Somerville could get “an ambitious repair and rehab program” for municipal buildings through a state Municipal and Public Safety Building Authority.

Two candidate forums have been added to the Cambridge political calendar in the run-up to Nov. 7 municipal elections by the group My Brother’s Keeper, Cambridge, a nonprofit that works to empower youths and families of color.

Plans to offer specialized tutoring to eligible Cambridge Public Schools drew School Committee questions about how students are selected, how hiring is progressing and how to encourage students to study after the day’s final bell rings.

Public meetings this week look at the city-owned lots in and around Central Square, allowing the keeping of backyard chickens, changes along Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge, student behavior in our middle schools and whether to allow conversion of former Lesley offices in lodging houses.

Four programs will be cut at Lesley University as part of its Better Lesley plan to refocus on core strengths in education, mental health and the arts.

America is a nation of students that – in a culture linked inextricably with anti-intellectualism – doesn’t want to admit it, Tuft’s Sol Gittleman says in a new history.

As many as 30 students will get a tuition-free education at Bunker Hill Community College in what is expected to be the first year of a permanent program.

School Committee candidates talked about standardized tests, educator pay and retention and the work of superintendent Victoria Greer at a candidate town hall.

Public meetings this week look at the new Community Safety Department and “Cop City”; Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery work; ranking users of of school facilities; changes to a building energy law; and more.

The rollout of free universal pre-kindergarten next fall may force a full reevaluation of Controlled Choice, the delicate game families play to enroll their children into their preferred Cambridge public elementary school.