California has a very fragmented approach to education — a collection of institutional silos that only occasionally communicate with each other and often are more competitive than cooperative. That fragmentation is very visible in the perpetual conflicts between traditional K-12 schools and parent-directed charter schools, and in the battles among...
California Settles Lawsuit With Agreement to Spend $50M for Kids Who Can't Read
The state of California on Thursday agreed to settle a years-long, high-profile lawsuit that accused the state of depriving low-income students of color of their constitutional right to a basic education — by failing to teach them reading skills. Under an agreement reached with plaintiffs in the complaint, Ella T. v....
The Achievement Gap: California’s Disparities in Education Explained
Few goals in education have been as frustrating and urgent as the effort to fix the deep, generational disparity in achievement between the haves and the have-nots in California schools. It is an article of faith in the K-12 school system that every student — regardless of race, creed, wealth or color...
California May Pause Student Fitness Tests Due to Bullying
SACRAMENTO — The governor of California wants to pause physical education tests for students over concerns with bullying and discrimination. During a three-year suspension, the state would study whether the current test for children in fifth, seventh, and ninth grades can be modified or a new assessment should be drawn...
Walters: ‘California for All’ vs. Daunting Reality
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s website is topped by his official slogan, “California for All.” “The California Dream — the idea that every person can achieve a better life, regardless of where they start out — is central to who we are as Californians,” it declares. “Even in a time of economic growth...
Walters: California’s Big Educational Dilemma
California’s largest, most important — and perhaps most troubled — governmental program is the education of nearly 6 million elementary, middle and high school students. Federal, state and local taxpayers are spending more than $100 billion each year on the assumption, or hope, that the state’s 944 school districts, ranging...
Kaiser Commits $130 Million to Train 10,000 for Medical Jobs
Kaiser Permanente and its labor partner are teaming up to create Futuro Health, a $130 million nonprofit to address California's healthcare worker shortage. Listen to this article: The partnership stems from the four-year contract reached last October between the healthcare provider and SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. The idea is to...
Hmong Comedian/Educator Headlines SE Asian Family Education Conference
Touger Xiong, a Hmong American comedian and educator, will be the keynote speaker Saturday at the second annual Southeast Asian Family Education Conference, "Journey to Success." Families can learn about services and scholarships and how best to support kids in school. The conference, which is co-sponsored by Fresno Unified's Parent...
Next Stop for Free College: Cal State University?
In yet another push to make higher education more accessible in California, a bill filed in the state Legislature last week would extend the state’s tuition-free college guarantee to four years — and beyond community college — for some students, making it one of the most generous programs in the...
Walters: More Entitlements as Economy Slows?
Gov. Gavin Newsom is tiptoeing into a political region that predecessor Jerry Brown purposely skirted — expanding expensive services and benefits that are difficult, and perhaps impossible, to shrink if California’s economy turns sour. They are called “entitlements” and Newsom’s own proclivities and pressure from a very liberal Legislature are...