The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 10.05.21
-
Leader’s view: Why I stepped down from the Oakland Unified School District Board
A version of this essay appeared on the GonzalesforSchools blog. On May 2, I announced that I will be stepping down early from my role on the Oakland Unified School District board. In many ways, I’m proud of the progress the district has made over the last 7.5 years. However, our core issue has not been addressed, and...
By Shanthi Gonzales | May 19, 2022
-
SXSW EDU launch winner Our Worlds bringing Native American culture to life through mobile-based immersive reality
Sign up here for LA School Report’s newsletter Take a stroll along the La Jolla Shores Beach in San Diego, and you might find sand between your toes. But users of the new Our Worlds app, winner of the 2022 SXSW EDU Launch Competition, might also find much more. Through augmented reality, they can look...
By Tim Newcomb | May 18, 2022
-
An interview with writer Jonathan Chait on the Democratic war over education reform
Jonathan Chait has been writing about the fraught politics of education reform for over a decade. The veteran political columnist for New York Magazine is a vigorous advocate for the pillars of liberal education reform: high academic standards, school choice, and test-based accountability for schools and teachers who aren’t meeting expectations. It was an outlook that largely...
By Kevin Mahnken | May 11, 2022
-
LAUSD failed students with disabilities during the pandemic: parents, advocates, attorneys on how the district should help them now
This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. When the pandemic hit, 10-year-old Luis, who has autism, quickly started to regress. Luis’s mother said the boy stopped socialializing after his fourth grade class at his Los Angeles Unified school in Southeast L.A. shut down....
By Rebecca Katz | May 10, 2022
-
Analysis: New politics-of-education poll shows Americans think schools are important & need to be fixed. That, not culture wars, must inform the next election
Today’s political debate about the fundamental value of public education is unlike anything our country has seen. Across party lines, schools and school boards have become political front-page news. The culture wars have infiltrated America’s classrooms. There is no doubt that the politics being forced into our public education system will be front and center...
By Emma Bloomberg | May 9, 2022
-
Candidates for Los Angeles mayor discuss plans to partner with LAUSD for pandemic recovery phase: poverty, mental health, safety on the agenda
This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Three Los Angeles mayoral candidates discussed their vision for Los Angeles Unified schools, touching on issues confronting students ranging from poverty, mental health and public safety. Despite the mayor not having direct control over LA...
By Destiny Torres | May 5, 2022
-
Analysis: About 1 in 3 child care workers are going hungry
Of the nearly 1 million child care workers in the United States, in a recent white paper, my colleagues and I found that 31.2% – basically 1 out of every 3 – experienced food insecurity in 2020, the latest year for which we analyzed data. Food insecurity means there is a lack of consistent access...
By Colin Page McGinnis, The Ohio State University | May 4, 2022
-
Majority of LAUSD English learners fail to meet state English and math requirements; families want change
Updated May 4 This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The majority of English learner students in Los Angeles Unified district schools failed to meet state math and reading standards in the latest round of assessments, prompting parents to call for better communication...
By Rebecca Katz | May 3, 2022
-
Report: Pandemic ‘erased’ a decade of growth in pre-K enrollment
Enrollment in state pre-K programs fell for the first time in two decades after a period of steady growth, according to a new report focusing on the 2020-21 school year. Before the pandemic, states were serving 44% of 4-year-olds. Now they might not reach 40% over the next 10 years, the report found. “The pandemic...
By Linda Jacobson | May 2, 2022
-
‘Showdown’ over transgender students’ rights: Title IX rewrite expected to spark litigation from GOP-led states
Harleigh Walker, an Alabama ninth grader, was among the guests at the White House last month when the Biden administration recognized Transgender Day of Visibility. But officials at Auburn Junior High School didn’t think meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris was a valid reason to miss school. “They wanted more evidence that she had gone,”...
By Linda Jacobson | April 28, 2022