Courtesy: California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office
With each passing year, we learn how a changing climate can affect our lives. For most Californians, two things stand out: bigger, more destructive wildfires and long-term threats to our precious water supply.
There are proven solutions to these challenges, enabling us to shift to prevention instead of simply responding to growing natural disasters fueled by climate change. The longer we wait to make this change, the greater the consequences and the costs.
Proposition 4, on the Nov. 5 ballot, represents a strategic investment in California’s environment, its economy and its people. The $10 billion bond measure dedicates $1.5 billion to preventing wildfires and smoke by creating fire breaks near communities, improving forest health to reduce wildfire intensity, supporting specialized firefighting equipment, and deploying early detection and response systems. To protect safe drinking water supplies, it provides $3.8 billion to treat groundwater contaminants, recharge aquifers, rebuild crumbling water infrastructure, and restore watersheds.
It also provides an important opportunity for California’s community colleges and the students we serve.
Proposition 4 will create important jobs in an evolving green economy. The question is how we build the workforce needed to do the work ahead.
California’s Community Colleges are uniquely positioned to ensure Proposition 4 dollars are leveraged to usher in this new workforce. If it passes, students will see new opportunities in career technical education programs that align with industry needs, including:
Expansion of clean energy training programs: Proposition 4 could support programs in solar energy installation, wind turbine maintenance and battery storage technology. By equipping students with these skills, community colleges can prepare them for high-demand jobs in the renewable energy sector, which is projected to grow as California expands its clean energy infrastructure.
Green construction and sustainable building techniques: The bond could provide resources to expand programs in sustainable construction, teaching students energy-efficient building methods and retrofitting techniques. These skills are crucial as California ramps up efforts to build climate-resilient infrastructure, creating jobs for students in green construction.
Water management and conservation technology: As the state faces ongoing water challenges, Proposition 4 could help community colleges develop programs focused on water conservation and management. Students trained in operating water technologies and wastewater treatment would be in high demand across various sectors, especially agriculture and public utilities.
Electric vehicle (EV) maintenance and infrastructure: With the rapid shift toward electric vehicles, funding from Proposition 4 could be used to expand EV technology programs, preparing students to service EVs and maintain charging stations. This would align with the state’s push to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles, creating opportunities for students in a growing market.
Work-based learning and internships in climate projects: Proposition 4 could enable partnerships between community colleges and green industry employers to provide internships and hands-on experience. Students could work on real-world projects in renewable energy, water management, or green construction, giving them practical skills and a competitive edge in the job market.
By dedicating at least 40% of its investment to disadvantaged communities, Proposition 4 ensures that these communities must be part of the work ahead, not witnesses to it.
As an educator, I see opportunity. California’s 116 community colleges are distributed across the state and are deeply embedded in their communities, particularly those in rural areas. When natural disasters strike, these communities find shelter at their community college campuses. Proposition 4 is a chance for California to build out its climate infrastructure efficiently by leaning on its community colleges in two ways: (1) sites for infrastructure deployment and (2) for workforce development. By expanding access to green job training programs, Proposition 4 will enable Californians from all backgrounds to participate in climate jobs of the future.
The students in our community colleges today will be the innovators, technicians and leaders of tomorrow. Proposition 4, through its focus on climate resilience, offers the chance to support these students in gaining the skills they need to succeed in an evolving job market while preventing wildfires, providing safe drinking water, protecting California’s iconic natural heritage, and contributing to the state’s clean energy transition. If we invest in them now, we invest in California’s future.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Cal Poly Pomona students host a voter registration table.
Credit: Courtesy of ASI, Cal Poly Pomona
Every Monday for the past few weeks, Cal Poly Pomona student Melvyn Hernandez has been manning a table outside the Bronco Student Center to register fellow students to vote. He comes prepared with snacks, prizes and a quiz testing students’ election year know-how.
“When it comes to things like Super Tuesday, or what a swing state is, or even who the major candidates are for the elections, a lot of students don’t really have the time to be aware of that,” said Hernandez, an architecture major. “A lot of students — even with how publicized the different debates and everything are– they’re too busy to be following it.”
Hernandez and volunteers across California’s colleges and universities are trying to add something important to the endless to-do list of the typical college student this fall: A crash course in Elections 101. In a year when barriers to students voting in states like North Carolina and Arizona have made headlines, California students are getting out the word about key election deadlines and directing their peers to nearby polling places. They’re also raising awareness about down-ballot conteststhat directly affectstudents’ lives — such as a proposed minimum wage increase — but which could get lost in the noise of a contentious presidential race.
Students and administrators involved in nonpartisan voter-turnout efforts at California State University campuses said their task this election cycle is to provide reliable information to a population that’s simultaneously pressed for time and overwhelmed by the volume of biased political messages. Students said another challenge is to galvanize potential voters disappointed by their options in the presidential race — and perhaps turned off from voting altogether.
“That’s the point of why we’re here,” Hernandez tells students if they’re embarrassed to admit they don’t know much about nominees and ballot measures. “So that you are aware and you can go ahead and further pursue finding out more about the candidates.”
Similar efforts are underway at many University of California (UC) campuses, community colleges and private schools.
Youth voter turnout has historically lagged the rates among older voters. But recent elections have seen larger shares of young voters. The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University estimates that 50% of voters age 18 to 29 voted in the 2020 election, up 11 points from 2016. That rate still trailed voter participation among older voters, though; 69% of voters 35 to 64 and 74% of voters 65 and older turned out in 2020.
A recognition that colleges should play a role in supporting young voters is part of the impetus behind the California Secretary of State’s California University and College Ballot Bowl Competition, a program that seeks to harness intercollegiate rivalry to encourage voter registration.
Going Deeper
You can look up the nearest polling place to you, including those on or near University of California and California Community College campuses, here. A list of early voting and vote-by-mail drop-off locations is here.
On-campus voting locations are another way to ease what could be students’ first time filling out a ballot. This year, for example, all Cal State campuses are home to one or more ballot drop-off locations, and many also serve as vote centers.
College students attending school outside their home county or state usually have a choice of where to register to vote.In California, students can register in the county where they’ve relocated for school or in the home county where their family lives.
Jackie Wu, a former Orange County election official who has worked with Cal State Fullerton on civic engagement, said that university administrators shouldn’t settle for low voter participation on campus just as they wouldn’t pass up a chance to increase slumping graduation rates.
College “is our last opportunity, in a structured system, to encourage voting and civic participation,” she said.
Offering students ‘little hints and pebbles’
Striking the right tone in an election awareness campaign can be a delicate balance for college administrators and student volunteers.
They’ve got to educate low-information would-be voters — the students who don’t know the answers to Hernandez’s questionnaire. Yet, they have to be mindful that omnipresent political advertising can leave studentsunsure of what to believe.And, of course, universities have tooffer fastidiously nonpartisan messages, even in a polarized political climate saturated with sensationalist campaigning in the mad dash before Election Day.
“There’s so much pressure put on everyone. You know, ‘The election is really important. Make sure you turn out to vote. The future depends on it,” said Wu. “A lot of times (students) may not feel like they know where to ask for help and who they can go to for help that isn’t trying to pressure them to vote a certain way.”
The solution: Lots of voter education events and some casual nudges.
Besides voter registration booths, Cal State students this fall have helped organizepanels about ballot propositions and forums where students can mingle with candidates for local office. Cal State Fullerton student government even had a table at the weekly on-campus farmer’s market to register voters, Wu said.
A custom coffee sleeve distributed at Cal Poly Pomona ahead of the 2024 election reminds students to vote.Credit: Courtesy of Cal Poly Pomona
Small reminders help, too. Jeanne Tran-Martin, Cal State’s interim director of student affairs programs, said some schools encourage students to confirm whether they are registered to vote by placing a link in their online student dashboards. This year, Cal Poly Pomona ordered custom coffee cup sleeves with a QR code linking to TurboVote, a website where students can register to vote.
“We’re not trying to get in anyone’s face and saying, ‘This is so important. Why aren’t you doing this?’” said Michelle Ellis Viorato, the campus’s civic and voter empowerment coordinator. “We’re just trying to drop little hints and pebbles to get people to think about, ‘Oh right, this is coming up. I need to remember to do this.’”
The low-key messaging could help Cal Poly Pomona to reach this fall’s voter turnout goal of 72%. That would be a slight increase from the school’s 70% voting rate in the last presidential election, according to a report by Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, which estimates voter participation by merging student records and voting files. (You can look up the voter turnout records of selected other campuses here.)
For students already registered, breaking down the steps to cast a ballot can help to relieve some election-season jitters.
At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where about 94%of students were from outside the county and roughly 15% were from outside California as of last fall, voter registration volunteers have been fielding lots of questions about when and where students can find their ballots.
Tanner Schinderle, the secretary of executive staff at Associated Students, the school’s student government, said volunteers help students to think through their options, like getting absentee ballots, asking a parent to mail them their ballot or registering in San Luis Obispo County.
Encouraging students to ‘look down your ballot’
Voter registration has been a sprint at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which kicked off the fall term on Sept. 16, a late start compared with universities that operate on semesters rather than quarters.
Associated Students has averaged two to three voter registration drives per week, Schinderle estimates, thanks to more than 80 students trained on the process. Those students have been running a voter registration booth in the University Union Plaza. Volunteers also knocked on the doors of virtually every first-year student living on campus, Schinderle said, offering voter registration help.
The overall reaction has been positive, he added. But several students interviewed for this story said they’ve encountered peers frustrated with national politics.
“There’s a common attitude of, ‘Pick the lesser of two evils,’” said Cade Wheeler, a mechanical engineering student who is Cal Poly Pomona’s student body president.
Alejandra Lopez Sanchez, who serves as secretary of external affairs at Cal Poly Pomona Associated Students, said a few of the students she met at an on-campus voter outreach event in October remarked they weren’t sure if they would vote in this election.
“Especially for the presidential candidates, they’re like, ‘Who am I supposed to vote for if I don’t like either of them?’” she said.
But voters who look past the race for the presidency will find statewide contests that could make a concrete difference in students’ lives. Proposition 2, for example, would authorize a $10 billion state construction bond for TK-12 schools and community colleges. And for students working minimum wage jobs, Proposition 32 would set higher wage floors.
Speakers from the Rose Institute for State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College share a presentation about ballot measures at a university housing complex at Cal Poly Pomona.Courtesy of Cal Poly Pomona
Weston Patrick, the secretary of external affairs at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Associated Students, finds the best tactic is to refocus students on local races in San Luis Obispo that influence public transit systems, housing and other areas important to students.
“That was kind of a guiding principle, telling students, ‘Hey, if you’re not feeling thrilled about your choices at the top of the ballot’ — which we certainly did get some of that sentiment from some students — ‘look down your ballot,’” he said.
That’s why Patrick was excited to see students strike up conversations with candidates for San Luis Obispo City Council at an event Associated Students hosted on campus. (It probably didn’t hurt that students could grab a free doughnut if they talked to one or more candidates.)
IeseEsera, president of the systemwideCal State Student Association, said he hopes strong campus voter turnout will influence legislators shaping legislation relevant to students, like how much the state invests in higher education.
“We are tax-paying citizens who also pay tuition, for example, who also have to afford the same cost of living that you do and that our parents do,” Esera said.
Weighing the election’s impact on jobs and cost of living
Students said their peers are most concernedabout how the election could impact students’ tuition, cost of living and career outlook.
“In my generation, a lot of us talk about how expensive everything is, especially in California,” said Megan Shadrick, Cal Poly Pomona Associated Students vice president. “It can be pretty discouraging as we’re trying to move forward into our careers.”
Efforts to make voting easier could benefit students who are short on time because they’re working multiple jobs or managing a long commute.
One thing to know is that California voters can mail their ballots, drop them at any ballot box or deliver them to any polling place in the state. Similarly, Tran-Martin likes to remind students who plan to vote in person that if you are waiting in line to vote when the polls close at 8 p.m., you will still get to cast your ballot.
And when all else fails, a little positive peer pressure can help.
Bahar Ahmadi, a student studying environmental engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, volunteered at an election fair held on Oct. 10. Reached about a week later,Ahmadi, a first-time voter, said she might joina group of friends for moral support as they drop off ballots together.
“I feel like the first time doing it might feel intimidating alone,” she said.
Student musicians give a concert for Pasadena Unified.
credit: Pasadena Unified School District
An Altadena family with four young children was awakened in the middle of the night by a firefighter’s urgent evacuation order. They fled their house with little more than the pajamas on their backs. The youngest child, a violinist, left her instrument behind. When the family arrived at the evacuation shelter, her greatest worry was whether her violin was going to be safe.
In the wake of the catastrophic Eaton fire that swept through Los Angeles in January, many people lost their lives, homes and possessions to the flames. Many of the students at Altadena Arts Magnet and Eliot Arts Magnet lost not only their houses but also their school and the cherished musical instruments stored in the band room.
To a child, losing an instrument can feel almost like losing a loved one. That’s why it was so transformative when Guitar Center and Sony joined forces to put instruments back in the hands of these children.
“Children are particularly vulnerable, showing their fears through deep emotional responses to the upheaval,” said Natalie Jackson, executive director of the Harmony Project, a group that gives low-income Los Angeles students access to free music education. Eliot Arts Magnet is among their hubs. “When people support music programming, they are not just funding music lessons, they’re investing in stability, healing and opportunity for children, like our young violinist, who have faced and continue to face immense hardship.”
Myka Miller, executive director of the Guitar Center Music Foundation, spearheads disaster relief efforts, from Hurricane Helene to the LA fires. An oboist who has been playing since she was 12, Miller believes music can be a balm for crushed spirits, a key to unlocking resilience.
“Your instrument is a part of you, it’s an extension of our soul,” said Miller, whose initiative received about 1,000 applications and has given away 450 instruments so far. The Altadena music students have received about $200,000 worth. “You can imagine when you’re in a situation like that and you lose everything, that music is the one thing that’s constant in your life.”
Student musicians rehearse before a concert at Pasadena Unified School District. credit: Pasadena Unified School District
Music has been a guiding light for Karen Klages, a music specialist for Pasadena Unified School District. While her Altadena home was saved by neighbors heroically battling the flames with garden hoses, the trauma still haunts her and her students. Many of her fifth graders, who are still not back in their homes, remain fearful of the future. Others are fighting worry with grit. A group of her music students banded together every day for three weeks to load and unload relief supplies. They became friends for life, she says.
“It’s been difficult for me personally and still is. Seeing my whole town burn down has been a shock to the system,” she said sadly. “Music has been a lifeline for everyone. Our band and orchestra is busy, and we all needed that focus.”
The arts have also been key to healing for Karen Anderson, the arts and enrichment coordinator for the Pasadena Unified School District, who has only now gotten back into her 1918 Altadena house, which was spared during the blaze. She has just begun the long, slow process of repairing the damage from smoke, soot and ash at her home while she tries to bring the sound of music back to the children.
“It’s been brutal. We made it through Covid, and then there were the fires,” she said, choking up with emotion. “But we were able to leverage a lot of arts programming for well-being. It’s super important to restore normalcy for children as quickly as possible. We didn’t want families to worry about instruments. We wanted to take care of it for them. One less thing to worry about.”
Anderson has been bound and determined to replace a cavalcade of instruments, including 74 violins, 39 flutes, 61 clarinets, 68 trumpets, 34 saxophones, 17 trombones, 8 french and baritone horns and one tuba. That’s on top of the rock and mariachi instruments. She also made a special effort to replace one of the arts teacher’s prized vintage guitars, a beloved instrument Eric Gothold lost to the fires, like the rest of his family’s earthly possessions.
Students from the Eliot Arts Magnet band received new instruments to replace the ones lost in the fire.
“He was hugging it and he said, ‘You have no idea how much this means to me.’ I felt like it was the least we could do,” she said.
Anderson is doing her best to help students regain their equilibrium while still coping with her own pain. Like many of the district’s teachers, she has been so focused on helping others that she hasn’t yet had time to fully digest her own feelings.
“I’m grateful that we still have a house, you know?,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “But there’s a period where you almost feel guilty. Our house survived.”
Klages says that knowing that people care is helping the student community beat back the grief of coping with so much destruction.
“It’s all part of the healing process, but frankly, everyone is still in a state of shock over so much loss,” she said. “There are rallying cries coming in from everywhere, and we hang on to that encouragement.”
The deep emotional reward of helping people in dire straits is something Miller knows well, but helping these children transcend their tragedy has been particularly touching for all involved.
That’s why Miller, who usually just ships gifts out to recipients, broke with tradition and met with a group of students at the Pasadena Guitar Center store to hand them their new instruments.
“There’s really nothing like that experience,” she said. “It’s hard to describe. It was really cool for them to meet all the other people in the same boat as them, and for me just to see all their faces light up. The gratitude was overwhelming.”
These shiny new instruments, she hopes, may bring the children and their families a note of optimism amid the ashes.
“Donors are giving students back not only their instruments,” said Jackson, “but their dreams, and a sense of hope that resonates beyond the music room.”
Encampments line the street that runs along Virgil Middle School’s lower field in Los Angeles County on November 30, 2022.
Credit: Kate Sequeira / EdSource
Homelessness and housing are at the center of political, policy and budget conversations across California, with indelible images of tents on sidewalks and people struggling against addiction and mental health often driving our understanding of the crisis.
But homelessness is not only a story of encampments or shelters; it is a story of women, children and families, who are among the fastest-growing populations of people experiencing homelessness. These are too often the invisible faces of this crisis, and we must recognize them and act urgently to deliver solutions.
According to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, students qualify as homeless if they lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. This includes children who live doubled or tripled up with other families, in hotels, motels, shelters or other temporary arrangements.
Today, Los Angeles County serves 1.3 million students across 80 school districts, with 47,689 students identified as experiencing homelessness in 2022-23.
These figures do not include our earliest learners — children from birth to transitional kindergarten — or the many families on the brink of housing instability, often one emergency away from becoming unhoused. Young children in unstable housing situations are among the most vulnerable, with their development and well-being deeply impacted by housing insecurity.
In Los Angeles County, voters are weighing Measure A, a citizens’ initiative that would repeal and replace the existing ¼ cent homelessness sales tax, set to expire in two years, with a new, ½ cent sales tax. The measure, tied to accountability and results, is expected to bring in $1.1 billion annually to the county to fund affordable housing, mental health and substance abuse services.
Crafted by a coalition of housing experts, mental health professionals, labor leaders and community advocates, Measure A applies lessons learned from past efforts to expand investments in mental health and substance abuse services to get unhoused Angelenos off the streets and into treatment, increase resources for housing to make it more affordable for everyone, require accountability with clear goal-setting, regular audits and spending reports, and move funding away from programs that do not show proven results.
Measure A also establishes a new governance approach to deploy resources into one unified plan for addressing homelessness and the housing crisis. This plan is also informed by a Leadership Table made up of a cross-section of community leaders who will make funding and policy decisions about how these critical resources are spent that includes seats for education agency leaders and experts.
We believe that the innovations in Measure A would help develop stronger collaborations between school districts, housing agencies and nonprofits to offer wraparound services for families and create systems that make it easier for families to self-identify without stigma. By expanding housing programs that prioritize families and include transitional housing options connected to schools, we can better ensure that no student falls through the cracks.
On the ground, our dedicated teachers, administrators and campus staff are navigating the challenges of homelessness with our families every day. For example, recently we had a single mother facing homelessness send her older daughter who had special needs to live with relatives, while she tried to find housing with her younger daughter. They moved around often, and getting to school was difficult.
The school worked with the family to arrange transportation for the younger daughter so she could stay in school and helped the mother find crisis housing. Once the family was in temporary housing, the mom brought her older daughter back home, and the school helped set up transportation for her as well, allowing both children to attend school consistently.
Measure A would help provide the dedicated resources for housing programs and critical services that our communities need to weather these challenges without disrupting their education to break the cycle of instability.
Without stable housing, students struggle to succeed academically and emotionally, leading to long-term consequences for our communities. By shifting some of the county’s homelessness funding toward preventive and family-focused solutions, we can make a lasting difference in the lives of children and help break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.
We must recognize the invisible faces of homelessness and prioritize their needs. We owe it to our students and families to ensure sustained funding, accountable spending, and a holistic, regional approach that expands our understanding of homelessness beyond individuals on the street to include students and families living in unstable housing situations. We must center on preventive and family-focused solutions, or risk losing the potential of an entire generation. It’s not just a matter of education; it’s a matter of equity, compassion, and justice, and a thriving future for California.
•••
Debra Duardo, M.S.W., Ed.D., is the Los Angeles County superintendent of schools. Miguel A. Santana, is the president and CEO of the California Community Foundation.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the authors. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Oakland High teacher Rachel Reinhard guides her students through the functions of the legislative branch during a U.S. Government class last week.
Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource
In the months preceding this week’s election, some California history and social studies teachers have proceeded cautiously in covering the presidential campaign, while others have embraced the opportunity confidently and comprehensively. But most included instruction about the presidential election in their courses, according to responses to an EdSource survey of California history and social science teachers.
Their responses underscore that most teachers understood the potential pitfalls of teaching politics in polarized times, compounded by a contagion of misinformation on social media. (Go here to read the questionnaire.)
“A lot of kids are turned off about government and politics. We in the classroom are giving them a sense of access and empowerment,” said Rachel Reinhard, who teaches 12th grade U.S. History and Government at Oakland High School. “We’re showing that elections are ways that individuals can exert power on the system and make sense of an incredibly fast-paced and changing world.”
Yet some teachers have struggled to explain how Republican Donald Trump’s rhetoric, threats of retribution, and vows to expel undocumented immigrants have added anxiety to an unprecedentedly tense and divisive election.
“The dilemma for any responsible teacher right now is to explain the stakes while being nonpartisan,” said Mike Fishback, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grade social studies at Almaden Country Day School, a private school in San Jose.
The California Council for the Social Studies agreed to send EdSource’s survey to its 2,000-member email list, which includes more than 500 active members, most of them teachers. Of those, 64 teachers — about 1 in 8 member teachers — returned the survey by the Oct. 16 deadline. EdSource did not require teachers to submit their names or their schools, although 16 teachers did identify themselves, and many said they were willing to be contacted for an EdSource article.
Among the top-line results of the survey:
More than three-quarters of teachers who answered the survey said they are teaching about the election and the presidential campaign, and most of those who aren’t said it was their choice, not a district mandate.
Asked if they planned to discuss the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, 37% said no, 29% said yes, and 34% said maybe.
Asked if they planned to discuss potential election interference, 39% said no, 23% said yes, and 38% said maybe.
Asked to express their level of concern about student incivility in dealing with the election, 44% said they were slightly or not at all concerned; 23% said they were somewhat concerned; and 15% said they were moderately, very or greatly concerned. An additional 19% said they were neutral on the issue.
Inoculating for incivility
Creating a classroom culture of respect is critical to promoting openness and avoiding disrespect amid disagreements, Barrett Vitol, a U.S. History and Government teacher at Aptos High in Pajaro Valley Unified, told EdSource. He characterized the district as politically and economically diverse with “extreme wealth and hard poverty,” where some students in farmworker families “are genuinely worried” about the outcome of the election.
“When we come together in August, we spend a lot of time helping to build community,” said Vitol, who said he shares with students his own experience as a volunteer for the 2000 Democratic presidential campaign for then Vice President Al Gore.
“You have to role model someone who will be politically active without disrespecting other people,” he said, adding that he also relies on humor to defuse tensions.
Bob Kelly, a U.S. History and Government teacher at the 500-student Minarets High and Charter High School in Chawanakee Unified, also set class norms early in the year, with a “social compact that holds the students accountable to being respectful to each other,” he said. The rural school district abuts Yosemite National Park.
Bruce Aster, who teaches U.S. Government at Carlsbad High School, said that his goal “is to teach civil discourse from day one.” He tells his students, ‘If you demonize your opponent, you will not get their ears.’ That’s a big theme in all my classes.”
Many of the teachers cited guides and resources they drew on to promote civil dialogue, bridge differences of opinion and lay out frameworks for discussions. Popular sources include Braver Angels, a volunteer-led national nonprofit, and Boston-based Facing History and Ourselves, which offers lessons, explainers and activities on teaching the election.
While sources of misinformation have proliferated on the internet, so have tools to expose them. Teachers pointed to sites like adfontesmedia.com, AllSides.com and mediafactcheck.com that analyze news sources’ reliability and point to alternative sources with different political perspectives.
Reinhard refers to encouraging students to seek trustworthy and accurate news sources as building a “muscle memory.”
“I am hoping they would create a habit to counter what they are seeing on social media,” said Reinhard, who is in her second year teaching high school in Oakland after serving as director of the UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project; it supports K-12 teachers in planning for history instruction.
Oakland High teacher Rachel Reinhard interacts with students during a U.S. Government class last week.Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource
Karen Clark Yamamoto, who chairs the history department at Western High in the Anaheim Union High School District, said students found the revelations of bias in their favorite sites enlightening. “They realized, ‘I don’t know as much as I thought I did,’” she said.
To help students clarify their own political views, several teachers had students take the Pew Media Typology Quiz, whose questions reveal whether students have conservative or liberal philosophies.
Classroom priorities and strategies
The EdSource questionnaire asked teachers to describe the focus of their instruction and their plans for covering the election. The consensus was that a teacher should give students the tools to make informed choices about candidates and ballot issues.
James Yates, a teacher at Stellar Charter School in Redding, wrote, “I will teach my students how to investigate each candidate. I want them to look past the rumors and prejudice to see who will really help our country thrive.”
Kelly wrote, “We focus on helping the students make sense of the offices, candidates and propositions by understanding which issues matter to them the most.”
“Essentially, we focus on students informing themselves and using their own ideology to decide what is best,” said Jon Resendez, a U.S. Government and Economics teacher at Portola High in Irvine Unified. He has found that students, unlike some of their parents, are open when forming their political beliefs.
Irvine Unified teacher Jon Resendez discusses the political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence during a recent class at Portola High. Credit: Kaushika (Kaushi) Palliboyina
“It’s normal for teenagers to be more flexible than adults in their perspective as they learn more,” he said. “They adjust their voting behavior.”
Little outside criticism
Slightly more than a third of teachers responded to the question about whether they had experienced any criticism from teaching about the presidential election. The majority — 16 of 23 — said they had not, but five reported being criticized by parents, three by students and two by administrators or other colleagues.
All eight teachers EdSource spoke with said they were unconcerned about parental pressure or criticism.
“No parents are reaching out to express concern,” said Resendez. “Parents assume we will tackle issues head-on.”
Kelly, of Chawanakee Unified, uses his students’ work to inform parents about the elections. His students created election guides that they shared at the school’s back-to-school showcase in late October. It included separate objective profiles of Democrat Kamala Harris and Trump, drafted by students chosen because they didn’t support the candidates, Kelly said, along with summaries of local candidates and statewide ballot propositions.
At his back-to-school night, Fishback, of the Almaden County Day School in San Jose, encourages parents of his middle school students to discuss election issues and candidates with them.
He said that he tells them, “’I need you. If you have not passed along your political values, now is the time to do it. I want them to come to class knowing what families believe and why. My job is to help the students encounter and engage with different perspectives on a variety of contentious issues.’ ”
What the teachers taught and how
The survey asked teachers to check off a list of topics for presenting the presidential election and to add to it. Of 48 teachers who responded to the question, 37 said they reviewed candidates’ positions on key issues and 35 discussed the Electoral College; 28 asked students to explain issues that are important to them and 23 included fact-checking candidates’ claims and statements. Fifteen said they discussed claims that there would be widespread voter fraud.
One teacher included discussing gerrymandering, and another said classes would focus on differences among political parties but not the candidates themselves.
The teachers reported that they approached the topics with different strategies. Some had students participate in the traditional statewide mock election organized by the California Secretary of State or held their own elections. Some teachers held candidates’ debates, while others intentionally did not, focusing instead on objective analyses of candidates’ positions and the accuracy of media coverage.
“I’m not interested in debates,” said Reinhard of Oakland High. “Debates often create false parity. I’m not interested in having students try to win a debate around some information I find problematic.”
Yamamoto asks her students in Anaheim to pick five issues they care about and investigate the positions of the parties and the candidates’ websites to determine which party more closely aligns with their views. Inflation, health care and reproductive rights were among the issues. They did the same process with the 10 state initiatives on the ballot.
Barrett organized a model Congress for his students at Aptos High. Students wrote their own bills and had to persuade committee chairs and each legislative house to pass them. “Extreme” bills on immigration didn’t make the cut; those that did pass include creating affordable health care, limiting homework, requiring those over 70 to take an extra diving test, taxing billionaires, and granting immigrants who pay taxes for five years a path to citizenship, he said.
Some students become deeply invested in their bills, but usually they can control themselves, Barrett said.
Aster, of Carlsbad, and Kelly, of Chawanakee Unified, continued what they have done for years: bringing in outside speakers to represent parties and candidates for a debate run by students. “We seek regular folks, not politicians,” said Aster. “It’s always civil, and students see that you can be gracious while speaking strongly.”
Several teachers said they didn’t avoid controversy, including looking at the rhetoric of the campaign: Trump’s racist language and post-election authoritarian threats and Democrats’ calling him a “fascist” and a “clown.” But students looked at the furor through an analytical lens to keep discussions “from going off the rails,” said Fishback. He asked his students, How would you characterize Trump, and what has been the impact of his language on the campaign?
Most teachers emphasized they kept their own presidential preferences to themselves. “I work hard to be objective; I want it to be a mystery as to my views, though I don’t want them to think I don’t care,” said Aster. Kelly said he would tell students after the election whom he voted for if they asked.
“As much I like to lean into politics, the line I don’t cross is siding with one candidate over another,” said Fishback.
Seeing themselves as voters
Aster has been teaching high school for more than three decades.
“I see part of my job is to be a cheerleader for the American system and to have them look forward to participating in it,” Aster said. “I don’t want them to come away thinking the system is rigged.”
Last spring, when it appeared likely to be Trump vs. Joe Biden, students in Reinhard’s Government class at Oakland High had no interest in the election. “They were deadened by it,” she said. The nomination of Harris, the hometown candidate and a younger woman of color, however, at least sparked interest, she said.
More findings in the EdSource Questionnaire
The teachers were from all regions of the state, with 27% from Southern California, 17% from the Central Valley and Central Coast and 17% from the San Francisco Bay Areas, 14% from the Sacramento area, 10% from Northern California, 9% from the San Diego area and 3% from the Inland Empire of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
Of the teachers who said they aren’t teaching about the presidential election, only three – two who teach in a largely Democratic district and one from a largely Republican district – said it was their school’s and/or district’s policy not to discuss the subject. Another teacher is discussing the election but not the candidates.
Offered multiple choices to explain their reasons for not teaching the election to their students, the majority said there is too much other course material to get through, especially AP courses in U.S. History and Economics and one semester in Government. However, one-third of the 24 respondents to this question said they were concerned about complaints from parents, and five teachers said they had reservations that students would discuss the election respectfully. Five teachers said they were unsure how to address the subject.
Teachers were evenly split on how much time to spend on the election, with 39% of 49 respondents spending more than one week on it and 39% spending between two days and a week. Several said they spread discussion of the election out over time, based on topics in the courses they were teaching, and another teacher said five to 10 minutes per day.
Most of the respondents were high school teachers who teach multiple subjects; 43% introduced the election in a 12th grade Government course, while 42% taught it in 11th grade American History; 27% taught it in 9th grade Ethnic Studies and 25% introduced it in 10th grade World History. A quarter of respondents were middle school social studies teachers. Individual teachers taught it in AP Psychology, ninth grade Geography, and an English course in persuasive essays.
Students in Rebecca Pariso’s seventh-grade math class designed and created piñatas with specific volume and surface area constraints.
Courtesy: Rebecca Pariso
Last year, my seventh-grade class created at-scale drawings of cost-efficient cabins for an outdoor education camp. Using three-dimensional figures and proportional reasoning, my students designed and created piñatas with specific volume and surface area constraints. We completed many challenging test questions, such as: If eight and a half cups of flour are needed for five and three-quarter cups of sugar, how much sugar is needed for one cup of flour?
Such problems require higher-level thinking skills and a lot of grit. The number of students in my classroom who did not meet the standard on the state test was the lowest in nine years. The number of proficient students doubled compared with last year’s seventh-grade class.
Contrary to what you might expect, I was not teaching an honors math class. Instead, my students were a diverse group wholly representative of our student population. In my district, 89% of students are Hispanic or Latino, 24% are multilingual learners, and 81% are socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The accomplishments of the students in my class are a testament to what happens when our educational system becomes inclusive.
Take Luciana, for example. She walked into my classroom with bangs covering her eyes and an oversize sweatshirt covering the rest of her face. She was used to not being seen by people, but I saw her potential in mathematics. At first, Luciana talked to no one and hid in the back of the classroom while she did the math. By the end of the year, her bangs were parted down the middle and her hands were outside her oversize sweatshirt. It was incredible to see Luciana’s transformation. She had raised her score two band levels and was considered proficient in seventh-grade mathematics.
Math is the most tracked subject in the United States. (Tracking is the practice of placing students in different classes or levels based on perceived ability.) Historically, specific student groups, predominantly Black, Latino, and low-income students, have been underrepresented in advanced math courses like honors classes. On the other hand, students from more affluent backgrounds, mainly white and Asian students, tend to be overrepresented in these programs. This can be attributed to many educational inequities, including school funding disparities, which affect the availability and quality of advanced math courses in schools serving low-income communities. Research shows that these schools often need more resources, experienced teachers and challenging curricula that promote success in these advanced courses.
This setup doesn’t serve anyone. My students are just as capable as any other students, honors or otherwise, of succeeding in a math class rich in project-based learning and rigorous problem-solving. Furthermore, multiple studies have shown that separating students based on skills and abilities widens the achievement gap between minority students like Luciana, low-performing students, and students of low socioeconomic status. Luciana and every other student in California deserve to be in a class rich in high-quality math instruction, where they can connect their learning to their school and community, conduct open-ended inquiry, and engage in reflective learning.
In 2020, I was one of 20 educators to serve on a committee with the California Department of Education to help with the revision of the math framework. As a result, I have come to see that a paradigm shift must occur in how we define an inclusive math classroom. California Common Core State Standards challenge us to go deeper than just recall and procedural fluency, and my students’ achievements reflect a broader truth: All children, regardless of background, can excel when given the opportunity to engage in meaningful, high-quality math instruction.
By creating a learning environment emphasizing problem-solving, collaboration, and high expectations, I enabled my students to rise to the challenge — proving that diversity and background is not a barrier but an asset. Our educational system must stop limiting students based on preconceived notions and instead embrace inclusive teaching methods that unlock every student’s potential. Every child deserves the chance to succeed, and my class proves that they can do so with the right approach.
•••
Rebecca Pariso is a seventh-grade math teacher at EO Green Junior High School in Oxnard and a Teach Plus California Senior Policy Fellow.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
A person stops to watch a screen displaying the U.S. presidential debate in September between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in Washington.
Credit: Democracy News Alliance/news aktuell via AP Images
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have contrasting visions of schools and the federal government’s role in funding and shaping them. Today, voters will pick a president and his or her educational agenda.
Based on what he said during the campaign, Trump would pursue radical changes from the conservative playbook, such as abolishing the Department of Education, withholding federal funding from states like California that protect transgender students, stripping the department’s Office of Civil Rights of defenders of civil rights, and elevating the case for school vouchers and programs of choice.
Harris also has priorities that would affect the lives of children, including increasing the child tax credit by thousands of dollars and making universal prekindergarten a national priority. During the vice presidential debate, candidates Tim Walz and J.D. Vance found common ground on more federal support for early childhood. Harris wants to expand the federal child tax credit, now $2,000, to $6,000. Vance supports raising it to $5,000, paid for by raising tariffs on all imported goods.
Harris has vowed to find common ground and negotiate with Republicans. Trump is a disrupter who is confident the Supreme Court won’t stand in his way. Much of his rhetoric could prove to be bluster that a narrowly divided Congress will ignore. Harris’ priorities may face the same fate.
Here are some examples of policies that, depending on who wins the presidency, could change the nation’s educational system.
Trump policies could mean big changes
Abolishing the federal Department of Education has been an idea circulating among Republicans off and on since its creation 45 years ago during the Carter administration.
Trump has revived the idea of targeting the department, which he calls a waste of money and an intrusion on states’ authority.
But only Congress can abolish what it established, and it would take Republican control of the House, and perhaps the elimination of the filibuster in the Senate, for this to happen.
Then Congress would have to decide how to handle, up until now, untouchable funding streams for Title I and special education.
A less drastic option would be to transfer the department’s functions to the Labor Department or, for Pell Grants and federal higher education aid, to the Treasury Department. But if that happens, there probably wouldn’t be “much impact beyond the Beltway,” observed conservative writer Rick Hess.
School choice
Trump has pledged to offer “universal school choice” through some form of taxpayer support that could underwrite private school tuition, which also was a major goal of his first administration.
It would not find fertile ground in California. “Twice in the last three decades, California voters have decisively rejected taxpayer-funded voucher plans — the last time in 2020 — and no one has ventured to put a similar initiative on the ballot since. Any such plan would also run into resistance from the state Legislature as well as teachers’ unions, which would see a voucher plan as a threat to public schools.
It is possible, however, that if Republicans gained control of Congress, they could pass one or more variations of a voucher plan — like setting up education savings accounts that for-profit companies could donate funds to in return for tax credits. These funds could then be awarded in the form of scholarships to eligible students and families. If — and it is a big if — the federal government were to set up a program like this, California might have no choice but to allow families to take advantage of it.
“Twice in the last three decades California voters have decisively rejected taxpayer-funded voucher plans –the last time in 2020 — and no one has ventured to put a similar initiative on the ballot since.
Immigration
A Trump win could cause widespread fear for many California children. An estimated 1 million California children — about 1 in 10 — have an undocumented immigrant parent. About 165,000 California students are recent immigrants themselves.
Trump has pledged to deport undocumented immigrants en masse, and has said immigrant children who do not speak English are a burden to public schools, an idea that aligns with a plan from the conservative Heritage Foundation to end the right to public education for undocumented children.
Curriculum
Trump wants to have more say about what students are taught in school. He has said they should be taught reading, writing and math, and not about gender, sex and race. He has threatened to stop funding schools that teach students about topics like slavery or systemic racism.
In California, the State Board of Education sets policy regarding academic standards, curriculum, instructional materials and assessments. Local school districts decide how they will implement curriculum requirements. It isn’t clear whether Trump would be able to make changes at the federal level that would impact the state’s curriculum, including new ethnic study graduation requirements that will start with the graduating class of 2029-30.
Vaccination
Trump has vowed to cut federal funding to schools that mandate vaccinations, a move that runs counter to California’s requirement that all children have 10 vaccinations against disease to attend school. It is unlikely that Trump could simply strip schools of federal funding and, because there is no federal mandate to vaccinate students, stopping them from doing so will almost certainly require congressional action.
Just days before the election, Trump heightened attention to the issue when he told reporters that he will find a place in his administration for campaign adviser Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, and would consider banning some vaccinations.
Water fluoridation
In a late campaign development, Trump said, if elected, he would act on Kennedy’s proposal to remove fluoride from America’s drinking water, although it’s unclear how that would be accomplished.
Fluoride, which helps children grow strong teeth, is also commonly present in toothpaste and mouthwash. Its use across the country and globe, starting in the 1950s, was considered one of the great public health achievements of the 20th century. Studies have shown that poor oral health is linked to poorer academic outcomes.
Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has long railed against man-made chemicals and claimed some could be making children gay or transgender. Numerous studies have found that the level of fluoride in drinking water is safe.
Cultural attacks
Conservative groups leveraged parental angst over Covid-19 school closures and masking policies to ignite a “parents’ rights” movement that has since pushed back against educational policies on gender identity and racial equity, which Trump has vowed to eliminate. Some school board meetings have been so incendiary that school districts have had to pay for additional security to keep unruly audiences in order. Some think a Trump victory will further embolden far-right conservative activists.
“I think that a Trump victory will lead some on the right to take the message that these sorts of cultural attacks that have been playing out across the United States, and across California in the last couple of years, are an effective strategy for mobilizing the base and for energizing an electorate,” John Rogers, director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, told EdSource.
Higher education
In response to pro-Palestinian sentiment on some college campuses in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the Trump campaign in November 2023 proposed “taxing, fining, and suing excessively large private university endowments” and using the money to establish a free, online educational institution where “there will be no wokeness or jihadism allowed.” Politico reported that plans for the new institution — to be called the American Academy — called for giving students credit for previous coursework and granting credentials students could use to seek jobs with the federal government and its contractors.
Harris to focus on early childhood, paid leave
Harris has said she would make child care more affordable for American families by starting a program that limits a family’s cost to 7% of their income. It is unclear how this program would be funded.
Harris also said she would support paid family leave for workers who need to care for newborns or ill family members. So far, attempts to pass paid family leave in Congress have been unsuccessful, and the extent to which a Harris administration would be able to expand child care programs will depend heavily on the makeup of Congress.
Even though the Senate almost certainly will be in Republican hands, child care and preschool is one issue that has significant bipartisan support, so this is one area where Harris could make headway.
Student loan forgiveness
Harris’ platform notes that she plans to “continue working to end the unreasonable burden of student loan debt,” though it doesn’t offer specifics, and she has said little else on the campaign trail. Any significant action hinges on the Democrats winning back control of Congress — an unlikely outcome. That’s because President Joe Biden’s most sweeping actions on student loan forgiveness programs have been blocked by the courts. In 2022, for example, the Supreme Court blocked his plan to cancel more than $400 billion in loans, ruling he didn’t have the authority to cancel that debt. However, the Biden administration was able to have millions of loans forgiven through executive action, and Harris would no doubt seek ways to continue to do that.
Workforce development
Harris has previously promised that, if elected, her administration would remove degree requirements for some careers in the federal government. In remarks last week, she took that commitment a step further, pledging to “eliminate unnecessary degree requirements for federal jobs” through an executive order signed on the first day of her presidency, according to Politico.
For-profit colleges
During her campaign, Harris has repeatedly referred to her record while attorney general of California when she filed a lawsuit against the California-based Corinthian Colleges for false advertising and deceptive marketing practices, especially those targeting low-income students.
The Trump administration reversed Obama-era policies implementing greater regulation of for-profit colleges, and some of these were in turn reversed by the Biden administration. Last year, it introduced regulations intended to ensure that students are prepared by these colleges for “gainful employment.” But the task of regulating for-profit colleges is far from complete, and it is likely that a Harris administration would attempt to extend the efforts of her Democratic predecessors in the White House.
Areas of agreement?
Notwithstanding the candidates’ diametric differences on many issues, there may be opportunities for compromise, whoever wins.
Both parties want more support for career and technical education. Trump’s platform says he favors funding preferences for schools that provide internships and summer jobs aligned to future careers.
Both Harris and Trump emphasized support for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which supply 20% of the nation’s Black college graduates. In 2020, Trump reauthorized $225 million in funding for minority-serving institutions, including $85 million in recurring funds for HBCUs. The Biden-Harris administration upped the ante with $17.3 billion during the past four years, including $1.3 billion announced in September.
During the vice presidential debate, candidates Tim Walz and J.D. Vance found common ground on more federal support for early childhood. Harris wants to expand the federal child tax credit, now $2,000, to $6,000. Vance supports raising it to $5,000, paid for by raising tariffs on all imported goods.
Student-run school board candidates’ forum at Fremont High School on Oct. 22, 2024.
Credit: Louis Freedberg / EdSource
While most attention in the United States is focused on the presidential elections today, I’ll be watching two local school board races that will be historic for a completely different reason.
For the first time, young people aged 16 and 17 in Oakland and nearby Berkeley will be voting in school board elections.
Although some smaller communities in Maryland have extended a limited vote to a similar age group, Oakland, with a total population of over 400,000, is the largest community in the nation to do so by far.
The initiative came about as a result of youth organizing that put pressure on their city councils to place measures on the ballot allowing young people aged 16 and over to vote in their local school board elections. Berkeley voters passed a law approving the change in 2017 and Oakland voters in 2020. It has taken years to bring the idea to fruition.
When I heard about this effort, I was deeply skeptical.
After all, school board meetings are, for the most part, sleepy affairs — unless there is a controversy that rouses parents and students, like school closures or political battles over curricula, book bans and other hot-button issues.
It is hard enough to get parents interested in school board politics. It seemed to me even less likely that teenagers would embrace doing so with enough gusto to justify the effort and expense of giving them the vote.
But after attending a school board candidates’ forum organized by students in Oakland two weeks ago — and speaking to the candidates vying for their votes, I now have a different view.
I’m convinced that having young people involved in school board politics and decision-making is more than just a nice idea.
For one thing, we know that the earlier young people participate in the democratic process, the more likely they are to do so as adults. It is also a powerful way to get young people involved in shaping institutions that affect them profoundly, and which they have intimate knowledge of: the schools where they spend much of their time during their adolescence.
The forum itself was a rousing affair, and ran from 5 to 8 p.m. Six of the seven candidates running for the board showed up for the event. (The seventh was out of the country and sent a representative.) There were 200 students, most of whom stayed until the end of the marathon interrogation. Many wore T-shirts with the slogans, “My Vote Will Make History” on the front and, on the back, “Nothing About Us Without Us.”
Each candidate had one minute to respond to a set of questions students projected on a screen. If candidates went over the time limit, their microphones were shut off, so the candidates mostly obeyed the rules. And they answered the questions seriously without being patronizing.
Oakland school board candidates spoke in front of 200 students at Fremont High School on Oct. 22, 2024.Credit: Louis Freedberg / EdSource
These student voters are arguably going to be a lot more informed than most older ones who may not have been inside a school in years. Many adult voters have only the barest idea about current school concerns or what goes on inside their walls.
Let’s be honest: With rare exceptions, votes for school boards are typically the last thing many, if not most, voters pay attention to.
“A lot of adults are making decisions about our schools when they’re not even the ones in the school,” Edamevoh Ajayi, a senior at Oakland Technical High School who has been a leader in the Oakland youth vote project, told me. “So they wouldn’t even know what to change.”
“At least for students, we haven’t really been welcomed,” she said, referring to district governance in general. “It’s kind of been an adult-led space.”
It would be one thing if things were going well in their district, and adult leaders had proven themselves. But once again, the district is in crisis as it copes with declining enrollment, poor attendance, a massive budget deficit, and the prospect of having to close or merge schools next year. There is a real chance of a state takeover — a repeat of what happened 20 years ago when the district had to get a $100 million loan from the state to bail it out.
Getting students’ voices into the mix certainly can’t hurt, and is more likely to help. That’s in addition to the long-term benefits of getting young people involved in our democracy at an earlier age.
As Patrice Berry, a former teacher running for the Oakland school board, told me after facing students at the candidates’ forum, “They’re going to make us better overall.”
•••
Louis Freedberg is EdSource’s interim executive director.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
A student sits in the hallway at San Juan Unified’s El Camino Fundamental High School in Sacramento.
Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource
This story was updated to include additional information on community college projects.
Californians on Tuesday decisively passed a $10 billion initiative to support construction projects by TK-12 schools and community colleges. The victory of Proposition 2 will authorize the first state bond for school construction since 2016 and replenish state funding that had run dry.
With initial results from all precincts, 56.8% of voters backed the bond measure, and 43.2% opposed it. Still to be counted are mail-in ballots not yet received and provisional ballots. Support for the bond broke 60% in Los Angeles, Alpine, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Mendocino, Alameda, Yolo, Marin and San Mateo counties. Only counties in the state’s far north opposed it.
Proposition 2 was one of two $10 billion state bonds on the ballot; the other was Proposition 4 for funding efforts to abate the impact of climate change. Proposition 2 supporters had worried that voters might choose one over the other, but both passed easily.
“What has been clear is that people support it when they understand what Proposition 2 will do and its impact on schools,” said Molly Weedn, spokesperson for a pro-Proposition 2 campaign. “People are seeing the need in real time. When you have a leaky roof, it only gets leakier.”
The campaign, organized by the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), representing school districts and school construction interests that underwrote the effort, had not yet issued a statement Wednesday.
Even as enrollment in most districts is projected to continue to fall over the next decade, the need for unattended repairs and replacement of aging portable classrooms and buildings has mushroomed. The Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley estimates that 85% of classrooms in California are more than 25 years old; 30% are between 50 and 70 years old, and about 10% are 70 years old or older.
Climate change has exposed more of the state to unprecedented levels of heat and unhealthy air and underscored the need to replace aging or defective heating and cooling systems.
The last state bond proposal, in March 2020, coincided with the emergence of Covid-19; anxiety over the virus contributed to its defeat as well as a majority of local districts’ construction bonds. Districts on the rebound from the pandemic were reluctant to ask voters to pass bonds in 2022.
Reflecting a suppressed demand for addressing facilities, a record 252 school districts asked voters on Tuesday to pass local construction bonds totaling $40 billion; an additional 13 community colleges proposed bonds totaling $10.6 billion. Thus, the demand for state help will far exceed the new funding.
Proposition 2, funded by the state’s general fund, needed a simple majority of voters to pass while local school bonds, which require increases in property taxes, require a 55% majority approval. A quick look at some of the larger proposals indicated voters were largely supportive, passing a $9 billion bond in Los Angeles Unified, a $900 million bond in Pasadena Unified and a $1.15 billion bond in San Jose Unified for upgrading facilities, with $283 set aside for housing for staff.
The portion of state funding for school districts will be distributed to projects on a matching basis, with the state contributing 50% of the eligible funding for new construction and 60% of the cost for renovations.
An estimated $3 billion in unfunded school projects from the 2016 bond measure, Proposition 55, will get first dibs at Proposition 2’s new construction and modernization money under the existing rules. Some of these projects have already been completed and will receive the funding retroactively. The rationale is that districts undertook the projects with the expectation that they would eventually receive state aid.
Once Proposition 2 runs out of money, a new line of unfunded projects will be formed for the next state bond. Interest and the principal for Proposition 2 will be repaid from the state’s general fund, at an estimated cost of $500 million per year for 35 years, according to an analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
How money will be spent
The $10 billion will split as follows:
$1.5 billion for community colleges
$8.5 billion for TK-12 districts, allocated as follows:
$4 billion for repairs, replacement of portables at least 20 years old, and other modernization work
$3.3 billion for new construction
$600 million for facilities for career and technical education programs
$600 million for facilities for charter schools
$115 million to remove lead from school drinking water
The portion of Proposition 2 for community colleges will help renovate existing buildings, construct new classrooms and even replace sewage lines. The chancellor’s office earlier this year already approved 27 projects — totaling about $709 million — that will be covered by the bond measure in a first round of funding. They include projects across the state, from Shasta College in the north to Imperial Valley College near the Mexico border.
Across the college system, with 115 brick-and-mortar community colleges, more than half of the buildings were built more than 40 years ago, said Hoang Nguyen, director of facilities for the system.
“It’s not like we’re sitting on newer facilities or anything like that. Our campuses are older,” he said. “So this proposition would be of great help.”
The state’s largest district, the Los Angeles Community College District, got approval for four projects in the first round. That includes a new building to house Los Angeles Trade-Tech’s automotive technology, diesel technology and rail systems technology programs, as well as a new kinesiology building at Los Angeles City College. There will also be sewer replacement at Los Angeles Valley and Pierce colleges.
“We’d like to think that our students, if they’re learning in these beautiful new buildings, will feel motivated to complete their training, get their certificates and get an education,” said Leigh Sata, the district’s chief facilities officer.
The portion for TK-12 will set aside 10% of new funding for modernization and new construction for small districts, defined as those with fewer than 2,501 students. It will also expand financial hardship assistance in tiny districts whose tax bases are too low to issue a bond. The state will pick up the full tab for those districts.
The bond will also allow districts to seek supplemental money to build gyms, all-purpose rooms, or kitchens in schools that lack them. But, contrary to the wishes of early education advocates, it won’t dedicate funding to one of the most pressing needs that districts face: adding more classrooms or renovating existing space for transitional kindergarten students.
Except for the set-aside for small districts, Proposition 2 will continue allotting matching money on a first-come, first-served basis, which favors large districts and small, property-wealthy districts with an in-house staff of architects and project managers adept at navigating complex funding requirements.
It also won’t significantly provide a bigger state match for districts with low property values; many lack a large enough tax base to issue bonds to meet basic building needs. Data from the Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley shows that property-wealthy districts, with more taxable property per student, have received a disproportionately higher share of matching state funding over the past 25 years.
One of the system’s outspoken critics is the nonprofit public interest law firm Public Advocates. Its managing partner, John Affeldt, said Wednesday that in passing Proposition 2, “Voters recognized the reality that so many facilities need significant modernization. But I don’t think voters are also aware of and approving the underlying distribution of the bond funds that send so many more dollars to high-wealth districts instead of low-wealth districts.
“We’ll continue to be a voice to make sure the state creates a system that equitably treats all its students,” he said.
EdSource reporter Thomas Peele contributed to the article.
Republican Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, stand on stage at an Election Night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci
This story was updated to include comments from Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Teachers Association President David Goldberg.
The re-election of Donald Trump is certain to bring a period of conflict, tension and litigation between the White House and California’s political and education leaders whose policies and values the president castigates. It also could potentially have major implications for California schools.
Trump, whose position on education has focused more on cultural ideology than on policies to improve education, has threatened to cut school funding to states, such as California, with policies that protect transgender students and promote diversity, equity and inclusion in their schools. He also has pledged to deport undocumented immigrants en masse, a move that would impact millions of California families and their children.
“California will seek to work with the incoming president – but let there be no mistake, we intend to stand with states across our nation to defend our Constitution and uphold the rule of law,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “Federalism is the cornerstone of our democracy. It’s the United STATES of America.”
Newsom, who has been a high-profile adversary to Trump, foreshadowed the coming tensions between the president-elect and the nation’s largest and, by some measures, bluest state in a statement on X, or Twitter, on Oct. 18.
“Donald Trump just said he will take away $7.9 BILLION in school funding from California’s kids if we don’t do whatever he wants. This man is unhinged and unfit to be President,” wrote Newsom.
Donald Trump just said he will take away $7.9 BILLION in school funding from California’s kids if we don’t do whatever he wants.
The $7.9 billion represents the total annual federal K-12 funding for California, about 7% of the total California spending on education in 2024-25, according to state Department of Finance figures.
California officials preparing
Attorney General Rob Bonta has said that his team has been preparing for possible litigation to stop many of President Trump’s expected policies, including attacking rights and protections for transgender children and youth, mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and ending protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
California has sued the federal government more than 100 times over Trump’s past rules and regulatory rollbacks, according to CalMatters.
Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley, worries that Trump’s tax cuts to the rich will be paid for by budget cuts in public education.
“The president-elect’s commitment to cutting taxes for affluent Americans means there will be no new funding for public schools,” Fuller said. “Watch out for efforts to expand vouchers and tax credits for well-off parents who opt for private schools.”
Trump proposals often contradict policy
Michael Kirst, former president of the State Board of Education and chief education advisor to former Governor Jerry Brown, said there is a contradiction between what Trump proposes and federal education policy.
“He says he wants to turn control back to locals, but his campaign platform and statements indicate a deep interest in getting involved in local decision-making: having parents elect principals, cutting back teacher tenure and instituting merit pay,” Kirst said. “He wants to examine the curriculum of schools for ‘woke’ ideology.”
The Every Student Succeeds Act, the primary law governing federal education policy, limits federal involvement in education, Kirst said. ESSA bans federal intervention in setting curriculum and federal involvement with teacher evaluations, which will affect Trump’s plan to offer merit pay.
“Some of his aides talk about slashing K-12 spending, but who knows what will happen?” Kirst said. Congress could transfer some funding for schools to create incentives for school choice, but that would require changes in school law, he said.
Student debt relief at risk
A second Trump administration could have far-reaching consequences for Americans with student debt, said Mike Pierce, the executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, in a statement.
“President-elect Trump’s dark vision for millions of American families with student debt is as extreme as it is unpopular—dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, undoing hard-fought protections for student loan borrowers, driving millions into the open arms of predatory for-profit schools and private lenders, and leaving millions drowning in student debt,” Pierce said. “The threat posed by these plans is real and will imperil the financial stability of millions of working families.”
Deportation promise causing fear
The Trump proclamation that has evoked the most fear for Californians is his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants en masse. An estimated 1 million California children – about 1 in 10 – have an undocumented immigrant parent. About 165,000 California students are recent immigrants themselves. In 2016, after Trump’s first election, attendance at schools dropped.
In a call with reporters last week, Newsom said that Trump’s promise to deport undocumented immigrants would be devastating to California’s economy, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“No state has more to lose or more to gain in this election in November,” he said.
Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas told reporters the state would be ready to forcefully protect its immigrant population, which could face major upheaval under Trump’s proposed mass deportation program, according to Politico.
“We’ll do everything we can to ensure that people feel protected, and they feel welcomed,” he said, though he did not discuss specifics.
Manuel Rustin, an American History teacher at John Muir High School, an early college magnet program in Pasadena Unified, said his students have expressed concern and angst over what a second Trump presidency might be like, considering the intense anti-immigrant sentiment of his campaign and his promise of mass deportations.
“I expect students today will be very quiet, melancholy, confused, and worried like I witnessed them back in 2016,” Rustin said. “My plan: Similar to 2016, I plan to hold space for students to safely express their thoughts, reactions, and questions.”
Scott Moore, head of Kidango, a nonprofit that runs many Bay Area child care centers, fears that many of the families he works with will be terrified today.
“What is sad is that today, children will come to Kidango, and some of them will be crying and scared that their parents or a close relative will be taken away from them,” Moore said. “This is what happened in 2016.”
Teachers in the crosshairs
A Trump presidency also could have a big impact on how educators teach and on whether they choose to stay in the profession. Trump has claimed teachers have been indoctrinating children with anti-American ideologies. His solution: create a new credentialing agency to certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values and understand that their job is not to indoctrinate children, but to educate them.”
He also wants to abolish teacher tenure and to give preference in federal funding to states and school districts that support his efforts to do so.
“He will go after teacher associations backing Democrats, with a vengeance,” Fuller predicts.
California Teachers Association President David Goldberg said that, as a union of 310,000 educators, CTA has the strength to fight for the state’s students, schools and communities.
“We are prepared to stand up against any attacks on our students, public education, workers’ rights, and our broader communities that may come,” Goldberg said. “We’re committed to fight for the future we all deserve.”
