After almost a lifetime in California politics — first as a student activist, then as an elected official — Jackie Goldberg has returned to a familiar seat of power.  Last month, by unanimous vote, the 78-year-old representative of Board District 5 was elected president of the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education. She last held...

At dinner with their families, on school buses, and in their own rooms, young people nationwide have witnessed the brutal killing of Tyre Nichols, whether they meant to or not. As students enter classrooms in the days after a widely publicized funeral in Memphis, experts say educators have a responsibility to acknowledge their anger, grief and sadness...

Just before the winter holidays, the National Center for Education Statistics released new data on school staffing in the 2021-22 academic year. The data are provisional, but they represent the best look yet at how school staffing levels have changed over the course of the pandemic.  As I forecast in September, the new data show that schools have been...

As schools face rising behavioral challenges, debates rage on about restorative justice, which rejects traditional, punitive discipline in favor of relationship-based work to address underlying causes of conflict. Studies show widely disparate results — for example, on school violence and academic performance. Many advocates explain these discrepancies by noting that neutral-to-negative results come about when schools cherry-pick restorative practices —...

In 2022, 36 states elected governors, and the races saw clear partisan divides on education topics from school safety to teacher pay. But a new analysis suggests that the 72 Democrats and Republicans running to lead their states found a few select issues they could all agree upon. Foremost among them: expanding career and technical...

In the first national study of how the GOP’s classroom censorship policies have changed the teaching profession, thousands of educators expressed confusion over what they can and can’t cover in lessons. Nearly 1 in 4 said they have altered their curricula so parents and officials won’t find their teachings controversial. Teachers said they had to...

Did you, like me, take time over the break to play with one of the new artificial intelligence bots? I asked ChatGPT to write a blog in the style of Robin Lake on the topic of helping students recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and related school closures. Here’s what it offered: As the director of the...

The pandemic taught us many things, particularly in the world of education. Many families realized that the structure of a classroom was essential for their child’s learning — and that without access to that structure, kids struggled both academically and socially. On the other hand, many families saw their children thrive in a more flexible...

Updated Feb. 13 SEIU Local 99 announced on Feb. 11 that the strike authorization had passed with 96% support from members who voted. The authorization does not guarantee a strike but allows the union’s bargaining team to call one if necessary. The union’s first state-run mediation session with LAUSD is scheduled for Feb. 21.  If...

A new poll released today by The Trevor Project finds that recent debate over state laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ young people is having a huge negative impact on their mental health, their ability to seek health care and their exposure to in-school discrimination. In the survey, conducted in October and November by Morning Consult,...