforcement.” www.sacbee.com/news/politic...

newyorker.comICE Is Everywhere and Acting with ImpunityICE arrests have reached a record high—nearly fifty-one thousand in August alone—with agents conducting operations nationwide at hospitals, at airports, and outside schools.

History will show that the development of a lawless police force & gulag in the US happened on our watch. “Deploying government agencies without regard for facts or consequences is, of course, a hallmark of authoritarianism,” writes @jonathanblitzer.bsky.social. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

teenhealthtoday.comChannel Your Rage Into Action Against RapeMoving from anger into action

Hands down the best take I’ve seen on what we can actually DO to prevent sexual assault. From @mrpepper.bsky.social. www.teenhealthtoday.com/p/6-powerful...

afsc.orgTell Congress to restore funding for Medicaid & SNAPIn 2025, Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which made the largest ever cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. These cuts will cause thousands of preventable deaths each year as people lose access ...

It takes less than two minutes! afsc.org/action/tell-...

edweek.orgTrump, Bucking Congress Yet Again, Cancels $100 Million for EducationA "pocket rescission" hits programs for migratory farmworkers and college-level language instruction.

More unbalancing of powers: “The Trump admin is using a mechanism widely viewed as illegal to cancel nearly $100 mil Congress appropriated for expanding college-level foreign-language instruction & helping transient U.S. agricultural workers get GEDs & go to college.” www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

@marklieberman.bsky.social for @edweek.org

npr.orgCongress passed $100 million for teen pregnancy prevention. Most of it is untouchedWith days left to go in the 2026 fiscal year, lawmakers push the health department to spend the money Congress allocated to prevent teen pregnancy. An NPR exclusive.

There’s more than one way to misappropriate power: Congress passed $101 million for teen pregnancy prevention but about $100 million remains unspent after Trump’s Dept of Health & Human Services abruptly cut off grants to dozens of nonprofits, universities & health depts. www.npr.org/2026/09/24/n...

This is good governance.

Governor Gavin Newsom@governor.ca.gov

I just signed bills that strengthen protections for places of worship and expand security resources for nonprofits across the state. Every Californian should be able to walk into a house of worship without fear, and every nonprofit should be able to bring people together safely.

religionnews.comHow megapastor Adam Hamilton could break the GOP's hold on KansasLEAWOOD, Kansas (RNS) — While Democrats have long been considered a longshot for statewide races in Kansas, the Rev. Adam Hamilton's candidacy has proven unexpectedly competitive.

How big-tent Christianity is pushing back against the selfish, divisive, and inhumane “spirituality” of JD Vance and his ilk: “Rev. Adam Hamilton's [Democratic] candidacy has proven unexpectedly competitive” in Kansas. @rns.org religionnews.com/2026/09/23/h...

theatlantic.comWhy I’m Sending My Black Son to Private SchoolI admire Nikole Hannah-Jones’s choice. I am making a different one.

“I’ve always believed that I have a responsibility … to care about all kids in need. I fear I am betraying that when I choose what is best for my son and my son alone. But America should not force parents to make that kind of choice.” @jenishawo.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

k12dive.comUniversal school meal reversals take toll on student behavior, focus, study findsThe findings published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior come amid growing fears that new policy changes could further hinder access.

Hold up. Under Homeland Security’s new “public charge” rule, a parent’s green card application can be denied if their U.S.-born child uses a federal benefit, like Medicaid or SNAP?! So kids can’t access the school lunch that research shows is needed to learn? Cruelty. www.k12dive.com/news/univers...

religionnews.com/2026/09/21/f...

religionnews.comFor Jewish activists in Brooklyn, Yom Kippur becomes a day to mourn PalestiniansNEW YORK (RNS) — As the highly anticipated US visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches this week, attendees denounced how the Israeli government has handled the war.

nytimes.comIn Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (Gift Article)A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.

22 Sept

“As long as we continue to rescue our own children from the failing schools where we allow other people’s children to languish simply because those children have been born Black and poor in a nation of racism and riches, there is no absolution here. Not for me. Not for you. Not for any of us.”

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social

New from Nikole Hannah-Jones: In fighting for every Black child, Did I betray my own? ‘A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge NYC’s unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice’

newyorker.comWhat We Lost When Big Tech Took Over the ClassroomNatasha Singer’s book “Coding Kids” tracks how public schools were bewitched by private corporations, setting the stage for the ed-tech backlash of today.

21 Sept

“Public schools in the U.S. have effectively surrendered much of their pedagogy, curricula, & … systems to a handful of trillion-dollar tech companies.” Those steering the corporate ship have no idea where it’s going, making a comprehensive response near impossible. www.newyorker.com/culture/prog...

runnersworld.comUltrarunning’s Newest Star Has Been Winning for Years. Why Are We Just Learning Rachel Entrekin’s Name?Ahead of UTMB, the Cocodona champ opens up about self-doubt, recovery, and fighting for recognition.

21 Sept

This article is a master class on how to write about a topic that’s been covered thoroughly and for months, taught by @glorialiu for @runnersworld.bsky.social. “Confidence that’s both brash and tenuous feels deeply familiar, and female.” www.runnersworld.com/trail-runnin...

theatlantic.comThe Missing Ingredient of Modern LifeWhy we need wonder

“Too many of us seem to be maxxing our way out of the experiences and perspectives that give us maximum meaning…. When goals overtake experience, you lose the freedom to encounter your life as it happens. And … you are no longer living in full.” @ibogost.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Thomas Kelly made a similar argument in 1941.

theatlantic.comThe Missing Ingredient of Modern LifeWhy we need wonder

theatlantic.comThe Missing Ingredient of Modern LifeWhy we need wonder

“We used to optimize work so we could do everything else. Now we optimize life as though living were another job.” @ibogost.com for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

religionnews.comRNS tracked the religious lawsuits against Trump’s immigration policies. Here’s what we found.(RNS) — Eighty religious plaintiffs from 11 major faith traditions have joined lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s immigration policies, according a tracker developed by RNS with the Law, ...

“While [Trump] insists he has ‘done more for religion than any other president,’ he has been repeatedly sued by faith groups—particularly over his attempts to … facilitate mass deportation.” I’m proud to be Quaker and to be part of this unprecedented wave of filings. religionnews.com/2026/09/16/r...

sahanjournal.comMinnesota schools lost at least 1,700 students after ICE operationA Sahan Journal data analysis shows student enrollment declined in Minnesota school districts with the highest percentage of English learners after the federal immigration operation. For some, the los...

9 Sept

“following Operation Metro Surge: as many as 1,700 students left the Minnesota school districts & charter schools with the highest percentage of English learners. “Kids literally disappeared,” said the superintendent of Fridley Public Schools. “Overnight.” sahanjournal.com/education/mi...

edsource.orgDo later school start times help California students? Here’s what new study saysLater school start times can disrupt family schedules and cost districts money, but a new study says the benefits for sleep, mental health and academic achievement for California students makes the ch...

9 Sept

Great news! I want the causality to be there, AND I’m left wondering how @osea.bsky.social and team accounted for comparing data collected near pandemic-era well-being lows (2022) to data collected after kids had a few years of relative normality under their belts (2025)? What’s the control group?

Gail Cornwall@gailcornwall.com

“California’s mandate requiring later start times for middle and high schools is already yielding results, with students sleeping more, reporting better mental health and scoring higher math and English scores, according to a new study.” Vani Sanganeria for @edsource.org edsource.org/2026/califor...

“For student parents … balancing classes, parenting & … work—can make completing a degree more difficult.” In the Univ of Louisiana System’s new spaces, kids play with supervision while their parents study nearby. @joshuabay.bsky.social for @insidehighered.com www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

insidehighered.comTackling Time Poverty for Student ParentsThe University of Louisiana System is expanding support for student parents by addressing an overlooked barrier to success: finding time to study.

theguardian.comICE bans hugging inside California’s largest detention center. Families are fighting backIn the California City facility, ‘contact visits’ are strictly forbidden – but detained residents aren’t staying quiet. Are officials listening?

9 Sept

To pressure people to accept deportation without a court ruling, the Trump administration has created conditions worse than those at many prisons - in the absence of a real safety threat and with plenty of funds on hand. @samtlevin.bsky.social for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

newyorker.comHow Trump Is Trying to Weaken Migrant Children’s Legal DefenseAfter failing to eliminate funding for unaccompanied minors’ lawyers altogether, the Administration is pushing cases toward entities that lack both immigration expertise and the capacity to take them ...

17 Aug

Why would the Trump admin get rid of hundreds of lawyers qualified to represent unaccompanied kids in immigration court & assign the work to those lacking experience & interest? To “pump up their deportation numbers on the backs of children,” says @acaciajustice.org www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

newyorker.comThese Immigrants Lived in the U.S. Legally. Now Trump Is Changing Their Status.More than a million immigrants are seeing protections that granted them safe lives in the U.S. suddenly swept away.

15 Aug

Excellent wide-angle lens on the inhumane, nonsensical “great delegalization” of the U.S. TLDR: Congress hasn’t done much in over 35 years, essentially leaving the executive branch in charge. The Trump admin has stripped protection from more than a million people. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

edsource.orgCalifornia lawmakers call for faster DACA renewals amid prolonged processing delaysA California Assembly resolution is urging the federal government to speed up DACA renewals as prolonged processing delays leave some educators unable to work.

15 Aug

You don’t need to kill a program to kill a program. And you don’t need to deport people to terrorize them. We told these folks - brought to the U.S. as kids - that they can safely work here. And we, the people, are breaking our promise. Shame on the U.S. Props to Cali. edsource.org/2026/daca-wo...

chalkbeat.orgThe research on who benefits from college may surprise youStudies in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Texas point in the same direction: Four-year college often helps students with modest high school records.

4 Aug

Another clear-eyed look at the research from @mattbarnum.bsky.social: "Who should go to college? More students may benefit than we think." www.chalkbeat.org/2026/08/04/w...

shawnsmucker.substack.comPlease Use AIBe sure to use AI when making

4 Aug

Take 2 minutes out of your day to really feel what AI has to do with the beauty of life, the LIFE of life, being found in clumsiness and “subtle imperfections.” shawnsmucker.substack.com/p/please-use...

hechingerreport.orgThe next literacy challenge: Teaching students how to writeAfter years of neglect, writing skills are getting more attention in school

26 July

“[D]espite the evidence behind SRSD and similar approaches based on the science of writing, they haven’t made it into … classrooms.” @jackiemader.bsky.social for @hechingerreport.org & @denverpost.com hechingerreport.org/the-next-lit...

nytimes.comOpinion | ‘The Five-Star Weekend’ Makes Middle Age Look MagicalLately, the media loves to humiliate women in their 40s and 50s; this show reveres them.

22 July

Excellent points by @jessgrose.bsky.social that are totally supported by emerging research on midlife as less crisis, more reflective opportunity. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/o...

newyorker.comInside ICE’s Largest Detention CenterOn a military base in West Texas, where the government has built a sprawling tent complex to hold thousands of immigrants, deprivation and dire conditions are part of the design.

15 July

You know that feeling in an ice cream shop or Swarovski, where there are just so many tantalizing wonders that your eyes dart around, unable to focus on any one thing? This article by @jonathanblitzer.bsky.social is like that, only for atrocities & moral repugnance. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Gail Cornwall reposted

Anjali Dayal

@anjalikdayal.bsky.social

Pointing out that ICE is murdering people they’re not looking for clearly isn’t to say it would be right for them to murder the people they are looking for. It’s to highlight how they are bringing roving terror and arbitrarily death to the whole US population. There’s no containing their threat.

newyorker.comSomething Is Very Wrong with Modern Longevity ScienceA new book argues that many of the world’s oldest people aren’t so old after all.

Science communication is hard. @dhruvkhullar.bsky.social makes it look easy in this incredibly readable, persuasive new article for @newyorker.com. What if modern healthmaxxers are tanking their wellness by chasing a wild goose? www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comThe End of Reading Is HereOptimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.

Start reading this article for the horrifying stats. Stay for the well-reasoned, well-argued doomsdayism of wise-beyond-her-years Rose Horowitch. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

newyorker.comThe Human Cost of DOGE’s War on U.S.A.I.D.Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the “public man-made death” that they’ve caused.

What an incredible profile in advocacy & care. @agawande.bsky.social's writing is uniquely crisp & moving. But he's shifted to podcast interviews & making a documentary, meeting the moment to save lives. Can you imagine putting aside your great strength like that? www.newyorker.com/news/the-new...

newyorker.comOur Plastic-Surgery NightmareAs cosmetic procedures become both more invisible and more extreme, our connection to reality is fraying.

12 July

Beautifully crafted, persuasive take on an incredibly important topic from @jiatolentino.bsky.social. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Gail Cornwall reposted

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

3 July

Last year ICE said a man tried to murder a female ICE officer while she was trying to arrest him. They swore under oath he grabbed her by the neck and tried to choke her to death. He was even indicted for attempted murder. Problem is, it never happened! Bystander video unraveled the lie.

nebraskapublicmedia.orgA Venezuelan man was accused of attempting to choke an ICE officer to death in Bellevue. Bystander video tells a different storyGabriel Hurtado-Cariaco was referred to by DHS as a “criminal illegal alien” and a “known Tren de Aragua terrorist.” The agency said he “violently attacked an ICE agent” by slamming her head into the ...