Feds say some students went a decade without help learning English. After lawsuit, state pledges new support Up and down the state, for at least a decade, according to the federal government, tens of thousands of English learners in elementary, middle and high school received no services to help them learn the language and keep...

Trump goes all in on school choice in first major education policy speech Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gave his first major policy address on education at a charter school in Cleveland, saying he would “reprioritize” $20 billion in existing federal spending for school choice. While specifics would be left to each state, block grant...

Kindergarten readiness gap between low-income and higher-income students shrinking Persistent gaps in kindergarten readiness between children from low-income families and their higher-income peers — which have continued as ongoing achievement gaps in later years — appear to be narrowing, new research shows. And in a related finding, another report has concluded that lower-income parents are investing more...

Chronic absenteeism is as high in rural and suburban areas as it is in urban areas At least 225,000 Southern California public school students miss at least three weeks of class each year which, research suggests, puts them at risk of falling behind in school — if not dropping out altogether. Those students attend schools...

State board poised to take new direction in school accountability After months of drafting, revising and debating how best to measure and improve schools, the State Board of Education this week will adopt key elements of a new and distinct school accountability system. The series of votes on Thursday will meet the Legislature’s Oct. 1...

Finally, a disturbing trend in education shows signs of reversal Despite increasing income inequality and the recession, the school readiness gap has narrorwed, a Stanford professor of poverty and inequality in education has found. From 1998 to 2010, the gap had narrowed — with both poor and wealthy children better prepared for kindergarten and poor students improving their readiness at a faster rate. “It’s not a...

Why was it the ACLU, not charter school overseers, who called out ‘illegal’ behaviors?  Dozens of charter schools have made changes to their websites, enrollment forms or recruiting materials in the month since the ACLU of Southern California alleged that one out of every five charters in California had a discriminatory admissions policy. The report initially identified...

California bill to extend school choice law faces allegations of inequity The “district of choice” law currently allows about 10,000 students across the state to enroll in 47 participating school districts without seeking the permission of their home districts, which are often loath to let them — and the funding attached to them — go....

El Camino charter has one month to address alleged shortcomings A casual observer could be excused for thinking there must be two El Camino high schools in Los Angeles. One, a well-managed, long-running success story that delivers solid and sometimes spectacular academic results. The other, in need of appropriate oversight, with a free-spending principal and...

Los Angeles charter schools are outperforming traditional schools in math and English A math teacher at LA Unified’s Luther Burbank Middle School takes the latest CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Progress and Performance) scores and finds charter schools outperformed traditional schools in both math and English. He also lists three schools that serve diverse and poor...