Reporter Jonaki Mehta here. Hope your weekend brought you some calm and peace.
This past week at NPR, we watched oral arguments for a major Supreme Court case that could narrow or even end a right that every child in this country is born with: the right to citizenship at birth, no matter who your parents are.
Our newsroom spent the weeklooking at how different parts of public life could be impacted if birthright citizenship were to change. In the world of education, the law is clear: Every child, regardless of their immigration status, is entitled to a free K-12 public education, thanks to Plyler v. Doe, a landmark Supreme Court case. That’s the good news.
The bad news is the reality for families doesn’t necessarily line up with the law. We saw earlier this year that fear of deportation can keep kids home from school. After surges in immigration enforcement, districts around the country saw drops in school attendance. That doesn’t just mean students are missing out on learning, it also means school districts might miss out on funding, which is often determined by enrollment, attendance or both.
And remember, schools aren’t just a place to learn, they’re also where students access LOTS of important resources like disability services, healthcare and mental health help. For students with disabilities, school is often the place they’re first identified as having a disability, and then hooked up with services like speech, occupational or physical therapy. Ending birthright citizenship could create a whole new class of children who wouldn’t feel safe going to school – children who would miss out on services that could help them thrive.
And immigration rights advocates I’ve been talking to say they’re worried the Trump administration is coming after Plyler next: Since last year, there have already been more than a dozen bills in a handful of states challenging Plyler.
1. “We call it the walking bus”: How kids are getting to school amid ICE operations. In the cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity has surged, residents say everything feels scarier. Many parents and their kids are worried about what should feel like a basic task: getting to school. So educators are stepping in. They're giving rides, delivering groceries and consoling distraught children. And it’s happening well beyond Minnesota.
2. Crossing the line: Emotional abuse in college sports. Researchers have found that athletes experience emotional abuse more than any other form of harm. Some athletes maintain that this kind of abuse by coaches can cause lasting, even irreparable damage.
— Julia Haney and Elizabeth Santos, News Reporters, NPR
Curiosity didn’t go anywhere. It just got louder.
Every NPR story begins the same way: with a question.
Who?
How?
Why?
Before a producer’s finger taps ‘Record,’ before a journalist’s pen touches a notepad, someone like you notices something that doesn’t quite add up, or a change you can’t explain, and wants to understand it.
Below are recent NPR podcast episodes that started as burning questions. Maybe they’ll answer questions you had. Hopefully, they’ll inspire even more.
Because curiosity can’t be silenced, as long as we keep handing it a megaphone.
What does an 8-year-old do after winning a Grammy? Fractions. Aura Valentina Simmons, aka Aura V, may be the youngest-ever individually named Grammy winner, but in her third-grade classroom, she uses the same blocks to figure out fractions as everyone else.
