Erica Meltzer
@ericameltzer.bsky.social
National Editor at Chalkbeat. I write about education and politics. Reach me at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org
On a related note:
God bless the barista who pretended to think I was my daughter's older sister.
God bless the barista who pretended to think I was my daughter's older sister.
You definitely want to learn to stop saying, "I am SO OLD!" long before the people to whom you're saying it just look at you in response with expressions that say, "I mean...yes."
February 7, 2026 at 11:54 PM
On a related note:
God bless the barista who pretended to think I was my daughter's older sister.
God bless the barista who pretended to think I was my daughter's older sister.
"Is there anything you wanted to say that I didn't ask you?"
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Where are your citations?"
"Where are your citations?"
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"No, you can't leave that here."
"No, you can't leave that here."
February 7, 2026 at 11:41 PM
"Is there anything you wanted to say that I didn't ask you?"
This is a thing I don't get about "give us access to the prisons and jails." If you're a law and order type of person, and you think someone did a crime, wouldn't you want them to experience punishment under the law? Instead of going free, escaping any consequence, and maybe doing more crime.
What a disgrace.
ICE may have handed a suspect in the largest jewelry heist in American history a free pass by deporting him before he ever faced trial.
This is the result of Stephen Miller’s chaos. Reckless mismanagement that undermines public safety and makes a mockery of the justice system.
ICE may have handed a suspect in the largest jewelry heist in American history a free pass by deporting him before he ever faced trial.
This is the result of Stephen Miller’s chaos. Reckless mismanagement that undermines public safety and makes a mockery of the justice system.
Prosecutors stunned as ICE lets suspect in $100m jewelry heist leave US
Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, charged with stalking armored truck in 2022, allowed to self-deport to South America
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 6:57 PM
This is a thing I don't get about "give us access to the prisons and jails." If you're a law and order type of person, and you think someone did a crime, wouldn't you want them to experience punishment under the law? Instead of going free, escaping any consequence, and maybe doing more crime.
I wrote this 19 years ago today. So many feelings about having a picture of your house on the internet! So much to say about privacy and commerce and the public realm! The past truly is a different country.
tucson.com/news/local/a...
tucson.com/news/local/a...
Huge database aims to include photo of every Tucson house
Photographers from a Canadian company are going house to house, shooting pictures of the roughly 300,000 houses in metropolitan Tucson.
tucson.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:21 PM
I wrote this 19 years ago today. So many feelings about having a picture of your house on the internet! So much to say about privacy and commerce and the public realm! The past truly is a different country.
tucson.com/news/local/a...
tucson.com/news/local/a...
There's a real "religious freedom for me but not for thee" thing going on. I don't love religious groups proselytizing in public schools! But when the state wants to make everyone read the Christian Bible, how do you get mad about this?
February 6, 2026 at 3:49 AM
There's a real "religious freedom for me but not for thee" thing going on. I don't love religious groups proselytizing in public schools! But when the state wants to make everyone read the Christian Bible, how do you get mad about this?
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
ICE surge news: Minneapolis Public Schools has extended *optional* distance learning until April 6.
February 6, 2026 at 1:59 AM
ICE surge news: Minneapolis Public Schools has extended *optional* distance learning until April 6.
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
One of many reasons why we can't Substack our way out of this crisis in journalism? Writers and reporters, even the best reporters, need editors. They need people who pester them about the smallest details. I fully include myself in this.
February 5, 2026 at 11:43 PM
One of many reasons why we can't Substack our way out of this crisis in journalism? Writers and reporters, even the best reporters, need editors. They need people who pester them about the smallest details. I fully include myself in this.
Linda McMahon wanted to visit a Christian private school in Chicago. Parents and students were divided. Here's what happened.
www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026...
www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026...
McMahon is on a civics tour. This Chicago private school debated whether to host her.
Some parents and students oppose the Trump administration and took issue with McMahon’s visit. But the principal wondered if they could set their ideological differences aside.
www.chalkbeat.org
February 6, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Linda McMahon wanted to visit a Christian private school in Chicago. Parents and students were divided. Here's what happened.
www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026...
www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026...
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
I just got off the phone with Elizabeth's dad...she and her mom were freed tonight! Updated story: sahanjournal.com/education/co...
February 4, 2026 at 3:50 AM
I just got off the phone with Elizabeth's dad...she and her mom were freed tonight! Updated story: sahanjournal.com/education/co...
Glad to see Tucson's El Charro featured here. "We're not the best because we're the oldest. We're the oldest because we're best!" www.washingtonpost.com/food/interac...
A taste of America’s oldest restaurants
Tom Sietsema traveled coast to coast to dine at some of the nation’s oldest restaurants, exploring their history, legacy and recipe for success.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:41 AM
Glad to see Tucson's El Charro featured here. "We're not the best because we're the oldest. We're the oldest because we're best!" www.washingtonpost.com/food/interac...
Large cities take a longer time to count votes, and also the more liberal you are, the more you procrastinate. My totally anecdotal but so far never wrong premise is that the same day vote favors the more left-leaning candidate. See it in Dem primaries too.
"Then suddenly, these big Democratic precincts with lots of votes that took a longer time to count reported in and those big Democratic precincts gave Democrats more votes! I am very smart and think this is a sign of a conspiracy."
Mike Johnson on Trump calling for Rs to "nationalize" elections: "We had 3 Republicans who were ahead on election day in last cycle & every time a new tranche of ballots came in they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove it? No"
February 4, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Large cities take a longer time to count votes, and also the more liberal you are, the more you procrastinate. My totally anecdotal but so far never wrong premise is that the same day vote favors the more left-leaning candidate. See it in Dem primaries too.
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
A last-minute ruling has prevented one-fourth of Springfield from losing the right to live and work legally in the U.S. https://nbc4i.co/4qSuVhV?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_
February 3, 2026 at 5:01 PM
A last-minute ruling has prevented one-fourth of Springfield from losing the right to live and work legally in the U.S. https://nbc4i.co/4qSuVhV?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_
They agreed to close the school after the county threatened to shut off the utilities. Yikes.
As a former small-town city reporter, I love a good zoning / building department story.
As a former small-town city reporter, I love a good zoning / building department story.
Leaders of Riverstone Academy, which backers have called “Colorado’s first public Christian school,” agreed to close the school’s building in Pueblo County “effective immediately.”
Colorado’s ‘first public Christian school’ closes building ‘effective immediately’
Riverstone Academy officials closed the school’s building to students Monday after Pueblo County officials warned they would disconnect the utilities.
bit.ly
February 4, 2026 at 12:19 AM
They agreed to close the school after the county threatened to shut off the utilities. Yikes.
As a former small-town city reporter, I love a good zoning / building department story.
As a former small-town city reporter, I love a good zoning / building department story.
Feels like we are seeing the rise and fall of 1:1 devices. Used to be sought after goal for school districts, finally made possible during the pandemic, now seen as misguided.
February 4, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Feels like we are seeing the rise and fall of 1:1 devices. Used to be sought after goal for school districts, finally made possible during the pandemic, now seen as misguided.
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
I feel like this is really one-upping all the other fraudsters.
Six people in Nepal have been arrested in an elaborate helicopter rescue scam in which companies carried out hundreds of unnecessary evacuations from Mount Everest and other peaks to defraud insurance companies out of millions.
Nepal Arrests 6 Officials, Accusing Them of Fraudulent Everest Rescues
The officials from mountain rescue agencies are accused of carrying out unnecessary helicopter rescues to defraud international insurance companies of nearly $20 million.
nyti.ms
February 3, 2026 at 11:52 PM
I feel like this is really one-upping all the other fraudsters.
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Again, this is FALSE. Administrative warrants are NOT signed by an immigration judge (or any judge at all). They are generated and signed by ICE officers themselves with no external oversight whatsoever.
Here is a blank sample warrant. Note who signs off on it; an "immigration officer."
Here is a blank sample warrant. Note who signs off on it; an "immigration officer."
February 3, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Again, this is FALSE. Administrative warrants are NOT signed by an immigration judge (or any judge at all). They are generated and signed by ICE officers themselves with no external oversight whatsoever.
Here is a blank sample warrant. Note who signs off on it; an "immigration officer."
Here is a blank sample warrant. Note who signs off on it; an "immigration officer."
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
The Philadelphia school district’s efforts to increase racial diversity at magnet schools like Masterman may be discriminatory, an appeals court ruled. The U.S. Supreme Court has let similar policies in other school districts stand.
What a Philly lawsuit on high school admissions means for diversity at elite schools
The Philadelphia school district’s efforts to increase racial diversity at magnet schools like Masterman may be discriminatory, an appeals court ruled. The U.S. Supreme Court has let similar policies in other school districts stand.
bit.ly
February 3, 2026 at 9:45 PM
The Philadelphia school district’s efforts to increase racial diversity at magnet schools like Masterman may be discriminatory, an appeals court ruled. The U.S. Supreme Court has let similar policies in other school districts stand.
In all seriousness, the worst reaction I've ever had from readers was when I mistakenly described picas as rodents.
Reptile Handler At Birthday Party Ruthlessly Heckled By 6-Year-Old For Showing Amphibian https://theonion.com/reptile-handler-at-birthday-party-ruthlessly-heckled-by-6-year-old-for-showing-amphibian/
February 3, 2026 at 11:27 PM
In all seriousness, the worst reaction I've ever had from readers was when I mistakenly described picas as rodents.
Are the people leaving long-time residents or people who gave Colorado a try and didn't like it? How many people would have to leave to have an effect on the price of housing?
February 3, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Are the people leaving long-time residents or people who gave Colorado a try and didn't like it? How many people would have to leave to have an effect on the price of housing?
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Where Private School Choice Enrollment—and Spending—Is Surging: States have devoted billions of dollars recently in public funds families can use on private schooling.
Where Private School Choice Enrollment—and Spending—Is Surging
States have devoted billions of dollars recently in public funds families can use on private schooling.
www.edweek.org
February 3, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Where Private School Choice Enrollment—and Spending—Is Surging: States have devoted billions of dollars recently in public funds families can use on private schooling.
The losing GOP candidate here was an architect of Christian conservative takeovers of Texas school boards. www.texastribune.org/2026/01/30/t...
Democrat wins special election for red Texas Senate seat
With ballots tallied from all but a handful of voting centers, Rehmet had 57% of the vote, besting the 43% for his GOP opponent, Leigh Wambsganss, who had a massive spending advantage.
www.texastribune.org
February 1, 2026 at 6:32 AM
The losing GOP candidate here was an architect of Christian conservative takeovers of Texas school boards. www.texastribune.org/2026/01/30/t...
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis in protest of federal immigration enforcement for the second consecutive Friday.
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
January 30, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis in protest of federal immigration enforcement for the second consecutive Friday.
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
Reposted by Erica Meltzer
Judge Kato Crews of Colorado ordered a man's release from immigration custody. While not his main reason, Crews notes there is "some indication that immigration judges are refusing to conduct bond hearings entirely." This might be the first time I've seen one of our judges acknowledge this reality.
January 30, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Judge Kato Crews of Colorado ordered a man's release from immigration custody. While not his main reason, Crews notes there is "some indication that immigration judges are refusing to conduct bond hearings entirely." This might be the first time I've seen one of our judges acknowledge this reality.