Earlier this month, more than two years into schools’ attempts to spend an unprecedented $189 billion in COVID relief funds, federal officials released a 97-page document that “strongly encourages” districts not to spend the windfall on construction. There’s one hitch: According to one analysis, districts are already spending, or planning to spend, almost a quarter of funds from...

Half of the nation’s 500 largest school districts have changed superintendents or are in the midst of a transition, according to a report tracking leadership churn since the pandemic began. Forty-seven of those districts have seen two or more leadership changes. The turnover has been particularly hard on women: Of the 94 female superintendents who...

The staff members who keep Los Angeles schools running — and prepared them to reopen during the pandemic — say they are on the verge of walking off the job. They held a rally Tuesday in front of the district’s headquarters as a step toward authorizing a strike. As Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and the school...

When the nation’s most important test dropped in late October, the news was abysmal: Scores were among the worst in its history. But amid the carnage, one feel-good story emerged. Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district, appeared to have accomplished a reading miracle, with eighth-grade scores jumping an incredible nine points. Peggy Carr, the...

In a black suit and red bowtie, his smile full of braces, Jason Finuliar stands by a fountain on the Santa Clara University campus as his mother snaps a photo. It was December 2018, and the promising young speech competitor had just placed fourth in a California tournament, qualifying him for nationals. “It was literally...

White families may have embraced pods and microschools as a short-term fix to cope with the pandemic. But for many Black parents, they offer something more permanent: an alternative to traditional schools where their children have historically faltered. “Our motivation for building outside of the system is because we saw our system crumbling in the...

The conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court seemed skeptical of whether universities should be able to continue the practice of considering race in admissions, and in arguments Monday, several justices openly questioned whether racial diversity offered any educational benefit. If the tenor of the sometimes pointed exchanges are any indication, the outcome may hinge on how long...

A majority of parents are more likely to vote in the upcoming midterm elections than they were four years ago, a new poll shows. But the economy, far more than education, is the issue driving them to the polls. While 82% of parents said they are very or extremely likely to vote in the election,...

Parading down a busy street in San Pedro, a Los Angeles neighborhood, students waved signs over their heads and urged passing cars to support their cause. “Honk for 28!” they yelled. “Say yes on 28.” The shouting referred to California’s Proposition 28, a ballot initiative that aims to pump at least $800 million into K-12...

It’s not unusual for federal education data to be a school year or two behind. But it doesn’t often come with a red warning label urging “abundant caution.” That’s how the U.S. Department of Education released chronic absenteeism data last month for the 2020-21 school year. But more recent data, available from just four states, suggests the...