public schools

California grants school boards much local control, but some recent events have pushed the state to rein that in.

From CalMatters’ housing reporter Ben Christopher: California voters will soon get a third chance to say “yes” to rent control. This week, the Secretary of State announced that supporters of a measure that would let cities put new restrictions on how much landlords can hike the rent have gathered enough signatures to put it on […]

During the 2022 campaign, CalMatters state Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal wrote about how the state Republican Party — struggling to win statewide office in deep-blue California — decided to focus on local school boards with its “Parent Revolt” program.  The GOP’s goal: To capitalize on parents’ anger over COVID-19 shutdowns and concerns about “critical race […]

For the past decade, California has spent billions of dollars to improve the education of at-risk children, but there's scant evidence that it had the intended effect.

Earth Day Op-Ed Contest Winner: 3rd Place More than 100 high school and middle school students across California submitted opinion pieces to CalMatters’ inaugural Earth Day contest. The contest theme was “How have changes in climate impacted your community?” Guest Commentary written by Andrew Zhou Andrew Zhou is a junior at Monta Vista High School in […]

Nearly a third of California's public school students are chronically absent, but the crisis is not getting the attention it deserves.

The in-person and virtual CalMatters events this year will serve as unique gathering points for civically-engaged Californians.

From CalMatters politics reporter Alexei Koseff: ​​For months, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders have been projecting optimism in the face of a grim budget picture. At a press conference in January where he unveiled his plan to deal with a projected $22.5 billion deficit next year, Newsom assured Californians: “We are keeping our promises.” […]

Stockton's reputation for civic malfeasance took another hit in a searing audit of the city's school system.

The latest sign that California is easing out of the pandemic and into the endemic phase: The state has dropped its plan to require the COVID-19 vaccination for K-12 students as the state of emergency comes to an end Feb. 28, after nearly three years. That said — “we continue to strongly recommend COVID-19 immunization […]