Math learning begins while counting blocks on the living room floor, comparing ingredients while cooking dinner or gathering around a favorite board game. These joyful, everyday interactions build number sense, reasoning, confidence and problem-solving during one of the most important periods of a child’s brain development. It’s time to reinvigorate math education by acknowledging that...

My research team from the Understanding America Study at the University of Southern California recently asked parents of school-aged children to upload a snapshot of their kids’ school attendance record from last year as part of a broader survey. The study failed — during the pilot phase, only 17% successfully completed the task. We pulled...

Ask almost any educator what makes the biggest difference in a student’s success, and families will quickly enter the conversation. Learning does not begin and end at the classroom door. When families and educators understand one another and work toward the same goals, students are better supported. But believing in family engagement and having the...

This summer, one of the biggest movies for kids features a villain that isn’t a person at all — it’s a sleek smart tablet designed to replace the things that matter. Toy Story 5 struck a nerve with parents for a reason. But like most good metaphors, it breaks down if you push it too...

Students from Taft Oil Technology Academy came to Sacramento to meet with state representatives and share their perspectives on the petroleum industry. The high schoolers came from an oil community in the Central Valley, where state policy is not an abstraction. It is a paycheck, a family business, a tax base, a way of life....

On the brink of looming insolvency, Los Angeles Unified could have prevented its financial crisis by leaving vacated positions empty, making thousands of district employee layoffs unavoidable to address a $3.6 billion deficit, a top state fiscal watchdog said.  “They’re overstaffed significantly,” said Michel Fine, CEO of California’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team of...

Across the economy, Americans are watching an artificial intelligence investment boom reshape the job market. Some of the same companies spending hundreds of billions to build the AI future are also announcing sweeping job cuts, adding to an already daunting employment landscape for college graduates. In other sectors, opportunity is booming. Homes, roads, bridges, vehicles,...

Once upon a time, a knight in shining armor rode his gallant steed into a village where he was met with cheers and celebration. I like to believe that these heroes still exist — I know one named Fluviano. He’s a student in my English language development class. He does not ride atop a gallant...

In 2020, voters in California’s Alameda County made a remarkable decision. Rather than accept generations of underinvestment in young children, they chose to build something families had never truly had: an early childhood system designed to work. Parents, early educators, childcare providers, labor leaders, business leaders, advocates and community organizations came together around a shared...

Chemical fires, leaks and explosions happen at U.S. industrial facilities every other day — incidents such as four disasters in greater Los Angeles over Memorial Day weekend, including one involving a chemical tank that threatened to explode and forced 50,000 residents and more than 20 schools to evacuate, and a chemical tank explosion the next...