Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

What We Know About the Idaho Shooting That Killed 2 Firefighters

2 hours ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

3 hours ago

Elon Musk Says Senate Bill Would Destroy Jobs and Harm US

3 hours ago

Israel Strikes Pound Gaza, Killing 60, Ahead of US Talks on Ceasefire

4 hours ago

Trump’s Administration Finds Harvard Violated Students’ Civil Rights, WSJ Reports

4 hours ago

How Did the Supreme Court Rule? Here’s a Look at the Big Cases

2 days ago

US Consumer Spending Falls as Trump Tariff’s Muddle Economy

3 days ago

Motorcycle Collides With Tractor in Fatal Fresno County Collision

3 days ago
California Schools That Need Help Aren't Getting It: Walters
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
January 23, 2018

Share

In his Jan. 21 CALmatters column, Dan Walters zeroes in on a troubling statistic uncovered via the dogged effort of his colleague Jessica Calefati, who covers education.
Writing about the state’s stumbling attempts to close the achievement and educational attainment gaps, Walters quotes this paragraph from Celefati’s Jan. 18 story “Dozens of California districts with worst test scores excluded from extra state help:”
“If extremely low, declining performance on math and reading exams alone were enough to trigger state support, the number of California districts that could expect it would almost double from 228 to more than 400, a CALmatters analysis shows.”

“The situation is particularly galling because there’s no inherent reason why disadvantaged kids can’t learn, graduate from high school, go to college and otherwise become successful members of society.” — Dan Walters
Why aren’t more districts receiving extra financial funding to bring struggling students up to speed?
Walters opines that California’s public officials and public education leaders are masking the true number of schools districts that are failing to educate students who are poor, learning English or both.

So-Called Dashboard Hides the Reality

While wanting to fix the problem, Walters writes, leaders “also have minimized it by adopting an accountability system, called “the dashboard,” for schools that make academic achievement only one of several measures of their competency, and leaves improvement largely in the hands of local school officials.”
Walters adds, “The situation is particularly galling because there’s no inherent reason why disadvantaged kids can’t learn, graduate from high school, go to college and otherwise become successful members of society.
“There are many examples of how certain schools and certain school districts have found ways to overcome poverty and other negative factors.”
Among those examples: Brawley Union High School in Imperial County, where Principal Jesse Sanchez dramatically elevated English language art scores by focusing on writing in every class.
Concludes Walters: “Instead of covering it up with the dashboard and other tricks, the state’s politicians and educators should be concentrating on how the successes in Brawley and other school systems in educating at-risk kids, preparing them for successful adulthoods, can be replicated.”
Walters’ complete column is here.
You can read EdSource reporter Theresa Harrington’s story on the Brawley Union turnaround at this link.
 
 
 

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Tosses Rulings That Favored Transgender People

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Sues Los Angeles Over Immigration Enforcement

DON'T MISS

Catholic Bishops Try to Rally Opposition to Trump’s Immigration Agenda

DON'T MISS

US Revokes Visas for Bob Vylan After Music Duo’s Glastonbury Chants

DON'T MISS

Israel Acknowledges Palestinian Civilians Harmed at Gaza Aid Sites, Says ‘Lessons Learned’

DON'T MISS

What We Know About the Idaho Shooting That Killed 2 Firefighters

DON'T MISS

Immigration Raids Leave Crops Unharvested, California Farms at Risk

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Anthony Michael Caldwell

DON'T MISS

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Says Senate Bill Would Destroy Jobs and Harm US

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Sues Los Angeles Over Immigration Enforcement

UP NEXT

Catholic Bishops Try to Rally Opposition to Trump’s Immigration Agenda

UP NEXT

US Revokes Visas for Bob Vylan After Music Duo’s Glastonbury Chants

UP NEXT

Israel Acknowledges Palestinian Civilians Harmed at Gaza Aid Sites, Says ‘Lessons Learned’

UP NEXT

What We Know About the Idaho Shooting That Killed 2 Firefighters

UP NEXT

Immigration Raids Leave Crops Unharvested, California Farms at Risk

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Anthony Michael Caldwell

UP NEXT

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

UP NEXT

Elon Musk Says Senate Bill Would Destroy Jobs and Harm US

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest DUI Suspect With Loaded Gun During Traffic Stop

US Revokes Visas for Bob Vylan After Music Duo’s Glastonbury Chants

2 hours ago

Israel Acknowledges Palestinian Civilians Harmed at Gaza Aid Sites, Says ‘Lessons Learned’

2 hours ago

What We Know About the Idaho Shooting That Killed 2 Firefighters

2 hours ago

Immigration Raids Leave Crops Unharvested, California Farms at Risk

2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Anthony Michael Caldwell

2 hours ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

3 hours ago

Elon Musk Says Senate Bill Would Destroy Jobs and Harm US

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest DUI Suspect With Loaded Gun During Traffic Stop

3 hours ago

Israel Faces Genocide Accusations Amid Gaza Food Aid Killings

3 hours ago

CA’s Population Shrank in Trump’s First Immigration Crackdown. It Could Happen Again

3 hours ago

US Supreme Court Tosses Rulings That Favored Transgender People

WASHINGTON -The U.S. Supreme Court threw out on Monday judicial decisions that favored transgender people in cases from North Carolina, West...

35 minutes ago

People participate in an event to raise Bucks County's Pride Flag to kick off Pride Month in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 1, 2023. (Reuters File)
35 minutes ago

US Supreme Court Tosses Rulings That Favored Transgender People

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Trump Administration Sues Los Angeles Over Immigration Enforcement

Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington
1 hour ago

Catholic Bishops Try to Rally Opposition to Trump’s Immigration Agenda

Bob Vylan hold the Best Alternative Music Act Award during the 25th MOBO Awards in London, Britain November 30, 2022. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Revokes Visas for Bob Vylan After Music Duo’s Glastonbury Chants

Women embrace, while mourning loved ones, during the funeral of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire yesterday, as they sought aid in northern Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry, at Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, June 19, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Israel Acknowledges Palestinian Civilians Harmed at Gaza Aid Sites, Says ‘Lessons Learned’

Idaho Firefighters Shot and Killed
2 hours ago

What We Know About the Idaho Shooting That Killed 2 Firefighters

Immigrant workers harvest crops during the weekend, as labor shortages risk leaving fields unpicked, in Oxnard, California, U.S., June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares
2 hours ago

Immigration Raids Leave Crops Unharvested, California Farms at Risk

Anthony Michael Caldwell is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for June 30, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Anthony Michael Caldwell

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend