Louis Freedberg

Richmond students enrolled in the Headwaters Science Institute’s summer program make cutout paper models of birds on the banks of Lake Merritt in Oakland. (Credit: Louis Freedberg / EdSource)

California’s $14 billion investment in expanded learning transforms summer schools

July 26, 2025 at 6:06 a.m.

On a recent morning, nearly 100 children clapped, sang, and danced in a large circle filling the cafeteria at Nystrom Elementary School in Richmond as part of a joyous Harambee...

Backpacks hang on hooks outside classrooms before school Monday at Neal Dow School in Chico. – Barbara Arrigoni — Enterprise-Record

Gov. Newsom touts California as ‘getting kids back in the classroom’ in State of the State speech

March 10, 2021 at 9:12 a.m.

Newsom said that 7,000 of California’s more than 10,000 schools are either opening or planning to open in April.

(Louis Freedberg/EdSource) Berkeley parents at a rally on Feb. 6 to pressure the district to open schools for in-person instruction.

In his own words: ‘Educators in front of students should be vaccinated,’ says CTA president E. Toby Boyd

February 12, 2021 at 6:03 a.m.

In an interview with John Fensterwald and Louis Freedberg on EdSource’s podcast “This Week in California Education,” E. Toby Boyd talked about under what conditions the organization believes teachers should...

In inaugural address, Biden says it is possible to teach children ‘in safe schools’

January 22, 2021 at 6:30 a.m.

While President Joseph Biden spent most of his inaugural address pleading for unity, he also touched on an issue of deep importance to many American families: getting children back to...

Momentum to offer more in-person public school instruction in California comes to a halt

December 26, 2020 at 6:41 a.m.

With the coronavirus out of control in California, and the health system reaching a breaking point, momentum toward opening more public schools for in-person instruction has largely come to a...

Students at Westside Neighborhood School returned to school in October. (courtesy: Amy Woropay)

Pandemic’s spread in California casts dark cloud over return to school in January — or beyond

December 2, 2020 at 6:05 a.m.

The surge in Covid-19 cases in California is coming at exactly the wrong time for school districts contemplating reopening schools for in-person instruction.

Pandemic surge puts on hold opening of regular classrooms for millions of California students

November 18, 2020 at 6:07 a.m.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “sounding of the alarm” to beat back the surge of the Covid-19 virus represents a severe setback for efforts to further reopen schools in California, as millions...

Linda Darling-Hammond is sworn in by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond as president of the State Board of Education in Sacramento on March 14, 2019. (Courtesy – Janet Weeks/SBE)

Linda Darling-Hammond rejects possible consideration as Secretary of Education in Biden cabinet

November 10, 2020 at 6:46 a.m.

Ending considerable speculation in media and education circles, Linda Darling-Hammond, the president of the California State Board of Education, says she is committed to staying in California, and is not...

Students getting in-person instruction at accelerating pace in California

November 3, 2020 at 6:06 a.m.

California school districts are showing a clear momentum toward reopening for some version of in-person instruction.

Student Brielle Cohan-Hadria, participates in a Zoom lesson from a class overseen by teachers with the YMCA at the Anza Elementary School campus in Torrance on Sept. 17, 2020. distance learning gets a definite thumbs down from the state’s registered voters, including parents, according to a new poll. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times/Polaris) ///

California voters, including parents, have deep concerns about distance learning

October 9, 2020 at 6:46 a.m.

As most public and private school students in California continue to study from home, distance learning gets a definite thumbs down from the state’s registered voters, including parents, according to...

All Stories