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Education

California has always been a hotbed of education organizing and reform. Catch up on efforts to fund the arts in public schools, the impact of COVID on students, college financial aid, ethnic studies curriculums and more.

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A teenage boy wearing a backwards baseball cap looks out a window as blinds cast shadows across his face.
A new law will encourage California school districts to work with local Native American tribes to develop history lessons for students. Students and tribal leaders say for too long, schools have lacked an in-depth and accurate history curriculum that addresses their culture.
Taylor Kayatta (left) and parent-teacher Vanessa Cudabac (right) during a door-to-door campaign strategy on Aug. 13, 2022.
Some parents who have been outspoken in their criticism of local school districts are finding allies in community members opposed to COVID safety protocols and other education policies. Buoyed by that support, they are now running to become school board members.
Sonja Shaw, a candidate for a seat on the Chino Valley School Board, holds a state GOP training binder
Shut out from winning statewide offices, the state GOP is seeking to capitalize on parents' anger to win local school board races in 2022 and motivate Republican voters. The party’s "Parent Revolt" program is its most ambitious school board candidate recruitment and training program ever.
Illustration of various invoices billed to California schools.
A CalMatters investigation found that schools had wildly different approaches to stimulus spending — from laptops to shade structures to an ice cream truck. No centralized database exists to show the public exactly where the money went.
 Amanda Arellano and her mother Maria hug at a park near their home in Los Angeles
The Newsom administration plans to spend $4.4 billion addressing mental health needs among young people. But will it come soon enough?
Protesters overtake the 101 freeway near downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.
In the personal essay below, Rubén Martínez, host of Excavating the Future, reflects on individual and collective experiences over the past two years since the World Health Organization declared COVID a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during his State of the State speech in Sacramento on March 8, 2022. He stands in front of a row of California and U.S. Flags.Photo by
Gov. Gavin Newsom gave a pep talk to Californians tired of COVID and worried about crime, homelessness and inflation. In his State of the State address, he pledged some relief from high gas prices, but mostly promoted the "California Way" of finding new solutions to big problems.
Parents and supporters protest school mask mandates in front of San Marcos High School. They hold picket signs reading "unmask our kids" and "mask choice now".
Parents, educators and now students are caught in the polarized debate over mask and vaccine mandates. Officials are worried communities might not recover.
Renata Garza-Silva sits at a desk
Millions of Californians at high risk from conditions like heart disease, autoimmune disorders and diabetes feel unprotected and forgotten as the state rolls back its COVID orders.
Children wearing masks sit on a rug in a classroom
A top state health official provided little new information on Monday. Public health experts say it might be time to take more steps towards normalcy at schools.
Bryan Monroy wears a lab coat while sitting at a desk in a classroom.
There is a nationwide surge of teachers who are leaving the profession, especially evident among members of the profession with minority backgrounds. Amid the pandemic’s toxic brew of death, illness, and classroom disruption, these departures of seasoned teachers have created another strain for students.
Students wearing masks sit at their desks.
California appears to be on the brink of one of its most dramatic shifts in COVID policy: changing school mask mandates.
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