MORE ON: demographics

About nine months ago, at a small park playground a few hundred feet from their children’s struggling school, a group of parents chanted, cheered and delivered passionate speeches about their growing frustration with Desert Trails Elementary. That Jan. 12 park rally – which drew a... + read more

Doreen Diaz left the red carpet movie premiere of “Won’t Back Down” in New York City last week feeling encouraged. But then the 47-year-old mom, a key figure in the education movement that “inspired” the feature film, headed back to the tiny desert city of... + read more

The rate was startling: Nearly six in 10 teachers at California's lowest-performing schools were not properly credentialed for the classes they led. It's a rate California has worked to shrink for the past six years. It's also a rate that was wrong. The percentage of teachers... + read more

After a Massachusetts doctor found high levels of lead in an infant's blood last year, hospital staff found no hazards in common sources of the toxic metal – paint at the family's home, residue from workplace exposure, kitchenware and diet. Instead, they identified an unusual culprit... + read more

With a new school year on the horizon, state health and school officials are reminding families that all incoming seventh-graders must be vaccinated for whooping cough before returning to class. The requirement ensures that all middle and high schoolers in the state will be immunized against... + read more

California has funded less than half of an $800 million program intended to repair shoddy school facilities. The Emergency Repair Program, which was born out of a landmark class-action lawsuit that sought to entitle every student to a clean, safe and functional school, should be in its final year... + read more