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New teachers scarce after state funding cuts
Young teachers have become far more scarce in California classrooms after school districts slashed their budgets to survive the recession. From 2008 to 2013, California saw a 40 percent drop in teachers with less than six years’ experience, according to a Sacramento Bee review of state data. Sacramento Bee
California school spending goal would cost $36 billion more
Representatives of the Education Coalition told a state Senate budget subcommittee Thursday that despite increases in school spending in the current state budget and promises of more in the next one, California still needs to spend much more money on education. Modesto Bee
Special education needs a ‘do-over,’ state panel told
Eight minutes into a public meeting on how to reform the state’s vast special education system, the woman who ran special education in California for nine years came up to the microphone. Alice Parker was blunt. “I wish I could have a ‘do-over’ for the 45 years I worked in special education,” Parker told representatives of a new Statewide Special Education Task Force at a public forum Monday. EdSource
California releases child abuse identification and reporting guidelines
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday issued new guidelines to help parents and guardians report suspected child abuse at schools. In a letter to school officials, Torlakson explained that California’s Education Code requires the state Department of Education to adopt guidelines for parents and guardians to follow if they want to file complaints against those suspected of abusing their child at school. San Jose Mercury News
Homeless LAUSD girls get prom dresses, makeovers for big night
Getting all dolled up was “very foreign” for Sun Valley High School senior Cheri Hodge. But that’s exactly what she did Thursday during the Operation School Bell Prom Day at the Assistance League of Southern California in Hollywood. LA Daily News
SAT redo is (A) Good; (B) Bad; (C) Overdue; (D) None of the above
Commentary: Less than a decade after it started requiring students to write an essay as part of the SAT, the College Board announced Wednesday that it is eliminating that portion of the test. At the same time, it will do away with certain obscure vocabulary words and the penalty for inaccurate guesses. LA Times