HIGHLIGHTS
JUMP: EDUCATION | INFRASTRUCTURE | PUBLIC SERVICES | THE REST
First, the Good News
1) National: States are moving to protect vaccines in the face of the Trump administration’s attempts to remove mandates, the Associated Press reports. “While most Americans say kids should be vaccinated to attend school, adults nationwide are now less likely to think those immunizations are important. At the same time, routine childhood vaccine rates are falling. Here is a rundown of what states are saying about vaccine mandates.”
2) National: The Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools is offering some concrete steps people can take to try to restore vital funding for public education. The Trump Administration 2026 budget continues the large-scale slashing that began with the billionaire-backed DOGE cuts that took hold soon after Trump took office in January. In his budget, Trump plans to cut $12 billion from public education, which would start to be felt beginning October 1st. Trump and his billionaire buddies want to eliminate $4.4 billion for dozens of programs, like:
- Programs that support English language learners ($890 million)
- Teacher recruitment and training ($220 million)
- College access and preparation ($1.6 billion)
- Adult education ($729 million)
- Community schools ($150 million)
- Education of children in families that work seasonal agricultural jobs ($428 million)
- Civil rights enforcement ($49 million), and more
3) National: Karen Hao has been named to the list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence. Time says, “Journalist Karen Hao began reporting on AI—and specifically OpenAI—years before ChatGPT became a global sensation. She turned that reporting into Empire of AI, a bestselling page-turner that has made waves not just in Silicon Valley but around the world. The book builds the case that the AI industry is becoming a “new form of empire” and raises the question of how AI should be governed and who should make those decisions. Hao examines the rapid growth and culture of the industry’s leading company and helps readers understand the unprecedented amount of resources and human costs involved in building the technology. Hao is shining a light on AI’s undertold global impact, including on Kenyan data center workers and Chilean environmental activists, to contextualize AI as what she says is part of a long lineage of exploitative industries.”
4) National/California: As President Trump cuts the U.S. Forest Service, Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced that California is joining the Northwest Wildland Fire Fighting Compact with Canadian governments and other U.S. states “to keep our residents safe.” Current members include Alberta, Yukon Territory, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Hawaii, Nevada and now, California.
5) California/Nevada: A new joint effort to shield Lake Tahoe from a record amount of polluted runoff has been launched by the two states. “By restoring wetlands and streams, limiting dust from roads and construction sites and improving stormwater systems, partners in the Lake Tahoe Total Maximum Daily Load Program (TMDL Program) reduced fine sediment loads into the lake by 29%, and nitrogen and phosphorus inputs by 23% and 17%, compared to 2004 baseline levels.” See the report by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP).
6) Florida/National: The Pinellas County community stands up and wins an important victory against the damaging effects of school privatization. “I chose public school for my kids. I won’t sit by and watch it be dismantled,” writes Laura Saldarriaga in USA Today. “As our school board explained, this freeze endangered programs that ‘enhance the middle school experience, increase professional learning for teacher retention, and provide enrichment in the arts, and more.’ Parents and families refused to accept this. More than 300 of us showed up in person at our school district town hall, and nearly 900 joined online. It wasn’t just parents. Grandparents, neighbors and community members without school-age kids all came to stand up for public education. We asked hard questions and discussed how to make our voices heard. After three weeks of showing up, calling, and writing representatives, we won. The funds were restored, preserving what matters most.”
7) National: The Hechinger Report says that according to researchers, the Nation’s Report Card is at Risk. “The cutbacks were widespread—and far outside of what most former employees had expected under the new administration. “I don’t think any of us imagined this in our worst nightmares,’ said a former Education Department employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the Trump administration. ‘We weren’t concerned about the utter destruction of this national resource of data.’ ‘At what point does it break?’ the former employee asked.”
The data contained in the report card, when properly adjusted, for instance for socioeconomic status, is important in understanding the differences in performance between public and private schools.
8) Connecticut: The New York Post reports that an autistic boy was dropped off 40 miles from his Connecticut home by a driver with the private, for-profit school bus contractor First Student. “Terrified parents in a quiet Connecticut suburb are reportedly taking matters into their own hands after school bus drivers nearly left students stranded in obscure parts of the county — including a youngster with autism who was taken 40 miles from home. Parents of Consolidated School District of New Britain students have found themselves stuck in a nightmare loop — watching their children over their iPhone tracker or Apple AirTags—to ensure that they’re not whisked away to a neighboring county by First Student bus company, according to NBC Connecticut. The company took over CSDNB’s specialized transportation services in June.”
9) Connecticut: Connecticut has 22 charter schools in operation with several more approved to open. “In Connecticut, nearly 11,000 students attend charter schools, with 92% identifying as students of color and 69% coming from low-income families, according to the Connecticut Charter Schools Association. Casey Cobb, Raymond Neag endowed professor of educational policy at the University of Connecticut, said charter schools tend to emerge in city centers such as New Haven, Norwalk and Hartford, where there are larger populations of students of color and low-income families. He said the decision to open charter schools in underserved communities can sometimes be tied to capitalistic interests, since larger populations may bring higher enrollment and more secure state funding.”
10) Massachusetts: Writing in the Greenfield Recorder, Doug Selwyn, who taught at K-12 public schools from 1985 until 2000 and then at university as a professor of education until he retired in 2017, says funding is at the root of the debate over charter schools. “The Massachusetts Teachers Association estimates that more than $420 million is diverted from traditional district schools to charters each year, leaving the traditional district schools struggling to serve the students in their buildings and to attract new students and families to join them. Some districts claim that they have lost millions of dollars a year to charters, forcing them to cut staff, programs, electives and activities that are most compelling to students. How does this happen? It is complicated, but here is a brief explanation.”
11) Texas: Baptist News Global’s Jeff Brumley reports that “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ordered school districts unaffected by a recent court ruling to comply with a state law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms beginning Sept. 1. The Aug. 25 directive came less than a week after a federal judge in San Antonio blocked the statute from taking effect in 11 school districts named in ongoing litigation filed by 16 multifaith and nonreligious families with children in public schools.” Mark Chancey, a Southern Methodist University religious studies professor whose work examines the forces that put Christianity in public schools, told The Washington Post “that has been the strategy of the people promoting these laws to begin with. … They want to be able to appeal a decision all the way to the Supreme Court because they are convinced the Supreme Court will reverse its earlier decision.”
12) National: The New York Times says that Trump Tried to Kill the Infrastructure Law. Now He’s Getting Credit for Its Projects. “Signs bearing President Trump’s name have gone up at major construction projects financed by the 2021 law, which he strenuously opposed ahead of its passage.”
13) California: Writing in the Ventura County Star, Danielle Borja, President/CEO of the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, says modernizing California’s water infrastructure isn’t optional—it’s urgent. “At the heart of this issue is the State Water Project, which provides nearly 30% of Southern California’s water—an area that is home to two-thirds of California’s population and one of the world’s largest regional economies. This isn’t just a utility line on a spreadsheet—it’s the backbone of our water system, the lifeline for both daily living and long-term economic prosperity. Yet today, this critical infrastructure is now threatened by climate change, seismic risk, and outdated, burdensome regulatory processes. (…) Some argue that environmental regulations like CEQA exist to protect California’s natural beauty and ecosystems—and we agree. But reform does not mean repeal.”
On the other side, organizations like Restore the Delta, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, Native American tribes, Delta local governments, the commercial fishing industry and San Francisco Baykeeper warn about environmental damage. See Restore the Delta’s “Stop the Tunnels” summary and their recent press conference/rally.
14) Pennsylvania: It remains to be seen how a crisis-driven proposal to use capital funds intended for the SEPTA regional rail system’s infrastructure maintenance and development will affect future badly needed investment. “The move comes a day after a Philadelphia judge ordered the transit agency to reverse the service cuts that went into effect late last month, including the elimination of 32 bus routes and the reduction in frequency across its metro and bus lines. SEPTA is appealing this decision. [SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer] said the cut reversal was not a ‘direct result’ of the judge’s order. He said in the first five days after the cuts went into effect, SEPTA drivers left over 4,000 people behind at bus and trolley stops due to overcrowding, and bus trips running late increased by 26%.”
15) International/Japan: A reporter was left speechless after witnessing Japan’s new $70 million Maglev train in action at 310 mph.
16) International: John Ruehl, a DC-based Australian-American journalist, takes on the subject of charter cities. “Since late 2022, Honduras Próspera Inc. (HPI), a Delaware-based developer of a semi-autonomous zone on a Honduran island, has been locked in a nearly $11 billion legal battle with the Honduran government. After having its project outlawed, HPI sought damages while continuing operations, and in February 2025, a tribunal allowed the case to proceed. (…) Próspera’s governance is outlined in its code of laws and includes some democratic regulations. In high-density areas (35 or more inhabitants per square kilometer), residents can elect a technical secretary and vice technical secretary through majority vote. Candidates are nominated by the Próspera Council and submitted to the national oversight body (CAMP). While residents can vote for some positions, ultimate control over laws remains with the private corporation. (…) Billions of dollars are flowing into charter city projects, especially from tech firms that no longer want to merely influence governance but actively run it.”
17) National: Are state and local employees improperly employing privately developed artificial intelligence in their public service work? Writing in StateTech, Alan R. Shark, an Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government for George Mason University, looks at some of the issues. “Shadow AI refers to the unauthorized or ungoverned use of artificial intelligence tools by public employees. This growing adoption of AI without oversight poses risks to transparency, security and decision-making. Improper use also poses a security threat that could prove costly in terms of breaches and potential legal issues related to flawed policies or the inadvertent release of personal or sensitive information. Without proper AI governance in place, staff members are left on their own. While most public employees remain skeptical and cautious about AI—if not overly so—some may be impatient enough to embark on their own.”
18) National: How is the government consulting industry positioning itself for what it hopes will be an artificial intelligence boom in state and local government public services? You can get some sense of this by looking at the government and public services section of Deloitte’s 2025 Government Trends report. Workforce training seems to be the focus right now. “Unlike commercial enterprises in which leadership often drives AI scaling, line employees in government may be poised to unearth transformative AI use cases. But to find and develop those use cases, workers should have access to the appropriate tools and level of training for their roles and occupations. Access to gen AI continues to be an issue, with only 1% of government respondents in a recent Deloitte survey reporting that 60% of their workforce had access to gen AI tools. This is beginning to change, albeit slowly, as more governments give their workers wider access to gen AI tools.” Catch that “Gen AI” jargon?
The hype is impressive. In a July 2025 report, Exploding Topics estimates that the nearly $4 trillion government services market will be juiced by nearly $1 trillion by AI by 2035. (Public services $3.99 trillion baseline plus $939 billion “Additional AI contribution”).
19) National: “The drive to push government services to the private sector through contracts in order to demolish the civil service in the name of cost savings is a joke that just keeps giving,” says Brad Gutierrez, Ph.D., a retired U.S. Air Force combat pilot, professor of political science, military diplomat, and senior public policy civil servant. “I was a contractor, briefly, during my post-military career. The notion that the government saved a dime on my position is fanciful at best. I was paid a salary equivalent to a senior GS-14. I did not require any healthcare benefit due to my military retiree health benefit. The government paid the company I was working for 1.97 times my salary to have me doing the same job a GS-14 would be doing. So, if I was making $100,000, the contractor was paid $197,000 to staff that position.”
20) California: The County of San Luis Obispo is seeking input on a community development needs assessment.
“The following priorities were identified by public comment, needs assessments and workshops conducted in 2024 and approved by the Board of Supervisors on April 8, 2025.
- Housing Facilities, including affordable rental housing, single family housing, and senior housing
- Public Services, including health care, mental health, and homeless services
- Public Facilities, including health care and mental health facilities, and childcare centers
- Housing Services, including homelessness prevention, rental assistance, and emergency shelters
- Public Infrastructure, including high-speed internet, water/sewer improvements, and sidewalk improvements”
21) Minnesota: Quoting the Star-Tribune, the Minnesota School Board Association’s daily clippings webpage for September 5 says “fewer Minnesota kindergartners are fully vaccinated against measles, Minnesota Department of Health data shows, falling well short of the 95% ‘herd immunity’ target set by state officials and public health professionals to prevent community transmission. About 87% of Minnesota’s kindergartners had both doses of the mandated MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, last school year, continuing a downward trend.”
22) New Mexico: Source NM’s Austin Fisher reports that “this school year, at least half of all meals served in public schools in New Mexico must be made from scratch using whole, fresh ingredients under a new state Public Education Department rule. But an informal survey by the department suggests that most schools are not yet meeting the rule, according to an Aug. 6 report by the Legislative Finance Committee. Moving to scratch cooking often requires schools to completely overhaul their kitchens and hire enough staff to run them, the report states.”
23) International/Canada: rabble.ca reports that British Columbia public service workers have escalated their job action. “Public service workers fight fires, staff emergency lines, and care for our most vulnerable. But these workers are facing an affordability crisis,” said BCGEU President Paul Finch. “These same people who are struggling to make ends meet have voted overwhelmingly to strike. They are declaring that the government’s last offer is unacceptable and they are willing to fight for the deal that they need.”
24) International/Canada: The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) reports that “flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge have voted 99.1% against ratifying the company’s wage offer. Voter turnout was 94.6%.
Even with the proposed increase, Air Canada flight attendants would still earn less than federal minimum wage, which is $17.75 per hour or $2,840 per month on a 40-hour workweek. By contrast, a full-time Rouge flight attendant would earn just $2,219 per month, and a full-time mainline flight attendant would earn only $2,522 per month. Full-time workers at a flagship corporation and the national air carrier should not be earning less than minimum wage and qualifying for income supports.”
25) Florida: The destruction of the once proud New College of Florida by enemies of public education has taken a predictable turn as they now seek to privatize it. “‘One of the things that I have loved most [about New College]—and it’s been really important to me in staying here—is that it is public and extremely affordable,’ said a faculty member who heard the privatization pitch and requested not to be named for fear of retribution from the school. ‘But at the same time, I don’t think the college will survive this.’” In July, “two financial officers who were ousted during the transition revealed that the DeSantis board dipped into restricted gifts to pay the bloated salary of DeSantis-selected President, Richard Corcoran, a politician with no academic credentials. In other words, one of DeSantis’s cronies.”
26) Idaho: Writing in Idaho Capital Sun, Raymond O’Dell, a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard and a retired U.S. Department of Homeland Security inspector, says “the consequences of privatizing VA medical care—especially in Idaho—would be severe. Idahoans are already competing with one another in a literal health care abyss. Adding veterans who receive care through the VA would be catastrophic.”