The pandemic accelerated a yearslong decline in the mental health of the nation’s children and teens. The number of young people experiencing sadness, hopelessness and thoughts of suicide has increased dramatically, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In response, states, cities and school districts are using COVID-19 relief dollars and their own money to...

Los Angeles parents demanded higher quality education for their children in the third year of pandemic learning, with an emphasis on recovering social-emotional and academic learning skills. In a poll conducted in the 2021-22 school year by GPSN and the Loyola Marymount University Center for Equity for English Learners, parents expressed the need to close...

The GOP-led House on Friday passed a bill that would force schools to offer parents far greater transparency about what their children learn, but that Democrats argue could lead to book bans and discrimination against LGBTQ students. The Parents Bill of Rights passed 213 to 208, with five Republicans voting against it. “Teachers unions and education bureaucrats...

Developing… A day after the end of a 72-hour strike that saw LAUSD custodians, cafeteria workers, teacher aides, special education assistants and bus drivers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 99 walk off the job, the school district announced an agreement on a new contract that “significantly increases salaries for close to 30,000 members.” ...

For the last six years, I have drawn up a parallel bracket that plots the winners and losers in the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament — aka March Madness — not by how the schools have done on the court, but by how well they have made upward mobility possible for their students. Now, for the first...

March 24 Update: LAUSD announced a new agreement with SEIU Friday that includes a 30% bump in wages and retroactive pay. See the full details.  Judging from the rain and official rhetoric, it was a dark Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. Officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District were predicting a rough three days...

Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents roughly 30,000 custodians, cafeteria staff, bus drivers and other service workers at the Los Angeles Unified School District, walked off the job Tuesday. United Teachers Los Angeles, also in contract talks with the district, also joined the protest in support, beginning a three-day work action that should...

The vast majority of Los Angeles Unified School District employees will not be at work for most of this week, leading to the closure of schools. SEIU Local 99, which represents 30,000 support workers, called a strike because of what it calls unfair labor practices by the district. United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents 32,000...

No worker in America should succumb to poverty-wages, be denied health care, or experience homelessness. And no child should be the victim of labor disputes. But that is exactly what is happening in Los Angeles – and the temptation is to pick sides as we see the tensions play out between SEIU and LAUSD. But...

The Los Angeles Unified School District is poised to shut down classrooms beginning Tuesday, as Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents roughly 30,000 custodians, cafeteria staff, bus drivers and other service workers, has announced plans for strike for three days. United Teachers Los Angeles, also in contract talks with the district, has announced...