K-12 Education

In California and across the country, suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens—a grim reminder that many high school students’ primary barrier to adulthood is themselves. More young people take their own lives than the number killed by cancer, heart disease, birth defects, stroke, flu, pneumonia and chronic lung disease combined. And […]

It’s tough for California voters to say no to more money for school construction. They almost always approve state bond requests, and this month they passed a $9 billion package that backers promised would help pay for repairs and upgrades needed to preserve students’ access to safe, modern classrooms. Unlike previous bonds, however, Prop. 51 […]

First-graders at Belvedere Elementary plopped down on their assigned carpet squares, chattering in Spanish as the day’s lesson got underway. Teacher Ivon Rabago displayed the book “La Historia de Martin Luther King, Jr.” as she spoke to the San Bernardino County students—both fluent English speakers and those just learning English—entirely in Spanish. Welcome to the […]

Parents have a right to know how their particular local schools are performing, but California’s new accountability system fails to provide that information, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa charged Wednesday. Villaraigosa, who is eyeing a 2018 gubernatorial bid, made his comments during a wide-ranging panel discussion about the new assessments, which backers described as […]

For decades, the standardized test scores of California students have shown that achievement gaps based on race, ethnicity and class—while troubling—tended to narrow over time. And an alarming gender discrepancy that once showed girls testing significantly behind boys in math has actually vanished. But while the state’s newly released 2016 scores show small improvements overall compared to […]

Sen. Holly Mitchell reacts to CALmatters article

Something new is happening at a batch of California urban schools. Students are being asked if they are happy at school. Can they keep their temper in check when there’s trouble in class? Their parents are surveyed about feeling welcome at school. Do they think the school provides high-quality instruction and high expectations for their […]

One by one, dozens of blacks and Latinos lined up behind a microphone placed before the state school board appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Spanish-speaking mothers pleaded for the 10-member panel to evaluate schools based on parent involvement because they have felt unwelcome at their children’s schools. African-American students asked the state to compile school […]

A group that lobbies to change public education is pouring money into a handful of Northern California legislative races ahead of the June 7 election, aiming to influence the kind of Democrats who hold power in the state Capitol. Democrats make up a solid majority of the Legislature, but they do not agree on everything. […]

This week California’s State Board of Education will consider what measures beyond test scores should be included in the state’s new accountability system for public schools. In a shift away from the state’s exclusive reliance on standardized tests, the board is mulling the incorporation of multiple metrics such as suspension and graduation rates in determining […]