Jessica Calefati

In the past year, CALmatters, Capital Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times have partnered to examine the history of the state’s pension woes and how key decisions to boost public workers’ benefits without setting aside extra money to pay for them have threatened the bottom lines for universities as well as state and local governments. Now, we’re turning our attention to schools.

Several small, cash-strapped California school districts are using a loophole in state law to boost their revenue by overseeing a raft of far-flung charter schools, according to a recent report published by the state auditor. The result, the report says: dismal academic results for thousands of students and a lot of extra money for the districts, one of which increased its revenue more than 10-fold.

San Francisco, a progressive enclave and beacon for technological innovation, has the worst black student achievement of any county in California. Only 19 percent of black students passed the state test in reading, compared to 31 percent of black students statewide. The problem in San Francisco may be severe, but it’s not unique. Huge gaps between black kids’ scores and those of their white peers have existed in California for decades. And average reading test scores statewide show the problem persists, even as districts make progress narrowing the achievement gap between Latino and white students.

California voters have twice rejected private school voucher initiatives, but a new poll shows a majority favor the concept, which has been touted by the Trump administration as a way to lift struggling students’ achievement.

A powerful teachers union and advocates of charter schools, battling to shape the future of California schools, ended in a stalemate this year in Sacramento.

As DACA faces a threat of extinction and its participants scramble to determine what to do if those protections disappear, Janet Napolitano and UC are suing the Trump administration to try to save it.

Editors note: Assemblymember Shirley Weber was nominated to be California Secretary of State on Dec. 22, 2020 by Gov. Gavin Newsom, filling the seat vacated by the governor’s appointment of the previous secretary, Alex Padilla, to the US Senate. After this profile, Weber also led a successful effort in 2019 to change the rules for […]

Update:  The only teacher shortage bill signed into law in 2017 was Assembly Bill 1157, which is designed to encourage school districts to turn surplus property into employee housing. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed AB 45, to provide money for teacher rental housing, and AB 568, to give teachers six weeks of paid maternity leave. The […]

Update: Senate Bill 328 to delay school start times stalled in the Assembly during the Legislature’s final days. The author said he’ll revive the proposal in 2018, the second in a two-year legislative session.  Coaxing groggy teenagers out of bed and onto an early morning school bus is a challenge for many parents. Democratic state […]

Like many of his peers, Kaleb Long is mature enough to stay home alone, but not quite old enough for a part-time job. Had he not enrolled in Rosemont High School’s summer learning program, the 13-year-old predicts he would have spent his Sacramento summer alone, sleeping in and playing video games. Instead, he took six […]