Michigan, Ohio State fight broken up with police pepper spray after Wolverines stun Buckeyes 13-10(TNS) — Jeff Borland came to one of his students in January 2021 with an idea. The Deering High School computer science and statistics teacher wanted to create a better way for Portland teachers to communicate with families in many languages. "Deering is a very diverse school; there's something like 50 languages spoken. There were platforms that allowed us to contact families with translation, but they all, it seemed, had limitations," Borland said. "It seemed like it could be better." He got his computer whiz student Aidan Blum Levine on board, and together they created ReachMyTeach, a website that allows teachers to write messages in English that automatically get translated into parents' preferred languages and can be delivered via email, text or WhatsApp. Any responses are translated into English. The program supports more than 200 languages, and is also a helpful hub for communicating with English-speaking families. It is now universal in Portland Public Schools, for both teachers and the district office. In the last four years, ReachMyTeach has seen massive growth. More than 2 million messages were shared through the platform in November, and it's now in use in 40 Maine school districts, nine states and one international school. Borland enjoyed coding on the side and knew that his student Blum Levine, now a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, had essentially exhausted his class options and had some free time. They wanted to create a better, more consolidated platform for teachers and parents to communicate across languages. As a teacher, Borland was aware of the district's growing multilingual population. In 2021, there were 1,484 English learners in Portland schools; by 2024, that number had grown to 2,002 — more than a quarter of all students. Borland and Blum Levine coded the site over February break and pitched it to Deering administrators in March. An early version went into use at the high school that spring. By the summer of 2021, Borland and Blum Levine received an investment from the education company Faria Education Group. Borland took six months off from teaching to develop the program. Borland said the local origins of ReachMyTeach were integral to its early development. One early change was adding a WhatsApp option because Deering teachers said that was necessary to reach all parents. WhatsApp is a free app that doesn't require cellphone data and is widely used outside of the United States and by immigrants in the country. "We were constantly, that spring, adding and adding until it was more robust. It was literally all from teacher comments and feedback, and from families," he said. Kailen Kennedy is a kindergarten teacher at Presumpscot Elementary School and previously taught elementary-age English Language Learners. Kennedy has been using ReachMyTeach since the fall of 2022 and described it as a "game changer." She said she previously relied on interpreters, which would sometimes take days to set up. "I think it affected the types of relationships I had with families," she said. "I feel like now, I can reach everyone, at one time." ReachMyTeach is connected to the school's attendance software, which makes mass parent emails much smoother. Kennedy said there were some growing pains, but the product has drastically improved over time, and the creators are very open to feedback. Now, Kennedy uses it for everything from setting up conferences to letting parents know they should send their kids to school with snow pants. Nearly half of her 21 students come from families that rely on translation, and ReachMyTeach improves equity and access. "It's leveled the playing field with who we communicate with, and how we communicate with them," she said. It's also a time saver. "Before ReachMyTeach, it was just a more daunting task to reach out to families, because there were just so many more steps," said King Middle School English teacher Chris Pirkl. Pirkl said the software has revolutionized communication with parents who don't speak English. Previously, he said, before sending any mass email to parents, he would need to manually run it through Google Translate six or seven times to get different translations. Pirkl was part of the beta test for the new ReachMyTeach cellphone app and has used a new feature that allows teachers to send bulk emails that autofill with students' names. The new version also suggests better word choices that will translate more cleanly. Kennedy and Pirkl both said they're proud that the product was created by fellow Portland teachers. "They've built this thing that not only is popular and successful but ultimately is just useful and practical and fills a need that existed," Pirkl said. Helen Cohen was a fellow Deering High teacher who taught history and English language learners before she joined the ReachMyTeach team in June 2022 as the CEO. Borland returned to the classroom, Blum Levine continued his studies at college and Cohen took the reins. While ReachMyTeach has become ubiquitous in Portland schools, it's also available in dozens of other school districts. The company also works with a few nonprofits that have similar translation needs to schools. "What works well for multilingual families works really well for English-speaking families," Cohen said. "And if you can have everything in one place, no one slips through the cracks." The platform is still growing. The company recently hired its first full-time sales person and is still making major product improvements, like partnering with the company Lexikeet Language Services to provide live interpreters for districts that don't have translators on staff. ReachMyTeach uses Google Translate for a lot of its translations, as well as other machine translation services. But the company is now working with native speakers to improve the smoothness of the translation, especially for languages like Lingala and Somali that aren't well accommodated my machine translation. Blum Levine said it's cool to observe from a distance as his younger sister and parents now use the product. "We were kind of just making this for something to do, and we thought it would maybe get used by a few people. And then the feedback we've gotten, and how quickly it's grown, has been amazing," Blum Levine said. Borland is only teaching part-time these days so he can remain involved in the company. Blum Levine is graduating from MIT a semester early and said he'll spend the next six months working on the platform "pretty full time." Although he's focused on ReachMyTeach now, Blum Levine said the experience has prepared him for future endeavors. "I have learned a lot, and not just focused on like the coding skills side, but looking more holistically at how you make a successful startup," he said. "If in the future I did have an idea that I was excited about, I feel like this has been like an invaluable experience, learning skills useful for that."
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By Kemberley Washington, CPA, Bankrate.com The IRS Direct File program, which lets taxpayers file their federal income tax return directly with the IRS for free, is doubling its reach to 24 states for the 2025 tax season, up from 12 states in 2024, the program’s pilot year. The Direct File program will also accept more types of tax situations for the 2025 tax season. While taxpayers who used the system in 2024 could claim a handful of tax credits, including the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit , that list is expanding in 2025 to include the child and dependent care credit , among others. Related Articles An estimated 30 million taxpayers will qualify for the Direct File program in 2025, the IRS says. More than 140,000 taxpayers filed their federal tax returns through the Direct File program in 2024. About 90% of users said their experience was excellent or above average, according to a survey of about 11,000 Direct File users in 2024, conducted by the General Services Administration. “We’re excited about the improvements to Direct File and the millions more taxpayers who will be eligible to use the service this year,” said Danny Werfel, the IRS commissioner, in a statement. “Our goal is to improve the experience of tax filing itself and help taxpayers meet their obligations quickly and easily.” The IRS says that taxpayers can use Direct File when the 2025 tax season kicks off in January, and it will be available until Oct. 15, 2025. But the program’s future is somewhat unclear: In December, 29 Republican lawmakers sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, calling for him to end the Direct File program on his first day in office. Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives also introduced legislation in July to end the Direct File program. For now, here’s what you need to know about how the IRS Direct File program works, and how to qualify for it. The Direct File program is a new initiative, about to enter its second year, that allows taxpayers to file their federal tax returns electronically with the IRS. The no-cost tool guides taxpayers through every part of their federal income tax return. Taxpayers can file using a smartphone, computer or tablet. One of the program’s advantages is that, if you have questions as you’re working on your return, you can get live support directly from the IRS via chat or phone. IRS representatives can answer basic tax questions and help with technical issues in English and Spanish. The Direct File program has income limits, as well as limits on the types of income, deductions and credits you can enter on your tax return. For the 2025 tax season: To be eligible for Direct File, your income can come from the following sources: But if you’re self-employed, or have business or rental income, you can’t use Direct File . Same goes for IRA contributions or distributions: If you have either, you can’t use Direct File. You can use the IRS Direct File program only if you claim the standard deduction — the program isn’t available to people who itemize. But you can claim certain above-the-line deductions: student loan interest , educator expenses and health savings account contributions . You can’t use Direct File if you want to deduct your IRA contributions. The Direct File program allows for the following tax credits in 2025: However, if you want to claim education credits , credits for energy efficient home upgrades or the adoption expense credit , you can’t use the Direct File program. More taxpayers will have access to the IRS Direct File program in 2025. In 2024, the IRS kicked off the program with only 12 states; that number has expanded to 24 states for the 2025 tax season. For some of the states that participate in the IRS Direct File program, your federal return information will be transferred automatically to the state tax website, but in some cases you’ll have to re-enter your information. Visit this IRS Direct File page to get the details for your state. Here is a list of the participating states: If you don’t qualify for the IRS Direct File program, you may have other options to file your tax return for free. In addition to Direct File, the IRS offers the Free File program, in which it partners with online tax software providers to provide free federal income tax return filing. Some providers also allow you to file a state income tax return. For the 2024 tax season, your adjusted gross income had to be less than $79,000 to qualify for the Free File program. That dollar threshold is likely to rise slightly for the 2025 tax season. The IRS also offers the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which provides certified volunteers to prepare basic tax returns if you earn less than $67,000 a year, are disabled, or speak limited English. You can find a site near you by visiting this IRS page . ©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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