LA Unified explores transitional kindergarten option for more 4-year-olds The state’s largest school district is considering expanding its transitional kindergarten to more 4-year-olds – a move that could affect other districts statewide. Ed Source Discounting play time in kindergarten Supporters of early reading requirements say students who are not proficient by third grade are four...

By Emma Brown From Rand Paul on the right to Elizabeth Warren on the left, members of the Senate education committee pushed aside their policy disagreements earlier this spring when they voted unanimously in favor of a bipartisan revision to the widely reviled No Child Left Behind law. But key differences remain to be resolved in both...

Mandatory vaccine legislation easily clears Assembly health committee Vaccine supporters cheered the passage of the bill, which they said echoes a Public Policy Institute of California poll released last week. San Jose Mercury News Adjoining counties devise different strategies to expand preschool The counties’ contrasting approaches highlight the efforts of local governments across the state...

By The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board California’s high school exit exam is certainly due for revision. The test, which requires high school graduates to demonstrate reasonably proficient reading and math skills to graduate, is out of step with the newly adopted Common Core standards, and aligning it with the new curriculum is important. But...

Grad rates up? Very little, at best! A closer look at the evidence shows that, other than data collection, nothing much has changed in over 20 years. SI&A Cabinet Report San Diego Unified says it will start following the law on charter school space Under the terms of Prop. 39, charters are entitled to use...

By Sandy Banks What if you could create your dream school for your kids, one that’s high-tech and hands-on; diverse and genteel; an urban beehive of creativity with a suburban sense of security? That’s what a group of young upscale parents in South Park set out to do three years ago. They loved their neighborhood’s...

Class of 2015 needs more than high school diploma, experts say The high school diploma — once a ticket to the American middle class — isn’t enough any more, experts say. Los Angeles Daily News San Marino High student claims teachers failed to report rape allegations The lawsuit against the San Marino Unified School District...

By Elissa Nadworny  The national graduation rate is at an all-time high — 81 percent. It was such big news, President Obama touted it in this year’s State of the Union address. That got us thinking: What’s the story behind that 81 percent? Working with a team of reporters in 14 states, we set off...

Ending senior year with a bang isn’t cheap at many L.A.-area high schools Sticker shock has hit families hard in these final weeks of high school, which are filled with expensive events. Los Angeles Times State lawmakers want to change teachers evaluations State legislators are approving bills that will revamp teacher evaluations for the first...

By David Whiting A combination of handed-down smartphones, summer break and a new wave of shadowy apps makes the next three months especially dangerous for children, warns a nationally recognized cybercop. Understand, it’s not just pedophiles and pimps preying on children. It’s children preying on children. Despite parental controls, says Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Clay...