As the United States grapples with growing inequality, a new analysis finds that the achievement gap between haves and have-nots remains as large as it was 50 years ago — neither having widened, as some have suggested, or closed. “Two surprises emerge from this analysis,” […]
Category: Conditions of Children
Conditions of Children
Experts share insights on future of Prop 64 funds for youth health programs
Experts from Washington and Colorado, two states which legalized recreational marijuana before California, weighed in at a Capitol briefing on the best ways to design youth drug prevention and health programs using cannabis tax revenue. The March 26 event was hosted by Assemblymember Reginald Byron […]
Report: Police officers outnumber health staff in schools by wide margin
A new report finds that more than 400,000 K-12 students in California attend a school that has a police officer on site but not a school counselor — reflecting critical gaps in staff essential to student health and well-being. Based on analysis of newly available […]
Data illustrate need for greater focus on California’s homeless students
In the 2016-17 school year, 4.2 percent of California’s public school students were identified as homeless, according to a new report from Education Leads Home. The state’s homeless student population that year of 262,935 marks a 4.16 percent increase from the 2012-13 school year. Researchers […]
Budget battles hit schools as Oakland Unified teachers go on strike
Oakland Unified School District teachers walked out of their classes Thursday, Feb. 21. As part of the strike, the Oakland Education Association, a union representing teachers, is asking for a 12 percent raise over three years, smaller class sizes and the hiring of more counselors […]
Flushing lead from school pipes remains a work in progress
As School Nutrition Month kicks off in March, California is making progress on a key issue impacting daily nutrition at school — water. But there is still room for improvement and a need for more information, a recent report finds. The report, “Early Adopters: State Approaches […]
Chronic absenteeism, stakeholder engagement practices shared at PACE conference
Two timely and important issues facing districts and school boards, chronic absenteeism and stakeholder engagement, shared the spotlight at this year’s Policy Analysis for California Education annual conference. The Feb. 1 event in downtown Sacramento, with a theme of “Putting Evidence into Action to Advance […]
Toolkit offers guidance and resources for English learner, immigrant parents
The U.S. Department of Education has released a new guide to help schools better support English learner students, immigrant students and their families. Dubbed The English Learner Family Toolkit, the publication should be of particular interest in California, home to more than 1.3 million English […]
Commentary: Justice for all students is imperative
By Dr. Emma Turner It is one of the great honors of my life to serve as President of the California School Boards Association and advocate for the needs of students — all students — at the highest levels. I reflected on this during the […]
Sextortion: Another cyber danger for youth
By Kathy Espinoza, assistant vice president, Ergonomics and Safety, Keenan A new form of online abuse and exploitation of young people is growing rapidly. It’s called “sextortion,” and it’s defined as the threatened dissemination of explicit, intimate or embarrassing images of a sexual nature without […]











