By Caroline Bermudez Reflexive opposition to Teach For America (TFA) is commonplace and the arguments against the organization are recycled regularly: Corps members are ill-prepared, they don’t stay in the profession, or they primarily teach at charter schools. It’s rare to come across fresh or fair takes on TFA, much less from someone who is a...

Parents retain right to enroll in schools near where they work Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation on Monday that removes a July 2017 sunset on authorization for students to enroll in a school near where a parent or legal guardian works. Assembly Bill 2537 from Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, represents the most recent relaxation of...

By Rachel Uranga School children and parents living near the single largest source of pollution in Southern California were promised air-cleaning filters in classrooms nearly four years ago – but many never saw them. In 2012, the Port of Long Beach signed a deal to give Long Beach Unified School District $4 million to install...

U.S. issues federal guidelines to prevent discrimination against students with ADHD The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidelines aimed at preventing schools from discriminating against the growing numbers of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In a letter to school districts and a “know your rights” document to be posted on its website Tuesday,...

California needs not just more teachers but more master teachers California is trying to increase both the quantity of teachers and the quality of teaching. However, we should be wary about just expanding the pipeline of teachers. What we also need is a different kind of teacher.  By Derek Mitchell, EdSource Experts say schools must...

By the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board It’s not easy to measure the performance of a school, because there are so many things that go into providing a good education. But neither should it be as hard as the State Board of Education is making it. After three years of work, the board recently revealed a...

Face-off over developer fees for schools heads to court Litigants fencing over new authority given to school districts to raise developer fees to cover classroom construction costs face an important hearing next week in Sacramento Superior Court. By Tom Chorneau, Cabinet Report Rauner email: Half of CPS teachers ‘virtually illiterate,’ Chicago Tribune Here’s what happens when...

Marcia S. Reed, principal of 186th Street Elementary School in Gardena, was selected as California’s 2016 National Distinguished Principal. “Reed was nominated and selected by her fellow principals through a statewide search process conducted by the Association of California School Administrators,” said Elementary Principal Representative Ron Tanimura. The National Association of Elementary School Principals established the program in...

Letter details opposition to federal proposal defining student success on tests A University of Southern California professor has collected dozens of academicians’ signatures on a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education John King criticizing how the federal government proposes to measure student scores on standardized tests. California’s top state education officials agree with him and may...

 Kids in crisis: One-third of California 11th-graders surveyed say they are chronically sad In a potential crisis crossing demographic lines, one-third of California’s 11th-graders and one-quarter of seventh-graders reported feeling chronically sad or hopeless over the past 12 months, a survey showed. The California Healthy Kids Survey also found that about 19 percent of both...