California education news: What’s the latest?
Tuesday, May 31, 2022, 11:31 am
Link copied.Santa Clara County to start looking for teacher housing sites in West Valley
Acknowledging a lack of housing affordable to teachers and school employees, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted last week to begin the process of developing teacher housing in the West Valley, the Bay Area News Group reported.
The county will identify possible project sites in the broader West Valley area, according to BANG. That includes the Fremont Union High School District, which serves Cupertino, Sunnyvale and parts of Saratoga and San Jose.
The West Valley proposal follows a similar proposal in Palo Alto, which seeks to provide 110 apartments for teachers and staff who work at schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
—Ali TadayonTuesday, May 31, 2022, 10:57 am
Link copied.Sacramento City Unified fails to find who painted racist graffiti at high school targeting Black assistant principal
After a six-month investigation including 45 witness interviews and a review of social media messages, the Sacramento City Unified School District failed to find the person who targeted Black high school assistant principal Elysse Versher with racist graffiti and social media messages, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Versher told the Sacramento Bee that she plans to resign from the school district because of the trauma she experienced, and feels the district has not taken the situation and other incidents of racism seriously.
Sacramento City Unified’s superintendent told the Bee he was “frustrated and disappointed” that the district failed to identify a suspect, and he insisted the district “remains committed to treating incidents of racism with the utmost seriousness.”
—Ali TadayonTuesday, May 31, 2022, 10:51 am
Link copied.More than half of California community colleges still direct students to remedial classes
Despite a 2017 law that said colleges must enroll students in transfer-level courses and not remedial classes unless they are deemed highly unlikely to success in transfer-level classes, more than half of California’s 116 community college campuses are still placing students in remedial classes, according to The Hechinger Report.
Remedial classes, sometimes called prerequisites, are classes some colleges require for students to begin coursework toward a degree but don’t earn credit for transfer to a four-year university. Opponents say it’s not fair that students have to pay for classes that don’t count toward a degree, when many students can handle the college-level work if given the opportunity and with help from tutors or supplemental classes, according to The Hechinger Report.
Last week, the state Assembly passed AB 1705, which aims to help more community college students skip remedial classes, by directing colleges to presume that students would take the transfer courses. It clarifies when a community college is allowed to enroll students in remedial courses, building off the vague 2017 law that allowed the practice to continue at many schools.
The Faculty Association of California Community Colleges opposes AB 1705. Executive Director Evan Hawkins told The Hechinger Report that thousands of students failed college-level courses after the previous law went into effect.
—Ali TadayonFriday, May 27, 2022, 9:23 am
Link copied.Students walk out to protest inaction on school shootings
Students at schools across the country walked out of class on Thursday to protest inaction to stop school shootings.
“It’s devastating. It’s heart-wrenching,” said Ashley Castillo, who led the walkout at Hollywood High School, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We’re stuck with the responsibility of planning these events and having to advocate for ourselves … thoughts and prayers are not getting us anywhere after years and years.”
NBC San Diego also reported on students walking out. “We just wanted to show that we do have a voice and we hope legislators will listen,” said Sarah Strasberg, an 11th grader at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego.
Many of the protests were organized by the group Students Demand Action, which was started after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018.
—EdSource staffFriday, May 27, 2022, 9:05 am
Link copied.Education Secretary Cardona calls for Congress to act to prevent school shootings
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called for action to prevent more school shootings on Thursday, at a hearing for the House Education and Labor Committee.
Cardona said actions taken so far are not sufficient, and he is ashamed the country is becoming “desensitized to the murder of children.”
“I’d be failing you as Secretary of Education if I didn’t use this platform to say that students and teachers and school leaders are scared,” Cardona said.
—EdSource staff
Thursday, May 26, 2022, 2:21 pm
Link copied.State announces recipients of $108.6 million in grants to streamline transition from school to college and career
The Governor’s Office today announced the six recipients of regional grants aimed at streamlining the transitions between the K-12 education system, higher education and career.
“We’re creating new regional pipelines – K-12 schools to higher education to the workforce – for California’s students that will prepare our kids for the jobs of the future in their communities,” said Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement. “This essential collaboration will help bridge equity gaps and provide more resources to help our students achieve their career goals right in their own communities.”
Each recipient of the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Program will receive $18.1 million. Each award has been granted to collaboratives that include K-12 school districts, community colleges, CSUs or UCs and industry partners.
The six regions in California that will be receiving a total of $108.6 million include the Central San Joaquin Valley, North State, Kern County, Redwood Coast, Orange County and Sacramento. More information about each of the collaboratives awarded funding in the first round can be viewed on the Regional K-16 Education site.
Collaboratives must commit to creating at least two occupational pathways in health care, education, business management and engineering or computing.
They also must commit to a set of recommendations aimed at promoting equity and inclusion, which include improving college affordability, supporting early college credit, improving diversity among educators, subsidizing internet access, student retention and inclusive supports.
There’s significant overlap between the goals of awardees but each one has unique features, depending on the region’s needs.
The Redwood Coast K16 Education Collaborative, led by Cal Poly Humboldt, has a special focus on improving the college-going culture, especially for Native American and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The Sacramento K16 Collaborative, led by the Los Rios Community College District, is investing in a regional data sharing system to support its efforts. Kern Regional K16 Education Collaborative, led by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, is focused on dismantling economic inequity in the region.
Fresno was the site of the signature initiative promoted by the Governor’s Council on Postsecondary Education. Now the Central San Joaquin Valley K16 partnership includes Madera County, as well as the work being done by the Tulare-Kings College + Career Collaborative.
The collaborations are getting larger and larger, said Karri Hammerstrom, the executive director of the Fresno-Madera Collaborative.
The work of the Fresno-Madera Collaborative has been blurring the lines between high school and college. It is focused on putting students on the pathway to jobs in engineering, accounting and financial management and single-subject teaching.
Dual enrollment has been a “cornerstone” of the collaborative’s work, said Hammerstrom. To enable a broader rollout, the region is supporting high school teachers who are interested in teaching college-level courses by helping them obtain a master’s degree and also offering them mentoring from community college professors. It is also creating a virtual dual enrollment hub for those students who may not currently have the option to take courses at their schools.
Hammerstrom is hopeful that this grant will help expand the work throughout the four counties, improve collaboration with parent and community groups and also encourage more school districts to expand opportunities for students in dual enrollment and career technical education.
—Emma GallegosThursday, May 26, 2022, 10:47 am
Link copied.Freshmen received more Ds and Fs at SF’s elite Lowell High after switch to admissions lottery
Teachers at San Francisco’s Lowell High School gave freshman students significantly more D and F grades this past fall, the first semester after the school board eliminated the merit-based admissions it had relied on for decades, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Those grades are likely to become part of a fervid debate over Lowell that touches on race, equity and achievement. The grades raise questions about how students — and the school’s teachers and administrators — are adapting to the changes, the newspaper reported Wednesday.
It is not yet clear how much the change in admissions policy factored into the rise in D’s and F’s among Lowell’s ninth-graders, compared with other possible factors such as the pandemic, the newspaper reported.
Of the 620 students in Lowell’s freshman class, 24.4% received at least one D or F grade during the fall semester, compared with 7.9% of first-year students in fall 2020 and 7.7% in fall 2019, according to internal San Francisco Unified School District figures obtained by The Chronicle.
The jump coincided with the first year that Lowell admitted its freshman class based primarily on a lottery — as almost all other city high schools do — instead of test scores and grades.
—EdSource staffThursday, May 26, 2022, 10:45 am
Link copied.Gun and ammunition found in second grader’s desk at Sacramento school
On the same day a gunman in Texas killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers, a second-grader in Sacramento brought a gun and loaded magazine to school, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.
Other students told staff at Edward Kemble Elementary about the weapon on Tuesday. Staff “found the gun and ‘an accessible loaded magazine’ in the desk of the pupil,” according to the district’s statement, the newspaper reported.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/article261773402.html#storylink=cpy
“We are grateful that this incident did not result in a tragedy such as those that districts have experienced, including today’s tragic and senseless mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas,” read a late-night email to families from Sacramento City Unified obtained by the Bee. “This is due in large part to the bravery and awareness of the students who came forward and alerted staff at Kemble today.”
Further details were not immediately available, the Bee reported, as a police investigation continues into how the child obtained the weapon.
Several weapons have been found on and near Sacramento-area campuses in recent months, the Bee reported. A Luther Burbank High student was arrested for bringing a loaded Glock 9mm handgun to school in January.
—Thomas PeeleWednesday, May 25, 2022, 5:43 pm
Link copied.Los Angeles Unified moves to strengthen safety protocols in light of Texas shooting
Los Angeles Unified is expanding its safety protocols in light of the mass shooting that occurred at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday. The district is evaluating extra measures as well as reevaluating current mental health offerings.
LAUSD announced it would perform an access assessment to reduce entry points and identify the safest areas at each school for families, employees and first responders. It will also begin sharing school maps with first responders and is considering using GPS apps in schools to better guide them during crises, though it’s not yet clear what that would look like.
The district also said it is working on providing more mental health support to students focused on prevention and early identification and is considering reducing its student-to-counselor ratio and providing sensitivity training to employees.
These moves follow the mass shooting Tuesday during which a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The shooting was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
—Kate SequeiraWednesday, May 25, 2022, 5:18 pm
Link copied.California pledges gun reform in response to Texas school shooting
Gov. Gavin Newsom and leaders in the state senate and assembly have committed to moving along gun reform legislation in response to the mass shooting Tuesday at a Texas elementary school that has left at least 19 children and two adults dead.
“California will not stand by as kids across the country are gunned down,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday. “Guns are now the leading cause of death for kids in America. While the U.S. Senate stands idly by and activist federal judges strike down commonsense gun laws across our nation, California will act with the urgency this crisis demands.”
Among the four senate and assembly bills that Newsom has pledged to sign is AB 2571, which restricts advertising of firearms to minors. Other legislation is aimed at limiting the spread of illegal assault weapons and “ghost guns,” which come in kits and are untraceable.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta also supported the legislation, and committed to cracking down on gun violence.
“Active shooter drills, metal detectors, and schools that look like prisons are not the answer,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “We need commonsense gun safety laws. We are sick and tired of seeing young and promising lives cut short due to gun violence.”
—Ali TadayonWednesday, May 25, 2022, 10:44 am
Link copied.Tips on how to talk to kids about school violence
Conversations with kids about school shootings are sensitive and difficult, but also critically important, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Times notes these important discussions are made even more sensitive due to the trauma of the pandemic, which has raised the level of stress and anxiety in both children and adults.
Experts suggest finding ways to reassure your children about their safety, as well as limiting access to media coverage, as effective strategies for helping children come to terms with tragedies like the school shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead in Uvalde, Texas.
For the full story and complete list of tips, read the complete LA Times story here.
—EdSource staffWednesday, May 25, 2022, 9:12 am
Link copied.The last two years of trauma may have lasting impact, report suggests
The pandemic has surely been the most traumatic collective event of our lifetimes. After two grim years and more than a million deaths, it is still unclear when the pandemic will end. But it is clear, experts say, that the trauma may have a long-lasting impact.
In a new report, researchers at Georgia State University who have been studying how people are coping with the stress of the pandemic, suggest the mental health crisis is just beginning and that uncertainty is one of the key stressors, along with worries about health, family, and finances that take a toll on mental health. The risk to those in caregiving roles, such as nurses, teachers or parents, may be the greatest, experts say.
In a recent survey, the American Psychological Association also found that nearly two-thirds of respondents said their lives have been permanently changed by the pandemic. The report showed that many people have been living in “sustained survival mode” with grave consequences for mental health. The rise of anxiety and depression may just be beginning, some warn.
“I think the mental health issue is percolating, just like a virus incubating,” says Laura Shannonhouse, associate professor of counseling and psychological services at Georgia State College of Education and Human Development. “We’re seeing little pieces now, but it’s like an iceberg. Most of it is still below the surface.”
Jeff Ashby, co-director of Georgia State’s Ken Matheny Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma and Resilience, recently surveyed 745 people to examine whether the strain of the pandemic could lead to stress disorders, and if so, which groups are most at risk. The results, published in the Journal of Community Psychology, showed the pandemic is an independent source of traumatic stress and, for some people, that stress can predict post-traumatic stress disorder.
“When we first began our research, we thought, ‘We must hurry, because of course, this will be over soon…’ and two years later we still don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Ashby. “I think that’s the hard part. It’s still a moving target.”
—Karen D'Souza
Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 9:11 am
Link copied.The state of motherhood is strained, survey suggests
About half of American moms are the primary breadwinner. Women also manage most of the household workload, according to an annual report from Motherly, from doing laundry to making pediatrician appointments.
The report surveyed more than 17,000 women who are balancing family and work to find out just what the “state of motherhood” is in 2022. The main takeaway, research suggests, is that the pandemic has been rough on caregivers, taking a huge toll on mothers.
Key findings include the fact that the number of women who want to have another child is down 9% from last year nationally. The report also found that lack of child care was the single biggest reason women left a job in 2021.
President Joe Biden had been pushing for a plan to bolster the struggling child care sector as part of his social spending package. That proposal, unable to find support among conservative factions, appears to have died. The U.S. currently ranks 35th out of 37 major economies in public investment in young children.
—Karen D'Souza
Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 2:38 pm
Link copied.19 children, 2 adults dead in Texas elementary school shooting
At least 19 elementary school students and two adults, including a teacher, are dead after a shooting at a school in Texas that started shortly before noon. The mass shooting took place at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, according to The New York Times. It was the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.
Salvador Ramos, 18, was identified as the suspected shooter. He was killed by officers, according to news reports.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot updated reporters a few hours after the shooting in a rural area west of San Antonio. He said Ramos came on the school campus with a handgun or a rifle.
“I have instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers to work with local law enforcement to fully investigate this crime,” said Abbott in a statement. “The Texas Division of Emergency Management is charged with providing local officials all resources necessary to respond to this tragedy as the State of Texas works to ensure the community has what it needs to heal.”
It isn’t clear how many students and staff were injured in the attack, but hospitals have reported treating additional patients in their emergency rooms.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also reacted to news of the shooting on Twitter.
“14 children and a teacher dead,” he said. “Another shooting. And the GOP won’t do a damn thing about it. Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe. This is preventable. Our inaction is a choice. We need nationwide, comprehensive, commonsense gun safety NOW.”
—Diana LambertTuesday, May 24, 2022, 2:23 pm
Link copied.Gates Foundation offers grants to scale high school pathway programs
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it is wading into the world of dual enrollment and career technical education. Through its new “Accelerate ED” initiative, it is donating $175,000 each to twelve teams across the country, including one in California led by the Linked Learning Alliance.
The Gates Foundation is interested in researching and accelerating ways to ensure that every high school graduate has the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree or an industry-equivalent certificate within a year of graduating, according to Sara Allan, the director of Early Learning and Pathways for the Foundation.
The initiative is especially focused on Black, Latino and low-income students, who receive less support as they transition from high school to college and the workforce. Allan said it’s important dual enrollment programs don’t just offer a random smattering of college courses, but that they set up students for post-secondary success.
The Linked Learning Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for and certifies career pathway programs in schools, will be leading a team that includes Oakland Unified, Long Beach and Antelope Valley Union High school districts. Their higher education partners are Peralta Community College, Long Beach City College and Antelope Valley College. Local youth agencies, employers and economic development agencies are also key partners, said Anne Stanton, president of the Linked Learning Alliance.
Stanton said these three districts were chosen in the initial cohort because they represent diverse communities, geography and demographics across the state that have been working on thirteenth year strategies for the last decade.
The team will be researching what works and what doesn’t for students in California, considering factors such as scheduling, student supports, advising and counseling. Stanton said said the timing of this planning grant is key for a generation of students whose educations were disrupted by the pandemic.
“It allows us to really lean it at a time that is critical,” Stanton said.
Allan noted these planning grants allow programs to take advantage of increasing federal and state funding. In California, the governor’s budget proposes an addition $500 million to increase dual enrollment attainment and another $1.5 billion to Golden State Pathways to develop high school pathway programs that increase college and career readiness.
EdSource receives funding from several foundations, including the Gates Foundation. EdSource maintains sole editorial control over the content of its coverage.
—Emma GallegosTuesday, May 24, 2022, 8:55 am
Link copied.Rialto school counselor third to be charged for failing to report student’s sexual assault
Rialto school counselor Lindsay Morton has been charged with failing to report allegations of sexual assault against a student, the third Wilmer Amina Carter High School educator charged in the case for violating the state’s mandated reporter law.
Educators and others are required by law to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement. Morton, as well as Wilmer Amina Carter High School assistant principals David Shenhan Yang and Natasha Harris are accused of failing to report sexual assault allegations by multiple female students against a 17-year-old male student at the school, the Southern California News Group reported Monday.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson told SCNG that this is the first time in the county’s history that public school officials have been criminally charged with mandated reporter violations, which are misdemeanor offenses. Yang and Harris were also charged with a felony county of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death.
Authorities said three female students alleged sexual assault by the offending student, which Yang and Harris did not report to authorities. After Yang and Harris were arrested, police discovered that one of the alleged victims had also reported to Morton that the offending student had touched her inappropriately. Morton did not report the incident to authorities. Morton remains on paid administrative leave.
—Ali TadayonTuesday, May 24, 2022, 8:47 am
Link copied.Proposed San Francisco ballot measure would bring schools extra $70 million a year for special programs
San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen and five other supervisors are proposing a ballot measure that would give San Francisco Unified an extra $70 million in city funds every year for the next 25 years to pay for new programs aimed at boosting enrollment, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.
The proposal would fund programs like accelerated math and literacy curriculum in addition to academic specialists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, after-school programs and athletic or artistic programs, according to the Chronicle. Ronen expects the Board of Supervisors to vote in the next month to send the measure to the November ballot, where it would need simple majority approval to pass.
The fund would use money from existing state property taxes, the Chronicle reported, so it would not raise property taxes.
—Ali TadayonMonday, May 23, 2022, 9:47 am
Link copied.Modesto considering $198 million bond for school upgrades
The Modesto City Schools board will decide next month whether to put a $198 million bond on the November ballot to pay for upgrades at the district’s eight high schools, the Modesto Bee reported.
The bond, which would need 55% of the vote to pass, would pay for improvements like roof repairs, ventilation upgrades, security systems, improved access for students with disabilities, and modernization of science labs and arts and athletic facilities.
“While Modest City Schools provide high-quality instruction to local high school students, most of our high schools were built 50 to 100 years ago,” according to the district website. “Our aging education facilities need repairs and upgrades to meet modern academic and safety standards. To maintain high-quality instruction for local students, updates are needed to classrooms, technology and science labs so students graduate with the skills needed for competitive 21st century careers.”
The board is likely to decide at its June 20 meeting whether to move forward with the bond.
–Carolyn Jones
—Carolyn Jones
Monday, May 23, 2022, 9:47 am
Link copied.Berkeley Unified returns to indoor mask mandate
Due to a surge in Covid cases, Berkeley Unified is requiring students, staff and visitors at Berkeley Unified to wear masks indoors starting immediately, the district announced.
The decision, which comes two weeks before the end of the school year, was based on a recommendation from the city’s public health director. The district’s Covid dashboard shows steep increases in the number of positive Covid cases at many schools, including Berkeley High, where the number of cases went from 8 in March to 86 so far in May.
“Our collective goal in the final weeks of school is to ensure the last two weeks and accompanying celebrations can be attended by as many of our students and families as possible,” Superintendent Brent Stephens.
–Carolyn Jones
—Carolyn JonesFriday, May 20, 2022, 9:51 am
Link copied.Black vice principal in Sacramento resigns after racist harassment
A Black vice principal is resigning from the Sacramento City Unified School District, saying the district did not protect her from a series of incidents of targeted racist harassment.
According to the Sacramento Bee, the n-word was painted on a campus building near West Campus High School Assistant Principal Elysse Versher’s parking spot in November 2021. In addition, anonymous people posted a series of hateful messages to her social media accounts. The school district opened an investigation but has not announced any findings.
“Unfortunately, the district has not taken this seriously and still does not take incidents of racism and hate crimes seriously, so I have to seek accountability through the legal system,” Versher said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee.
Versher said the harassment she experienced caused multiple stress-induced seizures in November and an unsuccessful suicide attempt in December.
—EdSource staffFriday, May 20, 2022, 9:30 am
Link copied.Senate votes to preserve segregated ‘Mexican’ school site
The site of a former school that was segregated for Mexican American students will now become a historic site, after the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to pass legislation co-sponsored by California Sen. Alex Padilla.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Blackwell School in Marfa, Texas, is one of many segregated schools that educated Mexican American children across the Southwest. More than 4,000 children were educated there between 1909 and 1965, when it closed.
Segregated schools for Black students are designated national historic sites, which make them part of the national park system, but that is not true for segregated schools for Latino students.
Former students of the Blackwell School fought to preserve the school and turn it into a museum to educate others about segregation and how they were paddled by teachers for speaking Spanish.
Padilla celebrated the vote Thursday. “Understanding our nation’s history of segregation and discrimination in places like the Blackwell School … is integral to building a more inclusive and just future for our country,” he said.
—EdSource staff
Thursday, May 19, 2022, 1:36 pm
Link copied.Key California higher education bills clear Assembly committee
Two key higher education bills — one to expand financial aid in California and another to help community college students access transfer-level classes — advanced Thursday in the Legislature, passing in the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee.
Assembly Bill 1746 would expand state financial aid to an estimated 150,000 students, mostly in community college, by changing and easing eligibility requirements. It would also simplify the Cal Grant, the state’s financial aid program, which critics say is overly complex. Newsom vetoed a similar bill last year and his administration has already indicated that the latest bill would, in the administration’s view, be too expensive to implement.
He did not include funding for the expansion in his revised state budget for 2022-23 despite pleas from supporters.
The other bill, AB 1705, aims to help more community college students skip remedial classes, which don’t earn credit for transfer to a four-year university. The bill directs colleges to presume that students would take the transfer courses. It clarifies when a community college is allowed to enroll students in remedial courses. It would build off a 2017 landmark law, AB 705, that said colleges must enroll students directly in transfer-level courses and not remedial classes unless they are deemed highly unlikely to succeed in transfer-level classes.
—Michael BurkeThursday, May 19, 2022, 10:14 am
Link copied.Tiny university making a big hit in art world with auction of painting that could sell for $12 million
A tiny private university in San Bernardino County is making big news in the art world by putting up for auction on Thursday a painting by the artist Kerry James Marshall, “Beauty Examined,” that is expected to fetch up to $12 million, the Mercury News reported.
Loma Linda University is auctioning the painting through Sotheby’s.
Charles Simms, a 1960 alumnus of the school who co-founded California Cryobank, the nation’s largest human sperm bank, gave the painting to the college. Sims, of Brentwood, is an avid art collector with more than 300 pieces, the newspaper reported.
Rachelle Bussell, Loma Linda’s senior vice president for advancement, told the newspaper that the sale will help fund the school’s Center for Genomics, which was established in 2013 and studies the molecular mechanisms of human disease and health disparities.
The university, established in 1905 by members of the Seventh-day Adventist faith, has eight schools, 4,500 students and a $1 billion endowment, the newspaper reported.
—Thomas PeeleThursday, May 19, 2022, 9:56 am
Link copied.Many questions exist as Biden ponders student loan forgiveness
As President Joe Biden weighs forgiving $1.7 trillion in student loan debt for more than 40 million borrowers, both Democrats and Republicans and higher education experts are questioning the plan’s feasibility, Inside Higher Ed reported Thursday.
Questions involve debt relief’s long-term implications which includes the need to reform the country’s highly complex student loan and servicing programs and system, according to Inside Higher Ed.
“It seems increasingly apparent that the Biden administration intends to announce some sort of loan cancellation or forgiveness effort, but there is absolutely no information available to help people understand even the most basic elements of what such a policy would look like,” Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education told Inside Higher Ed. “There’s a great deal of confusion and uncertainty about what might happen.”
One issue is whether there should be an income cap on any debt relief. Democratic senators Chuck Schumer of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, want Biden to use his executive authority to erase at least $50,000 of debt per borrower. But Inside Higher Ed is reporting that that is unlikely and that the administration may exclude borrowers with yearly incomes of more than $125,000 to $150,000. Republicans, meanwhile, are arguing that student-loan forgiveness is a wasteful use of federal resources.
—Thomas PeeleWednesday, May 18, 2022, 1:10 pm
Link copied.State Board of Education approves $635 million in community school grants
The State Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously approved $635 million in planning and implementation grants for 265 school districts, county offices of education and charter schools in low-income areas to transition to full-service community schools.
Community schools act as community hubs that offer “wraparound services” such as health care, family support, counseling and housing assistance to students and families.
Of the 265 recipients, 192 are receiving $200,000 two-year planning grants to begin the process of becoming community schools. The other 73 are receiving five-year implementation grants covering 444 schools, with amounts ranging between $712,500 and $2.375 million.
The board appointed the Alameda County Office of Education to facilitate the grants, in collaboration with the UCLA Center for Community Schools, Californians for Justice and the National Education Association.
—Ali TadayonWednesday, May 18, 2022, 10:54 am
Link copied.LAUSD leaders express worries on budget, spending
Los Angeles Unified says it’s facing difficult choices as enrollment continues to steeply decline across the district. At Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole, LAUSD said it will reassess staffing and funding for programming in light of the decline and current financial realities.
Though enrollment has dropped by 70,000 students over the past five years, 10,000 positions have been added since then. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho made it clear at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting that the current overstaffing would not result in layoffs. Rather, LAUSD would redirect staff and reevaluate the current system, he said. The district will also have to reevaluate its administrator-to-teacher ratio, which has surpassed state requirements and may result in a fine if not addressed.
The district emphasized the importance of maintaining programs like Primary Promise, which has brought additional teachers into the classroom to support students struggling with literacy and math. Tuesday’s budget workshop didn’t take into consideration upcoming priorities and programming changes expected as a result of Carvalho’s 100-day plan, though Carvalho acknowledged difficult decisions remained ahead.
Chief Financial Officer David Hart stressed the importance of remaining wary of spending as LAUSD navigates its temporary extra funding.
“There seems to be a sense that it’s just there for the taking; there is a sense that it has not been allocated,” Hart said. “I need to clarify clearly, that is not the case. We have expenditure plans; we do not have excess funds. We will be able to expend all of the Covid monies without exception.”
LAUSD, which currently enrolls more than 430,000 students, predicts that its enrollment decline will continue at a faster rate than predicted for both Los Angeles County and California, with a loss of another 100,000 students over the next 10 years.
“What we know about forecasts is the further out we go, the more likely we are to be wrong,” Hart said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “But the order of magnitude here we think is concerning on a variety of fronts. This is what causes our structural imbalance.”
That, along with the lack of a centralized budget system for schools and local districts led to the current overstaffing, Carvalho said. The decentralization has led LAUSD to also exceed the state’s 8% cap on district administrative positions, he said. Until this year, the district has had a three-year waiver for the requirement, but if not met this upcoming year, the district will have to pay a $36 million fee.
“There is no vetting process,” Carvalho said. “There are no business rules that prevent individuals who have decision-making ability over their own budgets and protect the integrity of the district as a whole.”
Schoolteachers not assigned to the classroom are also considered administrative — something LAUSD has pushed the state to reconsider, Carvalho said.
LAUSD is working on developing its strategic plan, which it hopes to finalize next month alongside the budget. The goals that will soon be outlined in the strategic plan are expected to guide budget planning through 2026.
—Kate SequeiraWednesday, May 18, 2022, 9:24 am
Link copied.Two U.S. senators push a more modest proposal on child care
Amid the deepening child care crisis, two Democratic senators, Patty Murray of Washington and Tim Kaine of Virginia, are joining forces to push a scaled-back version of the ambitious child care program that was part of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation, as HuffPost reported.
Under the proposal from Murray and Kaine, the government would invest between $150 billion and $200 billion to rescue the struggling sector over 10 years, far less than the Biden plan, which failed to pass in the Senate. The bulk of the newly proposed spending would go through the Child Care Development and Block Grant, which states use to subsidize child care for low- and sometimes middle-income families. The proposal would triple the block grant’s usual funding, according to a new analysis from the Center on Law and Social Policy, allowing it to reach at least 1 million more kids while also setting aside some funds for beleaguered providers.
“The child care sector is on the brink of collapse and we have to act now to save it ― or families across the country will pay the price,” Murray said in a statement, HuffPost reported. “I have spoken to so many moms and parents who had to quit their jobs entirely because they either couldn’t afford child care or they couldn’t find it, and to child care workers who are being paid poverty wages and can’t make ends meet ― it’s clear, this is an urgent crisis and it’s putting a huge strain on our entire economy.”
—Karen D'SouzaWednesday, May 18, 2022, 9:20 am
Link copied.Expanded child tax credit helped fight hunger, report finds
Parents who received expanded child tax credit payments experienced less food insecurity than those who didn’t, according to a report by the Urban Institute.
Child tax credit payments were part of the American Rescue Plan, a Biden administration pandemic-relief program, as Fatherly reported. Payments of up to $300 per month per child were sent to families with qualifying dependents from July to December last year.
According to data compiled from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, rates of food insecurity dropped from 26.1% to 20% during the months the payments were sent.
Researchers also found that employment rates between those who got payments and those who didn’t were roughly the same.
“Although some have worried providing the maximum benefit of the CTC to all families might reduce employment, our findings do not suggest this occurred in the near term,” Elaine Maag, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said in a statement, Fatherly reported. “Overall, we see the temporary credits were associated with reduced food insecurity among families with children, without any immediate changes in work effort.”
The Biden administration attempted to extend the monthly payments in light of inflation and other economic pressures, but the Build Back Better Act was ultimately derailed and the beefed-up tax credit expired.
—Karen D'Souza
Tuesday, May 17, 2022, 11:53 am
Link copied.L.A. County approves $6 million to repurpose former juvenile detention facility
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an initial $6 million in funding to repurpose a former juvenile detention facility in the city of Lancaster, now known as the Challenger Memorial Youth Center, into a job training facility. The board also approved partnering with local Antelope Valley College to design the residential and vocational training programs.
Plans for the center include providing vocational training, career training, behavioral health services, and housing for 6-18 months. The center will serve young people ages 18 to 25 who have been in the juvenile justice system, in the foster care system or who are homeless.
The motion for $6 million in funding was introduced by Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose constituents live in the county’s fifth and largest district. The effort to repurpose the former detention facility was initially approved by the board in 2018.
—Betty Márquez RosalesTuesday, May 17, 2022, 9:39 am
Link copied.California Attorney General submits amicus brief supporting race-neutral admissions policies
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday submitted an amicus brief in a U.S. Court of Appeals case alongside 15 other state attorneys general supporting a Virginia school board’s race-neutral admissions policy.
Bonta is urging the appellate court to overturn the district court’s ruling in TJ v. Fairfax County School Board, which he said in a statement “threatens to seriously impair the ability of states to implement effective, inclusive policies for all individuals, regardless of race, socioeconomic status or background.”
In question are the admission policies of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, which has consistently ranked as one of the best public high schools in the nation, yet only 2% of Black students and 3% of Latino students from the surrounding middle schools were admitted. In response to the inequity, the Fairfax County School Board instituted a policy in 2020 to increase outreach to underrepresented middle schools, eliminate the application fee and grant admission to the top 1.5% of eligible eighth graders from each middle school.
That policy resulted in a dramatic increase in Jefferson High’s enrollment of Black, Latino and economically disadvantaged students. However, it was struck down in a federal district court.
—Ali TadayonTuesday, May 17, 2022, 9:18 am
Link copied.San Francisco Unified to appoint new superintendent from Hayward
Hayward Unified Superintendent Matt Wayne has been picked as the new superintendent of San Francisco Unified, the latter district announced last week.
Wayne’s contract is up for approval at the May 24 San Francisco Board of Education meeting; he is the only finalist in the search to replace Vincent Matthews, who announced his plans to retire last year.
Wayne has served as Hayward Unified’s superintendent for the past six years, and prior to that, he worked as assistant superintendent for education services for Hayward Unified. Before going to Hayward, he oversaw elementary schools for San Francisco Unified for two years. He has also worked as an assistant principal at West Contra Costa Unified and a teacher in New York City.
Wayne’s contract will begin July 1.
—Ali TadayonTuesday, May 17, 2022, 12:01 am
Link copied.Most California teacher preparation programs flunk math instruction
Most California teacher preparation programs are failing to adequately train future teachers to teach elementary school level mathematics, according to a National Council on Teacher Quality report released today.
The organization reviewed 1,100 teacher preparation programs nationwide to determine how much time each spent on math instruction and the content of that instruction. The findings were reported in “Teacher Prep Review: Preparation for Teaching Elementary Mathematics.”
Only eight of California’s 64 teacher preparation programs examined in the report had a passing grade.
Two California State University undergraduate programs, at Bakersfield and Northridge, earned an A-plus. Schools earned a perfect score if they met the recommended instructional hours across all math topics, according to the report.
CSU Chico’s undergraduate program earned an A, and National and Pepperdine universities’ undergraduate programs both earned a C. The graduate programs at San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara were each given a D, as was the undergraduate program at Loyola Marymount University. A score for Stanford University could not be determined.
The rest of the state’s teacher preparation programs were given an F.
Research has found that elementary math skills are a strong predictor of whether a student will graduate from high school, yet national and international assessments find American public school students continue to struggle to become proficient in math, according to the NCTQ.
“We know how much math matters in setting a foundation for students and closing opportunity gaps,” said Heather Peske, NCTQ President. “The biggest in-school difference we can make for students’ math learning is to make sure their elementary teachers understand key math content and know how to teach math effectively.”
In contrast to undergraduate programs, the majority of graduate-level programs preparing elementary teachers fail to provide sufficient coursework in mathematics. NCTQ data shows that the average graduate teacher preparation program spends only 14 hours on mathematics content knowledge, compared to 85 hours on math content for the average undergraduate program, according to the study.
—Diana LambertMonday, May 16, 2022, 10:01 am
Link copied.Feds extend time for schools to spend Covid relief funds
The U.S. Department of Education last week extended the deadline an additional 18 months for school districts to spend their Covid relief funds from the American Rescue Plan.
The original deadline was Sept. 30, 2024, but now school districts have until spring 2026 or even longer if they’re encountering “extraordinary circumstances,” according to the department. The extension is to help school districts whose efforts to spend their grant money have been hampered by staffing shortages, inflation and other obstacles.
“Given inflation, supply chain issues and labor shortages, we know that districts want to invest these funds wisely, and the knowledge that they have 18 additional months to liquidate funding will hopefully provide them with the assurance needed to move forward with using ARP funds for these contracts and obligations,” Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, said, according to K-12 Dive.
—Carolyn JonesMonday, May 16, 2022, 9:54 am
Link copied.Mt. Diablo High to grant diplomas to former students who were interned in WWII
Mt. Diablo High will award retroactive diplomas next week to former students whose educations were interrupted when they were forced into internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II.
The Contra Costa County high school will grant the diplomas to the former students, most of whom are now in their 90s, or their families, at its Class of 2022 graduation ceremony May 24. The school plans to award about 40 diplomas.
During World War II, the U.S. forced thousands of Japanese-American citizens into remote internment camps following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Many of those citizens lost their homes, businesses and assets in the process. At the time, California had the largest number of Japanese-Americans in the country.
Mt. Diablo’s effort to honor these students is due to the work of ethnic studies teacher Laura Valdez, her students, and Kimiyo Tahira Dowell, who graduated from Mt. Diablo High in 1958 and was interned with her family when she was a toddler. Dowell, Valdez and Valdez’ students studied the school’s 1942 yearbook to identify students who had been relocated, tracked down their families and lobbied the school board for approval.
–Carolyn Jones
—Carolyn Jones
Friday, May 13, 2022, 9:57 am
Link copied.Students sue Mills College over merger
A class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 800 students against Mills College for allegedly illegally misleading them about the upcoming merger with Northeastern University, costing them money and delaying their education.
The college is set to merge with Boston-based Northeastern University on July 1.
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, students say the college encouraged students to remain enrolled, and failed to tell them until later that the last time to graduate with a Mills degree would be in 2022, not 2023 as announced, and that once Northeastern took over, many degree programs would be eliminated. They say that as a result, they missed deadlines to transfer to other colleges. They are seeking unspecified monetary compensation.
A Mills spokesperson told the Chronicle that the college’s lawyers have not yet reviewed the lawsuit.
—EdSource staffFriday, May 13, 2022, 9:48 am
Link copied.Department of Interior releases report on Indian boarding schools
After a nine-month investigation, the Department of the Interior released a report this week showing the federal government operated or supported 408 boarding schools across 37 states, between 1819 and 1969, with the goal of forcibly assimilating Native American youth and making it easier to break up and remove tribal lands from Native American people, Native News Online reports.
In addition, the investigation also found 1,000 additional institutions that served the same purpose but were not boarding schools, but day schools, sanitariums, asylums, orphanages, and stand-alone dormitories.
Native American children were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to these schools where they had their hair cut, were reassigned English names and were forbidden from speaking their Native languages or practicing their cultures.
“This report confirms that the United States directly targeted American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children in the pursuit of a policy of cultural assimilation that coincided with Indian territorial dispossession,” Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland wrote in a letter accompanying the report. “I believe that this historical context is important to understanding the intent and scale of the Federal Indian boarding school system, and why it persisted for 150 years.”
The investigation identified marked and unmarked burial sites at 53 schools. However, the investigation into burial sites has not been finished, and Newland is recommending a second report to focus specifically on burial sites associated with the federal Indian boarding school system, including the names, ages and tribal affiliations of children buried.
—EdSource staffThursday, May 12, 2022, 6:54 pm
Link copied.Newsom wants annual progress reports from California colleges
Under a proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom, California’s public college and university systems would be required to submit annual reports to the Legislature and the governor detailing their progress on metrics including graduation rates, reducing achievement gaps and preparing more students for the workforce, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The University of California and California State University will be expected to make progress in those areas in exchange for annual 5% base funding increases over the next five years as part of “multi-year compacts” that Newsom initially proposed in January for the systems. A new addition to the proposal is that, according to the Times, all three of California’s public college systems would submit reports each November to the governor and Legislature outlining their progress on the goals. In addition to UC and CSU, that includes the state’s system of 116 community college system, which will also be expected to make similar improvements.
Unlike with UC and CSU, the governor’s January budget proposal didn’t tie future base funding increases to the community college system meeting its goals. Base funding for the community college system is determined under Proposition 98.
If UC and CSU fail to make progress toward the goals outlined by Newsom, that could result in funding for the university systems being reduced, though it’s not clear if that will happen. Another option, according to the Times, is that the systems could get more resources to help them make progress.
More details about the compacts are expected to be unveiled Friday when Newsom releases his May budget revision.
—Michael BurkeThursday, May 12, 2022, 10:54 am
Link copied.Interest rates on new student loans to rise sharply
The interest rates on new student loans will go up in July, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
The hike will be the biggest percentage jump since 2013 and is the result of the Treasury Department’s auction of 10-year notes on Wednesday, the Post reported. The increases were widely anticipated as Treasury yields have risen in response to the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate increases.
Undergraduate students will pay 4.99% in interest on new Stafford loans, up from 3.73%. Graduate students and parents who take on federal debt to help their children pursue a degree will see the interest rate on new PLUS loans rise from 6.28% to 7.54%, the Post reported. The new rates are good only for loans taken out to pay for the 2022-2023 academic year and have no impact on existing education debt.
“If you’re a graduate student borrowing tens of thousands of dollars a year, this [rate increase] is more consequential than for an undergraduate in their first year, when at the most you can only borrow $5,550,” Jason D. Delisle, a senior policy fellow in the Center on Education Data and Policy at the Urban Institute, told the newspaper.
—Thomas PeeleWednesday, May 11, 2022, 4:49 pm
Link copied.LAUSD school board delays Covid-19 vaccine mandate to align with state
The Los Angeles Unified school board unanimously voted Tuesday to postpone its Covid-19 vaccine mandate, aligning itself with the state, which pushed back its mandate last month. The mandate has been delayed until at least July 2023.
This means students 12 and older are no longer required to be vaccinated to attend school in person next year. Currently, 84% of students are at least partially vaccinated, according to district data. This is a significant change from the fall when LAUSD reported that 12% of students 12 and older were at least partially vaccinated.
Employees across schools in the district will continue to be required to be vaccinated.
—Kate SequeiraWednesday, May 11, 2022, 4:28 pm
Link copied.LAUSD to restructure deaf education
Los Angeles Unified unanimously approved a controversial resolution Tuesday that will place all deaf and hard of hearing children ages 0-to-3 in a bilingual ASL and English language program. LAUSD parents will still be able to choose among all available education programs, but the bilingual program will be the default.
Those in favor say the move will elevate and encourage use of ASL in a district they say has never fully embraced it. Those against the resolution say they worry the decision to make the bilingual program the default program will take away parent choice. To quell concerns from opponents, board members added language to the resolution ensuring that all families will be given complete information about their education options.
“That’s the key to this resolution,” said board member Jackie Goldberg, one of the sponsors of the resolution. “Everybody, every parent, dealing with the understanding that their infant cannot hear or hears very poorly has to come to grips with what’s best for their child to do. My resolution does not tell them what to do. It is still their decision.”
The resolution received support from many, including United Teachers Los Angeles and was opposed by many, including Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, whose daughter is hard of hearing. A statement was read on his behalf during the public comments portion.
Those against the resolution argued that ASL might cause barriers between hearing parents and their children and that the move doesn’t take into account those who receive cochlear implants that allow them to hear and speak. Supporters argued that learning ASL would only enhance their speaking abilities.
—Kate SequeiraWednesday, May 11, 2022, 12:00 pm
Link copied.Lodi Unified superintendent to retire after 15-year tenure
Cathy Nichols-Washer, the longest-serving superintendent among California’s largest school districts, announced Tuesday she plans to retire at the end of next school year.
Nichols-Washer has worked in education for 37 years, the last 15 as chief of Lodi Unified, a 28,000-student district in the Central Valley that encompasses Lodi, northern Stockton and surrounding rural areas. Prior to joining Lodi, Nichols-Washer was superintendent and a classroom teacher at nearby Manteca Unified.
“It is a privilege and honor to serve in this leadership position and I am grateful to have worked with so many wonderful people who care deeply about the children in Lodi Unified,” Nichols-Washer said. “With the health pandemic situation improving, I think it is a good time for a new leader to start.”
In Lodi, Nichols-Washer is credited with increasing student achievement, expanding career and technical education, bolstering counseling services and other improvements.
“We have been incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Washer at the helm for almost 15 years. It is uncommon for a superintendent to be this dedicated and invested long-term in a community, its students, and its staff,” said Lodi Unified’s board president, Sue Macfarlane. “She has left an indelible mark on our district and our entire Board and community are appreciative of her years of service.”
Nichols-Washer is also among the highest-paid superintendents in California. In March, the board voted to raise her salary to $291,000 as part of her updated contract, her second raise in less than a year. The teachers union protested the raise, saying the district needed to boost salaries for teachers and other staff before hiking pay for administrators.
—Carolyn JonesWednesday, May 11, 2022, 8:58 am
Link copied.Report questions future of the California public education system
The sustainability of the state’s public education system is questioned in a new report from the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans. Part of the California 100 initiative, administered by the Goldman School of Public Policy, the report finds that long-term structural challenges in the state’s finance system, combined with flaws in education governance, threaten the long-term outlook of public education.
The analysis examines how California manages and funds the early care and education (ECE), K-12, and higher education systems, to assess the strengths and shortcomings of the system. Two main structural issues in the finance system emerge. These include the inadequacy of the formula to determine funding levels in ECE, K-12, or higher education and the instability of the education finance system, which may falter during recessions, fueling dramatic losses.
“California has historically underinvested in all parts of the education system, and we all begrudgingly live with the results – not enough subsidized child care seats, low levels of academic achievement in K-12, and rising tuition across higher education institutions,” said Erin Heys, the principal investigator of the project. “Lawmakers today are trying to make up for past underinvestment by using multi-year state budget surpluses to better fund each sector. The problem is that much of the new funding is one-time rather than ongoing, which means that the new money schools and colleges have now will be at risk in a future downturn. This rollercoaster of funding has gone on for far too long. To secure the longevity and success of public education in California, lawmakers must invest in the adequacy and sustainability of the finance system.”
Looking ahead, the rise of alternative education models must also be grappled with, researchers suggest.
“As California sits at the crossroads of change, this report is intended to be a conversation starter for stakeholders to consider what education might look like in California a century from now,” said Sarah Swanbeck, executive director of the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans and co-author of the report. “Alternative education models are taking root in California today that put into question the longevity of the public system, but there are important tradeoffs that need serious consideration. We encourage readers to consider how student equity, education quality, and the democratic purposes of education are represented in different models and what reforms, if any, may be necessary to steer the system towards a brighter future.”
—Karen D'SouzaWednesday, May 11, 2022, 8:57 am
Link copied.California parents dream of college while dreading the cost, survey shows
The majority of California parents want their children to get a college degree, even as they worry about the rising cost of college, according to a new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California.
Most California parents hope that their child will earn at least a four-year college degree, with four in ten hoping their child will obtain a graduate degree. Parents with higher education levels have higher aspirations for their children’s educational achievement. Parents with lower incomes and lower educational credentials are the most concerned about escalating college costs.
Nearly all parents with college degrees hope their child will obtain at least a four-year degree, including 58% who hope their child will earn a graduate degree. Nearly half of parents with some college (49%) and fewer parents with a high school education only (31%) hope their child will get a graduate degree.
Expectations rise with incomes as parents making $60,000 or more annually are far more likely than those with lower incomes to hope their child will earn a four-year degree or a graduate degree.
Fewer than two in ten hope their child’s highest level of education will be a two-year community college degree or career technical training.
—Karen D'Souza
Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 10:52 am
Link copied.State lawmakers, faculty call on Sonoma State University president to resign
State Senators Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg called on Sonoma State University president Judy Sakaki to step down following a vote of no confidence by the university’s faculty, the Press-Democrat reported Monday.
About 44% of the university’s faculty voted on the no confidence resolution, with 62% of voters in favor, according to the Press-Democrat.
Sakaki has been criticized for how she handled campus sexual harassment allegations against her husband Patrick McCallum, who was a lobbyist for the state’s Fire Victims Trust. Sakaki announced her separation from McCallum last month.
Rohnert Park, the campus’s former provost was paid $600,000 earlier this year to settle a claim she filed alleging that she had been sexually harassed McCallum. Although not a university employee, McCallum was an “official university volunteer,” the Los Angeles Times reported, accompanying his wife at official functions. Sakaki and McCullum have since separated.
Sakaki has also been criticized for her budget oversight over years of sharp enrollment declines, the Press Democrat reported.
Sakaki, in a statement, said she’s “mindful of the concerns” that prompted faculty to vote for the no confidence resolution, but did not indicate whether she was considering stepping down.
—Ali TadayonTuesday, May 10, 2022, 10:07 am
Link copied.20 Marin County schools hit with Covid outbreaks
As California sees a statewide spike in Covid cases in recent weeks, 20 Marin County schools have seen outbreaks of three or more cases among students or staff, the Marin Independent Journal reported Monday.
Still, Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said he will not be issuing any local mask mandates — for schools or otherwise — at this time.
Officials at some districts have urged parents and students to consider masking indoors amid the surge, according to the Independent Journal. Some have also distributed at-home rapid tests for students and staff.
—Ali TadayonTuesday, May 10, 2022, 9:56 am
Link copied.Pacific Grove Unified likely to reinstate mask mandate
Pacific Grove Unified School District, on the Monterey Peninsula, is poised to reinstate its mask mandate amid a statewide spike in Covid cases.
After the state ended its school mask mandate in March, the district’s school board approved a policy that would require students and staff to wear masks indoors if the area saw a seven-day test positivity greater than 5% and a seven-day average case rate of more than 10 cases per 100,000 people, the Monterey Herald reported.
As of Tuesday, Monterey County had a seven-day test positivity rate of 4.8%, up 1% from the week prior, according to the California’s Covid-19 dashboard. The seven-day average case rate was 10.2 per 100,000.
—Ali TadayonMonday, May 9, 2022, 9:58 am
Link copied.Dr. Dre gives $10 million for performing arts center at Compton High
Famed rapper Dr. Dre was on hand Saturday at the groundbreaking of a new campus for Compton High School — which will include a state-of-the-art performing arts center he funded, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, donated $10 million to the project. Young grew up in Compton but dropped out of high school, and has often cited regrets about his education. He and music producer Jimmy Iovine have also opened a public magnet school in Los Angeles and a college academy at the University of Southern California.
“I was an artistic kid in school with no outlet for it. I knew I had something special to offer to the world, but with nothing to support my gift, schools left me feeling unseen,” Young said Saturday, the Times reported. “I’ve always wondered how much further ahead I might have been had the resources I needed in school were available.”
The new performing arts center, part of a $200 million new campus for the historic South Los Angeles high school, will be called the Andre ‘Dr. Dre’ Young Performing Arts Center.
—Carolyn JonesMonday, May 9, 2022, 9:44 am
Link copied.Amid budget crisis, S.F. City College lays off 38 full-time faculty members
San Francisco City College’s board of trustees voted Friday to lay off 38 faculty members in an effort to attain financial stability ahead of an accreditation review, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The 25,000-student community college is eliminating 50 faculty positions overall, but 12 are due to retirements. Dozens of part-time instructors will also be let go.
Like many community colleges, San Francisco City College has seen a steep drop in enrollment in the past few years, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The result is a deficit of $65 million since 2017-18, the Chronicle reported.
The trustees voted 4-1 in favor of the cuts. Trustee Alan Wong was the sole dissenter.
“At the end of the day I believe that layoffs should always be a last resort,” Wong said. “I felt that we should have explored other opportunities for mutual compromise first before we went to this measure.”
—Carolyn JonesFriday, May 6, 2022, 2:27 pm
Link copied.U.S. Dept. of Education seeks public input on updating disability rights law
In order to modernize a 45-year-old law that protects students with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Education is asking the public for their ideas for how to improve the landmark legislation.
This will be the first major update to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the law behind “504 plans” that require schools to accommodate students with disabilities. The department’s Office of Civil Rights is overseeing the updates.
Members of the public can send an email to Section504@ed.gov.
“While the world has undergone enormous changes since 1977, the Department’s Section 504 regulations have remained, with few exceptions, unaltered,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said. “As we observe the 45th anniversary of these important regulations this month, it is time to start the process of updating them. Just as in 1977, the voices of people with disabilities must be heard and incorporated as we engage in that work.”
The updates are part of President Biden’s broader push to improve mental health services generally, as rates of depression, anxiety and other conditions have soared — especially among young people — since the pandemic began in March 2020.
–Carolyn Jones
—Carolyn JonesFriday, May 6, 2022, 1:53 pm
Link copied.Calbright College awards 100th workforce certificate
Calbright College, California’s online-only community college, announced Friday that it had awarded its 100th certificate since opening to students two and a half years ago.
The 100th certificate was the 20th such credential awarded in the college’s newest program in Customer Relationship Management, which launched in August. As of April 20, eight certificates have been awarded in Medical coding, 24 in Cybersecurity and 48 in Information Technology Support.
Calbright opened to students in October 2019 as a free, self-paced alternative to traditional colleges intended to serve adults between the ages of 25 and 34 who lack college degrees or need additional skills to qualify for higher-paying jobs. The college uses a competency-based education model that assesses students based on their skills and not the amount of time they spend in a class.
However, critics of the college say that too few students have completed Calbright’s programs and that state funding to the college should instead go to the traditional community colleges. As of the end of April, the college reported its enrollment had surpassed more than 1,010 people. The majority of students, more than 65% were reported to be enrolled in information technology courses.
Calbright claims that if students dedicate five to 10 hours a week to their courses they can complete a Calbright program in less than 12 months.
—Ashley A. Smith