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High school creates a gift for blind senior: A one-of-a-kind Braille yearbook she can read
By Nathania Johnson Every year, Maycie Vorreiter bought her high school’s yearbook and asked her friends to sign it. She could never read it herself, though, having been born blind, so her assistant or her twin brother had to read it to her. “I’ve ordered a yearbook every year, basically just to be included in...
By Guest contributor | December 6, 2016
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Fake news isn’t just an internet problem, it’s a classroom crisis. A new push for media literacy
By Tim Newcomb Alarm over the ease with which Americans are duped by fake news continues to grow. With propaganda-filled stories and hoax articles crowding social media feeds — where more than 60 percent of people in the United States now get their news — during the recent election cycle, lack of media literacy among...
By Guest contributor | December 1, 2016
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Analysis: California is still the Golden State for teacher unions
By Mike Antonucci While teachers-union affiliates across the country ponder what went wrong on Election Day, the California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers are celebrating another successful year at the polls. The unions helped deliver Hillary Clinton a 29-point margin of victory in California and backed Kamala Harris in her successful bid to...
By Guest contributor | November 30, 2016
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Please do something about bullying, Mr. Trump
By Hannah Bartlebaugh In the days following the election of Donald Trump, there have been incidents across the country of increased harassment and bullying that have made students feel unsafe and unwanted in their public schools. As we move into the era of a Trump presidency, it’s more important now than ever to address bullying....
By Guest contributor | November 20, 2016
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Prop. 58 will maximize potential of English language learners and increase opportunities for bilingual education
By Kelly Gonez When you are a teacher with a student who is engaging and clearly capable of big things, it breaks your heart to see an obvious barrier to success. One of my students, I’ll call him Julian, faced this kind of challenge. He was the kind of student who makes you really appreciate...
By Guest contributor | November 7, 2016
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Heated Oakland school board race captures growing conflict over charters, choice, equity
By Kathleen O’Connor When Jumoke Hinton-Hodge was elected to the board of the Oakland Unified School District eight years ago, the district was emerging from state receivership after a $100 million bailout, the largest in California’s history. At the same time, enrollment in city schools was declining, the Great Recession was in full effect, and...
By Guest contributor | November 3, 2016
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Prop. 58 can help eliminate stigma around bilingual education
By Christina Kim More than twenty years ago I was classified as an English learner. I spent my first few elementary school years in a classroom not learning much or improving my ability to communicate in English. Then, Californians voted in favor of an array of anti-immigrant propositions, including Proposition 227, which eliminated most bilingual...
By Guest contributor | October 20, 2016
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Commentary: We are asking the wrong questions about flavored milk
By Brent Walmsley I’d like to respond to the upcoming LAUSD board vote regarding a return of flavored milk at targeted LAUSD pilot schools to study if there will be a decrease in waste. At the moment, there is a lobby attempting to bring sugar-infused (flavored) milk back into schools. The arguments to do this have...
By Guest contributor | October 14, 2016
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Commentary: Benefits of early school start date outweigh concerns about summer heat
By Marisa Crabtree In the new era of the Local Control Funding Formula and the Every Student Succeeds Act, school districts have begun showing a renewed dedication to teacher, parent and community engagement. I was disappointed, however, that the Los Angeles Unified School District missed an opportunity to weigh student, family and community concerns before deciding to shift the school...
By Guest contributor | October 7, 2016
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Commentary: We need an accountability system that will clearly communicate how schools are doing
By Tunji Adebayo The California State Board of Education just adopted a new accountability system acknowledging that the quality of a school is about more than just test scores. Parents will now have access to vital measures that provide them with greater insight into how a school may serve their child, such as college preparedness, language...
By Guest contributor | September 30, 2016