Author

Elaine S. Povich

Elaine S. Povich

Elaine S. Povich covers education and consumer affairs for Stateline. Povich has reported for Newsday, the Chicago Tribune and United Press International.

For child care workers, state aid for their own kids’ care is ‘life-changing’

By: - July 1, 2024

SMITHFIELD, R.I. — Child care worker Marci Then, 32, looked over at two 4-year-olds in her care who were tussling over a toy plate in a model kitchen set. “Are we sharing?” she gently asked them. They both let go. Then works at Little Learners Academy child care center near Providence, Rhode Island. Her daughter, […]

Kentucky among states taking a harder line on school discipline

By: - October 2, 2023

Parents in Boone County, Kentucky, were outraged this past January when a ninth grader who had been suspended a year earlier for threatening violence against his fellow students returned to class as soon as his punishment time was up. The parents packed a school board meeting, excoriating the county superintendent and other officials for the […]

Nearly half the states now allow in-state tuition for immigrant students

By: - August 17, 2023

When Cristian Dubon Solis was getting ready to graduate from a Boston high school in 2020, he started planning to apply to college. It was only then he realized that as an immigrant lacking permanent legal status, he wouldn’t qualify for in-state tuition at Massachusetts state universities, nor for state-sponsored financial aid. With no way to […]