For a few years now, the United States has been marinating in a particular version of the American story. Specifically, we’ve been awash in warnings about the country’s alleged vulnerability in the face of cultural change. In this conservative telling, America grows stronger when it is monocultural, wealthier when it goes it alone, and better...

Public education, in red and blue states alike, is being pulled apart by student disengagement, mental health needs, culture war battles, voucher expansion, budget uncertainty and the disruptive force of artificial intelligence. New data prompt renewed handwringing over standardized test scores and their decade-long decline. Meanwhile, Republicans who seek more choice in public education and...

Most California parents assume that when they send their children to school on a hot day, someone is responsible for keeping them safe. They assume there are rules and that the adults in charge will notice if a child is struggling in the heat. That assumption is not always true. Until very recently, it was...

One of the many surprises of being a new parent is just how many diapers a tiny baby can go through in a day. In the haze of those first weeks and months adjusting to having an infant, parents shouldn’t have to worry about whether they can afford enough diapers — or what financial sacrifices...

The first time a 5-year-old told me swimming wasn’t for him, I asked him what he meant. He shrugged. No one in his family had ever learned. It just wasn’t for people like them. And he said it in the same matter-of-fact manner as if telling me the sky was blue. The fourth time a...

At LA’s BEST, we believe in this city. We believe in its people, its resilience and its capacity to do right by every Angeleno, including its youngest ones. And we believe that when the City of Los Angeles and its community partners work together, extraordinary things happen. Then-Mayor Tom Bradley, in a move both practical...

In 10 years, you see a lot. You see students enter kindergarten and grow into young adults ready to step into the world. You see educators develop their craft, take on new challenges and at times struggle under growing demands. You see communities change — economically, culturally, emotionally. And if you are paying attention, you...

Our country has long been committed to maintaining schools as safe spaces for children to learn. Until now. Decades of presidential administrations representing both parties have stood behind policies that kept immigration enforcement out of schools, except in extreme and unusual circumstances. The rules were designed so immigration officers could do their jobs without putting...

For the first time in its history, the Los Angeles Unified School District reports that in 2025, 100% of American Indian seniors graduated from high school. That is a milestone. It deserves to be acknowledged, honored, and protected. But numbers, especially small ones, require us to look more closely. There were 23 American Indian seniors...

After the Eaton fire, I went to see a friend in Altadena. He told me his neighbor saw the embers and came to wake him up. That neighbor saved his life. They spent the night watering down their properties, watching the flames move through the hills. Doing what neighbors do when everything is on fire...