K-12 Education

Teachers across the state are trying to help students who fell behind in their reading skills during remote learning. At the same time, they must meet state grade-level standards for instruction, leaving many wondering if some students will ever recover from learning loss.

This school year the California transitional kindergarten program began expanding to eventually include all 4-year-olds. But amidst a teacher shortage, some school districts had to move teachers already on staff or lure staff away from preschool programs.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control decided to list COVID-19 among the vaccines it recommends for children, but each state decides whether to adopt those guidelines. It's unclear what California will do, given the past controversies over children's vaccines and the COVID vaccine in particular.

The results — the most thorough look yet at the pandemic's toll on learning — left education officials and experts neither surprised nor hopeless.

State education officials — who initially seemed to be delaying the release of student scores until after the election — instead shared them in a way guaranteed to hinder coverage of what's expected to be a steep pandemic-driven decline.

Many school districts have limited or no dedicated cybersecurity teams. With no statewide standards, districts make their own decisions about cybersecurity measures.

A new law will encourage California school districts to work with local Native American tribes to develop history lessons for students. For too long, students and tribal leaders say, schools have lacked an in-depth and accurate history curriculum that addresses their culture.

Parent advocate? Culture warrior? In a nearly hour-long interview with CalMatters, Lance Christensen, the challenger for California schools superintendent, vows to put students first and give parents a bigger voice.

California’s education department updated its statewide data system in the spring but the rollout resulted in thousands of errors. Key information about special education students and other high-needs groups was missing or miscalculated.

Shut out from winning statewide offices, the state GOP is seeking to capitalize on parents' anger to win local school board races in 2022 and motivate Republican voters. The party's "Parent Revolt" program is its most ambitious school board candidate recruitment and training program ever.