High school principals say culture wars made last year "rough as hell"

Supreme Court will hear case against Biden's loan relief program

View this email online December 4, 2022 New research shows that principals across the country faced challenging political conflict last year, especially in evenly divided “purple” communities. Also, the Supreme Court said Biden’s debt relief program must stay frozen until it weighs in. Happy Sunday, It’s Cory here, with a story I wrote this week about an eye-popping survey of nearly 700 public high school principals. Researchers from UCLA and UC Riverside asked them about the 2021-'22 school year – when conflicts with parents and community members over a host of hot-button issues were regularly in the news. Well, in the words of one of those surveyed, a principal in Nevada, last year was "rough as hell." "Something needs to change or else we will all quit," says another high school principal, in California. Jaime Jacob/NPR More than two-thirds (69%) of principals surveyed say they experience "substantial political conflict" with parents or other members of the community last year over several controversial topics: Teaching about issues of race and racism  Policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ student rights  Social-emotional learning Student access to books some parents consider inappropriate Complicating these fights, say principals, is rampant misinformation.  "You can't use CNN [in the classroom] because the parents will go nuts on you. You can't use Fox because it's so out there,” says one principal, a registered Republican. “It's hard to teach kids about what's going on in any kind of context, because there is no context anymore." The survey was conducted during the summer of 2022 by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA and the Civic Engagement Research Group at UC Riverside. The resulting report is rich with detail and gut-punch quotes that school leaders offered researchers in exchange for anonymity. Check out our story for the survey's biggest takeaways. — Cory Turner, Correspondent, NPR Ed Read More Newsletter continues after sponsor message Now, let’s get into some news …  Biden’s debt relief goes to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court announced that it will hear arguments about the program in their session that begins in February – and ordered the whole program kept on ice until then. Read more here. — Nina Totenberg, NPR Correspondent, and Jess Zalph, NPR Intern Uvalde survivors file suit. Survivors from the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, have filed a $27 billion class action lawsuit against the city, school district, multiple law enforcement agencies, and individual officers. Read more here. — Jaclyn Diaz, NPR Reporter Crack down on vaping. After two years and almost 8 million vape products to review, the FDA is expected to  pull products aimed at teens off the market. Read more here. — Yuki Noguchi, NPR Correspondent And before you go, give your imagination a page-turner! Books we love. Find a kid’s book to curl up with this holiday season, for you or someone you love. Take a look at NPR’s 2022 children’s book picks here.  Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: npred@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy