Ricardo Cano

K-12 Education

School bonds usually are a cinch in California — what happened this time?

For 20 years, Californians have routinely supported school bonds. This time, up and down the ballot, the returns aren't looking so positive.

By Ricardo Cano • March 5, 2020

Education

Fate of huge California bond to update school facilities hangs in balance

Last October, when he signed the legislation that placed Proposition 13 on the ballot, Gov. Gavin Newsom made a prediction: “Voters will approve this bond, because voters historically approve school bonds.” Newsom and supporters, who spent millions of dollars campaigning for a statewide ballot measure with no organized opposition, billed Prop. 13 as a critical […]

By Ricardo Cano • March 3, 2020

Health

California schools brace for a coronavirus disruption

Early reports indicate children infected by the coronavirus experience a milder response than older adults. But as it arrives in Northern California, school and college officials are preparing for a growing likelihood that the highly contagious virus will disrupt learning and spark panic in young people and their naturally protective caretakers. As dorms are being […]

By Ricardo Cano, Felicia Mello and Elizabeth Aguilera • February 29, 2020

K-12 Education

California will pay millions to settle suit claiming it violated children’s rights by not teaching them to read

The state's $50 million payout to needy schools, announced today, resolves a sweeping lawsuit that put California on trial for failing to give low-income students equal access to literacy instruction.

By Ricardo Cano • February 20, 2020

Education

Track California schools closed by climate disasters, says lawmaker, citing ‘the times we’re living in’

AB 2126 follows a CalMatters report on the toll natural disasters are taking on K-12 education. It would share real-time data on school closures statewide.

By Ricardo Cano • February 19, 2020

Explainers

Mind the achievement gap: California’s disparities in education, explained

Sweeping reforms have pumped billions of dollars into high-needs school districts. So why has the needle been so slow to move?

By Ricardo Cano and Joe Hong • February 3, 2020

California Wildfires

Make up school time lost to climate disasters, fire country lawmaker says

California state Sen. Bill Dodd has introduced legislation to help schools make up instructional time and state dollars lost to closures for climate-driven emergencies such as wildfires. The increasingly pressing issue was the topic of a CalMatters series last year.

By Ricardo Cano • January 23, 2020

Elections

The new Proposition 13: A $15 billion bond for school facilities

What it would do: This Proposition 13 would authorize a $15 billion bond for school modernization and construction projects. Here’s how it would break down: $9 billion for K-12 schools ,and $2 billion each for community colleges and the state’s two public university systems, the California State University and University of California. What it would […]

By Ricardo Cano • January 16, 2020

Education

Follow the money: Are changes coming for California’s school funding law?

A critical state audit has made oversight of spending on disadvantaged students a first order of business for California lawmakers.

By Ricardo Cano • January 8, 2020

Economy

For small, rural, crumbling — and closing — classrooms, a possible solution: new school bond rules

Small rural schools have long had a hard time competing for state school bond money. But that may change with the state bond on the ballot in March.

By Ricardo Cano • December 17, 2019

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