It can be overwhelming for any parent to advocate for support in school for a child with a disability. But parents who don't speak much English face another major hurdle: getting accurate and timely translations of the documents and meetings so they can understand them.

Some parents report waiting months or even a year for translations of their children's special education documents. A bill in the California legislature could help, but its future is uncertain.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Immigrant parents report faulty, slow translation of special education documents

Education Beat is a weekly podcast. This episode is hosted by EdSource's Emma Gallegos and produced by Coby McDonald.

More California superintendents are leaving to go to other jobs, or retiring, than ever before. The stress of the pandemic, politics and even violent threats all play into superintendent turnover.

Why are superintendents leaving? And what are districts doing to try to retain and attract them?

Guests:

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Two years after schools returned to in-person learning, students are struggling to meet math and English standards on statewide tests. Their mental health is also suffering and they're missing lots of days of school.

EdSource brought together a panel of experts to discuss what schools and districts can do to re-engage students, and how teachers can energize and learn from each other. There was one very strong theme — the need for students to feel like they belong at school.

Guests:

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

As a saxophonist in Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band in 1985, Merryl Goldberg traveled to the Soviet Union to meet up with another group of musicians, The Phantom Orchestra.

The Phantom Orchestra would be sharing more than good tunes with Merryl.  They’d also pass along information, including the names of people who wanted to escape the Soviet Union, which Merryl and her friends would then smuggle back to the United States.

To do this, Merryl made up a secret code, hidden in sheet music.

Now Merryl's spy days are long behind her. But she is still passionate about how music and other arts can enrich other fields, including cybersecurity.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Merryl Goldberg, a music professor on a mission to spread arts education

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Bonnie Pérez took child development classes at night while working as a nanny during the day. But she didn’t see a lot of other nannies in her classes, largely because the classes were all in English. 

Bonnie saw an untapped group of people with lots of hands-on experience working with kids and who could help fill a shortage of preschool teachers in the state.

A new California law removes barriers to allow more students to enroll in courses taught in Mandarin, Spanish, Russian, Korean and other languages.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Community college students can take classes in their native language under a new law

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Students new to the country often find themselves in the classrooms of teachers with very little training or support in how to meet their unique needs.

Listen to veteran teacher Jenna Hewitt King describe how her first day teaching newcomers made her feel like a new teacher all over again — and how a new law, Assembly Bill 714, could begin to provide guidance and data for teachers like her.

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast. This episode is hosted by EdSource’s Emma Gallegos and produced by Coby McDonald.

The California State University board of trustees voted last month to increase tuition 6 percent every year for five years, beginning in the fall of 2024.

The rate increase will affect both undergraduate and graduate students, and there’s been vocal opposition from students, faculty and staff.

EdSource’s California Journalism Corps fanned out to ask students how they think the tuition hike could affect decisions to enroll at Cal State.

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Fresno teachers are voting this Wednesday on whether or not to strike, if the union and the district can’t come to an agreement on class size, teacher pay and benefits.

The first and only time Fresno teachers have been on strike before was 45 years ago, in 1978.

What can we learn from those who were involved in both sides of that strike?

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

A high school drama teacher was removed from the classroom in Temecula Valley Unified, after a parent complained students were reading the Pulitzer-prize-winning play, “Angels in America,” about the AIDS epidemic in New York during the 1980s.

It’s the latest in a series of efforts by newly elected conservative school board members to change curriculum in the district. What happened in the months after the teacher’s removal? And how is it affecting other teachers and students?

Guests:

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Patrick Acuña spent 30 years behind bars advocating for higher education. Despite having several learning disabilities, he found that education was the path forward to repairing his life and helping his community.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: After 30 years in California prison, he starts new life at UC Irvine

Education Beat is a weekly podcast. This episode is hosted by EdSource’s Ashley A. Smith and produced by Coby McDonald.