Daily Dime

Four-year graduation rates at Alabama and West Virginia high schools increased dramatically over the past decade, rising from the bottom half of national rankings to first and third, respectively. The improvements were driven by new standards included in President George W.… Read more...

The head of Louisiana’s beleaguered Office of Juvenile Justice resigned on Friday, leaving an agency that has repeatedly failed to carry out its most basic functions. The Advocate’s James Finn reports that William “Bill” Sommers’ resignation last Wednesday comes after repeated escapes, riots, capacity constraints and accusations of rape inside Louisiana’s youth lockups. … Read more...

Gov. John Bel Edwards enters his final year in office having brought stability to the state budget that has allowed for new investments in education, health care and other priorities. But the temporary sales tax that helped provide that stability is expiring in 2025, while other sales-tax dollars are being shifted from the state general fund to help pay for road construction.… Read more...

An estimated 100 million people are saddled with medical debt in America. Of those, about 50 million people – or 1 in 5 adults – are on a financing plan to pay it off. As medical debt has sored, hospitals are increasingly contracting with private financing companies, including profit-driven private equity firms, to collect from their patients.… Read more...