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  • Salaries, benefits increase as school superintendents become harder to find

    Salaries, benefits increase as school superintendents become harder to find


    LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is among the highest paid superintendents in the state.

    Credit: Credit: Julie Leopo / EdSource

    Superintendent candidates are in the driver’s seat in California, where openings are plenty and fewer veteran candidates are interested. The result is higher salaries, better perks and less experience required.

    Superintendent pay in California has skyrocketed in the last decade, with salaries in some districts growing more than 60%, according to an EdSource analysis of 53 California superintendent contracts.

    Contracts show salaries that range from $130,000 in rural McKinleyville in Humboldt County, where Julie Giannini-Previde leads a district of 928 students, to $441,092 in suburban Elk Grove, near Sacramento, where Christopher Hoffman is at the helm of a district of 63,000 students.

    Districts must pay a good salary to attract and retain qualified superintendents, said Nancy Chaires Espinoza, Elk Grove Unified school board president. Even with good salaries, some qualified people aren’t interested in applying for superintendent positions, she said.

    “It’s really hard to recruit and retain superintendents because the job has changed, and the job of superintendent has become much more difficult, given the political environment,” she said.

    A survey of 2,443 superintendents nationwide by the School Superintendents Association showed a median annual salary of $156,468 last school year, with pay increasing at districts with higher enrollment. No comparative salary data is available for California, although the California Department of Education has salary information for 2021-22. That year, superintendents in unified districts with 10,000 to 20,000 students earned an average yearly salary of $278,268 and superintendents in districts with 20,000 or more students averaged $319,443 a year. 

    “If the district really wants somebody, and they’re holding out for a higher salary, they’re probably going to get it because it is hard to find people,” said Cathy Nichols-Washer, who retired as superintendent of Lodi Unified School District last school year. 

    Superintendent contract highlights

    Alberto Carvalho, Los Angeles Unified: Car, driver, security, $1.5 million life insurance policy, $50,000 moving allowance, $50,000 for tax-sheltered annuity, can ask to cash out unused vacation days.

    James Hammond, Ontario-Montclair School District: Lifetime health benefits for himself and family, can cash out vacation days, $66,000 annual contribution to tax-deferred annuity.

    Donald Austin, Palo Alto Unified: Can choose to rent a house from the district for $1,800 a month or take an annual salary increase of $25,000.

    Samuel Buenrostro, Corona Norco Unified: He can’t take employees with him when he leaves the district.

    Bryon Schaefer, Kern High School District: Contract allows him to work as a consultant for the district up to 30 days a year for up to five years after retirement at the same daily rate he made as superintendent, with requisite raises.

    Kayla Johnson-Trammel, Oakland Unified:  Three-month paid sabbatical included in 2022 contract.

    Superintendent of fifth-largest district, one of highest paid

    Elk Grove’s Hoffman makes $1,000 more a year in salary than Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest school district, according to the most recent employment contracts available to EdSource. Carvalho, who leads a district of 538,000 students, earns a $440,000 base salary, with no promise of annual raises.

    Hoffman’s current salary is a 63% increase over the $270,000 salary he received when he was hired in 2014. He also earned 2% bonuses this school year and last, as well as retroactive pay raises, according to his contract. Hoffman’s salary is higher because his car and expense allowances have been folded into his pay, said Chaires Espinoza. Last year Hoffman’s benefit package was worth $133,780, she said.

    Carvalho’s benefit package more than makes up for the difference in salary. It includes a $1.5 million district-paid life insurance policy, use of a car, a $50,000 annual contribution to a retirement account, the ability to cash out some vacation days, and the use of security and a driver if needed. He was also paid $50,000 in 2022 to relocate from Florida to Los Angeles. 

    Chaires Espinoza says Hoffman earns his salary. She credits his relationship with the district’s unions with enabling Elk Grove Unified to be the first district to close schools in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. She also cited Hoffman’s longevity as superintendent — nine years — and his knowledge of the district, as other reasons he is worth the paycheck. 

    “I can tell you unequivocally that he is the best superintendent in the state,” she said.

    Superintendents of large school districts aren’t the only ones making big salaries. Some superintendents in smaller districts out-earned colleagues overseeing much larger districts. Bay Area superintendents Donald Austin of Palo Alto Unified and Michael Gallagher at Sunnyvale School District, who earn $378,000 and $374,000 respectively, make more than superintendents in much larger districts in the state, including San Francisco Unified. 

    Pay increasingly tied to employee pay raises

    Superintendents are increasingly asking for “me too clauses” in their contracts that give them the same raises as the employees whose contracts they help negotiate. Almost a fifth of the superintendent contracts reviewed by EdSource contained these clauses.

    “That is more standard than not,”  said Dennis Smith, managing search partner for Leadership Associates, a recruitment agency that does many of the superintendent searches in California. “The superintendent will get the same increases as credentialed staff and administrators. That’s common. People don’t want to see the superintendent get a bigger increase than others.”

    Smith doesn’t think that this impacts superintendents’ decisions when negotiating with their unions. “The superintendent is going to negotiate the best package possible for the district,” he said. “I’ve never seen any self-interest involved in it.”

    Chaires Espinoza says there is no conflict because the school board approves all raises.

    But others disagree.

    “This is a textbook example of a conflict,” said David Kline, spokesman for the California Taxpayers Association, a nonprofit tax advocacy association. “It’s definitely a conflict. You essentially have one person sitting on both sides of the bargaining table. We would like to see the end to that sort of contract. The superintendent should be paid based on performance.”

    Benefits add cost, value to contracts

    There is a lot more to a superintendent’s contract than salary. It spells out how many days the superintendent will work, how much the district will contribute to health and retirement benefits, how the manager will be reimbursed for expenses and whether the superintendent can accept outside jobs, earn overtime pay, or cash out sick leave and vacation time. It even spells out the number of months that a superintendent will be paid if he or she is fired without cause.

    A healthy benefit package can more than make up for a lower salary. Some superintendents receive life insurance policies, stipends for advanced degrees, housing allowances, expense accounts, extra pay for advanced degrees, deferred compensation and annuities, longevity bonuses, lifetime health benefits and district-paid security.

    Less common are things like the option for Palo Alto Superintendent Austin to live in a district-provided house or boost his salary by $25,000 or the three-month sabbatical that was part of Oakland Unified Superintendent Kayla Johnson-Trammel’s 2022 contract.

    “We have noticed in news stories on superintendents throughout the state, it does seem they are being paid very generously from taxpayer funds with many perks the private sector couldn’t dream of receiving,” Kline said.

    Going Deeper

    The salaries of school staff, including superintendents, are public information, according to California state law, but not all school districts make the information easy to find. Even if districts post the initial contract on their website, most do not post the addendums that show superintendent pay increases approved over the years.  

    The California Controller’s Office collects salary data for all state jobs and makes it available on its Government Compensation in California website, but only 22% of school  districts reported salary data for 2022 – the most recent year data is available on the site. Unlike other state agencies, K-12 school districts are voluntary reporters. Senate Bill 924, meant to close a loophole that allows districts to avoid reporting employee income, failed in the state legislature last year.

    Without publicly posted salary and benefit information, the public must ask school districts for the information, often with a California Public Records Act request. Los Angeles Unified was one of the few school districts who have not yet fulfilled a request for public records filed by EdSource in October for this story. EdSource obtained Alberto Carvalho’s contract from another source.

    Superintendent benefits put district in the spotlight

    One case in particular has put superintendent pay and perks in the spotlight. In 2021, Ontario-Montclair Superintendent James Hammond earned $542,988 in wages and $200,608 in retirement and health contributions, according to the State Controller’s website. His wages grew because he was able to cash out 85 days of sick time and 25 vacation days, according to media reports. The district has 18,471 students.

    In 2022 the school board capped Hammond’s annual sick days at 85 and required that he wait to cash out his accrued sick days until he leaves the district, instead of annually, according to the Daily Bulletin. The move reduced his total compensation by $100,000 that year, according to the State Controller’s website.

    The Ontario-Montclair school board continues to be generous to Hammond. In July, the district increased his base salary to $368,547. The contract continues to allow the superintendent to cash out any of his 25 vacation days annually, or to accrue them and cash them out when he leaves the district. 

    Hammond also receives $2,500 a month from the district to pay for a life insurance policy and $66,000 — the maximum contribution allowed — to a tax-sheltered annuity. He and eligible members of his family also receive lifetime medical insurance benefits.

    “I can confidently attest that Dr. Hammond has instrumentally helped to positively transform the Ontario-Montclair School District over the last 14 years,” said board President Sonia Alvarado.  “As one of the most senior superintendents in San Bernardino County, students and families have benefited from his strategic vision and shared leadership style.”

    The amount of compensation is meant to retain Hammond, who could leave for a similar compensation package in a large school district, at a university or in the private sector, Alvarado said.

    “It is a very competitive market, particularly for large, urban school systems where there is usually a high turnover in the superintendent positions that often results in severance packages and settlements that are both costly and disruptive,” Alvarado said. “Recruiting and retaining effective leadership is one of the primary responsibilities a school board should prioritize.”

    CSBA advises against ‘compensation schemes’

    A California School Boards Association template for superintendent contracts offers advice for school boards that are thinking about keeping salaries low and offering bigger perks to superintendents to stay under the radar. 

    “Even when faced with such pressures, boards should avoid using ‘creative’ compensation schemes that tend to erode public trust, such as low salary but exorbitant benefits,” according to the CSBA.

    Instead, the CSBA suggested that the district offer a competitive salary and reasonable benefits that are comparable to what other districts are paying. 

    Legislators try to regulate pay, benefits

    Some states’ legislative bodies are considering capping the amount school districts can pay their school superintendents. California hasn’t taken that step, although state lawmakers passed a bill in 2013 to limit the maximum cash settlement to a district superintendent who is fired without cause to the amount of time left on his or her contract, or 12 months, whichever is less. Before that decision, superintendent contracts could include a payout of up to 18 months.

     Almost every employment contract reviewed by EdSource required that the superintendent be paid if they are fired or, in some cases, if there is a mutual agreement that they resign.

    Rachel S. White, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who runs a research lab that collects data about school superintendents, said, “They (superintendents) are saying they want that protection because they know elections can happen, and the board turns over, and they’re out the next month.” 





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  • Find English Tuition Near Me in Lucknow

    Find English Tuition Near Me in Lucknow


    Imagine this.

    Your child knows English grammar rules but still hesitates to speak up in class. They understand vocabulary but struggle to frame answers confidently in exams. Their teacher says, “They know the answers but don’t express them clearly.”This is a common problem for many students in Lucknow today. And it often leads to low marks, hesitation in school discussions, and lack of confidence in daily life.

    That’s why searching for “English tuition near me in Lucknow” is more than just typing keywords into Google. It’s about finding a tutor who understands your child’s learning needs, adapts their teaching style, and builds confidence along with knowledge.

    Why English Tuition is Important Today

    English isn’t just a school subject anymore. It’s the language of:

    ✔️ College interviews and competitive exams
    ✔️ Job placements and professional communication
    ✔️ Daily interactions in an English-speaking environment

    Strong English skills build:

    ✅ Confidence to speak fluently and clearly
    ✅ Ability to frame answers effectively in exams
    ✅ Better understanding of all subjects taught in English medium schools

    When students struggle with English, it affects their performance across all subjects, and more importantly, their confidence in expressing themselves.

    What Makes a Good English Tutor?

    While searching for English tuition near you in Lucknow, here’s what to look for:

    ✅ Good communication skills. A tutor who speaks clearly will teach your child to speak clearly.
    ✅ Patience and empathy. Every child learns at their own pace and feels nervous while speaking in English.
    ✅ Focus on spoken and written English. Both are equally important for academics and future goals.
    ✅ Interactive teaching methods. Engaging sessions keep children interested in learning.
    ✅ Personalised attention. A tutor who understands your child’s weaknesses and builds on their strengths.

    If you’re wondering how to identify these qualities while hiring a tutor, do read our detailed blog on “Top 10 Qualities to Look for in a Good Home Tutor” for practical tips.

    Benefits of Home Tuition for English

    🏠 Comfort of learning at home. Children learn better in a familiar environment where they can ask questions freely without feeling embarrassed.
    🗣️ One-to-one attention. The tutor focuses only on your child, correcting mistakes instantly and encouraging them to speak confidently.
    📚 Flexible timings. Tuition sessions can be scheduled according to your child’s best learning hours, ensuring better focus.
    🌱 Holistic growth. Good English tuition improves vocabulary, grammar, writing skills, spoken fluency, and overall confidence in communication.

    How TheTuitionTeacher Helps

    At TheTuitionTeacher, we understand that each child is unique. Their learning styles, pace, and challenges are different. That’s why we:

    ✔️ Have qualified and experienced English tutors available in every area of Lucknow, including Hazratganj, Gomti Nagar, Indira Nagar, Aliganj, and more.
    ✔️ Provide one-to-one demo sessions so parents can choose the tutor who best fits their child’s learning needs.
    ✔️ Match your child with tutors who are experts in school curriculum, grammar, spoken English, and exam preparation.
    ✔️ Offer continuous progress tracking so parents stay updated on their child’s improvement.

    Whether your child is in CBSE, ICSE, UP Board, or any other state board, our English tutors make learning simple, practical, and enjoyable. They focus not just on academic excellence but also on building communication confidence that will help your child in future interviews and social interactions.

    Real Student Stories

    One of our students, Riya from Aliganj, used to hesitate to speak even simple sentences in English. Within 3 months of personalised English tuition, she started framing her own answers confidently and even gave her school morning assembly speech in English. Her mother shared, “I never thought she would speak like this so soon. Her tutor made learning so easy and fun.”

    These stories remind us that English tuition is not just about marks – it’s about giving children the voice they deserve.

    Final Thoughts

    If you’re searching for “English tuition near me in Lucknow,” don’t just look for someone to teach from the textbook. Choose a tutor who helps your child speak confidently, write clearly, and understand English deeply.

    Because in the end, English is not just a subject. It’s a life skill your child will use every single day – to express thoughts, build a career, and connect with the world confidently.

    Looking for the best English tutor near you in Lucknow?
    Post your home tuition requirement today and get a free demo class with qualified English tutors at your doorstep.



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  • When Latinos pursue community college bachelor’s degrees, most find success

    When Latinos pursue community college bachelor’s degrees, most find success


    Los Angeles City College, one of the state’s 116 community colleges.

    Larry Gordon/EdSource Today

    Latino students are enrolling at low rates in bachelor’s degree programs at California’s community colleges. But many of those who do enroll are graduating quickly and finding work after leaving college.

    That’s the takeaway from a new study by UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Institute examining outcomes for Latino students in baccalaureate programs at 15 of the state’s community colleges. An increasing number of community colleges now offer such programs, giving students a simpler path to a four-year degree.

    But, in many of the programs, Latino students are not applying or enrolling at high rates. Across the programs, which range from equine and ranch management at Feather River College to dental hygiene at West Los Angeles College, just 30.1% of students are Latino. That’s much lower than the 46% of students at those colleges who are Latino.

    To address that gap, the study calls for greater recruitment of Latino students to the programs and for the state to invest more money in the programs.

    However, for the students who do enroll, 64% of them finish their degree within two years after starting their upper-division coursework. That’s comparable to non-Latino students, 68% of whom graduate within two years after starting those classes. 

    Following graduation, the vast majority of Latino students in the bachelor’s degree majors  — 94% of them — reported being employed. On average, they earned $22,600 more annually than they did prior to starting the program.

    Those outcomes are encouraging, but the colleges could benefit from a “public awareness campaign” to make sure Latino students know about the bachelor’s degree programs available to them, said Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, one of the report’s authors.

    “We have this tool now, so let’s make sure people are aware. We’re seeing very promising results once they’re there. But we want to make sure that they get there,” added Rios-Aguilar, who is a professor of education and the associate dean of equity, diversity and inclusion at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

    The bachelor’s degrees are more affordable for students than attending a University of California or California State University campus. Students can finish their degree for just $10,560 in tuition and fees, less than half of what it costs at UC or Cal State. Lower-division classes at the community college are $46 per unit, while the upper-division courses in the bachelor’s degree programs cost the same $46 enrollment fee plus a supplemental $84 fee.

    Community college students with financial need can often qualify for state aid to fully cover those costs. That typically includes a California College Promise Grant to cover their lower-division fees and a Cal Grant to cover the $84-per-unit upper-division fees.

    The 15 programs examined in the study are California’s original 15 community college bachelor’s degree programs. The state established those programs in 2015 as part of a pilot program. 

    The state then built on that pilot program with the passage of a 2021 law that allows the community college system to approve up to 30 new bachelor’s degree programs annually. Since the fall of 2022, at least 18 additional programs have been approved, according to the state chancellor’s office.

    Not every college included in the study struggled to enroll Latino students in the programs. At two colleges — Antelope Valley and Bakersfield — the share of Latino students in those programs exceeded the overall share of Latino students at the college.

    At Bakersfield, which offers a bachelor’s degree in industrial automation, getting those students enrolled starts in high school. Students in the Kern High School District have the option of earning an associate degree in industrial automation while they work toward their high school graduation. 

    “This innovative collaboration enables these students to seamlessly transfer into our baccalaureate program. Innovations that bring opportunity to students help explain Bakersfield College’s success in successfully recruiting Latinx students to our program,” Jessica Wojtysiak, the college’s associate vice president of instruction, said in an email.

    In addition to that program, Bakersfield also now offers a bachelor’s degree in research laboratory technology.

    At another college, MiraCosta, the share of Latino students in the college’s bachelor’s degree program in biomanufacturing was only 0.8% less than the college’s overall share of Latino students.

    “In our diverse and vibrant student body, we are proud to observe that the majority of those enrolling in our programs — specifically the bachelor’s degree in biomanufacturing — represent a majority of non-White/Asian backgrounds, showcasing our institution’s appeal across various ethnicities,” Dominique Ingato, MiraCosta’s biotechnology department chair, said in an email.

    To ensure that other colleges have similar success, the study released Tuesday suggests that the state should invest more money in the community college bachelor’s degree programs. 

    That could include spending more on outreach, marketing and recruitment to attract more Latino students. It could also mean investing in “research infrastructure” at the colleges, Rios-Aguilar said. She pointed out that community colleges don’t have the same research capacity as traditional research institutions like UCLA and other four-year colleges. 

    “It’s important to highlight that community colleges are severely underfunded compared to other sectors of higher education and yet they’re doing these amazing things and these promising tools are emerging,” she added. “Colleges are working really hard to make this happen.”





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  • Going police-free is tough and ongoing, Oakland schools find

    Going police-free is tough and ongoing, Oakland schools find


    Eddie Franklin, the culture and climate ambassador for Oakland Unified, stops a student while they are walking to class and asks how their day is going.

    Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource

    Across the Oakland Unified School District, the mantra for school staff is to call city police only as a last resort. If a disturbance occurs, they should rely first on in-house staff who don’t carry guns and can’t arrest anyone.

    Since voting in June 2020 to disband its police department, Oakland has pursued one goal — to defuse conflict and avoid bringing in police and exposing students to the possibility of arrest. Oakland’s preference is for restorative justice, which emphasizes circle-of-trust interactions to improve how students treat one another. 

    “Most of the time, it’s just having conversations with them (students),” said Eddie Franklin, a former security guard who is now part of the district’s new police-free staffing. “Let them authentically be themselves, and the goal becomes to chip away at the rough edges they might have.”

    It’s a strategy credited by the district with drastically reducing the 911 calls to city police from 2,128 during the 2019-20 school year, the last year the Oakland district had its own police department, to 200 in 2022-23.  

    But an EdSource analysis of data from the police shows a higher number of calls from just eight of the district’s 18 middle and high schools in half a year. The period from January to June 2023 shows those schools made 225 calls, with 105 considered “serious” for reasons including assault with a deadly weapon, suicide attempts, battery and terrorist/criminal threats.

    The Oakland data was part of a statewide investigation of school policing across California. EdSource gathered nearly 46,000 police logs of calls from and about 852 schools.  The data collection was designed as a representative sample of California schools.

    Police track all calls from and about eight of the district’s 18 middle and high schools, while the district’s data captures calls made to police from all 106 schools.

    Misha Karigaca, Oakland Unified’s director of student support and safety, could not fully reconcile the differences between the police call logs and the district’s record of internal calls to police for the same time period.

    “If a 911 call comes from a cell phone and the call doesn’t get reported to my department, we will not have information about the call which can also account for significant discrepancies,” he said.

    Karigaca and Board President Sam Davis acknowledged that while staff are trained when not to call 911 and to report any calls that they make, it doesn’t always happen. “We don’t capture every call in our data as (school) sites are required to notify us if law enforcement comes on campus; but we know of times when this hasn’t always happened,” Karigaca said.

    Davis said it’s also possible other staff are calling 911 for nonemergent reasons because “a lot of people reach the end of their rope for all sorts of reasons.”

    The Oakland schools included in EdSource’s data are McClymonds, Castlemont, Fremont, Oakland, Skyline high schools and Montera, West Oakland and Westlake middle schools.

    “We’re not in a place where we can have completely police-free schools. That is our goal and what we’re working towards, but unfortunately, there are times when we do need police support,” Karigaca said. “It was our conditioning, whatever we needed they (police) would respond. It’s almost similar to our communities and our society — there’s not many other options. Anything that revolves around safety, we’re conditioned to call police.”

    In place for two school years, the new police-free plan is being evaluated locally and nationally on whether it is achieving what it set out to do.

    The Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, in describing its study, put Oakland on the “leading edge of an emerging violence-reduction practice” happening in schools across the country, according to Jesse Jannetta, a senior policy fellow at the institute. Study results are expected in August.

    Not everyone supports the decision to disband the district’s police department.

    Board member Clifford Thompson said it was wrong for Oakland to disband its police department. “There’s little benefit to not having police at schools,” he said. “Totally eliminating the force without having a backup for those who need that type of force, it might not have been the best thing to do.”

    Getting to police-free

    The Black Organizing Project, a Bay Area community organization focused on racial, social and economic justice, has been advocating for the end of the police department since 2011. It finally happened in June 2020 with a unanimous vote of the school board.

    Oakland has had a fraught and violent history of racism and police abuse of Black people for nearly 80 years, which factored greatly into the final push to disband the department following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020.

    The city’s Black population increased dramatically during World War II when slave descendants migrated west from Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. Police officers from those states were quickly recruited and stationed in Black neighborhoods. In 1950, a civil rights leader told the state Assembly that Black people lived “in daily and nightly terror” of Oakland police, according to a 1950 State Assembly report. The police department in Oakland Unified was born in 1957.

    After more than 60 years of having an embedded police department in Oakland schools, educators, city officials and community partners are working to untangle the decades of policing culture and running its own police department.

    There’s no contract or memorandum of understanding with the Oakland Police Department, but the district shares what staff are taught about when to call 911 and how to interact with police. 

    Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention recently reported to a joint council-district committee on the plan’s progress. The city of Oakland invested $2.4 million in the 2022-23 school year to address violence in schools by creating a School Violence Intervention and Prevention Program and hiring life coaches, violence interrupters and gender-based violence specialists to four comprehensive high schools and three continuation high schools. 

    Gender-based violence specialists are unique to Oakland, Jannetta said. The specialists have workshops about dating violence, stalking, sexual harassment, sexual assault and commercial sexual exploitation.

    Through surveys, officials found these extra staffers have more relatability to students, can focus on individual needs, and alleviate some of this work from teachers.

    It’s too early to evaluate whether it is working, but the district is going in a positive direction, said Jessica Black, director of administration for the Black Organizing Project.

    Getting to a police-free school environment also faces challenges. City and school officials say violence especially among 14 to 18-year-olds in the city bleeds into the school district. 

    During the 2022-23 school year, there were more than 600 high school suspensions and two shootings at OUSD high schools, according to the report. One of last year’s shootings was at Skyline High School, and just last month, another shooting occurred during the high school’s graduation that injured three people.

    The city’s analysis of school violence puts some of the blame on the heightened crime in the city. According to the report, there’s been an increase in violence on campuses “that is related to community conflicts as well as an increase in instances of non-students showing up at school campuses with weapons to fight students.”

    Despite the challenges, the school board has not considered reinstating the district’s police department, Davis confirmed. Oakland Unified Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell declined to comment through a district spokesperson.

    When to call police

    One of the Black Organizing Project’s goals was to “uproot the security structure,” said Jasmine Williams, development director. With community support, the project pushed to restructure campus police, including getting rid of badges or anything that emulates the police and installing new titles, training, and redesigning the shirts they wear.

    “The district is not coming up with this stuff on their own,” the project’s Jessica Black said. “We’re literally pushing the district to think differently.”

    Oakland administrators can call for “nonviolent de-escalation support” from staff known as culture and climate ambassadors when there are fights, a student is causing harm to themselves or others, or unwelcome visitors are on campuses, according to the School Administrator Guidance to Police Free Response. There’s a nonemergency line administrators can call to dispose of firearms or illegal drugs, when there’s suspicion of a crime, or during lockdowns. For mental health crises, administrators also have different people to reach out to depending on the situation. 

    Students can still be disciplined, including suspended, but that’s rarely the first option, Karigaca said. Most of the time, interventions take place.

    “It’s offering a conduit of other opportunities, such as a restorative session, once both parties are in a place to have a restorative session,” Karigaca said. “Sometimes it’s going to take a walk or going to a different office; sometimes it’s calling parents or connecting with a community resource.”

    District police-free guidelines give a variety of reasons when calling 911 is appropriate: active shooters, fire, medical emergencies, a person with a gun or explosive, bomb threats, serious injuries, hostage situations, abduction or kidnapping, violent crimes, death at a school site, emergency evacuations, or any situation posing danger to health or safety. 

    Students can be arrested for some of these incidents, Karigaca said, but usually students aren’t arrested as a result of staff calling 911. There are about four to five arrests every school year, and it’s typically because police are arresting students for something they did outside of school, he said.

    The district partners with organizations for alternative support, but sometimes they can’t immediately respond, Karigaca said. 

    “When we call CPS (Child Protective Services) or any other mental health crisis response folks, a lot of times their staff is also under-resourced and they aren’t able to respond,” Karigaca said. “Even they will tell us, ‘Call law enforcement.’”

    New titles for security guards

    As Eddie Franklin walked down the hallway of Bret Harte Middle School, it was as if every student knew who he was. Most would fist pump him or shake his hand and he knew every student’s name. 

    Eddie Franklin, the culture and climate ambassador for Oakland Unified, shakes a student’s hand while walking down the hallway.
    Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource

    Franklin has been at OUSD for seven years and used to be a security guard who worked with police and used handcuffs for detaining students. He became a culture keeper four years ago. Now he’s what’s called a culture and climate ambassador.

    Franklin said he brings “an unbiased approach” to every situation even if the student is acting negatively. “Your goal is to actually make them (students) see and critically think about what’s in the best interest of both sides.”

    Security guards were replaced with culture keepers and culture and climate ambassador who have leadership roles and assist culture keepers when needed, Karigaca said. The main priorities for all roles are to de-escalate violence and create positive relationships with students and staff.

    The 63 culture keepers are spread around the district: up to three in middle schools; up to six in most high schools. Five elementary schools also have culture keepers. 

    When Franklin was a culture keeper, he said his day-to-day work evolved into understanding the different personalities on campus to get a better understanding of student behavior.

    “So you don’t overreact when they do some of the things they do,” Franklin said. “But also try to give them an idea of what they can do differently.”

    As a culture and climate ambassador, Franklin is deployed to different schools when extra support is needed, Karigaca said. Most of the time, they roam around different schools building relationships.

    Franklin said he oversees 13 middle schools and does check-ins with staff to talk about what kind of support they need. A big part is building trust, he said.

    When Franklin goes to a school, he said, his goal is “to act like a parent, a positive parent, let them know I actually care about you and support you in whatever you do, and I’m not going to be over the top if I react to something that you did negative.”

    To other districts looking at Oakland as an example, Williams, of the Black Organizing Project, said she doesn’t want the message to be “all you have to do is implement a policy.”

    “It took us 10 years of fighting to get here, and we are still fighting within the district,” Williams said. “It takes community to have even this much progress.”

    EdSource reporters Thomas Peele; Daniel J. Willis and Andrew Reed contributed to this report.





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  • California college students find creative solutions to manage graduation costs

    California college students find creative solutions to manage graduation costs


    Students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Green Campus team promote the university’s graduation gown reuse program. Students who borrow regalia from the program can return it in bins after the ceremony or return it by mail.

    . Cal Poly/Courtesy

    As college students across the state prepare to graduate, they are sometimes surprised by the costs associated with this rite of passage.

    Besides the cost of regalia, graduating at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also requires a $120 commencement fee, charged for each Cal Poly degree or credential program. Students at California State University, Dominguez Hills, will pay a $90 graduation application fee.

    The cost to apply to graduate at San Diego State University is $112, while students at California State University, Fullerton, pay $115. 

    CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith explained that each Cal State campus “sets its graduation fee. The fee covers the evaluation process to determine if the student has fulfilled the course requirements to earn a degree and graduate, as well as costs associated with the printing and mailing of the diploma.” 

    Added Bentley-Smith, “Portions of the fees can go to support putting on commencement, but it’s not the primary purpose of the fee.” 

    Beyond the fees, every student who wants to participate in the ceremony itself — commonly referred to as “walking” — is required to wear the campus’ approved regalia. 

    For example, at San Jose State University, where there is no graduation application fee, the SJSU university store sells its most basic regalia packs — cap, gown, degree-colored tassel, stole (also called a sash) and souvenir tassel — for $131.50. 

    The cost and one-time use for most students of this graduation attire — those with careers in academia often use regalia again —  has spurred grassroots solutions to pop up across Cal State campuses. 

    With its simple all-black gown and cap requirement, CSU Dominguez Hills makes it easy for undergraduate students to opt out of purchasing their regalia from the student bookstore, with Amazon.com and third-party sellers a more popular option. It’s easy to find black caps and gowns online for $20.

    Students also turn to Reddit and other social media platforms to find alumni and peers offering used caps and gowns at discounted prices or even for free.

    “It just doesn’t make sense,” said Kenneth Lopez, a graduating senior majoring in business administration. “How is it that Amazon (is) selling it for cheaper and we’re getting maybe double or triple that (cost)?” 

    Lopez said that one way to defray these costs comes from the Latino Student Business Association, or LSBA, which is among several CSU Dominguez Hills organizations working to help students save money by partnering with local businesses such as Chick-fil-A, Panda Express and Shakey’s Pizza.

    Lopez explained that the Latino Student Business Association, where he is the vice president of finance, reached out to local businesses all over Carson to set up fundraisers. The money, raised from a percentage of product sales, was put toward graduation stoles — a sash typically in the school’s colors with embroidery of the school’s name and year of graduation, costing about $50 — to give seniors a personal memento of their achievements. 

    Sonoma State University does not charge students a fee to graduate. The commencement gear, required for the ceremony, is sold through outside vendors, with a basic bachelor’s degree cap and gown set costing $95. 

    Aurelio Aguilar, a graduating senior at Sonoma State majoring in communications, found a more affordable alternative through the campus store: renting regalia. While it’s not well-advertised, he explained, he was able to rent the gear. “It came out to about $80 for the cap and gown, and the (tassel) they gave us for the top of the cap.” 

    At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, one grassroots program aims to fight the problem head-on. The university’s Grad Gown Reuse program has gained in popularity, offering students a sustainable solution to the one-time-purchase model. 

    Started in 2022, the program allows students to donate their graduation gowns instead of having them hang in their closets collecting dust.

    Carina Ballek is a senior environmental earth and soil science major at Cal Poly and is also an intern with the Green Campus team at Cal Poly. Ballek and her team worked with Cal Poly’s Educational Opportunity Program to kick-start the program, receiving a donation of 90 gowns. 

    “Our gowns are so popular that they are signed out in two days,” Ballek said, highlighting the need for more donations. 

    “There has been more demand than there is supply,” said Amy Unruh, a sustainability and waste specialist within Cal Poly’s energy utilities and sustainability department. She believes that getting the word out could help draw in more donations. 

    Since the program’s start, hundreds of students have benefited from reusing regalia. Logistically speaking, the Gown Reuse program sets up a table outside of commencement so graduates can easily drop off their gowns directly after the ceremony. Recent graduates can also drop off their gowns at the office of sustainability, or mail them in.

    “It’s important because, on a sustainability level, we’re saving lots of gowns from going to landfills,” Ballek said. She also noted that “graduates don’t have their full-time jobs yet and would rather not spend $90-$100 on a gown.”

    San Diego State University student Maren Hawkins, a journalism media studies major, estimated that regalia cost was “$135 or $145, and buying it (meant) not buy(ing) food for two weeks.” 

    Added Hawkins, “I’ve talked to other students about how … it’s unreasonable, the amount of money we have to put in to graduate.”

    Instead, Hawkins turned to people whom she could rely on: alumni friends.

    “I was embarrassed to ask my friends to borrow their (cap and gown),” Hawkins said. “We’d never talked about not being able to afford graduation. Now, I’m grateful that I’m not spending this money on it, because I know they’d sit in my closet for the rest of my life.”

    The only item Hawkins purchased was her stole for $35. 

    Another San Diego State student, interdisciplinary studies major Lizeth Garcia, felt similarly. She and her housemate, Abigail Polack, found ways to avoid the costs.

    Garcia and Polack worked at San Diego State’s Aztec Market since junior year, and both continued working there because students who work for Aztec Shops can apply to receive free regalia.

    “Might as well keep working there so they can pay for my (regalia),” Garcia said. She said that free regalia was her primary reason for working, adding, “We already knew that we had to pay for graduation.”

    At Cal State Fullerton, a program to help students with regalia costs comes from a partnership between Basic Needs Services and Titan Shops. 

    Created in 2022, Cal State Fullerton’s Academic Regalia Support provides regalia to students experiencing “recent unanticipated hardship,” according to Victoria Ajemian, director of Basic Needs Services..

    The program offers 100 bachelor’s degree regalia sets that students register to reserve starting in April. Not all of the requests are filled due to high volume and limited supplies.

    Business administration major Tiffany Lo’s friend, Azurine Chang, applied. “She barely got it last month,” Lo said.

    Lo didn’t need the program herself — she’d gotten regalia from alumni. “There was no question when I asked,” Lo said. “They’re like, ‘Hey, you can have it — it’s collecting dust in my closet.’” Lo, who is saving money to study abroad, only purchased the CSUF stole.

    Lo also directed friends to Facebook Marketplace, where she saw offers for regalia from past years for $35 — tassel and all.

    “My friend didn’t buy the tassel for 2025,” Lo said. “She was like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna just use the 2024 tassel. No one’s gonna notice when we’re all gonna go walk.’”

    Layla Bakhshandeh is a graduating senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, majoring in journalism and graphic communication; Marc Duran is a graduating senior at Sonoma State University, majoring in communications; Stephinie Phan is a graduating senior at California State University, Dominguez Hills, majoring in journalism; and Joshua Silla is a graduating senior at San Diego State University, majoring in journalism and media studies. All are members of EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps.





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  • How can We Find a “Sweet Spot” that Challenges Our Learners?

    How can We Find a “Sweet Spot” that Challenges Our Learners?


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxf5iOQP0J0

    Introduction

    Rigor is often discussed among educators, but can be misunderstood. While rigor involves high standards for every student, it is essential to pair these standards with the right support. Creating an environment that encourages both challenges and understanding can lead to students’ success. It is all about fostering productive struggle, where students are pushed to think critically, but are also supported just enough to make progress.

    What is the Productive Struggle?

    In their article, How Do We Find the Right Level of Challenge for Our Learners?, authors John Almarode, Douglass Fisher, and Nancy Frey explain that productive struggle happens when a task is hard enough to make learners think hard. It is important that learners receive the right help to stay motivated and not feel overwhelmed. Research, such as the Visible Learning MetaX, shows that productive struggle can lead to an average growth of 0.74 standard deviations. This significant improvement shows how effective it is to challenge students in their learning zones. Barbara Blackburn describes productive struggle as the perfect balance between giving help and letting learners work on their own.

    A productive struggle refers to different things for different students. Almarode, Fisher, and Frey stated that what is hard for one student might not be hard for another. Some students find things more difficult than others do. Therefore, the first step in finding the correct level of challenge is to understand what makes something complex or difficult.

    Complexity refers to the difficulty level of a learning task. For example, finding a figurative language is easier than comparing how different authors use it to help readers understand it. This is particularly true if the text is new to the reader. Similarly, understanding a historical document’s purpose, message, and audience is harder than simply listing the traits of a historical event, as noted by Almarode, Fisher, and Frey.

    Almarode, Fisher, and Frey stated that difficulty indicates how much effort is needed to complete a learning task, reach a goal, and meet success standards. For example, solving 25 math problems is more difficult than solving just two different math questions. This also involves the use of different strategies. Doing a complex lab experiment might be easier than performing the experiment and writing a detailed laboratory report. However, if I have already mastered the 25 math problems, they might not seem difficult for me. This shows how hard it is to find the right level of difficulty where a good challenge occurs. Ultimately, the effort is definitely worth it.

    Productive struggles encourage students to try different methods and learn from their mistakes instead of looking for quick answers. It values the learning process as much as the final result, indicating that facing challenges is important for growth.

    Once we understand what productive struggle is and how it affects students differently, it is important to know why encouraging this struggle helps students to learn deeply and believe in themselves.

    The Importance of Productive Struggle

    Lee Ann Jung, author of Thriving in the Zone of Productive Struggle, says that productive struggle is working hard on tough tasks. This is important for deep learning and confidence building. She explained this idea using Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). Knowing this helps to create challenges that help people grow.

    Jung discusses two ideas: mastery experiences and the zone of proximal development. Mastery experiences occur when we succeed in a struggle. The zone of proximal development is about giving students opportunities to push their limits, learn from mistakes, and succeed through hard work. Jung says it’s important to make learning fun and help students succeed, but we shouldn’t remove all challenges. Easy tasks might feel good but can stop students from understanding deeply and improving their skills. Jung cites “Without challenges, students might not grow up in important areas, such as thinking about their own thinking and perseverance” (Hiebert & Grouws, 2007).

    Jung says it’s important to know that even good things can have limits. When students face difficult challenges, they may feel that they cannot succeed. This struggle can make them feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or motivated. While challenges can help them grow, if they are too hard, students may start doubting themselves. This can lead to loss of confidence and avoidance of tasks. When problems seem too big, students might think they do not have the skills to succeed, affecting not just one task or subject but their overall confidence in school.

    What Struggle Qualifies as Productive?

    According to Barbara Blackburn, author of Productive Struggle is a Learner’s Sweet Spot, productive struggle occurs when students are challenged just enough to think hard but still get help to avoid frustration. It is not about giving students difficult tasks or leaving them alone. Instead, it means creating tasks that are slightly harder than what students can now do. This makes them try hard, make mistakes, and solve their problems. Students should work through challenges on their own before receiving help. This helps them to become more resilient, confident, and better at thinking critically. Teachers help only when students are stuck, often by asking questions instead of providing answers. This keeps students interested and motivated, without overwhelming them. In the end, productive struggle helps students learn more deeply, become more independent, and see challenges as opportunities to grow, not as things to avoid.

    See Productive Struggle in Action

    Barbara Blackburn suggests several specific activities to promote productive struggle in the classroom. One key activity is the use of the “Bump in the Road” metacognitive guide, where students read a less challenging text on a topic and identified two to four points where they encounter confusion or difficulty. They first attempt to resolve these struggles independently, then collaborate with a partner and only seek teacher assistance if needed. This process helps students build background knowledge and vocabulary, and prepare them for more complex texts and tasks.

    Another activity involves metacognitive guides that prompt students to write down their predictions or thoughts about a text, and then search for the author’s points and supporting evidence as they read. Some guides provided structured statements for students to agree or disagree with, encouraging them to locate information in the text and engage in group discussions by comparing their opinions with the content of the text.

    Blackburn also emphasizes the importance of using facilitating questions instead of giving direct answers when students struggle, such as asking if there is something in a previous paragraph that could help them or reminding them of similar problems they had solved before. This approach encourages critical thinking, persistence, and independence, allowing students to make multiple attempts, seek help from peers, and use other resources before teacher intervention

    Through these activities, Blackburn demonstrates how productive struggle can be intentionally built into lessons, supporting students as they develop resilience, a deeper understanding, and the ability to learn from challenges.

    How can a productive struggle be created in a classroom?

    From the Goyen Foundation, a blog on EMBRACING PRODUCTIVE STRUGGLE: WHY IT’s ESSENTIAL FOR LITERACY LEARNING by Jami Witherell provided answers in creating a productive struggle in the classroom. They are as follows:

    1. Create Challenges That Are Just Right: The goal is to strike a balance in which the challenge is demanding yet manageable. In literacy, this could involve selecting a reading selection that is slightly above a student’s current level or encouraging them to construct more intricate sentences. It is not about making tasks insurmountable but about finding the right level of difficulty to motivate.
    2. Normalize Making Mistakes: It is essential for students to understand that making mistakes is part of learning. This is where true growth occurs. Foster a classroom environment in which errors are viewed positively rather than negatively. In literacy, this could mean applying the editing process in writing or acknowledging a student’s ability to self-correct while reading.
    3. Pose Thought-Provoking Questions: Instead of providing immediate answers, the students were encouraged to think critically by asking open-ended questions. Queries like “What might you try next?” or “Which part of the word stands out to you?” inspires them to process information, which is their ultimate goal.
    4. Demonstrate Resilience: Finally, we illustrate to the students what it means to persist. Whether you are tackling a challenging text with them or sharing your own experiences of struggling through a literacy task, modeling resilience can significantly motivate students to persevere.
    Encouraging Learners Productive Struggle Image

    The photographs shown above were obtained from the Jackie Gerstein EdD. Gerstein wrote Letting Your Learners Experience Productive Struggle and she shows how to assist learners with their Productive Struggles.

    First, Gerstein allowed students to struggle.

    Second, Gerstein says to her learners, who struggle and want her to fix it – do it for them:

    • I know you can figure this out.
    • I will not do it for you. I have faith that you can do this.
    • You got this.
    • Take as much time as you need. There is no time limit.
    • Why do you not try _ minutes? If you do not get it by then, I will help you.
    • What steps can you take to achieve success?
    • Why do you not ask your classmates how they worked on the problem?
    • You might want to try something different.

    Conclusion

    Struggling was not something that was afraid of. This is the key aspect of learning. This helps students improve their reading, writing, thinking, and problem-solving skills. So, when you hear the word “struggle,” do not avoid it. Embrace it. This is where the real learning begins.



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  • Drama class helps Compton students find themselves on stage 

    Drama class helps Compton students find themselves on stage 


    Catherine Borek’s drama class working on a scene.

    Credit: Courtesy of Catherine Borek

    Catherine Borek first came to Compton’s Dominguez High School intending to spend a few years with Teach for America before becoming a professor. That was 29 years ago. Hired to teach AP English literature, the newbie teacher quickly jumped into the fray as a drama teacher as well. 

    A theater kid back in high school, she knew instinctively she needed to bring classical texts to life for her students by lifting the words off the page and into the spotlight. The experience has changed her life and the lives of many of her students.

    “You find yourself when you’re up on that stage,” said Borek, a tireless educator who was named a California Teacher of the Year in 2023. 

    Alas, there was no stage, no rehearsal space and no fundraising. All she had going for her was chutzpah. The cash-strapped school had not put on a play in 20 years. That’s when Borek discovered her “MacGyver mode.”

    Catherine Borek

    “You take what you have, and you make something out of that,” said the 50-year-old mother of two. “We put on plays; we put on operas; we put on poetry slams.” 

    The unstoppable teacher can make theater magic happen in a computer lab. She can put on a show without a cent from the school budget. She can get teenagers to put their phones away and enjoy being social. She helps them ignite the ingenuity in each other. 

    “There’s something about creativity that’s almost religious to me,” as she puts it. “It’s the space to almost be divine, you know? And we use theater to get us there.” 

    Borek joined Teach for America — a nonprofit that recruits graduates from top universities to serve at least two years teaching in low-income schools — right out of Reed College. She had intended to be a teacher only temporarily, but quickly fell in love with her vocation.

    She believes that students from the hardscrabble Compton district, a place where gunshots are as much a part of the environment as graduation, deserve every bit as much cultural enrichment as children of privilege. She often refers to her students as “scholars,” preferring to discuss their merits instead of her own.

    “It lifts you up,” she said with customary modesty. “The students have a different energy here. They’re so gung-ho and excited and enthusiastic that it helps dispel some of the melancholy that we see around the world right now.”

    That’s why, over the years, she has empowered her students to be cultural ambassadors, combating long-held stereotypes of Compton. They have completed the LA Marathon, collaborated with the LA Opera, made it to the regional level of the Poetry Out Loud competition, starred in a Keurig commercial and started a rugby club. A 2003 documentary about Borek’s first class play, “OT: Our Town,” a staging of the Thorton Wilder famous paean to small-town life, captures the raucous creativity of a student ensemble tackling a masterpiece on a makeshift stage in the cafeteria.

    In that documentary, Ebony Star Norwood-Brown, the 16-year-old playing the narrator, wryly noted that the arts is one way to battle tired “Boyz n the Hood” tropes. 

    “Compton is home of gangster rap and gangsters,” said Norwood-Brown. “That’s all people know about Compton. That’s all people think about Compton. … We’re way different from what you think we are.”

    Drama has also become an antidote to a world dominated by screens where teens sometimes miss out on the magic of human connection, the bond between students and teachers that can make a lesson spark. Fist bumps and check-ins are part of her curriculum.

    “One of the most heartbreaking parts of the pandemic is that we became an online learning community instead of a human, face-to-face learning community,” she said wistfully. “Pre-pandemic, it wasn’t quite as sedentary, and I don’t remember computers being the No. 1 source of knowledge and information.”

    Borek prefers to frame learning as a cathartic experience, so that lessons resonate more deeply amid our short-attention span culture. She once had her class, a generation scarred by the pandemic, make scary movies to help them confront their fears. 

    “Borek’s approach to instruction and lesson building is a reminder of what the last few years have demonstrated to be most important in education: people and the bodies we occupy,” said Caleb Oliver, principal of Dominguez. “When technology fails and funds are low, these endure as the conduit to learning that has stood the test of time. We learn best through action and others.”

    Catherine Borek, center, in a yellow top, relaxes with some of her drama students.
    Credit: Courtesy of Catherine Borek

    The veteran teacher soon realized that many of her students needed drama, not just to become more creative, but also to help them cope with the pressing mental health issues that mark their generation. This is theater as exposure therapy. 

    “While so many of our students are struggling with anxiety and depression, theater is one of the best forms of therapy,” she said. “It offers exposure bit by bit. We expose them to good stress, and we help them strengthen their wings so that they can fly.”

    She recalls one student so paralyzed by anxiety that he couldn’t even get up onstage when he started. He wanted to drop the class. But she convinced him to stick with it until he could stand his ground in the spotlight.

    “Communication, teamwork and a positive attitude are among the skills that we strive to leave our students with to be ready for college and the workplace,” Oliver said. “Borek’s students always return years later crediting her with igniting these skills within them in her class.”

    Two other students, new immigrants, were shy because they didn’t speak much English and felt awkward with their peers. During the semester, they became emboldened enough to perform a poem onstage. 

    “They worked together not just to say the poem, but to become the poem,” Borek said. “These words became movements, these young women worked through language barriers to communicate beyond words. That is the power of the arts.” 

    Drama can also provide an escape valve for students feeling crushed by the stress of trying to get into their dream college amid a sea of valedictorians.

    “There’s a lot of pressure on kids in high school right now,” she said. “It’s sort of an unforgiving, relentless punch in the face. And even if parents aren’t telling them they need to be perfect, they’re hearing it from everywhere else. You’ve got to get straight As.”

    Feeling overwhelmed by the world can make some young people wall themselves off. Drama can help break down those barriers.

    “I honestly do feel like it changed my life,” said Nathalie Reyes, 17. “I used to be super shy, and speaking up in class felt nearly impossible, but drama gave me a space where I could experiment with my voice. It taught me how to take up space, be confident in my ideas, and not overthink every little thing.”

    Steeping in the wisdom of the past is one way to shield yourself against the worries of the present. That’s why unlocking the universality of literature is the heart of Borek’s mission. 

    As the narrator in “Our Town,” puts it: “There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.”

    To her great chagrin, when her English students first read Arthur Miller’s iconic tragedy “Death of a Salesman,” it just didn’t click with them. The trouble was they loathed Willy Loman, the has-been traveling salesman. 

    Never one to give up easily, Borek took them to see a revival of the play in Burbank. It was a light bulb moment. The production opened their eyes to Miller’s piercing insights into the dark side of the American dream. One of her students even realized that Loman reminded him of his own father. Tears were shed.

    “It was gobsmacking for them,” she recalls happily. “I can’t tell you how many students came up to me and they’re like, ‘Man, I related to that, the frustration between that father and son.’ It was their first time at the theater, and they were crying.”





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  • Top Platforms to Find Home Tuition Jobs in Lucknow

    Top Platforms to Find Home Tuition Jobs in Lucknow


    Lucknow’s education landscape is rapidly evolving, and with the increasing demand for personalized learning, home tutoring has become a go-to option for both parents and students. For tutors, this opens up numerous opportunities to not only share knowledge but also build a rewarding career. If you’re looking for home tuition jobs in Lucknow, you’ve likely come across a number of platforms. However, when it comes to finding the best match for your teaching career, one platform stands out among the rest: TheTuitionTeacher.com.

    Let’s explore why TheTuitionTeacher.com should be your top choice, along with other popular platforms to consider.

    1. TheTuitionTeacher.com: The #1 Platform for Home Tuition Jobs in Lucknow

    TheTuitionTeacher.com is a local leader when it comes to connecting tutors with students in Lucknow. What sets it apart from other platforms is its dedicated focus on the city and its extensive network of students and parents looking for qualified home tutors.

    Why TheTuitionTeacher.com is the best choice:

    • Local Expertise: Unlike other platforms that cater to a pan-India audience, TheTuitionTeacher.com is designed specifically for Lucknow. This local focus ensures that you’re matched with students in your vicinity, making commuting and scheduling easier.
    • Verified Leads: The platform provides access to genuine, verified leads. This means you won’t waste time chasing unreliable opportunities, giving you more time to focus on what you do best—teaching.
    • Wide Range of Subjects: Whether you specialize in primary school subjects or provide coaching for competitive exams, TheTuitionTeacher.com offers a variety of opportunities across different academic levels and subjects.
    • Simple Registration: Signing up is straightforward, and you can start applying for tuition jobs almost immediately. The platform’s user-friendly interface helps you manage your profile, view student requests, and track your progress effortlessly.
    • Flexible Working Hours: With TheTuitionTeacher.com, you have complete control over your teaching schedule. You can choose to tutor part-time or full-time, making it ideal for professionals, college students, and even retired teachers.

    Additional Perks:

    • Personalized Support: The platform offers assistance in matching you with the right students based on your teaching preferences and qualifications.
    • Exclusive to Lucknow: This exclusivity ensures you get more visibility in your local area, increasing your chances of finding consistent work.

    For tutors who want to make the most of their teaching abilities, TheTuitionTeacher.com is the clear winner, offering unmatched opportunities in Lucknow.

    To hire a personal home tutor call now at 8573666999 or post your tuition request here https://thetuitionteacher.com/request-a-tutor/

    2. UrbanPro

    Although UrbanPro is a nationwide platform that connects tutors with students across India, it also offers numerous job opportunities in Lucknow. It’s a popular choice for tutors who want to increase their reach beyond their local area.

    Why UrbanPro is worth considering:

    • Large User Base: With its broad reach, UrbanPro offers a wide variety of tutoring opportunities.
    • Verified Profiles: The platform verifies tutor credentials, helping you build trust with potential clients.
    • Flexibility: UrbanPro allows you to choose between online and offline tutoring, offering flexibility for those who want to expand their reach.

    However, if your primary goal is to find local tuition jobs in Lucknow, TheTuitionTeacher.com will still offer you more targeted opportunities.

    3. Superprof

    Superprof is an international platform that offers tutors the chance to teach both locally and globally. In Lucknow, it is gaining popularity for providing tutoring opportunities across various subjects and skills.

    Why consider Superprof:

    • Global Reach: Superprof allows you to teach students not only in Lucknow but across different cities or countries.
    • Set Your Own Rates: One of the main attractions of Superprof is that tutors can set their own rates based on their experience and demand.
    • Diverse Subjects: In addition to academic tutoring, Superprof allows you to teach a variety of skills, including extracurricular subjects like music and fitness.

    While Superprof is a great option for expanding your reach, its global focus might not offer the same local depth that TheTuitionTeacher.com provides.

    4. Sulekha

    Sulekha is a local services platform that also lists home tutoring opportunities in Lucknow. It connects students with tutors across a wide range of subjects and academic levels.

    Why Sulekha is an option:

    • Local Focus: Like TheTuitionTeacher.com, Sulekha also focuses on connecting local students with tutors.
    • Direct Leads: The platform provides direct student inquiries, giving you quicker access to tuition opportunities.

    However, in terms of dedicated support, user experience, and personalized matching for tutors in Lucknow, TheTuitionTeacher.com still takes the lead.

    5. Vedantu

    As one of India’s biggest EdTech platforms, Vedantu offers online tutoring opportunities. While it focuses primarily on online teaching, it’s a good option if you’re looking to expand your teaching beyond just home tutoring.

    Why Vedantu is worth exploring:

    • Structured Support: Vedantu provides lesson plans and teaching materials, making it easier for tutors to focus solely on teaching.
    • Wide Audience: The platform has a large user base, which can offer a steady stream of students.

    For tutors focused on offline, home-based tutoring jobs, especially in Lucknow, TheTuitionTeacher.com is still the better option due to its local focus and ease of finding in-person jobs.

    Conclusion: TheTuitionTeacher.com is Your Best Bet for Home Tuition Jobs in Lucknow

    When it comes to finding the best home tuition jobs in Lucknow, TheTuitionTeacher.com stands head and shoulders above the rest. Its localized focus, verified leads, and personalized support make it the ideal platform for tutors looking to grow their careers. While other platforms like UrbanPro, Superprof, and Vedantu offer their own advantages, if you’re serious about finding reliable, local home tutoring jobs in Lucknow, TheTuitionTeacher.com should be your go-to platform.

    Whether you’re just starting as a tutor or looking to expand your teaching career, signing up on TheTuitionTeacher.com is the best decision you can make to find rewarding home tuition opportunities in Lucknow.



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