Education

This week, a state appellate court will be asked to overturn a closely watched legal decision that said poor and minority school students in California have been denied their right to a proper education because of laws that prevent the dismissal of bad teachers. The case, Vergara v. California, was filed on behalf of nine […]

By

Judy Lin

• February 22, 2016

Education

Teacher salary database

By

Matt Levin

• January 30, 2016

Education

The price of education

VALLEJO, Calif. — Vallejo High School teacher Lewis Brown starts his morning government class with a question of the day that takes advantage of newly assigned iPads. Teacher Salary Database “Today is the one year anniversary of the French magazine terrorist assassination,” Brown says. “What was the name of the magazine?” The seniors type on […]

By

Judy Lin

• January 30, 2016

Education

How much are teachers in your district paid?

The searchable database below shows how teacher and staff salaries have grown since the Great Recession in more than 650 of California’s 1,022 school districts. As it illustrates, California education funding is finally booming. The $71.6 billion budget that Gov. Jerry Brown proposed in January would be the fifth consecutive year of growth since the […]

By

Matt Levin

• January 30, 2016

Education

Champion of California schools advises conservative approach on state funds

When former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell was termed out five years ago, the popular politician could only watch as a state budget deficit eroded his signature priorities to reduce class size and improve the performance of Latino and African-American students. These days, O’Connell, 64, spends his time hopscotching the state advising school […]

By

Judy Lin

• January 30, 2016

Education

Is a tax extension needed for California schools?

Gov. Jerry Brown campaigned up and down the state in 2012 to pass a temp orary measure known as Proposition 30, which raised the sales tax for four years and income taxes on high earners for seven years. It generated $8 billion a year to educate California’s 6.2 million elementary and secondary school students. This […]

By

Judy Lin

• January 11, 2016

Education

School budgets are growing, but so are pension payments

Gov. Jerry Brown will propose another healthy budget on Thursday that will be vetted and adopted by the Legislature in June. That’s good news for K-12 public education, which accounts for more than 40 percent of state funds. So why aren’t school district officials jumping up and down? One reason is the growing pension contributions […]

By

Judy Lin

• January 6, 2016

Education

How much has California school spending grown in the last 5 years?

One of the biggest winners in Gov. Jerry Brown’s January budget was public schools, which has enjoyed a rapid funding rise in recent years. The governor proposed a $71.6 billion education budget in the fiscal year that starts this July. That marks a 51 percent increase in the minimum funding for California’s public schools — according to the formula set by […]

By

Judy Lin

• January 4, 2016