Good morning!

From Los Angeles to New York and points in between, we have a full lineup of news, features and commentary to start your week. A few highlights:
 

• Texas: What could happen if Gov. Greg Abbott gets his wish for overturning Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court decision mandating school for children regardless of immigration status
   
• Washington, D.C.: COVID vaccines for young children could become available June 21
   
• New York: Mayor Eric Adams will retain control over the nation’s largest school system for another two years — less than what he and Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed for, but more than some parents wanted
   
• Los Angeles: Meet the candidates for district school board

Texas

Governor's Desire to Bar Undocumented Kids from School Echoes Failed Policies

Gov. Greg Abbott last month talked of wanting to challenge Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 Supreme Court decision that said states cannot refuse students based upon their immigration status. The 74’s Jo Napolitano looks at the disastrous effects similar policies have had in Alabama and Arizona — on children, families and the economy. In Texas, recent research shows that every dollar spent on undocumented residents, including on education, yielded $1.21 in revenue, undermining Abbott’s argument of a financial drain. It’s unclear if he’ll change tactics after the mass shooting in Uvalde, which took the lives of mostly Hispanic children, but a 2019 mass killing in El Paso that targeted Latinos did little to slow his anti-immigration measures.

Go Deeper:

• Warning Shot: Gov. Greg Abbott Says Federal Government Should Cover Cost of Educating Undocumented Students in Texas Public Schools
   
• Coming to America: RAND Corp. Says 321,000 Undocumented Children Entered U.S. Schools from 2016-2019, Sparking Need for More Teachers, Training and Funding

Big Picture

Research Shows Heavy Toll on Shooting Survivors

Just over a week has passed since tragedy unfolded in Uvalde, Texas, but community members must already confront the challenges that await students who lived through the horror. Studies examining the effects of previous school shootings, including dozens in Texas, suggest that survivors of such violence experience years of trauma, resulting in decreased academic performance, mental health setbacks and diminished lifetime earnings. “The hundreds of thousands of children and educators who experience and survive these tragedies are likely to carry scars for years and decades to come,” one researcher told The 74’s Kevin Mahnken.
 

Read more:

• 'I Just Want to Cry': For Kids Who Survived Uvalde Shooting Uninjured, Trauma Will Take Time to Heal
   
• Tragic Missteps: School Cops Scrutinized over Uvalde Shooting Response

Child Health

COVID Vaccinations for Toddlers Could Start after Juneteenth

Coronavirus vaccinations for children under 5 years old are likely to begin June 21, after the federal Juneteenth holiday, White House COVID Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said last week. Though the process depends on green lights from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new timeline appeared as a light at the end of the tunnel for many pandemic-weary parents of young children. “I teared up in the car today thinking about being able to get my kid vaccinated,” said Marisol LeBrón, professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Asher Lehrer-Small reports.
 

Related:

• One Fate, Two Fates. Red States, Blue States: New Data Reveal a 432-Hour In-Person Learning Gap Produced by the Politics of Pandemic Schooling
   

• On Hold: Congress Wants FDA to Explain Reported Delay in Reviewing Moderna Toddler Vaccine

Los Angeles

School Board Candidates Address Issues at Forums

Eight of the 11 school board candidates running for three open seats in the Los Angeles Unified School District spoke at a series of online forums last week, addressing issues ranging from mental health to COVID learning loss to teacher retention. Also up for discussion, reports Rebecca Katz, were district-specific concerns and safety after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The primary is tomorrow.

New York City

Mayor to Control Schools for Two More Years — More Than Some Parents Wanted

Mayor Eric Adams will retain control over the nation’s largest school system for another two years under a state-approved deal that also cuts class sizes and increases parent representation on an expanded Panel for Education Policy. That is not enough for some parents who want to see control more decentralized, if not a return to the days of 32 separate local school boards. “We need more student, parent and staff voices. We have some really good ideas about how to improve public education as a whole and we really want to see citywide systematic change,” one Brooklyn Community Education Council member told Jo Napolitano.

Read more:

• NYC Needs to Coax Families Back into the Public Schools: Alina Adams — But the City’s New Gifted-and-Talented Programs May Not Be Enough
   

• Getting Creative: As Absenteeism Skyrockets, Schools Seek to Lure Back Lost Students
   

• Big Picture: Reducing Class Sizes Is Popular With Parents but Not Education Experts. New Research on CA Program Might Change That

Pandemic Policy

Kids Are Far, Far Behind in School

John Bailey is back with his weekly roundup on schools, students and the science behind the pandemic. You can scan his recap of last week’s key developments right here. A few noteworthy headlines:
 

• The achievement loss for K-8 students is far greater than most educators and parents seem to realize
   
• Florida third-grade reading scores remain stagnant after COVID-19
   
• Iowa legislature bans school COVID vaccine mandates
   
• Read the full COVID briefing