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Settlements pending for Los Angeles schools, homeless
Pro bono organization Public Counsel has inked two class action settlements that would reinstitute funds to struggling schools and homeless residents in the Los Angeles area affected by California’s budget crisis. Under one tentative settlement, reached April 3, Los Angeles Unified School District would allocate $60 million in funding over three years to 37 struggling middle schools that suffered unusually high teacher turnover and student dropout rates following layoffs prompted by the budget crisis. National Law Journal

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State among the worst in degrees to Hispanics may surprise you
With a population more than twice as Hispanic as the national average, California has a lower-than-average proportion of Hispanics with college or university educations, and no institution among the top five for awarding them degrees, according to a new study. Hechinger Report

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At an East San Jose high school, students react to new Common Core test
The students in John Daniels’ U.S. history class at James Lick High School in East San Jose are a smidgen of the tens of thousands of juniors who are taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium field test this spring. And their views of the new test on the Common Core State Standards are but a snapshot of many that the creators of the test and the state Department of Education will receive over the next two months. EdSource

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Must be a combined effort to effectively reform schools
Commentary: The recent guest commentary “Teachers aren’t to blame for most of schools’ problems” addressed a number of important educational issues. Focusing on the Vergara v. California case currently in the courts, the author also points to “misleading and false statements that only serve to distract us from the real problems facing our schools.” Contra Costa Times