The Brief

For more than 50 years, the Education Department has revealed a host of realities about how students are being treated in every public school across America: which kids are being bullied, which ones are being harassed and which students can access the internet, among other things. The agency's Civil Rights Data Collection is intended to do just that — help keep schools accountable.

The latest information, collected about the 2023-24 school year, was supposed to be published last December, according to the Education Department's own deadline.

But it hasn't been.

The agency hasn't responded to multiple requests from NPR asking what's behind the delay.

Federal bureaucracy can be slow, and delays aren't always cause for concern, but advocates are on edge in the midst of recent plans the Trump administration announced to move the Office for Civil Rights — which houses the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) team — from the Education Department to the Department of Justice.

That planned transfer follows months of federal action that upends the way students' civil rights have been protected in the past: The Trump administration has cracked down on initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion, for example, and prioritized investigating schools that allow transgender athletes to compete in women's sports.

"This administration has repeatedly applied civil rights law in ways that ignore or dismiss the very real inequities that persist in our education system," says Denise Forte, president and CEO of EdTrust, a think tank focused on addressing education inequity. The delay in releasing the CRDC data, she says, "raises serious concerns, particularly as this administration seeks to downplay the impacts of racism and economic inequality in public education."

A former Education Department employee who worked on the CRDC tells NPR the team is still intact. However, its future is unclear: While the Trump administration has announced the Office for Civil Rights is moving to the Justice Department, the process could take months, like other plans to outsource parts of the Education Department's work. The former employee, who asked not to be named out of fear of professional repercussions, said part of the delay may have to do with the 2025 government shutdown that affected operations at the Education Department for over six weeks, including work on the CRDC.

The department also has been winding down its operations since the Trump administration took office, cutting about half the department's overall staff last year.

Lindsay Kubatzky, director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities, agrees with Forte's assessment that a delay in this data may have to do with the Trump administration's chipping away at systems that have historically helped hold schools accountable for protecting students' civil rights. "This administration unfortunately has proposed a lot of policies that would make it less transparent on how students with disabilities in particular are being served in public schools," he says.

For example, Kubatzky points to how the Trump administration has proposed eliminating a requirement for states to track which students are being identified as having disabilities based on race and ethnicity. Historically, Black and brown students are more often wrongly identified as needing special education than their peers.

While that disability data is not directly tied to the CRDC, Kubatzky says it's an example of the administration working to undo federal civil rights accountability tools. The CRDC, he says, also plays a key role in helping advocates show where "schools are not serving students and it also gives us a lever to push for policies that are more inclusive and less negative toward students."

For example, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of N.J. and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas used findings from CRDC data to craft a bill proposing the expansion of access to Advanced Placement courses for underrepresented students, including minority and disabled students, whom the data found had unequal access to these classes. A spokesperson for Booker's team said the bill would be reintroduced in the coming days.

One of the questions the delayed dataset was set to answer is which students have access to the internet as AI plays a bigger role in education, according to the former CRDC staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Like, are our schools ready to usher in this wave of AI? Will all students have equal access to devices and internet capabilities?" the person said. "How do we know if the CRDC doesn't come out?"

The former staffer described the CRDC team as a deeply committed group of people who are focused on ensuring "access and opportunity" for the nation's most marginalized students. "We can't make the right decisions for students if we don't have insight into their current realities."

Edited by: Nirvi Shah
Visual design and development by: LA Johnson

Copyright 2026 NPR

The U.S. Postal Service could "derail" the midterm election if it continues rushing out "untested" technology as part of President Trump's push to restrict mail-in voting, a newly released whistleblower report warns.

With voting by mail for the midterms set to officially start this week, key parts of the USPS plan for carrying out Trump's directives, including requirements for states to comply, remain blocked for now by a court order in the legal fight over the president's executive order.

Still, the mailing agency has been preparing for months to launch an online portal that would allow state election officials to submit absentee voters' names and ballot envelope barcodes required by the now-blocked rule.

Testing of that new system, however, has been insufficient, according to claims by a whistleblower, outlined in a disclosure that Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut submitted Monday to USPS.

"USPS leadership, it appears, has discarded all best practices as they speed the project to be ready for a September 1 implementation — raising questions about whether catastrophic failure would be a feature rather than a bug," said the disclosure, prepared by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit organization representing the anonymous federal government official with direct knowledge of the Postal Service's development of the new system.

If courts allow USPS' plan for Trump's order to proceed for the midterms, problems with the online portal could lead to eligible absentee voters not receiving their mail-in ballots in time or at all.

One potential logistical hurdle, the whistleblower claimed, stems from an unusual "zero-percent failure policy" USPS has set for the process of verifying that the mail-in ballots states want to send out meet the requirements of its new rule.

"As designed, the process is entirely unforgiving. It could delay ballots by the thousands in repeated verification cycles — and thus prevent states from mailing enormous numbers of ballots," the disclosure said.

Spokespeople for USPS did not immediately respond to NPR's questions about the whistleblower disclosure.

In a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner, Blumenthal urged Steiner to "abandon this ill-conceived, unconscionable plan and ensure that all Americans can exercise their constitutional right to vote, including by mail, without interference by USPS."

Blumenthal said on a phone call with reporters that he found the details of the disclosure "mind-boggling" as an elected official and U.S. citizen.

"And what the disclosure reveals is that the Postal Service has designed a system that is intended to fail," the senator added.

The president, who has voted by mail himself, defended his directives for USPS and other federal agencies as a way to curb illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, which many studies and audits show is extremely rare.

Last week, a federal judge in Boston issued a temporary restraining order against USPS after finding that its plan for Trump's order is likely illegal because the mailing agency has no authority to control voting by mail.

The Trump administration has appealed that ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up what will likely be another battle at the Supreme Court, which has not yet weighed in on the legality of Trump's directives.

More lower court rulings on Trump's order may also be on the way as election officials and mail-in voters attempt to sort through the uncertainty the ongoing legal fight has caused.

Editor's note: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR.

Edited by Megan Pratz

Copyright 2026 NPR

Los Angeles County rolled out a new way to participate in Board of Supervisors meetings Tuesday with a revamped registration system that officials say will make it easier for residents to have their voices heard.

Under the pilot system, people making public comments over the phone will get a text message reminder when the item they want to speak on is before the board, meaning they don’t have to watch an entire meeting that can run hours-long. It also gets rid of all the access codes, pins and “raise hand” features callers would’ve been required to use.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district stretches from Whittier to Catalina Island, said what the board does is for the public, and it's the board's responsibility to make it as seamless and accessible as possible for residents to share their thoughts.

“This overhaul of our public comment system is about empowering residents in every corner of L.A. County — especially those who may not be able to take time out of their Tuesdays to come down to the Board Room — to speak up on the decisions that affect their lives,” Hahn said in a statement.

How does it work?

First, register here starting at 9 a.m. the day of the meeting if you’re planning to make public comments in person or over the phone. It’ll ask you to select the meeting you want to participate in and the agenda item(s) you want to speak on.

To speak over the phone, you’ll have to call (213) 444-2600 to connect to the meeting. Pins and access codes are no longer required, but expect to follow some prompts when you dial in. Plus, if you get disconnected, you won’t lose your place in line.

You’ll then get a text reminder when your agenda item is up (don’t forget to enter your phone number and opt in when you register). Each speaker will be called by name or by the last four digits of their phone number.

To speak in person, you can also register at a kiosk in the boardroom. You should check in at the kiosk when you arrive and wait until your name is called to the podium to speak.

You’re not required to register, but it’ll make the process quicker, according to county officials. Anonymous public comments are also allowed.

Officials said the new system is accessible for people with disabilities, including a portal that supports screen readers for blind or visually impaired people.

You can still submit written public comments online through the board’s website.

Why it matters

Residents have expressed “many concerns” about the previous public comment system for both in person and over the phone, Supervisor Hilda Solis said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

“I hope everyone will utilize this new system, it has been a great investment,” said Solis, who is also chair of the board. “I hope this will help to expedite all of those concerns.”

The pilot comes about a year after the L.A. County Board of Supervisors introduced real-time translation services and moved to a new teleconference platform for public comments after people reported issues with the old system.

How can I keep up with the board meetings?

• When: Supervisors meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays. You can find the full calendar, including canceled meetings, here.
• Where: Room 381-B, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles.
• How to watch: The meetings are broadcast live here and on YouTube. 
  
  • They’re also aired on KLCS in the city of L.A. at 11 p.m. the following Wednesday.
• Agendas: You can find the agendas for each meeting here.
  
  • You can also sign up to have the agendas sent straight to your email inbox through that page.
  • If your internet access is iffy, you can call (213) 974-1442 to ask for the agenda to be mailed to you.

Kroenke Sports and Entertainment has reached a deal to purchase controlling ownership of the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno.

The company led by Stan Kroenke made the surprising announcement Tuesday, saying it expects to close the transaction in early 2027. Major League Baseball, which must approve any sale, didn’t immediately comment on the news.

Kroenke’s company owns the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, Premier League champion Arsenal, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids and SoFi Stadium, along with the large Hollywood Park campus around the multibillion-dollar Inglewood arena. The conglomerate has now moved into baseball with the Angels, whose turbulent 23-year tenure under Moreno’s ownership will finally come to an end.

“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke said in a statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”

Moreno, an outdoor advertising magnate from Arizona, bought the Angels from the Walt Disney Company in 2003. While the club had steady success in its first years under Moreno with much of the roster that won the 2002 World Series, winning five AL West titles in six seasons during the 2000s, the Halos have entered a period of decline since their most recent playoff victory in 2009.

At 53-85, the AL-worst Angels are currently headed to their 11th consecutive losing season and their 12th consecutive non-playoff season, both the longest active streaks in the majors.