District Spotlight
Fresno Unified Reached a Five-Report High of 90.8%
Fresno Unified reached 90.8% in 2024-25, its highest rate across five California School Dashboard reports and 3.0 points above the state.
California
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of California, grounded in California Department of Education data.
Yuri Calderon Wants Penn Valley's Vision Written by the Community, Not His Office
Yuri Calderon became superintendent of Penn Valley Union Elementary on July 1 after a career in school finance, law, and small-district advocacy. He starts with 530 students and a community vision process he says should not come from his desk.
Jennifer Hawn Takes Over Cupertino Union as Enrollment Finally Steadies
The new superintendent arrives after months of studying the district from the outside, with four priorities, a bond program to deliver, and a trend line that has just stopped falling.
Marnie Hazelton Comes Home to California to Lead Alum Rock
The three-time superintendent arrives from New Jersey with a 100-day listening plan, a push for Algebra readiness and dual-language growth, and a goal she names outright: enrollment growing again.
Asian enrollment is California's only race line still climbing
Asian student enrollment rose 14% to 588,419 since 2008, reaching a 2008-2026 high as California lost more than 540,000 students.
More Coverage
Personnel
Angie Summers Builds Standard's Next Chapter on Attendance Gains and Literacy
Angie Summers begins leading Standard with attendance improving, literacy still uneven and trust at the center of her agenda.
Personnel
Tenderly Logan Brings a Whole-Child Focus to Upper Lake Unified
Upper Lake Unified's new superintendent centers collaboration, student support and financial stability in a small rural district.
Personnel
Sonjhia Lowery Takes Over Pittsburg Unified After Chronic Absence Falls 9 Points
Sonjhia Lowery begins leading Pittsburg Unified after chronic absence fell 9 points, with relationships, instruction and support guiding her agenda.
Personnel
Tinisha Hamberlin Organizes Eastside Union Around Four First-Year Goals
Tinisha Hamberlin starts Eastside Union's superintendency with four goals and a classroom-level test for whether the district's systems are aligned.
Enrollment
320 California Districts Held or Grew Enrollment as the Statewide Loss Accelerated
Among 1,004 stable-ID districts with published totals at both endpoints, 320 enrolled at least as many students in 2025-26 as in 2018-19. Statewide enrollment fell by 74,961 in the latest year.
Equity
Special Education Graduation Rate Breaks 77%, but Gap Persists
California's special education graduation rate reached 77.1% in 2025, but the gap with the state average remains 10.7 points.
Absence
Twin Rivers' Non-Charter Chronic Absence Rate Was 30.4%
Twin Rivers Unified's non-charter chronic absenteeism rate was 30.4% in 2024-25, seventh highest among 59 California districts with at least 20,000 eligible students on that basis.
Demographics
The Most American School in America Looks Like America
A spreadsheet expedition through 60,598 public schools ends in Bakersfield: gold for the Patriots of Independence Elementary, silver for the Stars of Freedom Middle, bronze for the Eagles of Liberty High.
Equity
English Learner Graduation Rate Jumps 8.8 Points — But 1 in 5 Still Don't Graduate
California's English learner graduation rate surged from 70.9% to 79.7% but the 85,815-student cohort still sees 1 in 5 fail to graduate, with vast district variation.
Absence
San Francisco Unified's Black-Student Chronic Absence Rate Was 54.6%
San Francisco Unified's Black-student chronic absenteeism rate was 54.6% in 2024-25, 47.5 points above the Asian-student rate on the same non-charter basis.
