The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 10.05.21
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California Lawmakers Pass Budget With Billions More for Education as Newsom Negotiations Begin

This story was originally published on EdSource. Marking the start of two weeks of intensive negotiations, the Legislature passed a state budget Monday with higher revenue projections than those proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, providing several billion dollars in additional spending for TK-12 and community colleges in 2026-27. Several other significant issues remain unresolved. Chief among...
By John Festerwald and Zadiee Stavely, EdSource | June 16, 2026
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California School Districts Battle for $3.9 Billion They Argue Is Due Now, Not Later

This story was originally published EdSource. In coming days, school districts will find out whether their pressure campaign worked to persuade Gov. Gavin Newsom to turn over the $3.9 billion he planned to withhold, for now, from next year’s state funding for schools and community colleges. By midnight Monday, June 15, the state Legislature must pass...
By John Fensterwald, EdSource | June 16, 2026
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Long-Term NAEP Shows Growth for 9-Year-Olds, More Disappointment for Teens

Newly released data from America’s longest-running measure of student learning have delivered a decidedly split verdict on the state of schools. Math and reading scores from the “Long-Term Trends” edition of the National Assessment of Educational Progress — a federally administered test commonly referred to as the Nation’s Report Card — offer some of the...
By Kevin Mahnken | June 11, 2026
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Businesses Want Bilingual Workers, Families Want Bilingual Kids, So Why the Gap?

For a few years now, the United States has been marinating in a particular version of the American story. Specifically, we’ve been awash in warnings about the country’s alleged vulnerability in the face of cultural change. In this conservative telling, America grows stronger when it is monocultural, wealthier when it goes it alone, and better...
By Conor Williams | June 10, 2026
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How a California District Is Transforming Education in a Rapidly Changing World

Public education, in red and blue states alike, is being pulled apart by student disengagement, mental health needs, culture war battles, voucher expansion, budget uncertainty and the disruptive force of artificial intelligence. New data prompt renewed handwringing over standardized test scores and their decade-long decline. Meanwhile, Republicans who seek more choice in public education and...
By Barnett Berry, Mike Matsuda and Michael Fullan | June 9, 2026
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Shaw, Barrera Emerge as Front-Runners in California Superintendent Race

With millions of ballots still to be counted in California, Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw has a clear lead in the state superintendent of public instruction primary with 24.9% of the vote, followed by San Diego Unified school board President Richard Barrera with 18.9% of the vote. None of the other candidates...
By Diana Lambert, EdSource | June 4, 2026
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He Said He Couldn’t Breathe. California Changed Its Law. Does Your School Know?

Most California parents assume that when they send their children to school on a hot day, someone is responsible for keeping them safe. They assume there are rules and that the adults in charge will notice if a child is struggling in the heat. That assumption is not always true. Until very recently, it was...
By Christina Christopher Laster | June 3, 2026
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California’s Free Diaper Plan Draws Praise and Criticism

One of the many surprises of being a new parent is just how many diapers a tiny baby can go through in a day. In the haze of those first weeks and months adjusting to having an infant, parents shouldn’t have to worry about whether they can afford enough diapers — or what financial sacrifices...
By Elliot Haspel | June 2, 2026
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Children Are Drowning. It’s Time We Bring in the Teachers

The first time a 5-year-old told me swimming wasn’t for him, I asked him what he meant. He shrugged. No one in his family had ever learned. It just wasn’t for people like them. And he said it in the same matter-of-fact manner as if telling me the sky was blue. The fourth time a...
By Kate Casciato | May 28, 2026
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Report: Nearly One-Third of Teachers Still Use ‘Discredited’ Reading Methods

While reform around reading instruction continues to gain momentum, about a third of teachers are using “discredited” methods to teach kids how to read and aren’t fully committed to the science of reading, a new report found. In a survey of more than 1,200 K-3 educators in the fall of 2025, researchers at the Fordham...
By Jessika Harkay | May 27, 2026
