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Like the graduation mortarboards of June, 2018 is flying by. Catch up with the best of the year so far with our top nine stories. (For you math geeks, that’s half the year of ‘18.) Also spin through some of our favorites from our new feature this year, Parent Voices.

THE TOP 9

1. LAUSD’s interim superintendent looks to liberate principals in the most struggling schools from requirement they hire teachers sent by the district

The principals of 227 struggling Los Angeles schools may be about to get a coveted freedom: the ability to hire the teachers they believe will best educate their students.

And read the follow-up story on the LAUSD board vote that extended the hiring freedom to about a quarter of all schools: LAUSD board frees principals of struggling schools from having to hire teachers sent to them by the district

2. #EDlection2018: Your quick guide to the 4 candidates running for state superintendent & highlights from their interviews

Plus read our election night results: California primary results: Newsom and Cox advance to November’s gubernatorial race; Tuck leads Thurmond in battle for state superintendent

3. How a Blue Ribbon high school in downtown LA is daring its low-income Latino students to dream bigger — and guiding 87 percent of them into four-year colleges

4. Exclusive: California Teachers Association projects 23,000-member loss in wake of Supreme Court ruling and slashes its budget

5. With all eyes on Janus, a similar case in California meets quiet defeat — for now

6. 50 years after the Walkouts, Los Angeles Latino students are still fighting for educational equity

7. As the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools turns 10, a new report shows this unique turnaround model is driving big gains at struggling campuses

8. ‘Change must happen’ — Austin Beutner is introduced as superintendent and vows to start with LAUSD’s culture

9. New ways of teaching math to California’s English learners are getting results, report says

PARENT VOICES

And don’t miss Esmeralda Fabián Romero’s new series which launched this year in English and Spanish: Parent Voices.

Here are three of our favorites:

LA parent voice: Homelessness won’t stop me from being involved in my kids’ school

LA parent voice: When you know your autistic son can thrive in a regular school setting — and you’re proved right!

LA parent voice: How a mom helped her son with ADHD shine by getting the most out of his IEP

REMEMBER 2017?

Surprised we’re already halfway through 2018? See how much you remember from last year’s education highlights with Our 17 most popular articles about Los Angeles schools from 2017. And you might also want to catch up with our “Year in Numbers:” 7 charts and graphs that shaped the way we think about LA schools in 2017.

• Read more from The 74: Education by the Numbers: 9 Statistics That Have Made Us Think Differently About America’s Schools This Academic Year