California education news: What’s the latest?

Monday, March 18, 2024, 9:54 am

Link copied.The Temecula Valley Unified School Board’s balance could tip again in November

Three of the five seats on the Temecula Valley Unified School District school board will be up for grabs in November — including the seats of Allison Barclay and Steven Schwartz, who have consistently opposed measures taken by the board’s previously held conservative majority, The Press Enterprise reported. 

The seat previously held by Danny Gonzalez will also be on the ballot. If school board President Joseph Komrosky is recalled on June 4 and if the board does not appoint a replacement, his seat could also be selected by voters in November.

“The past two years on this board have shown me just how important it is to have board members who are willing to do the work it takes to keep our district running at a high level in the face of many challenges,” Barclay told The Press Enterprise in an email.

Both she and Schwartz plan to seek reelection. 

“We are truly looking forward to the election this November, as it will continue to show our state that the voters are strongly on the side of parental rights,” 412 Church Temecula Valley Pastor Tim Thompson, who played a major role in the movement to elect the board’s previously held conservative majority in 2022, said via email.

One Temecula Valley PAC — the political action committee that organized the recall effort against Komrosky — said they also plan to be active in the coming election cycle.

“We are excited and motivated at the prospect of replacing Gonzalez’s seat, and possibly Komrosky’s seat, when the recall on June 4 is successful, and electing candidates who will put the needs of students, staff, parents and stakeholders at the forefront of their decision-making and policy decisions,” PAC co-founder Jeff Pack told The Press Enterprise in an email.

Mallika Seshadri

Monday, March 18, 2024, 9:40 am

Link copied.Amid troubles with FAFSA rollout, fewer students applied for financial aid

Following a rocky rollout of this year’s FAFSA, roughly 5.7 million students applied for aid nationwide — compared to the average of 17 million applicants, The Hill reported. 

“Because the FAFSA became available so much later than it did in a normal year and there were so many glitches at the beginning of the process that needed to be resolved, some of those folks who would normally file a FAFSA earlier in the process may have decided to set it aside temporarily to wait for all of those things to be resolved and worked out before they come back to complete it,” Karen McCarthy, vice president for public policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, told the Hill.

She also expressed doubt that the number of applicants will grow and make up for the lags. 

According to The National College Attainment Network (NCAN),  only 1.2 million high school seniors have completed their applications, marking a 34% drop in comparison to the previous FAFSA cycle. 

“We pushed back the starting line for students and families to submit and complete the FAFSA, but the finish line is in the same place, right?” Bill DeBaun, senior director of data and strategic initiatives at NCAN, told The Hill. 

“The fall semester is still going to start at the same time, and so we have a really compressed time frame to connect students with the financial aid that they need to matriculate to a post-secondary institution.” 

The U.S. Department of Education, however, said it is working to maximize student financial aid. 

“Doing what we have done in previous years is not going to be enough this FAFSA cycle to get us the results that we need and to ensure that post-secondary enrollment stays stable or increases,” DeBaun told The Hill.  

Mallika Seshadri

Friday, March 15, 2024, 2:54 pm

Link copied.UC Senate asks regents to reject policy to limit what faculty can say on websites

Following a systemwide review, University of California’s Academic Senate is asking the system’s board of regents to reject a proposal to limit the ability of faculty departments to share opinions on university websites.

Under the proposal, faculty and staff would be prevented from sharing their “personal or collective opinions” via the “main landing pages” of department websites, according to a draft of the proposal. Faculty would be able to share personal opinions elsewhere on those websites, with a disclaimer that the opinion doesn’t represent the department or university as a whole.

The Senate’s Academic Council voted unanimously, 19-0, in asking the regents to reject the policy, which is scheduled to go to the board for a vote next week.

The vote followed a systemwide Academic Senate review in which four committees as well as the Senate divisions across all 10 UC campuses submitted comments on the proposed policy.  

“Each of the campus divisions and the four systemwide committees expressed serious reservations about various aspects of the policy,” including its ambiguity and the potential for it to limit free speech, Senate leaders wrote in a letter Friday to regents chair Richard Leib. Their other concerns include how the policy would be enforced and that it suggests an “overly broad and simplistic approach” to addressing a complicated issue.

“We ask the regents to reject the policy outright, or at least delay consideration to provide time for clarification and for analysis of consequences and implementation challenges,” the Senate leaders wrote. 

The regents are scheduled to consider the proposal on Wednesday afternoon during their meeting in Los Angeles.

Michael Burke

Friday, March 15, 2024, 12:39 pm

Link copied.Senators demand answers on major loan servicer’s ‘egregious’ business practices

The chief executive officer of a prominent federal student loan servicer must “immediately act to remedy the harm that has resulted from their egregiously unacceptable business practices,” stated a letter co-signed by eight U.S. senators and published Friday.

The loan servicer in question is Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, most commonly referred to as MOHELA, and its CEO is Scott Giles.

MOHELA is the only servicer for borrowers in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, known as PSLF; as of last year, it oversaw student loan accounts for nearly 8 million borrowers.

In the letter, the senators demand a response by April 1 to questions regarding the business’s alleged scheme to deflect borrowers’ calls, which they say “intentionally directed borrowers away from customer service representatives even though many loan services, such as resolving disputes and issuing refunds, require a customer service representative.”

The list of nine questions also requests information about the backlog of 800,000 unprocessed loan forgiveness forms, steps they’re taking to address alleged miscalculations of payment amounts, how many people’s forgiveness applications were denied and the reasons for denials, and more.

The letter is in response to a recent report from the Student Borrower Protection Center and the American Federation of Teachers.

The senators who co-signed are Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

Betty Márquez Rosales

Friday, March 15, 2024, 11:24 am

Link copied.Cal State projects to receive $12.2 million in new federal funding

The California State University system announced several projects that will receive funding through new federal funding in the $459 billion omnibus spending bill signed last week by President Joe Biden.

The projects include:

  • $5 million for the Titan Gateway Bridge at Cal State Fullerton.
  • $3.4 million for capital improvements for the Child Development Center at Cal State Long Beach.
  • $963,000 for the California Regenerative Aquaculture Hub at California  State  University, Northridge.
  • $963,000 for the Strength United’s Domestic Violence Community Policing and Advocacy Project at CSUN.
  • $963,000 for the Tech and Workforce Hub project at Cal State San Bernardino.
  • $963,000 for the Transmission Electron Microscope at San Diego State University.

“This visionary funding package is a wonderful example of how, with the support of our California congressional delegation, we can develop innovative and effective programs that benefit not only our students, but also our campus communities and our state,” Cal State Chancellor Mildred García said.

Ashley A. Smith

Friday, March 15, 2024, 10:58 am

Link copied.State legislators could extend student aid deadline this year

California legislators may give college students a reprieve from the upcoming deadline to apply for state financial aid.

The bill would extend the deadline from April 1 to May 1 to give students stymied by technical problems in the federal application process more time to complete those applications, which are required to apply for state aid, according to CalMatters.

U.S. citizens who have parents without social security numbers had been unable to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Earlier this week the U.S. Department of Education announced it has fixed the technical glitch.

Assembly Bill 1887, authored by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, D-Corona, would begin immediately if it is passed.

The bill will be heard for the first time at 3 p.m. Monday in the Assembly Education Committee.

Diana Lambert

Friday, March 15, 2024, 9:29 am

Link copied.UC Merced sees 12% rise in applications

UC Merced received nearly 33,000 applications from prospective students for the fall 2024 semester — a 12% increase from last year, the University of California campus said in a media release this week.

According to the statement, other double-digit percentage increases within the applicant pool, compared to 2023 numbers, include: 29,351 first-year students, a 14% rise; 1,539 out-of-state students, a 21% rise; and 4,121 international students, a 58% increase. 

“It is clear that the word has spread far and wide about UC Merced’s culture of innovation, our world-changing teaching and research, and all the exciting opportunities we offer students and families,” Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said.

Across the UC system, UC Merced also received the highest percentage of first-year applications from low-income students (51%), first-generation students (53%) and students from underrepresented groups (53%), including Hispanic applicants, who made up 46% of UC Merced’s prospective student body, also a systemwide high.

UC Merced, opened in 2005, has added new academic majors and initiatives such as the campus honors program. New programs account for the overall increase in prospective students, said Dustin Noji, the college’s admissions director, via the media release. 

Lasherica Thornton

Thursday, March 14, 2024, 5:37 pm

Link copied.LAO recommends more spending transparency for county offices of education

The Legislative Analyst’s Office is recommending that county offices of education be required to expand reporting on their spending. The public, particularly parents of students who attend county-run schools, deserve more transparency, the LAO said in a report, which the Legislature had requested. It was released Thursday.

The 58 county offices, one for each county, have a range of responsibilities. They operate  court schools within juvenile halls for incarcerated students and community schools for expelled students or those seeking an alternative to a comprehensive school setting.  They also are responsible for overseeing fiscally unsound school districts and helping districts with poorly performing student groups designated for academic assistance. Since the passage of the Local Control Funding Formula, their oversight roles have broadened.

Their state funding reflects their size, from tiny offices serving one school district in Alpine County, to Los Angeles with 80 districts. On top of a uniform base grant they get extra money tied to the number of districts and student enrollments. They also operate optional programs, including career technical education, child care, migrant education programs and adult education.

County offices have discretion over how to spend state money.  “However, this flexibility also makes state oversight of (county office) activities more difficult,” the LAO said. For example, the Local Control and Accountability Plans, which counties must write detailing goals and actions for the schools they run, cover only a slice of funding they receive, the LAO said.

The LAO’s recommendations include:

  • Requiring county offices to write an annual report summarizing their major activities, services, and policy initiatives.
  • Establishing county office-specific outcome metrics for county-run schools. Some state accountability measurements, such as standardized test scores and graduation, rates, don’t fit county schools whose students attend short-term. Alternative measures might be pre‑ and post‑tests of skills, and program credits while enrolled, the LAO said.
  • Requiring an expenditure report encompassing multiple sources that would break down spending by program. The format should enable cross-county comparisons, the LAO said. This type of reporting, which fiscal accountability groups have long called for, would establish a precedent. The administrations of Govs. Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom have opposed uniform accountability codes as an encroachment on local control.

Derick Lennox, senior director of Governmental Relations & Legal Affairs for the California County Superintendents, said his organization was receptive to the report’s recommendations.

“I give the LAO credit for naming ways county offices of education can increase our visibility and accountability to the general public,” he said in a statement. “While COE budgets and spending are already publicly available, the information can be quite complex. Similarly, the current LCAP requirements make it challenging to clearly describe the services and supports we provide to our students enrolled in our juvenile court and county community schools.”

John Fensterwald

Thursday, March 14, 2024, 10:24 am

Link copied.House passes bill to ban TikTok if app isn’t sold

The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday that would require the Chinese owner of TikTok to either sell the app or have it banned in the U.S., The New York Times reported.

The bill had broad bipartisan support despite the efforts of TikTok to mobilize its millions of users, many of them young people,, according to The Times. The Biden administration argued that Chinese ownership of the video app poses national security risks to the U.S., such as meddling in elections.

The bill still needs to pass in the Senate, and according to The Times it could be difficult. The majority leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, has not committed to sending the bill to the floor for a vote. Some senators have said they would fight the bill, and even if passed, it’s likely to face legal challenges, The Times reported. 

TikTok has been under threat since 2020. Lawmakers have argued that Beijing’s relationship with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, raises national security risks, according to The Times. The bill aims to get ByteDance to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners within six months. If the sale does not happen the app would be banned in the U.S.

Monica Velez

Thursday, March 14, 2024, 9:54 am

Link copied.Contra Costa County educators picket, demanding higher wages

Contra Costa County Schools Education Association (CCCSEA) members picketed Tuesday evening for wage increases that match the cost of living.

Educators gathered in front of the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE) to tell Superintendent Lynn Mackey that their current contract offer will prevent hiring and retaining educators, according to the California Teachers Association (CTA). The county office of education is offering 4.5% increases even though they have more than $27 million unrestricted dollars, CTA said.

“We must stand up for student success and push the superintendent to stand with us so that our CCCOE students receive a quality education,” said CCCSEA President Soula Nikolakopoulos. “Hoarding money is not the way to serve our students.”

Monica Velez

Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 8:31 am

Link copied.Can learning science and social studies help kids read better?

School leaders have long been under great pressure to boost test scores. That’s why they often double down on time teaching reading and while slashing science and social studies. 

Now, a new study suggests that those cuts have come at a cost, further undermining reading achievement instead of improving it, as the Hechinger Report notes. As researchers discover more about the science of reading, it may well turn out to be that more time on science, social studies and other key content areas is what kids need to become good readers. While the concept of knowledge building, popularized in Natalie Wexler’s 2019 best-selling book, “The Knowledge Gap,” is not new, it has been building momentum of late. 

James Kim, a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, led a group of researchers to study the impact of going deep with content on a large urban school district in North Carolina where most of the students are Black and Latino and 40% are from low-income families. The results show compelling causal evidence that building background knowledge can translate into higher reading achievement for low-income children

Timothy Shanahan, a literacy expert and a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who was not involved in this research, praised the study. “The study makes it very clear (as have a few others recently) that it is possible to combine reading with social studies and science curriculum in powerful ways that can improve both literacy and content knowledge,” as the Hechinger Report notes. 

 

Karen D'Souza

Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 8:30 am

Link copied.Biden budget plan includes $8 billion for learning recovery

Even as districts brace for the expiration of federal relief funds, the Biden administration on Monday proposed a new $8 billion grant program to sustain successful programs to help students recover from pandemic learning loss, as The 74 reported.

The Academic Acceleration and Achievement Grants, part of the administration’s $7.3 trillion 2025 budget plan, target three strategies Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has put forth — combating chronic absenteeism, high-impact tutoring and extended learning after school and during the summer. 

In a call with reporters, an Education Department official said the competitive grant program would help put the recovery efforts districts launched with relief dollars “on an even faster track and sustain the improvements that states have put into place.” 

The announcement of the grant program follows extensive data showing most students haven’t caught up to pre-pandemic performance levels. But with the current fiscal year budget still delayed by partisan debate over spending for defense and the IRS, advocates admitted that passing any substantial new program will be difficult,  the 74 reported.

Karen D'Souza

Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 10:35 am

Link copied.New law would offer schools guidelines on active shooter drills

A California Assembly bill would standardize active shooter drills in schools.

Assembly Bill 1858, introduced by Assemblymember Christoper Ward, D-San Diego, would prohibit simulated gunfire during an active shooter drill, require that drills be age appropriate and that a schoolwide announcement be made before one begins. Schools must also notify parents in advance and after an active shooter drill, and provide any resources families may need after a drill, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The legislation would require the California Department of Education to provide updated guidance on active shooter drills to schools.

Although the legislation is meant to be mindful of students’ mental health, other organizations have recommended against active shooter drills, saying they are associated with an increase in depression, stress and physiological health problems in students, teachers and parents, according to the Los Angeles Times report.

Diana Lambert

Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 10:05 am

Link copied.College pays off, according to new research

An analysis of the incomes of 5.8 million Americans found that completing a college degree is a good investment, according a study published in the American Educational Research Journal.

The study used U.S. Census data to compare the earnings of college graduates to people who had only finished high school, as well as the costs of college, and found that a college degree earned a rate of return on investment of 9-10% annually throughout a person’s career.

The findings come as skepticism about the value of a college degree grows amid rising college costs, a decline in college enrollment  and a changing economy, according to a news release from the American Educational Research Association.

“Our cost-benefit analysis finds that, on average, a college degree offers better returns than the stock market,” said study co-author Liang Zhang, a professor at New York University. “However, there are significant differences across college majors, and the return is higher for women than men.”

Women do not have higher overall earnings then men; rather, the gap between the pay of high school graduates and college graduates is greater for women than men.

Engineering and computer science majors had the highest median returns, exceeding 13%, followed by business, health, and math and science majors, with returns ranging from 10-13%, according to the study.

Diana Lambert


Monday, March 11, 2024, 9:53 am

Link copied.UC Berkeley under federal investigation for reports of discrimination

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating potential discrimination connected to the conflict between Israel and Hamas at UC Berkeley, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. 

UC Berkeley is one of many California campuses being investigated by education officials since Hamas’ attack on Oct.7, including Stanford University, UCLA and UC San Diego. 

While the department investigates cases of alleged discrimination having to do with shared ancestry and ethnicity, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that it is unclear why UC Berkeley is specifically being investigated. 

The U.S. Department of Education did not respond to the Chronicle’s request for comment. 

The Times of Israel, however, reported that the investigation comes as a result of a protest on Feb. 26 that some said was “anti-Israel” and resulted in the cancellation of a lecture by Ran Bar-Yoshafat, an attorney and former Israel Defense Forces member. 

While Ben Hermalin, UC Berkeley’s executive vice chancellor and provost, did not speak directly to the protests, he said in a statement on March 4 that campus groups “have the right to host events and speakers regardless of content. We will do what we can to fiercely protect this right.” the Chronicle reported.

He also said, “We also want to clarify that protesting an event due to its political nature does not make the protest activity inherently antisemitic or Islamophobic.” 

A Jewish organization on campus has expressed plans to protest UC Berkeley’s response to the protest on Monday. 

UC Berkeley did not respond to the Chronicle’s request for comment. 

Mallika Seshadri

Monday, March 11, 2024, 9:30 am

Link copied.Documentary about LAUSD’s musical instrument repair shop wins Oscar

The Los Angeles Times took home its first Oscar Sunday night for “‘The Last Repair Shop,” a film about four people who repair and service instruments for music students across LAUSD

The largest of its kind in the country, the shop maintains roughly 80,000 instruments, the Los Angeles Times reported 

“Music education isn’t just about creating incredible musicians — it’s about creating incredible human beings,” said Kris Bowers, one of the film’s directors, who won Sunday’s award for documentary short, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

Mallika Seshadri

Friday, March 8, 2024, 9:57 am

Link copied.Santa Cruz school district approves plan to cut positions

The governing board of Live Oak School District approved a plan Wednesday to eliminate or alter job positions in order to address its ongoing budget crisis, Lookout Santa Cruz reported

According to Lookout, among the district’s list of cuts are seven elementary school teachers, a school psychologist, one full-time-equivalent special education instructional aide, the equivalent of 1.5 full-time recess coaches, 3.93 full-time-equivalent reading/math instructional aides and the equivalent of over four full-time family liaisons. 

The approved plan also includes decreasing a director of curriculum and instruction position to part time and reducing the hours of two administrative roles: a fiscal analyst and an education services worker. 

In January, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education advised Live Oak School District that it needed to cut millions of dollars, the Lookout reported. Last month, the school district approved a plan to eliminate as many as 51.29 full-time-equivalent positions, including those in the classroom. 

The district will submit its plan and its latest budget report to the county education office for review and issue the preliminary layoffs by March 15.

Lasherica Thornton

Friday, March 8, 2024, 9:46 am

Link copied.Some community colleges offer free basic dental care to students

California’s community colleges serve students’ basic needs in a variety of ways, including help with food, housing, transportation or funding for laundry, utilities or books; some colleges have added free dental care to the essential services, the LAist reported

The community colleges partner with local dental clinics or their own resources to give students access to dental care, which is still rare among basic needs services, the LAist reported. 

According to the LAist, Antelope Valley College, through an ongoing partnership with a clinic about 15 minutes from campus, provides students with a voucher for dental work, including free X-rays, oral exams, teeth cleanings and other basic dental services. All students, regardless of insurance or legal status, can get a voucher each semester. 

In a one-time partnership last year, Long Beach City College provided off-campus oral care for students through a local clinic’s day-of service, the LAist reported. The college plans to host similar events in the future. 

The LAist reported that other colleges, such as Pasadena City College and West L.A. College, offer in-house services through on-campus clinics. For example, Pasadena City College has a dental hygiene clinic that provides low-cost services for students and community members. The teeth cleanings, X-rays and sealants are performed by dental hygiene students. 

Lasherica Thornton

Thursday, March 7, 2024, 10:19 am

Link copied.Vallejo educators to rally for more pay, student success

Members of the Vallejo teachers union will be rallying and addressing board members at Thursday night’s regular meeting to push the district to better serve students and increase pay.

After five months of negotiations, the Vallejo Education Association (VEA) and the Vallejo City Unified School District (VCUSD) declared an impasse at the end of February and have a state-appointed mediator, according to the California Teachers Association (CTA). The first mediation will be next week.

“VCUSD management refuses to invest in students by prioritizing educators in their budget, despite record school funding increases” during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, CTA officials said. “While the district is experiencing declining student enrollment, management has budgeted more in services, operating expenses, materials, supplies and consultants, but almost no additional investment in educators.”

Vallejo educators are some of the lowest-paid among nearby counties, including Solano, Napa and Contra Costa. According to CTA, management is refusing to agree to a “meaningful” and competitive cost-of-living raise.

“We are tired of losing experienced teachers to surrounding districts,” VEA President Kevin Steele said in a statement.

The Pittsburg Education Association (PEA) also held a rally this week calling for improvement in safety conditions for students and staff, no more top-down decision making, more pay, support and preparation time for adult education educators, and dedicated time to complete report cards and progress reports.

“Since August 2023 we have been bargaining with Pittsburg Unified School District management for the schools our students deserve, and we will not settle for anything less,” President Celia Medina-Owens said. “They deserve the tools and resources necessary to thrive, which includes a permanent and qualified educator in every classroom.”

Monica Velez

Thursday, March 7, 2024, 10:00 am

Link copied.Here’s how expensive private schools are in the Bay Area

Although San Francisco has the highest rate of private school enrollment in the Bay Area and one of the highest in the state, tuition still isn’t the highest there, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The Chronicle created a database that shows private school tuition rates in the Bay Area. Tuition rates have skyrocketed in recent years and are increasing at a higher rate than family incomes, the data shows.

Average tuition across religious and secular schools in San Francisco is on average about $23,000 for elementary school and just more than $42,000 for high school, according to the Chronicle. Marin County surpasses those costs even though they have fewer rates of students enrolled in private schools, about 21%.

The average tuition in Marin County is about $26,600 for elementary and nearly $48,000 for high school, the Chronicle reported. The most expensive school to attend in the Bay Area is also in Marin, San Domenico School, which is $78,650 for boarding school and $62,500 for regular day school in high school grades.

San Mateo County is behind Marin and San Francisco with an average cost of $22,000 for private school, according to the Chronicle’s analysis.

Monica Velez

Wednesday, March 6, 2024, 10:55 am

Link copied.UC sees increase in applications due to more transfers

The University of California saw an uptick in applications for fall 2024 admission, driven mostly by more transfer students seeking admission.

Overall, UC received a total of 250,436 applications, up 1.5% from last year, the university announced Wednesday. Applications from first-year students essentially stayed flat, but applications from transfer students were up significantly. The number of transfer students seeking admission grew by more than 10%, a significant majority of which were California community college students.

Among first-years, the number of California residents applying also increased by 1.2% from last year. UC also touted increases in the number of Black, Latino and Native American students who applied.

“We are pleased to see such an outstanding pool of students from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences apply to the University of California,” UC President Michael Drake said in a statement. “Prospective students and their families recognize that a degree from the University of California sets them up for lifelong career success.”

Michael Burke

Wednesday, March 6, 2024, 8:50 am

Link copied.California legislators propose paid pregnancy leave for teachers

Amid the teacher shortage, new legislation would provide paid disability leave for pregnant educators to improve teacher retention, as K-12 Dive reported.

Authored by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Davis, and co-authored by members of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, the proposed leave would provide full pay for a maximum of 14 weeks. 

Currently, pregnant teachers and other school employees do not receive paid pregnancy disability leave and have to tap into other reserves for leave after giving birth or to manage their pregnancies. They are entitled to four months of unpaid leave under state law. 

“Teachers must be able to afford to stay in the profession and start a family,” said California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who is co-sponsoring the legislation with California State Treasurer Fiona Ma,  as K-12 Dive reported

This new push is the latest attempt to improve work-life balance for teachers, amid a stark shortage of educators. Introduced last month, the proposal would “make critical strides toward retaining great teachers to address the staffing crisis in California’s classrooms.” It is slated to be heard in committee later this month.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a parental leave measure in 2019, saying it would “result in annual costs of tens of millions of dollars.” Newsom instead wanted the issue tackled through collective bargaining or as part of the state budget.

Karen D'Souza

Wednesday, March 6, 2024, 8:49 am

Link copied.Algebra measure endorsed by San Francisco voters

San Franciscans voted Tuesday to solve the problem of algebra by demanding that the district bring the subject back into middle schools under Proposition G, as the Chronicle reported.

San Francisco Unified pulled algebra from its middle schools 10 years ago in the name of equity. Critics said this education experiment squandered opportunity for advanced students to excel in math while doing little to close the achievement gap. 

Early election returns showed nearly 85% of voters backing the algebra measure. It was largely seen as a victory for parents, students and community groups that have been fighting to allow eighth graders to take the math course, a foundational step toward a STEM pathway.

“The citizens of San Francisco have spoken, publicly, with their votes that Algebra 1 must be offered to eighth graders,” said Rex Ridgeway, grandfather of a San Francisco Unified student, as the Chronicle reported. “And, it’s about time, after a decade of damage.” 

The measure, which needs a majority to pass, was largely symbolic by election day. The school board had already voted in mid-February to begin a three-year process to reinstate Algebra 1 after years of parent protest.

Karen D'Souza

Tuesday, March 5, 2024, 4:29 pm

Link copied.Dartmouth men’s basketball team votes to unionize

The men’s basketball team at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire voted Tuesday to unionize, a first step toward forming what would be the first labor union for college athletes.

The players voted 13-2, in an election that was supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, to join Service Employees International Union Local 560.

“Today is a big day for our team. We stuck together all season and won this election. It is self-evident that we, as students, can also be both campus workers and union members. Dartmouth seems to be stuck in the past. It’s time for the age of amateurism to end,” said players Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil, according to The Associated Press.

Prior to the vote, the college filed an appeal to the full National Labor Relations Board, hoping to overturn an earlier decision made by a regional officer that classified the players as employees. The college also could take the case to federal court.

In a statement, the college said unionization would be inappropriate for the athletes.

“Classifying these students as employees simply because they play basketball is as unprecedented as it is inaccurate. We, therefore, do not believe unionization is appropriate,” the college said.

Meanwhile in California, the NLRB is hearing a separate complaint that asks for the University of Southern California’s football and basketball players to be recognized as employees.

Michael Burke

Tuesday, March 5, 2024, 7:44 am

Link copied.Tornado causes minor damage to Madera County elementary school

Staff at Berenda Elementary School in unincorporated Madera County cleared branches and debris from the campus Sunday, after a tornado touched down there on Friday afternoon, according to ABC7.

A portable classroom and a fence were damaged, but no students or staff were injured.

School had already been dismissed for the day, but students in an after-school program were on the campus when the tornado hit. They were taken to the cafeteria and their parents notified to pick them up.

Sisters Emely and Eilyn Soto were coloring in the cafeteria when the tornado touched down. They spoke to a ABC7 reporter about their experience.

“I just heard everyone screaming and branches and trees just falling down,” said Emely, a fourth grader at the school. “The teachers tried to close the door and they couldn’t. They finally did and grabbed everyone to go on the floor.”

Diana Lambert

Tuesday, March 5, 2024, 7:44 am

Link copied.Legislation would require California schools to have armed officer on campus

Legislation recently introduced by Bill Essayli, R-Corona, would require school districts and charter schools to hire an armed law enforcement officer to patrol each of its campuses whenever students are present.

Current state law allows school districts to determine whether to hire or contract for armed law enforcement officers or unarmed security officers. The current law asks districts to consider using resources allocated for police officers for pupil support services and professional development for school employees on cultural competency and restorative justice if it is more appropriate for their students.

Essayli’s legislation would remove all options for school districts except to hire or contract with officers authorized to carry a loaded firearm to staff each of their campuses.

Assembly Bill 3038 could be heard in the education committee on March 18, according to the state website.

If the bill becomes a law it would be a state-mandated local program, requiring the state to reimburse each district for its cost.

 

Diana Lambert

Monday, March 4, 2024, 4:18 pm

Link copied.Life-without-parole sentences upheld for young adults ages 18-25

The California Supreme Court today upheld life-in-prison sentences without the possibility for parole for young adults ages 18-25 in a 5-2 decision, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The 2013 state law upheld today allows for life-without-parole sentences, often referred to as LWOP, for young adults ages 18 to 25 in cases involving “multiple murders or those committed during a rape or robbery or as a gang member.”

Justices Goodwin Liu and Kelli Evans filed dissenting opinions.

“The LWOP exclusion disproportionately impacts Black and Brown youth. It perpetuates racial disparities in LWOP sentences for youthful offenders,” wrote Justice Evans. “While perhaps unintentional, it nonetheless embodies racial bias that has plagued our criminal and juvenile justice systems since their inception.”

Betty Márquez Rosales

Monday, March 4, 2024, 12:10 pm

Link copied.Study finds racial, socioeconomic disparities in dual enrollment participation

There are big racial and socioeconomic disparities in dual enrollment participation across California, according to a new study by researchers at UC Davis and PACE.

Across grade levels, Asian students were the most likely to take dual enrollment classes, followed by white students, Latino students and Black students. The overall participation in dual enrollment was lowest among ninth graders but also the most equitable: The gap between Asian and Black students who participated in ninth grade was 4 percentage points. Among 12th graders, who participated in dual enrollment at the highest rate of any grade level, the gap between Asian and Black students was 14 percentage points.

Sonya Christian, the statewide chancellor of California’s community college system, has said she wants every ninth grader to participate in dual enrollment.

There are also participation disparities across socioeconomic lines, although that varies by grade level, the study found. Among ninth graders, 5.3% of both socioeconomically disadvantaged students and other students participated in dual enrollment. Among 10th and 11th graders, students who aren’t socioeconomically disadvantaged participated at higher rates. That trend flips, however, among 12th graders, when enrollment rates were higher for socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

Michael Burke

Monday, March 4, 2024, 9:47 am

Link copied.Rural schools say they don’t get enough state help to meet their needs

Superintendents of rural school districts feel state leaders rarely consider their needs — even though they struggle with providing special education, transportation, teacher recruitment, finding contractors, keeping track of paperwork and staying in compliance with state regulations, CalMatters reported

“We have a system that works through an urban and suburban lens, but leaves rural schools behind,” Rindy DeVoll, the executive director of the California Rural Ed Network, told CalMatters. “Everyone in education has challenges, but they are amplified for rural districts.”

Thirty-five percent of schools in California are rural schools, meaning they are at least 25 miles from a city and have fewer than 600 students. 

Students at rural schools are often behind their suburban peers when it comes to meeting state standards in English and math. They also lag behind in their graduation rates and in their completion of coursework needed to attend the state’s public universities, CalMatters reported.

“There are those who don’t understand that California extends past Woodland (near Sacramento),” Jeff Harris, superintendent of the Del Norte Unified School District, told CalMatters. “There’s a lot of well-intended legislation that gives no thought to the impact on rural areas.”

Federal Rural Education and Achievement grants can help with expenses including salaries and internet, but not all districts receive funds — and those that do don’t get much, CalMatters reported. 

“California policy largely does not take into account the needs of rural areas. It’s geared toward wealthier, coastal communities. There might be some lip service, but inland, less wealthy areas are stuck with some pretty expensive burdens,” said Assemblymember James Gallagher, a lawmaker from the Chico area who heads the Assembly Republican Caucus. 

Mallika Seshadri

Monday, March 4, 2024, 9:17 am

Link copied.New bill would require schools to tell parents about their college-level offerings

Assemblymember Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, introduced a bill that would require schools to inform parents and guardians about Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment and career technical education courses offered at their child’s school, The Modesto Bee reported

Alanis’s team conducted a survey of residents,  71.5% of whom said they were satisfied with the number of courses offered in each of the four categories at local schools. Roughly 74% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the current amount of exposure students receive to college and career pathways, the Bee reported. 

“I am excited that the first bill I introduced this year, AB 1796, is one that opens up new pathways to students who may not be interested or able to pursue a higher education,” Alanis said in a news release.

Mallika Seshadri

Friday, March 1, 2024, 8:45 am

Link copied.Repeat campaign for Fresno State improvements raising, spending more money this year

The repeat campaign for Measure E, a ballot measure to fund facility improvements at Fresno State,  is raising and spending more money than it did for the previous election, The Fresno Bee reported. The measure was defeated in November 2022.

Ahead of the March 5 primary election, as of Feb. 17, the Yes on Measure E campaign has raised over $2.14 million, according to The Bee. Most of the donations come from unions that would benefit from new construction on campus. 

The campaign has spent more than it has raised, with $2.15 million in expenses so far — up from the $1.9 million in the failed effort to pass Measure E in the previous election. 

If it passes, Measure E would impose a 0.25% sales tax on goods and services throughout Fresno County for 25 years and would pay for facilities and academic program improvements at Fresno State, The Bee reported. 

 

Lasherica Thornton

Friday, March 1, 2024, 8:44 am

Link copied.Another longtime superintendent to leave school district

After a decade as the El Segundo Unified superintendent, Melissa Moore is retiring, the Daily Breeze reported

Less experienced superintendents are becoming common across the state, EdSource found in reporting on the rise of California superintendents leaving the job. Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson, in late January, also announced he will be retiring in the summer. 

“It has been my distinct honor and privilege to lead this school district for a decade, alongside an extremely talented team of dedicated faculty, staff, teachers, administrators, cabinet and board members,” Moore said.

Moore was named superintendent of the 3,000-student school district in 2014 at the height of her 30-year career in education. 

In her time as El Segundo superintendent, she adopted a social-emotional learning program and helped develop a comprehensive graduate profile, according to the Daily Breeze. 

Moore’s last day will be June 30, and the school board will start a superintendent search immediately, the Daily Breeze reported. 

Lasherica Thornton

Thursday, February 29, 2024, 11:07 am

Link copied.Civil rights complaint charges Berkeley Unified tolerates antisemitism

Two Jewish civil rights organizations filed a federal civil rights complaint against Berkeley Unified on Wednesday on behalf of Jewish families, charging that their children have been “subjected to severe and persistent harassment and discrimination” since the escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza began in October.

District principals and administrators failed to protect these children despite repeated reports of student misconduct and some teachers’ antagonism, the complaint says. The district has “knowingly allowed” schools to become “viciously hostile environments for Jewish and Israeli students,” the complaint said. As a result, the complaint said, ”The environment is so bad that Jewish and Israeli students are often afraid to go to school.”

The 41-page complaint by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League is the first antisemitism case filed with the U.S.  Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights against a public school district since the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas and invasion of Gaza by the Israeli military in response, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The complaint charged that students took the lead from pro-Palestinian teachers who organized unauthorized walkouts in October and again this month. Students from the MLK Middle School chanted “Kill the Jews,” “KKK” “Kill Israel,” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” a phrase that implies the elimination of Jews from their nation.

The district issued a statement Wednesday. While stating it had not yet received the complaint, the statement read in part. “We acknowledge the difficult moment we are in and the pain some members of our community are experiencing due to the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza. … The district continuously encourages students and families to report any incidents of bullying or hate-motivated behavior.”

The complaint cited a history teacher at Berkeley High School who expressed antisemitic stereotypes in class, showed a one-sided perspective of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asked students to respond to the prompt, “To what extent should Israel be considered an Apartheid State?” The district’s response, the complaint said, was to transfer Jewish students who complained to another class, instead of enforcing district policy that prohibits a teacher from using “his/her position to forward his/her own historical, religious, political, economic or social bias.”

The complaint charged that indoctrination began in one second-grade classroom in Malcolm X Elementary, where the teacher hung a Palestinian flag in the window, visible to parents walking into school, and encouraged students to write “Stop Bombing Babies” on sticky notes as an exercise in anti-hate messages. They were then attached to the wall outside a classroom with the only Jewish teacher, the complaint alleges.

This is the second federal civil rights complaint against a Bay Area school district for teacher-organized protests over the Gaza-Israeli conflict. On Jan. 16, the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education notified Oakland Unified that it had received a complaint that the district discriminated against students on the basis of their shared Jewish ancestry.

The complaint alleges that teachers led an unauthorized teach-in on Palestine during the Dec, 6 school day and taught elementary school students that a “free Palestine means the annihilation of Jews.” The department will investigate whether the district failed to respond as the federal law requires to harassment of students by district employees.

The story was updated Feb. 29 to include a similar complaint against Oakland Unified. 

John Fensterwald

Thursday, February 29, 2024, 10:43 am

Link copied.Study finds long Covid could cause decline in IQ points

A new study’s findings suggest Covid-19 could have longer-term effects on cognition and memory that lead to measurable differences in cognitive performance, The Washington Post reported.

The study was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. It found participants who recovered from Covid symptoms had a cognitive decline of three IQ points compared with those who weren’t infected, according to The Post. But those who have Covid symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more lost the equivalent of six IQ points. 

However, researchers did say the decline in IQ points could be temporary, The Post reported. Participants who had lingering symptoms recovered by the time they took part in the study were found to have cognitive deficits comparable to those who quickly recovered.

Eight online tasks were taken by participants to measure cognitive function, according to The Post. More than 140,000 people completed at least one of the tasks and nearly 113,000 completed all of them.

The participants were randomly selected from a cohort of more than 3 million adults to track the spread of Covid between May 1, 2020, and March 21, 2022.

Monica Velez

Thursday, February 29, 2024, 10:20 am

Link copied.CSU awarded grant to bolster admissions outreach

California State University was awarded $750,000 through The Great Admissions Redesign, a competition by the Lumina Foundation to “revolutionize” the admissions process and increase accessibility to higher education.

The money will be used to automate admissions to the CSU system through California’s official K-12 college and career readiness platform, according to CSU officials. There are a total of seven winners. 

To expand outreach to ninth through 11th graders, CSU will partner with the California College Guidance Initiative, officials said. Qualified 12th grade students will be offered admission to most CSU schools and the opportunity to apply to more competitive universities and impacted majors. 

“The CSU is the engine of opportunity to a quality education that leads to a successful career, and we are grateful to the Lumina Foundation in helping us advance our outreach to prospective students across California,” said April Grommo, assistant vice chancellor of Strategic Enrollment Management. “This generous award will advance strategies and partnerships including the California College Guidance Initiative to ensure more students are academically prepared to meet CSU admission requirements and go on to earn a CSU degree.”

Monica Velez

Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 9:00 am

Link copied.Do fewer jobs require college degrees now?

The number of job postings requiring college degrees — or any educational attainment at all — may be declining, according to research from Indeed, a job posting platform, as The Hill reported.

Indeed noted that more than half of jobs, 52% of its postings, had no formal education requirement as of January, up 4% from 2019. Postings requiring four-year degrees went from 20.4% to 17.8% in the past five years.  

“Employers are loosening their formal education requirements as the labor market remains tight and attitudes towards skills-first hiring practices change. Those same employers seem more willing to consider candidates who can demonstrate the required skills without necessarily having a degree,” Indeed researchers said in their analysis, as The Hill reported.

The data also showed that formal education requirements are decreasing in most job sectors. STEM-related fields had the most postings that require higher degrees while sectors such cleaning, sanitation and food service had the fewest.

Karen D'Souza

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 1:46 pm

Link copied.Increase in homelessness rates sharpest among students of color and high-need students

Recent data analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California confirmed that the number of K-12 students experiencing homelessness during the 2022-23 school year increased to pre-pandemic levels.

Some school staffers have noted that the decreases in student homelessness rates in recent years was most egregious during pandemic-era remote learning, largely because staff rely on in-person interactions to identify students who might need housing support. As students returned to campuses, homelessness rates rose.

The data analysis, published by research associate Brett Guinan and research fellow Julien Lafortune, noted that the sharpest increases in homelessness were among Native American, Black, English learner and migrant students.

“Student homelessness has increased to pre-pandemic levels, and disproportionately affects high-need students and students of color,” the researchers wrote in a blog post published Monday. “Amid budget constraints and the end of one-time pandemic funding, state policymakers will need to consider new ways to effectively identify and serve this vulnerable population.”

 

Betty Márquez Rosales

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 10:31 am

Link copied.Female legislators push for pregnancy leave for school staff

California legislators are again trying to attain paid pregnancy leave for teachers and school staff. A bill introduced earlier this month would require school districts and colleges to give teachers and other school staff up to 14 weeks of paid leave for a pregnancy.

The legislation, introduced by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and co-authored by members of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, would give school employees full pay if they miss work because of a pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, termination of pregnancy or recovery from these conditions.

Currently, teachers are exempt from paying into or benefiting from state disability insurance. They can take unpaid maternity leave, but most use vacation and sick time if they want a paid leave.

“As a new mom, physically recovering from pregnancy and birth while also caring for a newborn, it is unfathomable that most of us must consider whether or not we are going to get paid,” said Erika Jones, a kindergarten teacher and the secretary-treasurer of California Teachers Association in a news release.“ Educators devote their lives to their students; yet, when it comes to their own families, they have to constantly sacrifice because of the lack of basic supports such as said pregnancy leave. In a field that is primarily women, we need to do better.”

In 2019 Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill that would have given teachers and school staff at least six weeks of fully paid maternity leave, saying it would be too costly for school districts and colleges. The length of the leave would have been determined by the woman’s physician.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown also vetoed a paid maternity leave bill for school staff in 2018, saying that leave policies for school employees are best resolved through the collective bargaining process at the local level.

 

Diana Lambert

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 9:54 am

Link copied.Middle school investigating AI-generated fake nude photos of students

Beverly Hills Unified School District is investigating AI-generated fake nude photos of students at Beverly Vista Middle School, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Students generated the photos by superimposing photos of other students’ faces on AI-generated nude bodies. Students reported the photos to administrators. It is uncertain how many photos were generated.

“As the investigation is progressing today, more victims are being identified,” according to message from the school district. “We are taking every measure to support those affected and to prevent any further incidents. We want to make it unequivocally clear that this behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect the values of our school community. Although we are aware of similar situations occurring all over the nation, we must act now. This behavior rises to a level that requires the entire community to work in partnership to ensure it stops immediately.”

 

Diana Lambert

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 9:46 am

Link copied.FAFSA fix will allow more aid to go to students

The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it has updated how it calculates the amount of federal aid students receive when they use the new and simplified Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

With the update, 7.3 million students in total will be eligible for Pell Grants in 2024-25. So far, more than 4.7 million applications have been successfully submitted, according to the department. The update won’t affect the timeline for delivering completed applications to colleges and universities in the first half of March.

The department also announced last week that students who have at least one parent without a Social Security Number will be able to successfully submit FAFSA forms in the first half of March.

Since unveiling the simplified FAFSA form Dec. 30, delays and technical problems have hindered students from completing the application and forced colleges to wait for information and adjust their timelines.

Ashley A. Smith

Monday, February 26, 2024, 9:56 am

Link copied.Sacramento State partners with Black churches to encourage college preparation

Sacramento State University collaborates with local faith-based organizations that predominantly serve Black and African-American communities to promote college preparation, KCRA 3 reported.

The university specifically holds “Super Sunday” during the month of February at local churches, where representatives from the university come to visit. 

Currently, less than 6% of Sacramento State University’s student body is Black, according to the KCRA 3 report.  

“A college degree is achievable, is affordable, is doable,” David Zeigler, the interim vice provost for student academic success, told KCRA 3, while emphasizing that their camps is home to a new Black Honors College.

Mallika Seshadri

Monday, February 26, 2024, 9:26 am

Link copied.Funding is running out for a school program that provides temporary housing to homeless families

More than 200 families displaced by widespread flooding in San Diego County on Jan. 22 received support through Project Rest, a school program that provides homeless families with temporary housing. But its funding stream of one-time Covid money is dwindling, and the program is set to expire in September, the San Diego Union Tribune reported. 

“It highly affects attendance when you’re that transitory,” Andrea Frost, homeless and foster youth liaison for La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, told the Union Tribune. “And when you affect attendance, it affects everything else.”

Since the program’s creation two years ago, it has provided motel stays for more than 1,500 families — and its demand has only grown. Nearly 17,000 public school children in San Diego were counted as experiencing homelessness, the Union Tribune reported. 

“The need for this funding is not less than during the pandemic. It’s actually more,” Barbara Duffield, the executive director of youth homelessness nonprofit SchoolHouse Connection, told the Union Tribune.

Mallika Seshadri

Friday, February 23, 2024, 10:00 am

Link copied.Santa Rosa City schools consider consolidation with smaller districts

Santa Rosa City Schools is considering consolidating with nine small elementary school districts that surround it, The Press Democrat reported. Santa Rosa City Schools is the largest of 40 school districts in Sonoma County.

The consolidation would save millions of dollars in administrative costs each year, unify programs and services and potentially close underutilized school sites, according to The Press Democrat. 

Consolidation would also mean a new school board and new superintendent to serve more than 27,000 students.

There are three ways that Santa Rosa City could move forward with the consolidation, The Press Democrat reported: Have support from the nine elementary districts that would be impacted, submit a petition with signatures from 25% of voters living in what would be the unified district or have an elected official submit the petition on behalf of the district. 

The process could take at least two years. 

 

Lasherica Thornton

Friday, February 23, 2024, 10:00 am

Link copied.State law requiring Narcan being implemented differently on college campuses

The Campus Opioid Safety Act requiring most of California’s colleges and universities to offer life-saving resources for students to reverse an opioid overdose has been applied differently at schools, CalMatters reported

According to the CalMatters story, some campuses provide Narcan or a generic equivalent, naloxone — a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose — to its students, while others do not. 

Enacted last year, the legislation requires health centers on California State University campuses and community colleges to order Narcan, Cal Matters reported. Schools must educate students on overdose prevention and inform them of where to find overdose reversal medication. The law “requests” that the University of California system does the same. 

At least 100 public colleges in the state have Narcan on its campuses, including all but one CSU and UC campus, Cal Matters reported. Though not required, some private universities also have Narcan on campus. 

But more than a year after the law went into effect, some colleges lag behind and have yet to put Narcan in the hands of students, CalMatters reported. 

For instance, Taft, Ridgecrest and Bakersfield community colleges in Kern County — one of the deadliest counties for opioid-related overdoses among young people — do not have a Narcan distribution program for students. 

Lasherica Thornton

Thursday, February 22, 2024, 9:59 am

Link copied.San Jose State professor placed on leave after altercation with student protester

A San Jose State University professor was put on administrative leave this week following an altercation with a student during a protest on campus related to the Israeli-Palestine conflict, the San Francisco Chronicle reported

A San Jose State professor told the Chronicle the history professor placed on leave was Jonathan Roth, who was the 2019 recipient of the university’s Distinguished Service Award. The altercation occurred on Monday outside of the classroom where a guest speaker was scheduled. 

The guest speaker was Jeffrey Blutinger, a Long Beach State University professor specializing in Jewish history, the Chronicle reported. Students and at least one professor protested outside the classroom. 

Roth was seen trying to film protesters and a student attempted to block the filming, the Chronicle reported. 

“So she was trying to protect the demonstrators by using her hand to block him from filming and he violently took her hand, twisted it down with her arm toward the ground,” Sang Kil told the Chronicle, a co-chair of the Palestine, Arab and Muslim caucus and of the university’s justice studies.

There were no serious injuries or police charges, SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said, but more “administrative actions” could occur.

Monica Velez

Thursday, February 22, 2024, 9:34 am

Link copied.Deep political divide around race, LGBTQ+ topics in schools, new USC study finds

There are deep partisan divides regarding LGBTQ+ inclusion and racial justice in K-12 curriculum, according to a new study by University of Southern California researchers

“That said, there are major partisan differences in beliefs about what children should be learning in public schools, particularly regarding topics related to LGBTQ and race,” said Anna Saavedra, a co-author of the study, research scientist and co-director at USC’s Center for Applied Research in Education. “Local districts have the challenge of reconciling these differences in the coming years.” 

More than 3,900 U.S. adults took an internet-based survey from September to October, with 40% identifying as Democratic or leaning Democratic, 34% as Republican or leaning Republican, and 27% as independent or belonging to other political parties, according to researchers. Out of those surveyed, 1,763 households had at least one child in grades K-12 living in the home, and 2,142 households were without children.

Those surveyed across political parties overwhelmingly agreed on the importance of a free, public education, the study said. People also agreed on the core functions of teaching literacy, numeracy and civics, and positioning children to have a financially secure future. 

About 80%-86% of Democrats support high school students learning about LGBTQ+ topics, while less than 40% of Republicans approve, researchers found. Teaching these topics to elementary students dipped to 40%-50% among Democrats and only 10% approval from Republicans.

“Our survey highlights the deep divisions about not just what children should be learning in school, but also when,” Morgan Polikoff said in a statement, a co-author of the study and associate professor of education at USC. “Policymakers need to really think about these nuances if they are going to craft policies that reflect what Americans really want.”

More than half of adults support discussing race-related topics in high school classrooms, the study said. Democrats support elementary school children learning about slavery, civil rights and race-based inequality, but Republicans do not.

Read the full report here.

Monica Velez

Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 5:29 pm

Link copied.Advocates warn of looming end to homeless youth education funding

Educational challenges for the increasing number of homeless youth nationwide will get worse with the upcoming loss of federal funding targeting them, according to a report released Wednesday by SchoolHouse Connection, a national homeless advocacy organization.

That pandemic-era federal American Rescue Plan allocated $800 million to help schools identify and support homeless students.

The report authors found money the increased the number of homeless youth receiving educational support and that about 6,000 school districts nationwide received funds for homeless students for the first time.

While the federal government does provide some dedicated funding for homeless youth education such as the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) funding, youth advocates have long identified two big problems with relying on such funding streams: Not all school districts are eligible to receive the money, and the available money is are nowhere near the amounts included in the pandemic-era funds.

The report also found that homeless liaisons were able to provide more flexible support, such as offering gas gift cards and housing an evicted student and their family in a hotel room for a few days.

In the report, SchoolHouse Connection calls for Congress to consider funding EHCY at the same level as the American Rescue Plan, to extend the date by which school districts must obligate pandemic era funds to September 2025, and for local education agencies to include homeless liaisons in decision-making regarding how to spend any remaining American Rescue Plan funds they may have.

Betty Márquez Rosales

Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 3:55 pm

Link copied.Biden approves another $1.2 billion in student loan forgiveness

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it would automatically discharge another $1.2 billion in student loans for nearly 153,000 borrowers across the U.S.

“With today’s announcement, we are once again sending a clear message to borrowers who had low balances: if you’ve been paying for a decade, you’ve done your part, and you deserve relief,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Under President Biden’s leadership, our Administration has now approved loan forgiveness for nearly 3.9 million borrowers, and our historic fight to cancel student debt isn’t over yet.” 

Borrowers are eligible for this first round of discharges if they enrolled in the president’s income-driven Saving on a Valuable Education plan, have made at least 10 years of payments, and originally took out $12,000 or less in student loans for college. Borrowers will begin receiving emails immediately alerting them to the forgiveness.

The Supreme Court blocked Biden’s plan to cancel $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million borrowers, but the White House has since responded by targeting smaller programs to forgive debt for specific groups. Biden has now canceled $138 billion of student debt through about two dozen executive actions, according to the White House.

 

Ashley A. Smith

Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 3:54 pm

Link copied.Cal State enrollment declines continue three years after the pandemic

Undergraduate enrollment declined across much of the Cal State system during and after the coronavirus pandemic — and for some campuses, it remains down. 

A new report by the Campaign for College Opportunity analyzed enrollment changes within the nation’s largest public university system and found a 6.5% enrollment decline from pre-pandemic numbers from fall 2020 to fall 2023. 

During the pandemic, enrollment declined by about 10,000 students from fall 2020 to fall 2021 and dropped an additional 17,000 students to 404,820 in fall 2022 — the lowest since 2014. By fall 2023, the number of students declined by  an additional 2,500.

Despite the declines, 11 of the 23 CSU campuses saw a growth in Latino enrollment and seven grew their Black enrollment totals. Only four campuses saw their enrollments grow: CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, San Diego State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. 

The largest decrease in enrollment was at Sonoma State, which has seen a 34% decline in students.  

Unlike the CSU system, national undergraduate enrollment grew by 1.2%  nationally for last fall, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. Public and private nonprofit universities increased by 0.6%, for the first time since the pandemic. In California, community college enrollment has rebounded from the pandemic, and numbers in the University of California have also increased. The campaign’s report highlighted that overall enrollment in the UC system increased 3.2% between 2019 and 2023.

Ashley A. Smith