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Survey of 1500 Kids Suggests School Phone Bans Have Important but Limited Effects
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. In Florida, a bill that bans cellphone use in elementary and middle schools, from bell to bell, recently sailed through the state Legislature. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law on May 30, 2025. The same bill calls for high schools in six Florida districts to...
By Justin D. Martin & Chighaf Bakour, The Conversation | July 3, 2025
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California Retires RICA, New Teacher Test to Focus on Phonics
This story was originally published on EdSource. Next week, the unpopular teacher licensure test, the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment, will be officially retired and replaced with a literacy performance assessment to ensure educators are prepared to teach students to read. The Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA) has been a major hurdle for teacher candidates for years....
By Diana Lambert, EdSource | July 2, 2025
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Teachers Union, Activists Dissatisfied With Los Angeles Unified Budget
The Los Angeles Unified School District just adopted a belt-tightening budget that school officials called a tough compromise — but the district’s teachers union and some education activists weren’t happy with the results. The nation’s second-largest school district in June approved a $18.8 billion budget, avoiding layoffs by tapping into retirement money for teachers. School...
By Jacob Matthews | July 1, 2025
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Pandemic Graduates: They Had No Prom, No Pomp and Circumstance
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. As the world settled into pandemic life, students who graduated from high school during the COVID-19 crisis started new chapters of their lives in social and academic seclusion. Many spent their senior year on Zoom, without homecomings, proms or graduations. They struggled to...
By Deborah Brennan, CalMatters | June 30, 2025
Across All Ages & Demographics, Test Results Show Americans Are Getting Dumber
Parents, Medical Providers, Vaccine Experts Brace for RFK Jr.’s HHS Takeover
After Declaring NAEP Off-Limits, Education Department Cancels Upcoming Test
Interactive: Data From 9,500 Districts Finds Even More Staff and Fewer Students
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With Costs Rising and Relief Money Gone, LAUSD Taps Reserves to Pay for New Budget
This story was originally published at the LAist The Los Angeles Unified board unanimously approved a $18.8 billion budget that relies on diminishing reserves to make ends meet. “There is a tempest ahead, uncertainty, instability, a threat to public education as we know it,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said as he gave updates to the district’s...
By Mariana Dale, LAist | June 26, 2025
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LAUSD Agrees to Issue $500 Million in Bonds to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims
This story was originally published on EdSource. The Los Angeles Unified School District board has quietly authorized issuing a half-billion dollars in bonds to settle decades-old sexual abuse cases involving former students. And that will likely not be enough to settle all the claims the nation’s second-largest school district is facing under 2019 legislation that allows victims...
By Thomas Peele and Mallika Seshadri, EdSource | June 25, 2025
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Last School Year Was the Hottest on Record. How Do We Protect Students?
As spring showers give way to rising temperatures, teachers and families across the country are bracing for another record-breaking hot summer — and this time, they’re heading in with even fewer resources and protections. A slew of funding cuts from the Trump administration impact everything from school heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to...
By Paige Shoemaker DeMio | June 18, 2025
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L.A. Families Are Mostly Satisfied With Their Schools, Survey Says
Families are mostly satisfied with their LAUSD schools — although they want improvements in school safety and better mental health services for students, an annual survey of district parents has found. The 79-page “Family Insights” report found LAUSD families saw improvements in their schools in the past year, with support for leadership of the nation’s...
By Ben Chapman | June 17, 2025
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How My California Middle School Uses Glyphs to Teach English Learners to Read
In the agricultural regions of California’s San Joaquin Valley, schools like Firebaugh Middle School are surrounded by fields. But many of Firebaugh’s students struggle to read that word. If they were to see “field” on the board, they would likely pronounce it as “filed,” a reflection of their unfamiliarity with the varied pronunciations in English....
By Gerrett Suárez | June 16, 2025
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L.A. Unified Sees ‘Major Gains’ in Fight Against Chronic Absenteeism — But Problem Persists
Chronic absenteeism remains a problem for LAUSD, but the school district is making gains, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said on his last house visit of the year aimed at driving student attendance. The district made progress this year with the tricky challenge, Carvalho said during the home visit last month, but officials could not say how...
By Jacob Matthews | June 12, 2025