The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 10.05.21
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Smith-Griffin: Chronic absenteeism has skyrocketed during the pandemic. But just rewarding students for showing up at school won’t fix it
Sign up here for LA School Report’s newsletter. For years, schools have drilled into parents that attendance is an important factor in student achievement. But amid the 2021-22 school year’s rocky trajectory, marked by staff shortages, quarantines, and political battles over health measures, the focus on rewarding attendance has resulted in confused, exasperated families. Chronic...
By Joanna Smith-Griffin | March 30, 2022
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Fixing the L.A. public school system: A top priority for voters in November mayoral race, poll finds
Updated March 30 | This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. More than half of Los Angeles voters believe the quality of education in the Los Angeles Unified School District is worse than it was before the pandemic, according to a new...
By Rebecca Katz | March 29, 2022
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Open Letter: Let’s show we value equity and accountability in California schools by bringing more visibility to how every education dollar is spent
Leaders and advocates alike had high hopes for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) introduced in California in 2013. Both of us certainly did. Eight years later we see clearly that the implementation of a system that promised equity and accountability has fallen short in two key areas: equity and accountability. A fundamental cause of...
By Jay Artis-Wright and Darcel Sanders | March 28, 2022
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New college data: If NCAA’s Sweet 16 celebrated colleges for helping grads climb the income ladder, we’d all be celebrating UCLA
With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament set to resume today in San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Antonio, the sports world will again be focused on every dunk, free throw and three-pointer playing out on the courts. But here at LA School Report, we thought we’d use the occasion of March Madness to celebrate top...
By Steve Snyder | March 24, 2022
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Commentary: Amid pandemic disruptions — & despite political attacks — it’s time to focus on children’s social and emotional well-being
To succeed in the classroom, children must be able to cooperate with other students and their teachers, focus their attention, control impulsive behaviors and manage their emotions so they can concentrate on the tasks at hand. They need to have a sense of belonging and purpose, be able to plan and set goals, and persevere through challenges....
By Stephanie M. Jones and Nonie K. Lesaux | March 23, 2022
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‘Not for the faint of heart’: Education experts and leaders warn school boards dominated by politics
This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. School boards across the nation have become consumed with polarizing political issues such as masking and critical race theory, turning their jobs into nearly impossible work, a panel of experts said earlier this month. The USC...
By Veronica Sierra | March 22, 2022
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With passage of pared-down budget, Biden may have missed best chance for historic school funding windfall, advocates fear
With President Joe Biden’s major education spending proposals for high-poverty schools and students with disabilities left out of this year’s federal budget, some advocates are already shifting their attention to next year’s cycle. But with even Biden concerned that Republicans could take control of the House — and Congress increasingly unable to pass an annual budget on time...
By Linda Jacobson | March 21, 2022
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Academic mismatch: Students earned record-high GPAs as scores lagged on achievement tests. Here’s what the new federal data could mean
The grade point averages of high school students hit an all-time high in 2019, and students earned more credits toward graduation than ever before. But those gains are belied by signs that students didn’t demonstrate greater achievement in tests of math and science, according to new national data released Wednesday. The High School Transcript Study,...
By Linda Jacobson | March 17, 2022
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Do masks in school work? As mandates fall, pair of new studies may finally put debate to rest
Schools that required students and staff to wear masks saw significantly less coronavirus spread than those that did not, a pair of brand-new studies reveal. One report, which was reviewed and approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tracked cases in 98 percent of school districts in Arkansas from August to October 2021. It...
By Asher Lehrer-Small | March 16, 2022
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Meet the LAUSD school board candidates: Jess Arana is running to ‘break the curse that has been plaguing our socioeconomically challenged children for generations’
This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. This profile is part of “Meet the LAUSD school board candidates,” a series focusing on the candidates running for three open seats on the seven-member school board. LAUSD is the largest school district in the country...
By Destiny Torres, Veronica Sierra, and Rebecca Katz | March 15, 2022