Commentary

June 27, 2019

Without more effective leadership, LA Unified will continue to flounder

Failure of leadership in some districts with the most charter schools is a key factor in charter debates, says former superintendent.

Carl Cohn

June 4, 2019

California needs all its K-12 public schools to be strong: traditional and charter

State should preserve appeals process for charter schools, former State Board member says.

Trish Boyd Williams

May 29, 2019

Unchecked, decades-long experiment with charter schools yields unintended consequences

Elected leaders in Sacramento must pass laws to support students by curtailing growth of charter schools, teacher says.

Erika Jones

May 26, 2019

Don’t use the SAT or ACT to undermine education accountability

College admissions tests rank students on a curve rather than measuring how well they are meeting state standards and are weaker predictors of college performance than high-school grades.

Pamela Burdman and Christopher Edley, Jr.

May 20, 2019

California's complex formulas limit options to close funding gap

The solution for schools isn't as simple as passing a new tax, researcher says.

Jennifer Imazeki

May 15, 2019

‘Inconvenient truths’ missing from Oakland report on charter schools

Charter schools did not cause Oakland’s problems and preventing more students from choosing charter schools will not fix them, researchers say.

Robin Lake and Ashley Jochim

May 6, 2019

Oakland Unified committed to fixing fiscal problems, but state must also step up

As district recovers after strike, superintendent calls on state to provide more funding.

Kyla Johnson-Trammell

May 6, 2019

School districts must do more to manage costs of health benefits

When districts spend more money on health benefits, there’s less money for other priorities, like teacher salaries, researcher says.

Paul Bruno

May 1, 2019

After years of avoidance, time to take on challenges posed by California charter schools

Early backer of charter law says no easy answers to issues raised by charter school expansion in the state.

Carl Cohn

April 24, 2019

For principals, biggest task is creating a school culture without the threat of gun violence

In survey, principals say more time is spent addressing problems associated with the threat of gun violence than any other challenge.

John Rogers

April 22, 2019

We must embrace equity over elitism in higher education

College quality to should be measured by the number and diversity of the students they graduate, not by institutional wealth and high rejection rates, author says.