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LAUSD foster kids to get more help from school social workers
Los Angeles Unified’s plan to help some of its most troubled students — foster kids — calls for creating a corps of social workers and manning 17 centers in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. If approved, the $32.7 million effort would hire 95 social workers to manage California’s largest classroom population of foster children, 11,604. LA Daily News

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New York said to be on verge of 9-year deal with teachers’ union
Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York’s main teachers’ union are on the verge of announcing a deal to settle a nearly five-year labor dispute in which the union has sought more than $3 billion in back pay from the city. The agreement would include retroactive pay equivalent to roughly 8 percent of salaries, annual raises of up to 2 percent a year and substantial savings for the city on health coverage, according to one official involved in the talks. New York Times

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Calif. Senate panel advances bill to restore bilingual education
The state Senate Education Committee recommended Wednesday that California voters be asked to repeal Proposition 227, the 1998 initiative that requires public school instruction in English. The proposal to restore bilingual education programs in the state was made by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), who said the ballot measure has stifled the ability of students to become multilingual. Los Angeles Times

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African American students weigh campus attitudes in picking colleges
In the nearly 20 years since California voters approved Proposition 209, banning consideration of race in public college admissions, the number of black students at UCLA, UC Berkeley and other campuses has plummeted. University of California leaders say that they want to improve those figures and that campuses are attempting more outreach into predominantly minority high schools, among other things. But for black students, a campus with few of their peers can be a daunting prospect. Los Angeles Times

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Nonprofit, for-profit partners help Cincinnati transform failing schools
From Oakland to East Los Angeles, the concept of community schools is starting to gain ground in California. But districts thinking of embracing this “whole child” approach to education might want to look outside the state at a nationally recognized model: Cincinnati Public Schools. Community schools are based on the idea that the school is the hub of a community – a place where students can get all their needs met, including health and dental care, counseling and after-school programs. EdSource

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Los Angeles, San Bernardino counties see continued population increases
California’s population grew by a healthy 0.94 percent to more than 38.3 million residents in the past year, while Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties saw similar population increases at 0.8 percent, according to state figures released Wednesday. LA Daily News