This story was originally published on CalMatters.org. They speak Farsi, Cantonese, Spanish and at least two dozen other languages. Some earned master’s degrees in their home countries, while others never finished middle school. At California’s community colleges, more than 290,000 students take free, non-credit English as a Second Language classes. As immigrants, many of these...

Dozens of highly-rated Los Angeles Unified schools in wealthy neighborhoods have empty seats — but most students can’t access them, according to a new analysis of state enrollment data.    “Crisis in the School House,” a 36-page report published by Available To All, a nonpartisan nonprofit led by Tim DeRoche, an author and parent who lives...

California needs superheroes. Children, families and child care providers are in danger of losing access to healthcare and early childhood education funding. Yet the only ones being saved now are corporate billionaires known as the “Silicon Six,” who paid $278 billion less in taxes than they should under statutory rates. Our working class has helped...

Brian knew when he graduated from high school in 2013 that he couldn’t afford a bachelor’s on his own. Undocumented and unable to qualify for federal financial aid, he decided to enroll at community college and chip away at his associate degree a couple of classes at a time, using the money he earned as...

Physical activity is crucial for young children’s well-being. Outdoor play not only supports children’s physical health and their social and emotional development but can also foster early science learning and help anchor children in the natural world. For generations, parents and caregivers have diligently taken their kids to the playground or the park for some...

Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson wants to eject undocumented children from classrooms. But first, he needs their data.  Under legislation proposed in February, students statewide could be required to submit birth certificates or other sensitive documents to secure their seats — one of several state efforts this year designed to challenge a decades-old Supreme Court precedent enshrining students’ right...

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. California made a huge one-time investment in youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic as rates of depression, anxiety and eating disorders surged among children and teens. One piece of the state’s plan included a way to keep money flowing for schools that...

In 1984, I was part of the first responder team sent to 49th Street Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) after one of the country’s first school shootings happened there. Two children were killed, and a dozen children and staff were wounded.  Following that heartbreaking tragedy, I saw the outline of...

When she was laid off from her job as a Los Angeles Unified middle school teacher in the Great Recession, LAUSD school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin couldn’t have imagined she’d be back one day as the boss.  But such is life. Ortiz Franklin took her layoff and went to law school for a second...

As we raised our margarita glasses and dipped into guacamole on Cinco de Mayo, most of us weren’t thinking about why this celebration even matters. Cinco de Mayo commemorates a Mexican victory over French invaders, but May 5, 1862, is also an important day for the United States.  On that day, our country was in...