Once again, March Madness builds to a crescendo this weekend, with the “Final Four” basketball bouts set to dominate the Saturday spotlight. For many sports fans, this is an excellent time to debate what it takes to be a winner on the court — but for those of us focused on the country’s schools and...

A fresh look at the college success records at KIPP and other major charter networks serving low-income students shows alumni earning bachelor’s degrees at rates up to four times higher than the 11 percent rate expected for that student population. The ability of the high-performing networks to make good on the promise their founders made...

*Updated April 8 Maeve Sanford-Kelly was in middle school in 2016 when Bill Cosby, Brock Turner and the Access Hollywood tape associated with then-candidate Donald Trump dominated headlines. Distraught but motivated, she worked with her mom, Maryland state lawmaker Ariana Kelly, to write and pass legislation requiring students to learn about consent in middle and high school....

Sex education is getting more attention in the wake of the #MeToo movement, particularly the need to teach students about consent. What students learn about sex and sexuality during school varies widely from state to state and even from classroom to classroom. But this spring lawmakers in a handful of states are trying to pass...

*Updated March 31 There were seven Latino candidates in the L.A. Unified school board race for the Board District 5 seat, but Huntington Park Councilwoman Graciela Ortíz was the only one who came close to making it into a runoff. Only 31 votes separated Ortíz from second-place finisher Heather Repenning, but on Wednesday Ortíz announced...

There will be no recount in the L.A. Unified school board race. Huntington Park Councilwoman Graciela Ortíz, who narrowly missed a spot in the May runoff election by 31 votes, decided Wednesday not to challenge the March 5 primary results that the county certified last Friday. Her decision came hours before the deadline to request a...

*Updated March 27 As the race for the school board seat in L.A. Unified’s Board District 5 officially heads to a runoff, Jackie Goldberg has yet to break a sweat. With ardent backing from the teachers union, the 74-year-old former school board member nabbed 15,935 votes — 48.18 percent of the 33,074 total primary ballots...

*Updated March 27 After what she called a challenging campaign, Heather Repenning — an L.A. Unified parent and former mayoral aide — is “optimistic” she will defeat frontrunner Jackie Goldberg in the May runoff for the District 5 school board seat. “I want to be a fighter, especially for the kids that are the underdog...