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State funding for school buses intact, but school year may be cut short

Funding for school buses won't be cut from Coachella Valley school districts under a new budget plan the California Legislature passed, but the current school year may need to be shortened.

District: Charter law forced school's closure

Barcelona Hills Elementary is closing in June, but not because it's an underperforming school or because neighborhood parents are demanding sweeping changes.

Young: Is Sweetwater recall driven by teacher's union?

Sweetwater school board member John McCann, in raising some concerns about our coverage of Monday night's board meeting, also brought up some interesting perspective on the backers of the recall effort against McCann, Jim Cartmill and Arlie Ricasa.

School board mulls warehouse contract

The Jurupa Unified School District Board of Education is set to award a contract today for the district’s planned storage warehouse and Professional Development Center project at the Birtcher Center on Bellegrave.

Village I taxes on Modesto City Schools agenda

Modesto City Schools trustees will consider hiring attorney George Petrulakis to iron out the controversy surrounding special taxes charged Village I homeowners to build schools.

Settling school disputes before they escalate

At Charles Maclay Middle School in Pacoima, a program funded by the Center for Civic Mediation teaches students how to resolve conflict and learn to coexist peacefully among their classmates.

Local parents rally to demand more high-quality schools and teachers in L.A.

Calling on elected officials to stop budget cuts that threaten public education, thousands of Los Angeles parents and educators rallied behind a single message Saturday: Students first.

Mt. Diablo school board to learn how to play well with others

The Mt. Diablo school board wants to learn Saturday how to work better together, before it tackles some tough issues Monday. At a workshop, school board members will work on improving their communication skills. Trustee Gary Eberhart said in December that the board needs the workshop because the members have not been working well with staff or each other.

Bilingual classes try to push Latinos toward college

Four high schools in Southern California are offering math and science courses using online curriculum from Mexico to get more Latino students to meet requirements to go to college.

California's school funding measure under siege in tough times

When teachers unions and education groups backed Proposition 98 nearly a quarter-century ago, they told voters it was "a well-thought-out plan for California's schools to once again be among the very best in the nation." But as public schools pack more than 30 students into kindergarten classrooms, cut a week of instruction and shutter campus libraries, education advocates wonder to what extent Proposition 98 has served its purpose.

Hiltzik: Who really benefits from putting high-tech gadgets in classrooms?

Something sounded familiar last week when I heard U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski make a huge pitch for infusing digital technology into America's classrooms. Every schoolchild should have a laptop, they said. Because in the near future, textbooks will be a thing of the past. Where had I heard that before?

Jerry Brown's call for fewer school tests conflicts with state's new education blueprint

Gov. Jerry Brown's message seeking less testing in schools may resonate with educators and some parents, but it seems in conflict with efforts to measure – through new tests – how the state's new education blueprint will be followed. That blueprint, called Common Core Standards, will govern teaching in public schools beginning in 2014.

Assemblyman renews fight against illegal school fees

Bolstered by a recent court ruling, a Southern California assemblyman filed legislation last week that seeks to crack down on school districts that charge parents and students fees that violate state law.

Fensterwald: More CalSTRS pressure on lawmakers

The decision last week by the board of the California State Teachers Retirement System to lower the expected rate of return on investments from 7.75 percent to 7.50 percent equates to an additional $475 million that school districts and the State Legislature must eventually contribute annually to make up for the shortfall and keep the pension fund healthy.