Weekly Media Roundup: October 15, 2025

Education Department layoffs hit offices that oversee special education and civil rights enforcement, Associated Press

On Friday, the Trump Administration initiated a new round of layoffs at the Department of Education amid mass firings across the government. These layoffs will leave the Department of Education reduced to less than half its size since President Trump took office in January. The new layoffs included the entirety of the team that oversees 21st Century Community Learning Centers, the primary federal funding stream for afterschool programs. “Firing that team is shocking, devastating, utterly without any basis, and it threatens to cause lasting harm,” Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant told the Associated Press.

Summer learning programs reached more than a quarter of Boston's students, WBUR (Massachusetts)

18,000 students, more than a quarter of the city’s school-age population, participated in Boston’s summer learning programs this year. The programs included academic instruction, outdoor exploration, sports, STEM activities, and cultural programming, and spanned over 241 sites in the city. “I think our biggest lesson over these years is that the entire city can be a classroom,” Chris Smith, executive director of Boston Beyond, told WBUR. “A lot of these really interactive programs get good results because they engage kids based on their interest. When they try something new and get better at it, they become both more curious and more confident.”

Science Scores Are Down. But We Know What Would Improve Them, Education Week

According to the most recent release of eighth grade National Assessment of Educational Progress scores, students’ science scores are in decline. In a recent guest column for Education Week, Emma Banay of the Overdeck Family Foundation and Christine Cunningham of the Museum of Science in Boston argue that to build a scientifically literate student body, science instruction must start early in elementary schools and be embedded in out-of-school time programming. “After-school programs, summer camps, libraries, and science museums are often overlooked and underappreciated venues for STEM learning. We should look at them afresh: These settings offer powerful opportunities for inquiry-based, hands-on instruction that can complement what happens in class,” Banay and Cunningham write.

Community-Based Organizations Must Be Part of the Student Mental Health Solution, The 74 Million

Community-based organizations and out-of-school-time programs, places where young people already spend time and form relationships, often over several years, present an opportunity to expand mental health services for youth, America’s Promise Alliance CEO Mike O’Brien and The Jed Foundation CEO John MacPhee argue in a recent guest column for The 74 Million. Staff at these programs can be trained to recognize potential issues and respond to and refer students in need to mental health professionals. “Community-based organizations are uniquely positioned to meet the moment by providing critical support that can complement and extend school-based efforts. By investing in their capacity now — and fostering stronger collaboration across every corner of the youth-serving ecosystem — we can build a more cohesive, responsive, and resilient network to support young people,” O’Brien and MacPhee write.