Sarah Mueller
Education reporterAn experienced journalist, I joined LehighValleyNews.com as its education reporter. I bring several years of media experience at public radio stations including NPR Illinois, WFSU Public Media and Delaware Public Media. I’ve covered state and local government, interviewing lawmakers, governors and congressional leaders. In my personal life, I’m a passionate animal lover, hiker and documentary enthusiast. A documentary for which I worked as a researcher, Fire in the Meadows, won first place at the 2022 Tallahassee Film Festival for best documentary short film. It explored the effects of an investor buying a local mobile home park, raising rents and forcing tenants out of their homes. Contact me at SarahM@lehighvalleynews.com or and subscribe to my newsletter here.
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District officials surveyed thousands of students who want the uniform guidelines eliminated so they can express themselves with their own clothing styles. -
Conservative Republican slates targeting LGBTQ issues and library books swept GOP primary races across three districts. Democrats and moderate Republicans who cross-filed landed victories on the Democratic ticket.
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Two of the three candidates supported by Moms for Liberty Northampton survived the primary, both being in Region I.
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The race featured two slates of Republican candidates and one Democrat. One slate of candidates took a pledge to enact policies regarding LGBTQ students and "woke" curriculum.
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The school board approved a preliminary budget Monday night. It does not raise property taxes in the 2023-24 school year.
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They have been working without a contract since last summer and say they are overworked and short-staffed.
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National issues are seeping into local races, turning elections into proxy partisan fights over race and gender.
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The four-year contract will raise salaries by nearly 4.7% in the 2023-24 school year, with additional increase each subsequent year. The school board ratified a new contract with the teacher's union, the Allentown Education Association, on Thursday night.
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The After School Satan Club met for the first time Wednesday at Saucon Valley Middle School — a little more than a week after a federal judge ordered the school district to allow three meetings by the end of the school year.
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Culture war issues are hot topics in the races for four of the nine seats on the Nazareth Area School Board up for election this year. Three incumbents are not seeking re-election.
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Local state lawmakers are reacting to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s call for $1 billion in new public education spending for the state’s students and schools.
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Board Director Phoebe Harris blasted the board leadership's lack of transparency in a radio interview.
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Groups that represent the district's majority-minority population are crying foul over what they describe as a lack of transparency and involvement in the process of identifying a new leader.
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As interest in the education field continues to decline, the report recommends systemic changes. A hearing of the state Senate Education Committee to examine the issue is set for this week.
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The city says by reducing the number of sponsored concerts at West Park, programmers will be able to include other bands in more neighborhoods.
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Liz Bradbury has been an LGBTQ activist in the Lehigh Valley for more than 30 years.
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As the region diversifies, relations across racial groups are seen as a key element of quality of life. A new survey finds overall ratings as mostly positive, but different age groups rate the state of race relations differently.
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The 4-month-old Lab was specially trained as an emotional support animal.
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A crowd gathered — and cheered — as Luani the otter at Lehigh Valley Zoo made his Super Bowl LVII pick during the 12th annual Otter Bowl a day before the big game between the Eagles and Chiefs.
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Parents aren't the only ones frustrated. One bus driver says students acting out causes drivers to quit, creating high turnover rates. A number of school districts are negotiating new bus driver contracts.
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Some students say they see parallels between Till's murder and recent killings of people of color by police. They participated in a Black History Month presentation at Dieruff High School.
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Kimberly Lipsky Weidman reads her book to kids at Muhlenberg Elementary School.
