We begin with the dangerous heat waves still smothering a large portion of the country including major cities like New York and Boston which both hit historic highs today. More than eighty million Americans are under heat alerts today. And more than sixty cities scorched in record-breaking temperatures. Fort Worth, Texas, hit one hundred and seven and Roswell, New Mexico, hit one hundred and five degrees. That is more than fifteen degrees above average for this time of year. And in the Atlantic, Hurricane Lee is now a category four and is gaining momentum fueled by the unusually warm waters. The late-summer heat is putting pressure on schools unable to keep students safe because they don’t have air conditionings. Many districts canceling school or sending students home early as high temperatures force officials to rethink how they can operate in this extreme weather.

More than a million students here in New York City went back to school today, but with a heat advisory still in effect, schools are limiting outdoor activities. Students in the nation’s largest public school district headed back to the sweltering sun today. The majority of New York City public schools have air conditioning after spending millions of dollars in 2017. The heat was on in Massachusetts today too but in Boston, the first day back was a breeze. Last year, Boston public schools installed thirty-eight hundred air conditioners, partially funded by federal pandemic programs. Now, the nine million dollars investment is having a big payoff. A recent study found that students scored increasingly worse on standardized tests when temperature were above eighty degrees. Dozens of districts across ten states have been forced to close or dismiss early this week because of inadequately cooled classrooms.