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The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Tue Sep 3 2024

Nicole Fallert | Newsletter Writer

@nicolefallert

Layoffs among U.S. teachers have been widespread as pandemic-era funds dry up. Why an early paycheck could come with costs. A murder in Nashville unveiled.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Where is America's best fall foliage?

Why your favorite teacher isn't back this fall

Thousands of teachers and school staffers across the U.S. are at risk of losing their jobs as districts balance their budgets and prepare for the shortfall after COVID-19 relief money expires – and many staff terminated are people of color.

The effect: Districts have been scrambling to put unfunded staffers into different roles. States that diversified their educator workforce in the past several years will see a backslide in that progress.

•	Background: The Biden administration granted schools $189.5 billion over the past few years under the American Rescue Plan Act. School officials have until the end of September to commit the remainder of their money, and districts will no longer be able to pay for nonteaching staff roles with that money after Sept. 30.
•	Where the money went: Schools nationwide used most of their relief fund money to pay for classroom teachers and support staff.
•	Now: Districts across the country are laying off recently hired educators, teaching assistants, counselors, restorative justice coordinators and other key staff at schools, or they're scrambling to find ways to retain them.

Labor Day rally for Harris

President Joe Biden gave Vice President Kamala Harris a robust endorsement at a Labor Day rally, addressing union workers in Pittsburgh during their first joint campaign appearance since he left the Democratic ticket that she's more than capable of leading the country. Biden said that choosing Harris was "the single best decision I made as president of the United States of America." Read more

Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is embraced by U.S. President Joe Biden during a campaign event on Sept. 2, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images

More news to know now

•	Harris now leads Trump by 48%-43%.
•	A Labor Day shooting on a Chicago suburban train killed four.
•	Multiple people are dead in the Philippines after a tropical storm triggered flooding.
•	NASA says a "pulsing sound" inside the Boeing Starliner has stopped.
•	America's largest Black Protestant denomination faces a high-stakes presidential vote.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin memorialized

Mourners lined the streets of Jerusalem near the Har Hamenuchot cemetery on Monday for the funeral of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, whose body was among the six recovered by the Israeli military from a tunnel in southern Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked for forgiveness for failing to bring the hostages back alive and said Hamas will "pay a heavy price." Read more

Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of killed US-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose body was recovered with five other hostages in Gaza, react during the funeral in Jerusalem on September 2, 2024

Gil Cohen-Magen via Reuters

Asking for an early paycheck this month?

Millions of Americans have probably been in a situation when they've needed a little extra cash to make ends meet until their next paycheck. EWA, also called early pay, on-demand or instant pay, allows employees early access to money they've already earned, so it hasn't been regulated like a loan. To get your money faster, you could pay an expedited fee, usually a few dollars. Now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing these payments are treated like a loan. Here's what would change.

Keep scrolling

•	James Darren, "Gidget" and "T.J. Hooker" star, has died at 88.
•	We watched FX's subversive school comedy "English Teacher."
•	US wheelchair rugby is headed to the gold-medal game.
•	American men are making an impact at the U.S. Open.
•	Angelina Jolie received an emotional standing ovation at Telluride Film Festival.

Murder on Music Row

A young man ran for his life on 16th Avenue South, chased by a nightmarish figure with a blue steel pistol, a black ski mask and a strange side-to-side limp. Kevin Hughes was a 23-year-old Christian kid with a mullet and a "Dirty Dancing" key fob. He had come to Nashville to break into the business side of the music industry with his eye on working for the Gospel Music Association. His fatal flaw was that he learned too much about this town's secrets.

Click here to keep reading. This is the first in an eight-part series exploring the 1989 murder of Kevin Hughes, a country music chart director who knew too much.

Photo of the day: USA's first Paralympic medal in badminton

USA duo Jayci Simon and Miles Krajewski earned silver mixed doubles in para badminton at the Paris Paralympic Games. The medal is the first ever for the United States and the Pan American region in the Paralympics since para badminton ‒ a sport traditionally dominated by athletes from Asian countries.

USA's Miles Krajewski (R) and Jayci Simon (L) during the Para Badminton Mixed Doubles SH6 Gold Medal Match at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games on Sept.2, 2024 in Paris, France.

Steph Chambers, Getty Images

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.