School districts see teacher shortages after years of cuts After years of recession-related layoffs and hiring freezes, school systems in pockets across the United States are in urgent need of more teachers. Associated Press New school year brings lice outbreak With the start of the school year, small outbreaks of sesame-seed sized, blood-sucking parasites known...

By Sarah Tully  Comparing California scores on tests aligned with the Common Core standards to those in other states isn’t a straightforward process. California students’ results are among the lowest when compared to the other eight states that have released Smarter Balanced assessment scores so far. But drawing conclusions may be difficult because California’s student...

Game-changing ethnic studies bill heads to California governor Gov. Brown has yet to say whether he’ll sign the bill creating a model ethnic studies curriculum that districts could use. Huffington Post LAUSD heat-related ban on sports activities disrupts football schedules Once temperatures exceed 99 degrees, the district urges all schools to either reschedule or cancel...

By Mareesa Nicosia FIVE POINTS, Calif.—It’s 7:50 on a hot, dry August morning when the buses rumble past a barren field—normally filled with broccoli this time of year—and creak to a stop in front of a flat-topped school, dust blooming up from under their wheels. Children spill out, the older ones eager to greet familiar...

Op-Ed: Standardized tests don’t help us evaluate teachers Holding teachers and schools accountable is important, but the means should be accurate and fair. Los Angeles Times Cops probing motive behind fatal stabbing of 3 boys inside SUV LA police detectives are trying to determine the motives of a man suspected of fatally stabbing his three young...

By Sandy Banks The hunt for the next Los Angeles Unified schools superintendent is on; the battle lines are being drawn. I hope the issue of charter schools doesn’t become a competent candidate’s Waterloo. On the battlefield the issue tidily divides opposing camps: Are you for public accountability or private control? But in real life,...

Teachers, too, will learn a lot from new tests The state is gradually rolling out the Online Reporting System, a web-based tool that will enable teachers and principals to easily analyze their students’ results. EdSource After a string of suicides, students in Palo Alto are demanding change In response to recent tragedies, the national media...

By Ed Mazza via The Huffington Post In many parts of the country, the conclusion of Labor Day weekend marks the start of the school year, and while “Last Week Tonight” was off for the holiday, host John Oliver recorded a video that has everything students really need to know. Sort of. In the four-minute YouTube clip,...

What parents need to know about California’s Common Core-aligned tests Tomorrow, the California Department of Education plans to release the first year’s results of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test. EdSource After Deasy, LAUSD faces tough choice: Play it safe or take a risk? At key moments of tumult in the district, the records show,...

By Acacia Squires Ainissa Ramirez used to be an associate professor at Yale in materials science. Now she’s taking her “science evangelism” out on the road. Awakening that little something in young people, especially young people of color, is Ramirez’s true passion. As a 4-year-old kid in Jersey City, N.J., Ainissa knew she wanted to be...