Rob Bonta

March 8, 2024

Chino Valley revamps parental notification policy; LGBTQ+ allies fear legal escalation

The Chino Valley Unified School District passed an updated version of its previous transgender notification policy. LGBTQ+ advocates and teachers fear it could help the district escalate their case in court.

Mallika Seshadri

School Boards/Local Control

December 13, 2023

Bonta backs motion blocking censorship, transgender notification in Temecula schools

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is formally backing a motion to prevent Temecula Valley Unified from implementing policies that could censor instruction about race, and gender or force employees to notify parents if their child shows signs of being transgender.

Mallika Seshadri

Student Well-Being

October 5, 2023

LGBTQ+ students in conservative crosshairs

Parental notification policies being passed by school districts are dividing communities, pitting teachers against students and creating fear and anxiety for LGBTQ students.

Diana Lambert

Commentary

September 18, 2023

California leaders should focus on getting our money's worth from public schools

Per-student revenue for school districts as well as total compensation for administrators and teachers is rising while student test scores are dismal.

Todd Maddison

Parent Involvement

September 8, 2023

Orange Unified becomes sixth California district to adopt transgender parental notification policy

Orange Unified School District passed a policy Thursday evening that would require school officials to notify parents and guardians if their child shows signs of being transgender.

Mallika Seshadri

State Education Policy

August 28, 2023

Attorney General files suit against Chino Valley Unified to stop ‘forced outing policy’

California's attorney general filed a lawsuit against Chino Valley Unified Monday alleging a policy 'outing' students to their parents violates the state constitution and state law.

Diana Lambert

Teachers

August 15, 2023

Can teachers be legally liable if district policy requires they break the law?

Because of policies being enacted by conservative school boards across the state, teachers are having to choose between violating district policy and risk losing their job, or disobeying federal and state laws and ending up in court.

Diana Lambert

Parent Voices

August 11, 2023

Murrieta Valley Unified adopts Chino Valley’s policy notifying parents of student gender identity

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District board voted Thursday night to accept the resolution passed by the Chino Valley Unified school board on July 20 “as is”— mandating that parents be told if their child makes any indication of being transgender.

Mallika Seshadri

Curriculum

July 22, 2023

Temecula Valley Unified reverses course and adopts state-approved social studies curriculum

Temecula Valley Unified's approval of social studies textbooks it had voted down twice before, came two days after Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to send the books and to charge the district for them.

Diana Lambert, John Fensterwald, And Mallika Seshadri

Curriculum

June 13, 2023

Temecula Valley school board fires superintendent Jodi McClay as protests erupt outside

Behind closed doors, the Temecula Valley school board voted 3-1 to fire the district’s superintendent Jodi McClay Tuesday and hire former Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Velez to fill in as interim.

Mallika Seshadri

Charter Schools

February 26, 2019

Proposed legislation would substantially curb growth of California charter schools

Legislation by the chair of the Assembly Education Committee would ban appeals, cap charters at the current level and factor in charter schools’ fiscal impact on authorizing districts

John Fensterwald

Charter Schools

July 17, 2018

Oakland charter school approved amid concerns over fiscal impact on district

California Department of Education official calls state's charter school laws outdated and says they are in need of revision.

Theresa Harrington

School Finance

June 7, 2018

Oakland and Inglewood among four financially distressed California districts seeking state relief

Districts are hoping the upcoming state budget will include financial relief such as deferred state loans, flat per-student payments, and flexibility to sell or lease surplus property.