June 17, 2010, 4:44 AM
In college sports, the practice of "redshirting" is used to give still developing athletes extra time to successfully transition and adjust. A bill currently before the state Assembly would do the same to children under the age of 5. Currently, any child who turns 5 before Dec. 2 can...
+ read more
June 16, 2010, 12:20 AM
Over the last two years, $17 billion in educational budget reductions have prompted nearly 400 school districts to cut back on maintenance, class materials and critical faculty, according to a state survey released last week. In May, 387 school districts, county offices of education and...
+ read more
June 11, 2010, 12:44 AM
Facing tough competition from other states, California has been denied education stimulus funds twice in the past three months by the U.S. Department of Education. The culprit? Not politics, say federal officials. Not a belief that California is too far gone to be saved. Rather, officials say...
+ read more
June 9, 2010, 12:10 AM
In April 1984, the state Supreme Court ruled that schools violate the state's constitutional guarantee to a free education when they charge children to participate in extracurricular activities. Nearly 30 years later, a grand jury found numerous examples of San Diego schools charging...
+ read more
June 8, 2010, 12:03 AM
One of the more interesting questions in the burgeoning nonprofit journalism landscape is the extent to which new reporting ventures will focus on one area of coverage, or, like California Watch, will cover a range of topics. A slew of nonprofit ventures focusing on health and health policy...
+ read more
June 4, 2010, 12:12 AM
The secret to getting great grades in high school may not hinge on getting the perfect tutor or enrolling in the best enrichment course. Instead, try tweaking your child's peer pressure group. Research from UCLA professor of psychiatry Andrew J. Fuligni and Melissa R. Witkow suggests...
+ read more
June 2, 2010, 12:04 AM
At Natomas Unified School District, the school library has become a luxury that can't be afforded. Library staff at eight elementary schools were laid off last week as district officials cordoned off their rooms with locks and chains, according to Sacramento Bee. Natomas officials...
+ read more
May 27, 2010, 12:04 AM
California schools in high-poverty areas systemically receive less money from their school districts than campuses in better off areas, according to study by the Center for American Progress. Aided by data made available due to the 2009 federal stimulus, researchers found a 10-percent increase...
+ read more
May 26, 2010, 12:11 AM
On the state's bandwagon for federal reform dollars, many teachers' unions are noticeably absent. The deadline passed Friday for unions, school districts and charter schools to sign agreements indicating their willingness to implement the state's prescribed reforms and participate...
+ read more
May 25, 2010, 12:10 AM
The California Charter Schools Association is accusing the Los Angeles Unified School District of failing to provide adequate facilities to house dozens of charter schools, as required under state law. According to a lawsuit filed Monday, only 45 out of 81 charter schools have been approved...
+ read more
May 25, 2010, 12:09 AM
The Schwarzenegger administration has 20 days to fix the state's school-funding system before another group of education advocates files suit. Last Thursday, a broad coalition, involving the Campaign for Quality Education, Californians for Justice, and the Alliance of Californians for...
+ read more
May 24, 2010, 12:08 AM
It was bad enough that California, with a population of 36.9 million, was rejected by the Obama administration in its request for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education Race to the Top funds. In that grant competition, Delaware and Tennessee, with populations of only 885,000 and...
+ read more
May 20, 2010, 12:07 AM
Sacramento City Unified School District must present to county education officials in less than two weeks a viable budget that addresses an estimated $30.6 million shortfall for 2010-11. The budget woes set the stage for contentious negotiations between the district and the Sacramento Teachers...
+ read more
May 10, 2010, 12:36 AM
The budget crisis' impact on education has caused concern to swell and public opinion to shrink among a majority of Californians. Roughly 62 percent believe insufficient state funding is going to their public school, a 12 point jump from last year, according to the results of a survey...
+ read more
May 7, 2010, 12:04 AM
Still smoldering over a disappointing showing in round one, California has decided to take one more stab at the hundreds of millions of dollars offered in the federal Race to the Top contest. The state's new strategy involves showcasing school districts in LA, San Francisco, Long Beach,...
+ read more
