NPR is reporting on the start of the academic year, noting the energy and excitement as students move into college dorms, such as at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. It said this comes despite ongoing concerns about the cost of higher education and visas for foreign students. The news organization also said that rising diesel fuel prices are creating a stressor for school districts nationwide. A gallon of diesel costs nearly $2 more than last year, significantly impacting the approximately 90% of U.S. school buses that run on diesel. NPR said a May survey indicated more than half of districts were already exceeding their budgets due to fuel costs, an issue that began with rising prices after the war with Iran.
NPR Ed is explaining new guidance from the Donald J Trump administration regarding race in school discipline. It said this guidance, which echoes a previous Trump term policy, argues that a former policy led schools to ignore or cover up student misconduct to avoid perceived racial disparities in discipline numbers. The Trump Education Department said this resulted in students who should have been disciplined remaining in class. Regarding college substance use, NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann found no evidence that cocaine use is gaining popularity on campuses, despite a Penn State bust. He said other substances are far more likely to be disruptive for college students.
NPR is also reporting on the high cost and scarcity of childcare, with StateImpact Oklahoma's Beth Wallis noting rapidly rising costs for babies and toddlers in Oklahoma, impacting families' lives. Separately, Joe Hernandez reported that more than 400,000 children nationwide are on waitlists for federal childcare assistance.
In technology news, NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reported on a proposed settlement with Meta, which requires the tech giant to pay states up to $17 billion over 10 years and implement key changes to Facebook and Instagram to make them safer for children. These changes include a default daily time limit of two hours for users under 18. Psychologists shared their thoughts on these new restrictions. Chatterjee also reported on other tech challenges for young people, including the death by suicide of Sophie Rottenberg, who had been sharing her struggles with an artificial intelligence chatbot.
NPR's Michel Martin spoke with the CEO of a company designing new school safety devices: drones. It said schools in Georgia, Florida and Colorado plan to deploy these drones, which are designed to confront school shooters before police arrive. The drones can deploy strobe lights, sirens and pepper gel, break windows, and as a last resort, ram into a threat.
On health and climate, NPR reported a high school football player in Kansas died this month during practice on a hot day, leading Texas schools to adjust outdoor athletic practices based on heat readings. It also said a former tenured professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point alleges he was pushed out after objecting to an order to stop teaching about human-caused climate change, according to a federal lawsuit. The country is also experiencing a record number of measles cases, with two measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania, including a newborn. NPR's Maria Godoy reported that kindergarten vaccination rates in the state and elsewhere have fallen below the 95% threshold needed to prevent measles spread.
Finally, NPR is highlighting Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which has mailed over 300 million books to children from birth to age 5. Parton created the program in honor of her father, who could not read or write. Her father lived to see the program's success and enjoyed hearing children call his daughter "The Book Lady."