California Sticks Its Schoolkids’ Futures in a Vise

Even with Record Education Funding, Escalating Retirement Costs and Expensive New Demands Have Brought School Districts to the Brink

Don’t squeeze your kids too hard as you send them off to another school year, because the state of California is already squeezing your kids hard enough to hurt their future.

Call it The Great California School Squeeze. The state is stuck in a nasty school funding paradox: Even though our school districts have never had higher funding levels than they do right now, many districts face financial peril.

Why? Because The Squeeze is a torture machine with three ratchets.

First, escalating payments and obligations for retirement benefits are growing so …

by Joe Mathews | August 20, 2018

For Refugee Children in Baltimore and Their Teacher, Art Is a Safe Zone

Picturing a Home Away From Home That Is Free and Secure

By Ben Hamburger | January 30, 2017

I am an artist and educator pursuing an MFA in Community Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Last year, as part of my Master’s studies, I began …

How South L.A.’s Santee Education Complex’s Graduation Rate Jumped Nearly 60 Percent in 11 Years

Two Assistant Principals Learned Their High School Didn’t Need a Special Status to Be Academically Rigorous and Locally Respected

By Terri Grinner and Pablo Mejia | July 7, 2016

Back in 2005, when South Los Angeles’ Santee Education Complex opened, we were among the very first teachers hired. At the time, Santee was the first new high school constructed …

Why California Keeps Failing to Grade Its Schools

The State Is Inexcusably Late in Delivering a Revamped Public School Index

By Joe Mathews | May 19, 2016

It’s a California educational reality worthy of Kafka. Our state’s leaders keep asking parents and communities to take bigger roles in making local schools better—even as those same leaders keep …

What’s a School District Like Without a Teachers’ Union?

Paying Dues Isn’t the Only Way for Educators to Get Organized

By Joe Mathews | April 7, 2016

What would a California school district be like if it jettisoned its teachers’ union?

Up until recently, that question has been mostly hypothetical. For some, it’s a fantasy: Conservative education reformers …

When Teachers Look and Have Lived Like Their Students

A South L.A. Charter School Offers a Personalized Formula for Success

By Ky-Phong Tran | October 26, 2015

For three years, I taught English at Alliance College-Ready Judy Ivie Burton Technology Academy in South Los Angeles. It’s a charter school at the corner of Century Boulevard and Broadway, …

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