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The nation’s biggest charter school system is under fire in Los Angeles
The nation’s largest experiment with charter schools is no longer growing. These days, Los Angeles charter leaders say their schools are just trying to survive. With tough, new policies, falling enrollment, and a hostile district school board, the decades-old charter school sector in Los Angeles has never faced headwinds so stiff, operators say. Los Angeles,...
By Ben Chapman | February 21, 2024
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SXSW EDU Cheat Sheet: 18 key artificial intelligence workshops & conversations to see in Austin next month
South by Southwest Edu returns to Austin, Texas, running March 3-7. As always, the event offers a wealth of panels, discussions, film screenings and workshops exploring emerging trends in education and innovation. Keynote speakers this year include Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children’s Zone, Carol Dweck of Stanford University, who popularized the idea of “growth mindset,”...
By Greg Toppo | February 20, 2024
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70 years of Valentine’s Day in schools: A brief photo history of kindness, joy & smiles in the classroom
Roses are red, violets are blue, Everything is covered in glitter and glue, It’s Valentine’s Day in school. Yes, it’s time to stock up on those cupid stickers and candy hearts; it’s officially Valentine’s Day at schools across the country. In commemoration, we’re diving into the archives and looking back across 70 years of teachers...
By Meghan Gallagher | February 14, 2024
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Schools struggle to combat increasing homelessness as federal funding ends
Los Angeles Unified schools are facing an increasing number of homeless students at the same time the district is losing more than $5 billion in federal COVID-19 funding. Of the $5 billion, $7.4 million is allocated for programs aimed at homeless students. According to the California Department of Education and U.S Department of Education, the...
By Katie VanArnam | February 13, 2024
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As relief funds expire, Harvard’s Kane says ‘whole generation’ still needs help
Harvard University researcher Tom Kane stood before a captive audience at Washington’s Omni Shoreham hotel last Wednesday, just hours after dropping the report everyone was talking about. Offering the best look yet at students’ recovery from pandemic learning loss, the report showed that students actually made impressive academic gains last school year. But achievement gaps grew wider...
By Linda Jacobson | February 12, 2024
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LAUSD board backs street safety plan to appear on March ballot
Los Angeles Unified’s school board has endorsed a plan that would force city officials to complete stalled street improvements and help keep kids safe on the way to school. The board unanimously voiced support for the Healthy Streets LA measure, a citizen-led initiative that will appear on the ballot March 5 requiring the city to...
By Angelina Hicks | February 8, 2024
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Report: Schools won’t recover from COVID absenteeism crisis until at least 2030
The rate of students chronically missing school got so bad during the pandemic that it will likely be 2030 before classrooms return to pre-COVID norms, a new report says. But even that prediction rests on optimistic assumptions about continued improvement in the coming years. For some states, it could take longer. In Louisiana, Oregon and...
By Linda Jacobson | February 7, 2024
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Settling lawsuit, California agrees to channel $2 billion to struggling learners
California will specially designate at least $2 billion to spend on learning recovery for disadvantaged students who fell behind during the pandemic, according to a legal settlement reached last week. The agreement — which will not require the state to raise or spend new revenues — serves as a partial validation of complaints from thousands...
By Kevin Mahnken | February 6, 2024
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Lawmakers duel with tech execs on social media harms to youth mental health
During a hostile Senate hearing Wednesday that sometimes devolved into bickering, lawmakers from across the political spectrum accused social media companies of failing to protect young people online and pushed rules that would hold Big Tech accountable for youth suicides and child sexual exploitation. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., was the latest...
By Mark Keierleber | February 1, 2024
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New LAUSD policy barring city’s charter schools from hundreds of public school buildings could lead to evictions
Charter schools will be barred from hundreds of Los Angeles Unified District school campuses under a new policy that is among the most restrictive of its kind. The new rules, presented at a school board meeting Tuesday, prevent charters from being sited in campuses that have been identified as serving vulnerable students, accounting for roughly...
By Ben Chapman | January 31, 2024