Linda K. Wertheimer

6 days ago | hechingerreport.org | Linda K. Wertheimer |Christina A. Samuels

The Supreme Court over the next two weeks will hear two cases that have the potential to erode the separation of church and state and create a seismic shift in public education. Mahmoud v. Taylor, which goes before the court on April 22, pits Muslim, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox families, as well as those of other faiths, against the Montgomery County school system in Maryland.

1 month ago | vanityfair.com | Linda K. Wertheimer

This story about Bibles in schools was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. Sometimes, Jakob Topper teaches his Christian faith to his six-year-old daughter using children’s Bible stories illustrated with teddy bears. Other days, he might use her kid-friendly Bible featuring Precious Moments figures as characters.

Jan 17, 2025 | bostonglobe.com | Linda K. Wertheimer

Hurricane Helene whipped its way through the Carolinas in September, and I worried. My father, Harry Wertheimer, lives in upstate South Carolina, and his area was in Helene’s path. The storm could knock out power, tear down trees, and damage his home on the shores of Lake Keowee. Sure, his house could probably weather the storm. But could he? My dad is 90.

Feb 20, 2024 | wbur.org | Linda K. Wertheimer

Kevin’s death forever scarred my parents, my surviving older brother and me, writes Linda K. Wertheimer. I’m determined not to pass on that scar to my son.

Jan 18, 2024 | ewa.org | Linda K. Wertheimer

The town of Dayton, Tennessee, was “a quiver with excitement,” The New York Times reported. It was 1925, and science teacher John Scopes was going on trial for violating a state law prohibiting the teaching of evolution. Scopes, the Times article noted, was a “mere figure, over which will joust the forces of evolution and religion, of Fundamentalism and Modernism, of liberalism and conservatism.”The history of the “Scopes Monkey Trial” remains eerily relevant for education reporters.