K-12 education

A CalMatters investigation found that schools had wildly different approaches to stimulus spending — from laptops to shade structures to an ice cream truck. No centralized database exists to show the public exactly where the money went.

Tony Thurmond faces little opposition for a second term as California schools superintendent, but critics question how much he has accomplished. He points to task forces that are influencing education policy and says he wants to help public schools rebound from the pandemic.

Ethnic studies can teach our children about their commonalities and their unique identities. Civics can teach them how to work toward compromise. California’s plan, however, is for these lessons to be taught separately. That makes no sense.

Schools already struggling with teacher shortages reached a crisis point during the omicron surge, particularly those with high percentages of high-needs students. With substitute teachers in scarce supply and school officials worried about future staffing, one lawmaker is proposing solutions.

Last school year, growing districts weren’t funded for all their students. Their leaders say they’ve been hurt by efforts to protect the majority of the state’s districts experiencing declining enrollment.

For the first time since the start of the century, fewer than 6 million kids are attending California public schools.

According to new data from the California Department of Education, enrollment continues to drop at faster rates than before the pandemic.

California has an opportunity to set a generation on a path to a lifetime of mental wellness, but there is much work to do.

The Arts and Music in Schools measure will provide nearly $900 million to arts and music education in California public schools.

Parents, educators and now students are caught in the polarized debate over mask and vaccine mandates. Officials are worried communities might not recover.