Posts Tagged: k-12
Opinion
OPINION – People need to be convinced that a future in which their cars, houses, stoves, and garden equipment run on electricity – and that they will need to live sustainably – will not mean a decline in their quality of life. That’s why California should mandate climate change education in grades K-12 right now.
Experts Expound
A single payer health care system is the Holy Grail for progressive Californians. But is it realistic or just a pipedream? We put the question to our experts.
Opinion
OPINION: Education in California is experiencing a once-in-a-generation transformation, as tens of thousands of parents make crucial decisions about how and where their children learn.
News
PPIC: One year after the state’s schools halted in-person learning due to COVID-19, more than eight in ten Californians think children are falling behind academically during the pandemic. Most Californians approve of how Gov. Newsom is handling the state’s K–12 public education system, though six in ten are concerned that California’s K–12 schools will not be open for full-time in-person instruction this fall.
News
California public schools will be getting a big infusion of cash — a very, very big infusion — if voters approve an unprecedented trifecta of multibillion-dollar measures aimed at next year’s statewide ballots. First, there’s a $15 billion plan, financed by bond borrowing, for construction projects for K-12 and higher education. Gov. Newsom signed the bill and placed it on the March ballot.
Opinion
OPINION: The clock is ticking for our kids. Within a few weeks, The State Board of Education will determine many K-12 school accountability provisions in our education system for decades to come.
Opinion
A new analysis of the state budget from the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office identifies about $1.1 billion in new money available in the budget for discretionary spending. Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders have an opportunity to make spending decisions that will prioritize children, many of whom took the brunt of budget cuts over the last decade.
Opinion
OPINION: The health of California’s evolving and global 21st century economy depends on a skilled workforce. Yet, there are too few qualified applicants to create talent pools for jobs that fuel our economic growth. And while STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs in the state are projected to grow 22 percent by 2020, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that in 2011, 75 percent of California’s 8th graders were not proficient in national math standards.
News
Six weeks before California’s first-in-the-nation law takes effect to guarantee certain rights to transgender students, foes of the new statute say they have collected enough signatures for a statewide referendum next year to let voters decide. The new law, signed by Gov. Brown in August after it was approved by the Legislature, takes effect Jan. 1.
News
Lowering the vote threshold for passage of local school parcel taxes would likely allow far more to pass. But there is no evidence that it would expand their use beyond the sort of wealthy Bay Area school districts that already have them. These are the key findings of a report released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). The report assesses the potential effect of reducing the vote required to pass these taxes from two-thirds to 55 percent—a proposal the state legislature has been discussing. Although a parcel tax is one of the only local revenue options available to school districts, these taxes are not widespread. Only about 10 percent of districts have passed one, and the money raised amounts to less than 1 percent of total K–12 revenue.