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After Facebook headlines, LA school board takes on crumbling campuses
The staff behind the social media campaign to shame the Los Angeles Unified School District into repairing tattered and infested campuses won a first victory. After every local media outlet – and some national ones – reported on the “repairs not iPads” Facebook group, a school board committee overseeing facilities scheduled a discussion on campus repairs for its Thursday meeting. KPCC

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Students lose in latest LAUSD board turf war
Editorial: It was just like old times at the Los Angeles Unified school board meeting last week. The board voted to close two excellent charter schools for reasons that had nothing to do with the quality of education they are providing to students but rather over provincial concerns about turf. LA Times 

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Great year for CalSTRS won’t alter need for big increase in contributions
The Assembly committee that will decide how to fix the multibillion-dollar funding shortfall for teacher and administrator pensions will get good – and some sobering – news when it holds its first hearing on the issue this week. EdSource

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Bill would open apprenticeship pathways
As schools across the state consider how they might use some of the $250 million set aside to provide link-learning programs, one lawmaker has proposed taking a share of that money to close a critical gap in the program – building apprenticeship opportunities. SI&A Cabinet Report 

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‘Transitional’ courses catch on as college-prep strategy
With many students entering college ill prepared to succeed academically, one remedy states and districts are increasingly bringing to the table is transitional coursework for high schoolers who need extra help. Take Tennessee. High school teachers and community college faculty members teamed up to develop an online math course, first piloted in 2012, for those who score poorly on the act and need to catch up before graduation. Hechinger Report