PTA Gift for Someone Else’s Child? A Touchy Subject in California

By DANA GOLDSTEIN April 8, 2017 SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Of all the inequalities between rich and poor public schools, one of the more glaring divides is PTA fund-raising, which in schools with well-heeled parents can generate hundreds of thousands of...

Arizona Frees Money for Private Schools, Buoyed by Trump’s Voucher Push

By DANA GOLDSTEIN April 7, 2017 Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona has signed into law sweeping changes in how state money can be used to educate students, making it easier for parents to enroll their children in private schooling at public expense. The bill, which...

A Transgender Student Won Her Battle. Now It’s War.

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS April 2, 2017 PALATINE, Ill. — Tall and sylphlike, an athlete with delicate features and a blond topknot, she changes clothes behind a privacy curtain in the girls’ locker room at her high school. But just being allowed to...

Betsy DeVos Calls for More School Choice, Saying Money Isn’t the Answer

By ERICA L. GREEN March 29, 2017 WASHINGTON — Betsy DeVos, in her first extended policy address as education secretary, argued on Wednesday for an expansion of school choice programs, pointing to lagging test scores and a program championed by the...

School Choice Fight in Iowa May Preview the One Facing Trump

By DANA GOLDSTEIN March 21, 2017 DES MOINES — When she was shopping for a school for her daughter Alma, Mary Kakayo found a lot to like in St. Theresa Catholic, including its Catholic social justice theme, student prayer and hour of religious...

New Crop of Young Adult Novels Explores Race and Police Brutality

By ALEXANDRA ALTER March 19, 2017 Angie Thomas started writing her young-adult novel, “The Hate U Give,” in reaction to a fatal shooting that took place some 2,000 miles away. But to her it felt deeply personal. Ms. Thomas was a college student...