public schools

Three cafeteria workers in uniforms and gloves prepare pepperoni pizza slices in a commercial kitchen. One worker in the foreground places a slice into a cardboard container, while others pack meals in the background under bright fluorescent lighting.

健康

Newsom signs first-in-nation law to ban ultraprocessed food in school lunches

California health officials will now decide which ingredients, additives, dyes, and other forms of processing don’t belong in school meals and K-12 cafeterias.

经过

黄克莉丝汀

• 10 月 9, 2025

Students wearing red and beige uniforms sit on the floor of a classroom as they look up at a teacher pointing to a projected lesson on a whiteboard.

Charter schools need reform. This proposal could kneecap them

Lawmakers are considering creating an inspector general role just to oversee charter schools. It might slow the charter school movement.

经过

丹·沃尔特斯

• 7 月 11, 2025

School food service workers train at the Culinary Institute of America as part of Farm to School, an initiative to provide healthier lunches in California schools, in Napa on Aug. 3, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters

健康

Will California ban ultra-processed foods in school meals?

The Legislature is considering phasing out chemical additives in school meals linked to health problems. Opponents say the definitions are so broad that it could ban items like tomato sauce and olive oil.

经过

黄克莉丝汀

• 6 月 27, 2025

Students, wearing red and light brown uniforms, raise they hand while they sit in front of desks in a classroom.

California’s war over charter schools rages on in court

Los Angeles Unified School District wants to "avoid" charter schools taking over several hundred district buildings. A judge may decide if that's legal.

经过

丹·沃尔特斯

• 5 月 29, 2025

A person speaks into a microphone while holding papers in a formal legislative chamber. The individual wears a burgundy outfit and stands at a desk with ornate woodwork. In the background, others are seated or standing, engaging in various tasks, including using a laptop and conversing. Tall curtains and architectural details frame the setting.

正义

Lawmaker seeks new way to outlaw threats against California schools and places of worship

Existing law makes it illegal to threaten people in many cases, but what happens when the threat is against a building, such as a school or a place of worship?

经过

Denise Amos

• 4 月 23, 2025

A teacher sits at a table with a small group of students in a classroom, leading a discussion. A whiteboard behind them displays vocabulary words like “enough” and “jewelry.” The walls are covered with educational posters and a word wall. Empty desks and bins of supplies are visible in the foreground.

Wide school disparities persist 54 years after California’s landmark funding decision

Several decades of fighting over how to "equalize" education funding have landed California back where it started, with an inequitable, taxpayer-funded public education system that can't close achievement gaps.

经过

丹·沃尔特斯

• 4 月 11, 2025

A person in a suit and glasses speaks into a microphone at a podium in a dark room while looking at a teleprompter. In the background is a black curtain hanging on poles to block out the rest of the stage area.

California’s cities and schools face big budget gaps, few options

California's major cities and school districts are facing sizable budget gaps. Much like the state, they have few financial options.

经过

丹·沃尔特斯

• 3 月 13, 2025

The University of California Riverside campus in Riverside on June 9, 2022. Raquel Natalicchio for CalMatters

教育

Culture war clashes cost schools billions, UC Riverside and UCLA researchers report

Culture war issues such as racial discrimination, LGBTQ rights and partisan politics have been lightning rods for controversy at public school board meetings in the Inland Empire in recent years. In 2023, parents, students and teachers sued Temecula Valley Unified School District over its policies to ban teaching of critical race theory and require teachers to inform parents if students […]

经过

黛博拉·布伦南

• 1 月 23, 2025

两位议员，一位身穿蓝色西装，另一位身穿黑白相间的连衣裙，双手交叉站立在身前，出席在萨克拉门托州议会大厦举行的新闻发布会。

教育

New California bill would block trans females from playing in girls’ sports

A new bill would remove the right of California's female transgender athletes in to participate in high school sports teams that match their gender identity.

经过

黛博拉·布伦南

• 1 月 15, 2025

State test results show California students overall performed much worse in math and English language arts than pre-pandemic, but a persistent achievement gap didn't worsen, as initially feared. Students at a classroom at St. HOPE’s Public School 7 Elementary in Sacramento on May 11, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

How California can fix its school crisis. Two projects point the way

Three years of expert, hands-on help pulled up two schools' test scores. The rest of the state's average scores remain below pre-pandemic levels.

经过

丹·沃尔特斯

• 12 月 12, 2024

Public Schools