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“If we don’t fight for our children, who else is going to do it?” Charter advocates to continue Democratic debate protests Thursday in Los Angeles
The rift in the Democratic party over charter schools will be on sharp display again Thursday, as advocates, parents and students rally outside a Los Angeles presidential primary debate to protest what they say is an attack on their freedoms. Advocates frame Democrats’ increasingly sharp rhetoric against charter schools — present at all levels of...
By Carolyn Phenicie | December 18, 2019
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Former Obama ed secretaries urge more details on Democrats’ big education spending proposals
Washington, D.C. Democratic presidential candidates’ proposals to spend more money on education should come with more detail on how their plans will get better results for students, two former Democratic education secretaries said. The 19 Democrats left in the race have proposed several high-priced education plans, including universal pre-K, dramatically increased spending on low-income students...
By Carolyn Phenicie | October 16, 2019
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‘We’ve got a real crisis:’ Half of U.S. teachers have considered leaving profession, PDK poll finds
Half of the nation’s teachers have seriously considered quitting in recent years, amid concerns about low pay, stress and lack of respect, a new poll finds. “We’ve got a real crisis going on,” said Joshua P. Starr, CEO of PDK International, the teachers’ professional association that conducts the annual poll. “There’s absolutely a real issue,...
By Carolyn Phenicie | August 5, 2019
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To protect schools from mass shootings, advocates urge senators to tie federal education aid to adoption of tighter security measures
The federal government should do more to force schools to adopt best safety practices, advocates from Florida argued at a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C. last week. “We know that we cannot prevent 100 percent of these school mass murders, but we know that we can absolutely mitigate a lot of the risk,” said Max...
By Carolyn Phenicie | July 29, 2019
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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Why Title I spending has emerged as a key education issue of the 2020 campaign — and why Democrats’ plan to boost funding without accountability could be a ‘Santa Claus approach to education policy’
EDlection 2020 pop quiz: What do the K-12 platforms of Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg have in common? Answer: They all want to increase spending on Title I, the federal grants started in the 1960s to boost the education of low-income children. Biden and Sanders want to triple the funding, currently $15.9 billion a year, while...
By Carolyn Phenicie | July 29, 2019
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LAUSD Superintendent Beutner relieved as Supreme Court blocks census question on citizenship, says district faced potential loss of $20 million
Education advocates were hopeful but still concerned after the Supreme Court ruled the Trump Administration — for now — cannot add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. “The Supreme Court’s decision to not include the citizenship question in the 2020 census is the right thing for public education,” L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said in a...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 28, 2019
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Charters, child care and more: 5 ways education could come up at the Democratic debates
Education, an issue that has been pushed to the sidelines in recent presidential cycles, is getting some more attention in the early days of the 2020 contest. Mentions of universal pre-K and college affordability are practically stump-speech mandates. Teachers unions, riding a high of public support after successful strikes last year, have deep pockets and...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 25, 2019
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Government watchdog warns that schools are underreporting the restraint and seclusion of students
The Education Department should take immediate action to remedy underreporting of seclusion and restraint in federal civil rights data, a government watchdog said in a report released Tuesday. Seventy percent of districts reported no incidences of seclusion and restraint in the 2015-16 Civil Rights Data Collection, but an analysis indicates that it likely didn’t capture...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 21, 2019
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Even after ‘historic’ federal spending, today’s child care system serves only 1 in 6 eligible kids. Now Congress might approve billions more to stem the crisis
U.S. child care is widely seen as being in crisis. It’s costly, in many states more expensive than college tuition, and hard for parents to find. Workers in the field receive low wages, leaving many eligible for public assistance. And the programs available for many families are often not up to the quality standards that...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 17, 2019
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The truth about school equity: Expert Rucker Johnson reflects on how integration helped black students — and why California must do a better job in giving every family access to high-quality early education
Most Americans believe that after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, everyone tried their best to integrate schools and it just didn’t work. But that’s a myth, professor Rucker Johnson argues in a new book. Johnson in his new book “Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works” argues that integration did improve...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 11, 2019