LA School Report

Although we aren’t yet through the worst of the pandemic, there are signs that our collective efforts to “flatten the curve” have not been in vain. We can begin to look forward with some hope to the gradual return of normal life. For many of us in education, our thoughts are focused on what comes...

The killing of George Floyd is rightfully sparking a hard and overdue look at the American relationship with law enforcement, in particular, about race and policing. In the education world, that means the role of police in schools — especially school resource officers, or SROs — is again under scrutiny. When schools in Minneapolis announced...

Democratic attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit June 4 against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, attempting to block regulations passed last month restricting sexual misconduct cases falling under Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination. The state of New York also submitted its own complaint. The policy, scheduled to...

With every breakdown comes the possibility of a breakthrough. I live by these words in my personal life as a parent and spouse; in my professional life as a mentor and parent coach; and in my career as a scientist-educator working with kids. Breakdowns are a part of life. They offer powerful learning opportunities. We...

Fueled by protestors’ calls to remake urban police forces in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, officials from New York City to Los Angeles are trying to steer funds once earmarked for law enforcement toward education. While the efforts face several obstacles — a move to transfer $4 million from the police to schools in...

Over the next several weeks, LA School Report will be publishing stories reported and written before the coronavirus pandemic. Their publication was sidelined when schools across the country abruptly closed, but we are sharing them now because the information and innovations they highlight remain relevant to our understanding of education. Author’s note: This school profile...

Over the next several weeks, LA School Report will be publishing stories reported and written before the coronavirus pandemic. Their publication was sidelined when schools across the country abruptly closed, but we are sharing them now because the information and innovations they highlight remain relevant to our understanding of education. This interview is one in...

George Floyd was unarmed and complying with officers. Breonna Taylor was asleep in her home. Ahmaud Arbery was out for a run. They all became victims because of the color of their skin. Now, frustrations are boiling over across the country. In my home of Los Angeles, peaceful protests intended to raise voices against systemic...

Before a global health crisis closed schools nationwide, Kristen Roosevelt told her principal that she wasn’t interested in teaching summer school this year. Roosevelt, who teaches first grade at a high-poverty public school in Portland, Oregon, changed her mind after her school closed and she saw how the crisis was affecting her students. It took...

Dekaila Wilson’s voice Monday was hoarse from hours of shouting; her right shoulder still ached from being tackled to the ground the night before as New York City police officers pushed back protestors. The 20-year-old Mercy College student had joined a peaceful demonstration in Union Square Sunday evening — one of hundreds of protests decrying police...