K-12 Education

Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Francisco’s MUNI, Los Angeles Metro and transit agencies across the state are struggling to keep afloat. Public transit ridership in California hasn’t recovered since plummeting during the pandemic. And since then, transit agencies have been anticipating a “fiscal cliff” — a steep drop in revenue combined with the end of […]

After the number of homeless students dropped during the early part of the pandemic, experts say the lack of affordable housing is fueling an increase that may continue to escalate.

Throughout the state, schools with the highest rates of low-income students have fewer experienced teachers. Increasing teacher pay is one way to lure more experienced applicants, but teachers unions keep fighting that idea.

It’s difficult to exaggerate just how much impact a great teacher can have on a student’s life. Experienced and qualified educators can increase their students’ lifetime earnings and reduce their chances of incarceration. But in California, schools serving more students living in poverty generally have fewer experienced teachers. In the first in a series of […]

Marion Joseph battled for years to improve the reading skills of California youngsters through phonics instruction. She died last year but phonics is becoming the state's favored method of overcoming California's literacy crisis.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to tweak the state's program for improving educational outcomes of at-risk students, but his proposal doesn't fix its fundamental flaws.

The California Teachers Association has consistently opposed legislation that would require dyslexia screening for all students in early grades. Yet many teachers say early intervention is key to heading off later academic struggles.

California is one of only 10 states in the country that does not require schools to screen children for dyslexia. Experts agree early diagnosis is key to helping dyslexic students learn to read, yet the statewide teachers union and others have blocked those efforts.

Last year, a bill would have directed more funding to the student group with the lowest standardized test scores, which would have been Black students. Instead, the governor is proposing extra money for high-poverty schools, not Black students specifically.

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.