Hi! It’s Lily, writing to you from the national desk. Our big story this week comes to us from Chicago, where our Chalkbeat colleague Mila Koumpilova took a deep dive into the major growth in students enrolling in dual credit courses.

Stick around for details on the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict undocumented students from dual enrollment, Chicago’s new school CEO, and an appearance from a celebrity.

Dual credit is booming among high school students across the country. 

Data shows 2.8 million high school students took college courses in the 2023-2024 school year — a 12.7% increase over the year before, according to the Community College Research Center. In Chicago, students took more than 13,000 dual credit courses last year. But a Chalkbeat analysis found that the proliferation of dual credit hasn’t coincided with a massive increase in college enrollment among Chicago Public Schools students.

Still, there’s a push in Chicago’s public schools to expand access to dual credit courses, particularly for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds, who are underrepresented nationally in earning this type of credit. At Michele Clark High on Chicago’s West Side, 12 students graduated with associate degrees from a local community college system last year.

Clark High’s staff members are promoting dual credit as a way for savvy students to go further in their postsecondary careers, faster.

“You have to play the numbers game those next two years,” said Robert Lee, an instructor at Clark. “Two for one — always keep that in mind! More bang for your buck!”

To Chicago Public Schools leaders, the rise of dual credit has been a success story. But some are concerned that these programs are not as rigorous as they should be. 

Read the full story here.

Amid a push for dual enrollment and other career training, the Trump administration is trying to limit undocumented students from these programs. At least three states took steps to restrict these students’ access to dual enrollment and career-technical education programs. These moves chip away at education protections afforded to these students by precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in its ruling in Plyler v. Doe. In Virginia, nearly every school district quietly agreed to exclude undocumented students from participating in certain federally funded career-and-technical education programs.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday about President Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship. Central to the arguments is the 14th Amendment, which includes the sentence, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

The New York Times reports that a majority of justices appeared to be skeptical of the constitutionality of the president’s executive order that kicked off the legal battle.

But if the court were to allow Trump’s order to move forward, hundreds of thousands of children could be born in the country without citizenship every year. The repercussions of such a policy shift in the country would likely extend to schools.

Under Plyler v. Doe, public schools must educate children regardless of their immigration status. But experts worry ending birthright citizenship could erode the protections of Plyler, particularly as conservative federal and state policymakers seek to challenge Plyler.

Medicaid dollars that go to schools for services for students with disabilities could be at risk with the elimination of birthright citizenship, if students aren’t eligible for Medicaid. Schools would still be required to provide services under special education plans.

A decision is expected to come down sometime this summer.

That’s the average length school superintendents have held their current jobs, according to new study data from AASA, The School Superintendents Association. A higher proportion of superintendents reported declining economic conditions year over year.

That’s Landon James, a sophomore at Hollywood High School, where indie musician Mitski is playing a series of sold-out concerts this week. James also wants to make sure students catch the school musical, to be performed in the same auditorium this month. The school held a raffle with two tickets to one of Mitski’s shows as the prize for students based on attendance. A counselor said attendance rates were higher among students entering the raffle than students who did not enter.