News from around the nation.

Trump prepares to address the nation on Iran war; Supreme Court hears arguments in birthright citizenship case; Study: Indiana caregivers are overworked, underpaid; Lobby Day: Connecticut teachers demand education funding from lawmakers; LGBTQ+ advocates slam Supreme Court ruling on conversion therapy.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Financial markets rallied and oil and gas prices fell as investors appear hopeful of an approaching end to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, even as strikes in the region continued and Tehran maintained a show of defiance against opening up the Strait of Hormuz.

White House Press Secretary Catherine Leavitt says President Trump is set to address the nation tonight with an important update on Iran aid in what is set to be his first primetime address since the U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran began more than a month ago.

And Trump was in the Supreme Court as justices heard oral arguments over his order attempting to end automatic birthright citizenship.

The case puts the administration's aggressive approach to immigration front and center before the court.

Meantime, groups that advocate for LGBTQ plus communities are slamming Monday's Supreme Court decision overturning a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for minors.

Jorge Reyes Linas with Equality California says conversion therapy, which tries to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, hurts patients by fostering self-loathing.

Every major medical and mental health organization continues to condemn conversion therapy because of its harmfulness.

It creates depression, anxiety, and suicide.

Justice Neil Gorsuch argued for the majority that the bill violated therapist's First Amendment free speech rights. 20 states, including California, banned conversion therapy from minors.

And with just one month left in Connecticut's legislative session, educators there want lawmakers to implement some improvements.

Teachers statewide will come together for a Lobby Day event on April 8th calling for legislation to improve the state's public education funding formula and to pay student teachers.

Kate Diaz, who heads the Connecticut Education Association, says the funding formula has already led to fewer teachers in the classroom.

You're going to have fewer elementary school teachers, fewer options for your students in high school.

These are all very real outcomes when we talk about reducing funding in the public schools, and we're seeing it in almost every community across Connecticut.

She says one problem with the state's current education cost-sharing formula is the foundational amount hasn't been updated since 2013.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Next data from AARP shows over a million Hoosiers have roles as family caregivers.

If those workers were paid around $19 an hour, their labor would be valued at over $16.1 billion.

Nationally, that amount is more than $1 trillion.

Dr. Maisha Mentor-Jordan, the CEO of AARP, calls family caregivers, quote, the backbone of the nation's long-term care system.

That is equal to nearly 24 million full-time workers, or roughly 17 percent of the entire U.S. full-time workforce.

Caregivers are stretching their finances, sacrificing their own well-being, and too often they are doing it alone.

AARP claims that the labor of unpaid family caregivers provides a significant public benefit by providing savings for taxpayers.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

This is Public News Service.

A report says Tennessee has shortchanged public schools by hundreds of billions of dollars over the last decade and widening longstanding inequities for students.

The report finds 42 states devote less money to education than they did 20 years ago.

Nationwide, that decline in effort amounted to nearly $600 billion in lost state and local revenue from 2016 to 2023.

Bruce Baker of the University of Miami says Tennessee's most affluent districts spend about 1 percent more than needed to reach outcomes that match the national average. while the highest-need districts spend almost 40 percent less.

He says students are worse off for it.

One of the findings in our state reports is that the percent of students in below-adequate districts in Tennessee is 83.1 percent of students are in below-adequate districts.

Put in Tennessee, 43rd among states.

Danielle Smith reporting.

Next, as New England public schools work to improve their students' reading test scores, some small rural districts in New Hampshire, are sharing the secrets to their success.

Eight of the state's top-scoring schools had fewer than 100 students tested last year, with many located in low- and medium-income parts of the state.

Kristen Kevila is the superintendent of the Mason School District and principal to its lone elementary school, which has a reading proficiency rate of 84 percent.

She says trusting teachers and giving them flexibility within their job is key.

They teach Common Core standards, and however they need to teach that, they teach it.

So they have curriculum that's a resource, but they're not expected to use every piece of it.

She says teachers spent the last three years revamping their writing curriculum, which they developed themselves based on their own students' needs.

Each student is also eligible for specialized services, whether they're identified as needing them or not.

This story is based on original reporting by Jeremy Margolis with the Concord Monitor.

I'm Katherine Carley.

Finally, today is National Walking Day.

The American Heart Association is calling on folks in Washington to hit the ground walking.

Research shows only one in five adults and teens get enough exercise to maintain good health.

Clinical exercise physiologist Lindsay Olson says adults need 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, at least five days a week.

If that feels like a stretch, she advises people to break the time into smaller pieces and build up.

You want to start feeling confident in your body again.

You don't want to say, oh, if I can't do 30 minutes, I'm not going to exercise at all.

Even starting with 5 or 10 minutes is great.

And doing that several times during the day and then building up from there.

Olson recommends brisk walking for exercise because it works a lot of muscles at once and people can easily adjust the intensity and time.

I'm Isobel Charle.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

You can find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.