This article is from The 74’s ongoing ‘Big Picture’ series, bringing American education into sharper focus through new research and data. Go Deeper: See the full series. Over the past few years, education researchers have coalesced around a striking, if somewhat unpalatable, observation: Kids learn more from teachers of their own race. A decade of studies from...

California lawmakers have spent the past several weeks debating laws that would seriously hurt charter schools. While two of the bills have been shelved, others are moving forward that would be disastrous for students like me. What makes this situation especially disturbing is that voices like mine have not been heard. I’m a public high...

What started as a package of four bills tamping down on charter schools in California quickly became two this week, as legislation in the Assembly and the Senate that looked to cap the schools in one chamber and place a moratorium on their future growth in the other were both withdrawn. The demise of Assembly...

*Updated June 3 If L.A. Unified’s proposed $500 million annual parcel tax passes Tuesday, it would be uncharted territory for the country’s second-largest school district. L.A. Unified has never had a parcel tax. They aren’t commonplace, with about 9 percent of school districts — most clustered in the Bay Area — passing or renewing parcel...

L.A. Unified’s schools chief has a new plan to simplify the sprawling urban district’s complex system. A little more than a year into his tenure, Superintendent Austin Beutner is betting that by empowering principals he can turn “the organization upside down in a certain way” that puts students at the center. Under the new plan,...

L.A. Unified’s proposed $500 million annual parcel tax is unlikely to pass next week if low voter turnout trends continue, a new independent poll finds. The poll, conducted by Probolsky Research, shows that if June 4’s special election sees “high” turnout, or 17 percent of the district’s 2.5 million eligible voters, the parcel tax could be on the...

Uncorrected vision conditions are among the biggest public health problems in the United States, affecting 1 in every 4 children, according to the American Optometric Association. Only 39 percent of students referred for an eye exam through a routine vision screening visit an eye doctor, and the gap is even larger in high-poverty communities. A California study by...

The biggest statewide battle over charter schools in the country is coming to a head in California. Amid competing protests in Sacramento on Wednesday, the California Assembly narrowly passed legislation that would give local school districts sole authority to approve new charter schools. The bill, titled AB 1505, is one of several new measures the...