Researchers at the University of Washington are gearing up for another year of investigating whether robots can be used to measure stress levels in teens.

This story is the second in a two-part series about school districts and education technology. You can find the first part here . Teachers’ unions are scrutinizing school district budgets right now as they bargain for pay increases. Salaries make up the bulk of public education budgets, but districts also make significant technology purchases. In the Kent School District, some parents are upset about the sole-source purchase of budgeting software that they say exacerbated the district’s budget

The University of Washington ranks among the top universities in the country in international student enrollment. Now the university is working to inform its 8,900 international students about a recent policy change by the Trump administration with big potential consequences.

As fall approaches, families are starting to shop for school supplies including notebooks and markers. But increasingly, the work of school is done digitally – from online homework apps to web portals for accessing grades. District superintendents play an important role in deciding what software to buy, and because of that, education technology companies look for ways to get their attention. Parents in the Kent School District have raised concerns about a company that pays honoraria to

Across the state, school district officials are meeting at the bargaining table with teachers’ unions. In Seattle, teachers who work as substitutes said they’ve been largely shut out of the district’s health insurance plan and they’re pushing to have better health coverage included in the new contract.

Washington schools may get a boost in funding for career and technical education classes. That’s because Congress has voted to reauthorize the Perkins Act, which spells out gradual increases in federal dollars for vocational education through the year 2024.

The number of visas issued to international students who want to study in the United States has dropped for two straight years. That’s hurt colleges that have helped mitigate declines in domestic student enrollment by recruiting abroad, including some community colleges in the Puget Sound region.

Seattle is well known across the country for cancer treatment and research. For three weeks this summer, 24 secondary school science teachers from across the state are getting to tap into that expertise through a program called the Science Education Partnership at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Museums are increasingly making accommodations for people with special needs, including children on the autism spectrum. Families with young train enthusiasts will want to take note that this Sunday in Snoqualmie, the Northwest Railway Museum will run a “sensory-friendly train” as part of its Day Out With Thomas event .

The mission of public schools is to provide an education to all students, but in many cases they’ve also become a de facto social safety net. The Seattle Times reported in a recent feature that schools in Vancouver, Washington, have become a model for providing help to students and families in need. In response to increasing poverty among its students, the district has created family-community resource centers in more than half its schools.