Updated May 18 This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Los Angeles Unified high school senior Hailey Galvan had never considered attending one of the country’s most elite colleges — until she took a special college course offered at her school. It was in...

Since the 2020 election, schools have emerged as some of the most contentious venues for American cultural discourse, with debates over the teaching of race, human sexuality, and U.S. history erupting into yelling matches and viral confrontations. The political impact is increasingly seen in state and local elections, where school board members have faced a...

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. Megan Waskiewicz used to sit at the top of the bleachers, rest her back against the wall and hide her face behind the glow of a laptop monitor. While...

Jonathan Chait has been writing about the fraught politics of education reform for over a decade. The veteran political columnist for New York Magazine is a vigorous advocate for the pillars of liberal education reform: high academic standards, school choice, and test-based accountability for schools and teachers who aren’t meeting expectations. It was an outlook that largely...

This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.  When the pandemic hit, 10-year-old Luis, who has autism, quickly started to regress. Luis’s mother said the boy stopped socialializing after his fourth grade class at his Los Angeles Unified school in Southeast L.A. shut down....

This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.    Three Los Angeles mayoral candidates discussed their vision for Los Angeles Unified schools, touching on issues confronting students ranging from poverty, mental health and public safety. Despite the mayor not having direct control over LA...

Updated May 4 This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The majority of English learner students in Los Angeles Unified district schools failed to meet state math and reading standards in the latest round of assessments, prompting parents to call for better communication...

Enrollment in state pre-K programs fell for the first time in two decades after a period of steady growth, according to a new report focusing on the 2020-21 school year. Before the pandemic, states were serving 44% of 4-year-olds. Now they might not reach 40% over the next 10 years, the report found. “The pandemic...

Harleigh Walker, an Alabama ninth grader, was among the guests at the White House last month when the Biden administration recognized Transgender Day of Visibility. But officials at Auburn Junior High School didn’t think meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris was a valid reason to miss school. “They wanted more evidence that she had gone,”...

This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Sign up here for LA School Report’s newsletter. From their dislike of local teachers’ unions to a lack of confidence in school administrators, California voters are more disillusioned with the state of education than voters nationally, a...