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Inside the celebrity-backed Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet, classrooms connect teens to Hollywood careers
This profile marks one stop in a national tour of high school campuses organized by our parent organization The 74. Follow the coast-to-coast road trip. The outdoor walkways of the Roybal Learning Center offer a panoramic view of the Los Angeles skyline that would be a fitting backdrop for any Hollywood movie. That’s what grabbed...
By Linda Jacobson | June 20, 2023
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A ruling against Harvard might not end diversity-based admissions, experts say
With a conservative U.S. Supreme Court widely expected to overturn race-conscious admissions in higher education, attention in the education community has already shifted to what happens next. One likely effect is obvious. “There is going to be some closing of doors,” said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank....
By Linda Jacobson | June 12, 2023
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Pre-K enrollment nearly bounces back from pandemic amid push for universal access
The nation’s public pre-K programs saw a rebound last year as enrollment nearly reached pre-pandemic levels, new data shows. Thirty-two percent of 4-year-olds attended a state-funded program in the 2021-22 school year — up from 28% the year before, when the National Institute for Early Education Research, which publishes the annual “yearbook,” reported that COVID had “erased”...
By Linda Jacobson | May 22, 2023
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As post-pandemic enrollment lags, schools compete for fewer students
Three years and counting since the pandemic shuttered schools and tethered students to their laptops, new data shows that enrollment in the vast majority of the nation’s largest school districts has yet to recover. Kindergarten counts continue to dwindle in many states — evidence of falling birth rates and an ever-growing array of options luring...
By Linda Jacobson | May 11, 2023
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GOP parents rights bill passes House, but faces likely ‘dead end’ in Senate
The GOP-led House on Friday passed a bill that would force schools to offer parents far greater transparency about what their children learn, but that Democrats argue could lead to book bans and discrimination against LGBTQ students. The Parents Bill of Rights passed 213 to 208, with five Republicans voting against it. “Teachers unions and education bureaucrats...
By Linda Jacobson | March 27, 2023
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Carvalho faces ‘defining moment’ as L.A.’s largest unions prepare to strike
8 p.m. Update: Los Angeles Unified workers will proceed with a strike early Tuesday morning after efforts to prevent the walkout fell apart Monday afternoon. News of a “confidential mediation” session leaked to the press before Service Employees International Union Local 99’s bargaining team knew about it, according to a union statement. During an afternoon...
By Linda Jacobson | March 20, 2023
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‘Long way from the finish line’: School budget showdown likely as conservatives demand cuts
The battle lines over President Joe Biden’s education budget grew clearer this month as the most conservative wing of the House announced its intention to roll spending back to 2019 levels and cancel the president’s student loan forgiveness plan. If Speaker Kevin McCarthy agrees to their demands, that would wipe out most of the administration’s...
By Linda Jacobson | March 20, 2023
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Exclusive: Despite K-2 reading gains, results flat for 3rd grade ‘COVID kids’
The percentage of third graders on track in reading hasn’t budged since this time last year, new data shows — a reminder of the literacy setbacks experienced by kindergartners when schools shut down in 2020. Even so, the test’s administrators are interpreting the flatline at 54% as good news. Paul Gazzerro, director of data analysis at curriculum...
By Linda Jacobson | March 6, 2023
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In student loan case, Supreme Court to weigh pandemic’s ‘profound’ effect on borrowers
Even as it plans to end the COVID public health emergency, the Biden administration will make its case before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday that the ongoing financial hardship caused by the pandemic continues to necessitate a one-time student loan forgiveness plan. The court will hear two cases that say the administration exceeded its authority when it...
By Linda Jacobson | February 27, 2023
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Stockton, California: What happens when a dysfunctional district gets $241 million
When Congress approved $190 billion to combat the educational devastation wrought by the pandemic, the Stockton, California, school system was practically the poster child for a district in need. Nearly 80% of students in the Central Valley district live in poverty. High COVID infection rates were shutting down packing plants where many of their parents work, and...
By Linda Jacobson | February 14, 2023