Changing Enrollment, Fiscal Strain, and Facilities Challenges in California’s Urban Schools

My first Bellwether publication is now live! Many of California’s urban public schools, both traditional and charter, have seen dramatic changes in enrollment during the past two decades. These trends have contributed to fiscal and facilities issues for both types of schools, but they also represent an opportunity for better cross-sector collaboration. In our new report, “Changing Enrollment, Fiscal Strain, and Facilities Challenges in California’s Urban Schools,” we analyzed enrollment trend data for district and charter schools in six of California’s urban centers: Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno.

Selective high schools and diversity

New York City’s selective high schools have a diversity problem: Though black and Hispanic students make up nearly 70 percent of New York City’s public school system as a whole, just over 10 percent of students admitted into the city’s eight specialized high schools were black or Hispanic, according to statistics released Monday by the city. That percentage is flat compared to last year. It’s also a problem in Louisville.

Grading my PLL proposal - first four cities

As of today, Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) has named 4 of the 12 cities that will host games during their inaugural season. The PLL started with a list of 30 cities and in January, I posted what I thought would be the ideal slate of 12 cities for the new league. My initial selections started with the idea that the PLL should focus the bulk of their schedule in regions where youth lacrosse has the fastest growth rates.

Teacher pay, community income, and sickouts

Do teachers in Kentucky earn more or less than the median household in the communities they serve?1 The most recent data from the American Community Survey show that the Median Household Income (MHI) in Kentucky is $46,535. In the 2018-19 school year, data from the Kentucky Department of Education show that the average certified salary for Kentucky teachers was $57,819 - a difference of $11,284. However, household income and teacher salaries vary across communities in Kentucky.

Untapped Potential

An incredible special report from the Boston Globe: Over the past year, the Globe has tracked down 93 of the 113 valedictorians who appeared in the paper’s first three “Faces of Excellence” features from 2005 to 2007. We wanted to know, more than a decade later, how the stories of Boston’s best and brightest were turning out. The entire collection of articles, graphics, and data paints a challenging and inspiring picture of the obstacles facing the “best and brightest” students in Boston’s public schools.