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  • It hurts not to have access to affordable health care

    It hurts not to have access to affordable health care


    Credit: Liv Ames / EdSource

    I provided quality child care and early education to children from birth through 13 years old for over 29 years. Throughout my tenure as an early educator, the reality that I literally could never afford to become ill has haunted me.

    As a home-based, licensed provider, I never had the luxury of affordable health care. Over the years, whenever I felt a sniffle that lasted far too many days or a pain that became problematic and persistent, the dread of scheduling a doctor’s appointment was always present.  

    My body needed a doctor’s attention on numerous occasions. While sitting in the waiting room to see a physician or getting wheeled into an emergency room, my mind was not able to focus on my health. Instead, all I could think about was how much this was going to cost and please, Lord, don’t let the doctor say I had to be admitted to the hospital. The absolute terror of the mounting cost of health care services was overwhelming. 

    Fast-forward and following my recuperation or recovery from any doctor’s visits or hospital stays, the anguish did not ease. Like clockwork, the hospital bills started arriving weekly. Whenever I saw the Kaiser return address on each envelope as I had done so many times, my stomach would knot up and my mood quickly soured. Eventually, I became numb to the arrival of each new bill and the reminders to pay the old bills. 

    It is painful to work in a field where my services did so much good for the economy and families, yet my family and my health suffered. Child care is essential. Child care workers have been and will always be essential workers. Family child care providers are independent contractors and, for most of us, access to an affordable health care plan is limited or nonexistent.  

    While Obamacare did open the doors for providers to access health care — especially those with pre-existing conditions, like myself — the cost is still too high.

    Through Covered California (the state’s version of Obamacare), I was able to receive health care services under the Bronze Plan with a higher co-pay. I was relieved to be able to finally have health insurance, but the co-pays weren’t necessarily affordable. When it comes to health care and access to quality, affordable services, the cards are stacked against early educators. I stand firm in my belief that many providers have died early deaths due to a lack of health care and ignoring ongoing health problems for fear of losing their businesses and their livelihoods. No one can tell me that working 60-70 hours a week for 15-30 years does not contribute to an early demise. Research has demonstrated that women face unique barriers to health care. Inequities, compounded with gender roles and expectations, present unique burdens on women, and while costs of care are important, consideration of additional burdens women face is critical to finding equitable solutions.

    There is some good news, however. Child Care Providers United (CCPU), a union for early educators, has negotiated a health care reimbursement fund for the provider membership. To qualify for the reimbursement benefit, providers must have at least one child eligible for subsidized child care enrolled in their program. This fund reimburses licensed providers who are already enrolled in a health care plan. It does not replace their health insurance, nor does it offer a health care plan as a benefit. Licensed child care providers must be enrolled in a qualified health insurance plan to qualify for this reimbursement plan, which helps with out-of-pocket expenses such as service co-pays, prescription co-pays, and some monthly premiums. This is considered a good start, but it is not enough. The reimbursement fund is not available to all early educators, and it only covers the provider, not their family members. 

    We already know that child care is in crisis, statewide and nationally. We need healthy early educators and child care professionals on the job. Child care workers put their lives on the line during the pandemic. In the face of any emergency, these women always bridge the gap and show up when things can appear dire. The least we can do is create a pathway for these professionals to be healthy.

    Health care is complicated and expensive. We get it. Child care is expensive. We get it.

    State and federal policymakers must recognize the need to ensure that every practitioner is guaranteed an affordable option to stay healthy so that our children will have their caregivers and educators when they need them most.  

    •••

    Tonia McMillian is a recently retired family child care provider in Southern California.

    The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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  • The community college creating a home base for transition-age foster students

    The community college creating a home base for transition-age foster students


    Sky Celine Page, 20, in her subsidized home, which recently opened as part of a collaborative effort between Pasadena City College, Pasadena Community Foundation and First Place for Youth. “If I wasn’t here, and I didn’t have the opportunity to not pay rent, I probably wouldn’t be in school,” she said.

    Credit: Betty Márquez Rosales

    Sky Celine Page was not so sure that school was for her. She had spent the end of middle school ditching class and high school catching up on assignments as she moved between foster homes, and she was ready to quit college after performing poorly her first two semesters.

    “There was so much going on in my mind, and I was always so stressed out that I couldn’t just sit there and focus on schoolwork,” Page said.

    Nearly three years ago, she was couch surfing after leaving a foster home, and with nowhere to sleep consistently, school was placed on the back burner.

    Page is one of Los Angeles County’s transition-age youth — a term used to describe young adults aging out of the foster system. About 1,000 young people, 18 to 24 years old, age out in L.A. County each year, according to a 2024 report from the California Policy Lab. The same report also found that, in Los Angeles County, about 500 housing slots, including 206 housing vouchers, are available at any given time for youth who are no longer in care and have a closed case with the Department of Family and Child Services. This availability is likely insufficient to meet housing needs, and it doesn’t account for the challenges with accessing such resources, such as the difficulty of navigating complex public agencies.

    Studies have shown that transition-age foster youth have a higher risk of homelessness, but there is no reliable count of how many currently are. Housing instability, which at times includes changing schools often, disrupts relationships that students may form with classmates and educators, all of which has been linked to negative impacts on test scores and high school graduation rates, according to multiple studies, including a 2015 brief from the National Education Policy Center.

    A collaboration between Pasadena City College, Pasadena Community Foundation and First Place for Youth, an organization that supports successful transition of foster youth to adulthood, is providing housing to transition-age foster youth like Page, 20, who now lives in one of their units.

    A six-unit rent-subsidized apartment complex near Pasadena City College, where Page is now a student, opened last August. Ten additional units are being built next door.

    “Many of our students were going from group home to group home, carrying their stuff in a trash bag,” said David Sigala Gomez, educational adviser at the college’s program for students with experience in foster care, who provides case management to Page and her neighbors. “A lot of our students didn’t have much because they were moving around so much. So having the means to now buy new clothes, wear new shoes, it just brings a whole different perspective.”

    Page’s new, fully-furnished studio apartment is decorated in various shades of pink, with books and school supplies spilling out of her desk that doubles as the dining table where she enjoys journaling. She lives a short drive from her college campus, where she will soon earn an associate degree in health sciences as she pursues nursing.

    Page is finally stable and, as she put it, she is healing. Her life now is a paradigm shift from her life just a few years ago, when she was 18 and couch surfing. It is even further from her life at 14 when she first entered the foster system.

    ‘If I wasn’t here … I probably wouldn’t be in school’

    Page was 6 when her mother died. She and her brother were sent to Palmdale in northern Los Angeles County to live with their father and stepmother, whom Page described as “a horrific person.”

    Page tried to ignore both how her stepmother would lash out and make inappropriate comments about her and the silence from her father, who most often “turned the other cheek” during arguments, she said.

    At 14, Page hit a breaking point. She was in school, but would ditch class often and walk the hallways “trying to make sense of everything that was going on” at home. She made the decision to open up about her disruptive home life to a teacher, who called the Department of Family and Child Services.

    “After that, I never went back home,” Page said.

    A series of short-term placements later, she was living in a foster home in the Pasadena area, the city where she still lives. She struggled with the transition into foster care and with every move from one placement to another.

    “I look at that time and my heart was so broken … because I didn’t understand. I felt like I was being punished; I was trying to get help and now I’m around all these people I don’t know,” Page said. “I just didn’t realize at that time that it would be for the better, but it was hard. It was definitely a hard transition.”

    The constant moves also weighed on her academically.

    It’s an experience that Sigala Gomez, the educational adviser at Pasadena City College, noted is common among foster students. “I have really high-functioning students; their goal is a master’s degree, I have students who struggle just because of instabilities, moving from different schools,” he said, referring to the students he supports through the Next Up and STARS programs, both for foster youth. “For them, we really have to break it down: ‘Hey, you went to class two weeks in a row. That’s success. That’s a goal.’”

    Page enrolled in high school but felt self-conscious about how often she moved and because she “didn’t have the nicest things,” she said. So, she opted to enroll in Pasadena Unified School District’s virtual academy.

    It was there that she developed an interest in the sciences after completing an internship with the Huntington Medical Research Institute. When she fell behind on assignments in school, her teachers allowed her to catch up by turning in items late.

    Despite the disruptions to her education, Page knew she wanted to graduate from high school. She was aware of the stigma that some foster youth feel when they are unable to complete high school, and she was determined to avoid giving “anybody more of a reason to make them think that I was uneducated,” she said.

    It was around this time that she could no longer stay at the foster home where she had been living, so she put her items into a storage unit, and for the next half-year, couch surfed and worked two jobs.

    The social worker she was assigned to didn’t appear to understand that she needed help urgently, Page said, so Page reported her — the first time she had taken such an action.

    The next social worker quickly connected Page with First Place for Youth, an organization that seeks to break cycles of poverty among young adults aging out of foster care by providing housing.

    Page was housed in Alhambra within weeks of making that connection. By this time, it was the fall of 2022. She decided to continue her studies, leaning on her love of learning that she couldn’t tap into for so many years. She struggled, but still enjoyed learning. The commute to Pasadena City College wasn’t helping, especially using public transportation.

    She was unaware at the time that the same organization that had housed her was working on a collaboration to convert existing structures into housing near her campus.

    The effort included an initial $2 million housing loan agreement with Heritage Housing Partners, the project developer, approved by the City Council’s finance committee in 2022, upped to nearly $2.4 million in 2023, plus $200,000 from the Pasadena Community Foundation and $10,000 from California Community Foundation.

    The conversion was completed in August 2024, with First Place for Youth and Pasadena City College providing case management. The college also subsidizes the rent cost via Lancer Care, which is their basic-needs department, in conjunction with Extended Opportunity Programs & Services’ foster programs. The amount subsidized is $1,000 per unit, per month, said Sigala Gomez, and students must be transition-age nonminor dependents to qualify for a unit.

    Since moving into her new apartment, Page is feeling more confident, her grades have improved, and she now has the freedom to reflect on her childhood.

    “I’ve lived double the life experience,” said Page, contrasting herself with the average 20-year-old. “I’m figuring out, ‘OK, this is what 20-year-olds do. This is normal … this was not normal … this is part of my trauma.”

    Page has spent the past two years adjusting to life on her terms. She sees her current housing as her chance at being able to focus solely on school without the burden of unstable housing or the high cost of living in her neighborhood. And that was precisely the point of these housing units, Sigala Gomez said.

    With rent, utilities and most school costs covered, Page and her new neighbors have just one primary task: focusing on themselves as they enter adulthood.

    “It allows me to go to school without having to worry and stress about cost,” said Page of her housing. “If I wasn’t here, and I didn’t have the opportunity to not pay rent, I probably wouldn’t be in school.”





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  • What parents and students need to know about LAUSD’s cellphone ban

    What parents and students need to know about LAUSD’s cellphone ban


    Credit: Pexels

    The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted 5-2 to develop its new cellphone ban last August — placing the district more than a year ahead of the state’s requirement for districts to limit the use of smartphones by July 1, 2026.  Students should expect to have their cellphones off and tucked away starting on Tuesday. 

    District officials hope that keeping students away from their phones will both boost academic performance and support their mental health. 

    “Kids no longer have the opportunity to just be kids,” said school board member Nick Melvoin, who authored the initial resolution, in a statement released by the district. “I’m hoping this resolution will help students not only focus in class, but also give them a chance to interact and engage more with each other — and just be kids.” 

    Here’s what parents and students need to know about what lies ahead. 

    Where will students’ phones be kept?

    It depends on how each campus plans to implement the district policy. 

    In some schools or classrooms, students might simply have to turn off their phones and put them into their backpacks. In other schools, students will have to place their phones into a storage unit, including pouches that are sealed magnetically. 

    Are there any exceptions to the rule?

    Yes, students who need access to their phones for health-based reasons — or because they have an individualized education program or 504 plan — will be able to hold on to their devices. Students who need help with language translation will also be excused from the policy, along with students who have any other local needs. 

    What about cases where there is an emergency? 

    Whether students can access their devices during emergencies has been one of the larger concerns of parents and other community members.

    In short, if there is an emergency, students will be granted access to their devices if staff members decide it is safe for them to have them. 

    But, if a student asks to use their cellphone because they believe there is a potential threat, they won’t immediately be able to do so. Instead, the school will have to complete a threat assessment and develop a safety plan; depending on what they find, students may be granted access. 

    Can my child have devices other than cellphones? 

    No. The ban also applies to other devices that “provide similar smartphone functionality,” according to a district presentation. These devices include earbuds, smartwatches and smart glasses. 

    Will phones have to be tucked away all day — or just when learning is taking place?

    Yes, cellphones and similar devices will have to be tucked off and away throughout the school day, including during lunch and any other breaks. 

    Students will be allowed to use their phones on campus before and after school hours, however. 

    What are the ramifications for students if they don’t comply?

    Verbal reminders and referrals to a counselor or other campus designee would be given to students who are seen with a device. School administrators could also contact a student’s parent or guardian. 

    Will individual campuses be able to tweak things as they see fit? 

    Local School Leadership Councils throughout the district — composed of school personnel, parents, students and community members — will work to determine how best to implement the policy at their sites. 

    LAUSD’s policy requires each school to hold a Local School Leadership Council meeting while the cellphone policies are being implemented. 





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  • Trump’s nominee says she may break apart, not shut down Education Department

    Trump’s nominee says she may break apart, not shut down Education Department


    Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, answers questions from senators during her confirmation hearing while surrounded by family members in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

    Credit: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP

    The nominee to become the next and, President Donald Trump vows, last secretary of education assured U.S. senators on Thursday that there are no plans to shut down the Department of Education or to cut spending that Congress has already approved for the department.

    Linda McMahon, however, said she would be open to moving programs to other departments, such as sending the Office of Civil Rights to the Justice Department.

    Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, brought up funding early in the two-hour hearing on the nomination.

    “If the department is downsized, would the states and localities still receive the federal funding that they currently receive?” he asked.

    “Yes, it’s not the president’s goal to defund the programs. It’s only to have it operate more efficiently,” she said.

    Closing the department, a longtime goal of conservative Republicans, was one of Trump’s campaign promises. Calling the department a “con job” this week, he has said repeatedly that McMahon’s goal should be to shrink the department, to “put herself out of a job.”

    But Trump also acknowledged that only Congress can dismantle what it established in 1980 during the Carter administration. At the hearing, McMahon affirmed that she would work with Congress to follow the law.

    With husband Vince, McMahon, 76, founded a successful sports entertainment company that later became World Wrestling Entertainment, and served as its president, then its CEO for 30 years. McMahon served as Trump’s administrator of the Small Business Administration in his first administration. She also served for a year on the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2009 and is a longtime trustee of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, but otherwise has had little involvement in education. 

    Democratic senators did not press her on her lack of education experience, although Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, did push her to name a requirement for schools to show improvement under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the principal law determining accountability for K-12 schools. She could not.

    Instead, they questioned her on Trump’s plan to ship federal funding to states as block grants without federal oversight, his intention to expand parental school choice, and his threats to cut funding for colleges that allow transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports and for schools that continue policies for diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI.

    ‘Invest in teachers, not bureaucrats’

    McMahon made clear in her opening statement she is in sync with the president’s assessment of education.

    Calling the nation’s schools a “system in decline,” she said, “we can do better for elementary and junior high school students by teaching basic reading and mathematics; for the college freshmen facing censorship or antisemitism on campus, and for parents and grandparents who worry that their children and grandchildren are no longer taught American values and true history.”

    “So what’s the remedy?” she asked. “Fund education freedom, not government-run systems. Invest in teachers, not Washington bureaucrats.”

    McMahon expressed support for continuing federal funding for Title I in support of low-income students, and for students with disabilities under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). However, she will investigate whether IDEA should remain in the department.

    “When IDEA was originally set up, it was under the Department of Health and Welfare. After the Department of Education was established, it shifted over there,” she said. “I’m not sure that it’s not better served in Health and Human Services, but I don’t know.  If I’m confirmed, it is of high priority to make sure that the students who are receiving disability funding (are) not impacted.”

    Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, called her commitment to continued funding “gaslighting.”

    Even as the hearing was happening, Republicans in the House were working on “reconciliation” bills that called for possibly balancing massive continued personal income tax cuts with hundreds of billions in funding cuts for Medicaid and education. 

    This week, Elon Musk’s budget-cutting SWAT team known as DOGE, cut $881 million in research contracts without notice. Other education grants associated with DEI received termination notices, too.

    McMahon said DOGE’s “audit” of the department was appropriate. “I believe the American people spoke loudly in the election last November, to say that they want to look at waste, fraud and abuse in our government.” Trump recently fired the Department of Education’s independent inspector general, Sandra D. Bruce, whose job was to root out waste, fraud and abuse.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm9QfK8zDU0

    Watch: Linda McMahon said DOGE’s “audit” of the department was appropriate.

    “I understand an audit,” Murray said. “But when Congress appropriates money, it is the administration’s responsibility to put that out, as directed by Congress who has the power of the purse. So what will you do if the president or Elon Musk tells you not to spend money Congress has appropriated to you?”

    “We’ll certainly expend those dollars that Congress has passed,” McMahon responded. “But I do think it is worthwhile to take a look at the programs before the money goes out the door. It’s much easier to stop the money before it goes out the door than it is to claw it back.”

    Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said schools across the nation are “scrambling because they have no idea what DEI means” and are worried they will lose funding. He presented two scenarios that pointed to ambiguities in the executive order.

    If a school in Connecticut celebrates Martin Luther King Day events and programming teaching about Black history, does it violate or run afoul of DEI prohibitions? he asked.

    “Not, in my view, that is clearly not the case,” McMahon said. “That celebration of Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month should be celebrated throughout all of our schools.”

    Murphy continued, “What about educational programming centered around specific ethnic and racial experiences? My son is in a public school. He takes African American History. Could you perhaps be in violation of this executive order?”

    “I’m, I’m not quite certain,” McMahon said. “I would like to take a look at these programs and fully understand the breadth of the executive order and get back to you on that.”

    As with all of Trump’s nominees so far, McMahon is expected to win a majority vote in the Senate, possibly along party lines, later this month.  





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  • West Contra Costa community rallies around educators protesting staffing cuts

    West Contra Costa community rallies around educators protesting staffing cuts


    United Teachers of Richmond gather at West Contra Costa school board meeting Wednesday to protest staff cuts approved a week earlier.

    Credit: Monica Velez / EdSource

    San Pablo mom Gabriella Garcia said her fourth-grade son sometimes comes home in tears after being bullied about his speech impediment.

    Her son receives help through Zoom calls with a speech specialist. 

    “Unfortunately, I don’t think this virtual format is effective for him,” Garcia said. “He continued to struggle with pronunciation, and it’s been tough for him.”

    Garcia pleaded with the West Contra Costa Unified school board on Wednesday night to stop cutting staff, including speech specialists, so her son and others like him can continue getting the hands-on support they need. 

    Her son’s teacher at Lake Elementary School, Christina Baronian, said she and the other students often have difficulty understanding him and that the only support available is online and through a contractor. 

    “It’s awful,” Baronian said during public comments. “It’s not giving him the support he needs; he needs an in-person speech therapist. Then I found out (the district) just cut some of the very few in-person (speech therapists) we have. This is his right. This is his future.”

    The United Teachers of Richmond also gathered at Wednesday night’s board meeting to protest the $13 million in budget cuts the board approved one week ago, saying the cuts are “unnecessary,” “harmful” and “devastating” to students. The $13 million in cuts will be spread over the next two school years.

    “We greatly appreciate the dedicated staff who continually serve our students and community,” interim Superintendent Kim Moses said in a statement to EdSource. “Although reductions are necessary, we are taking great care to address these reductions with minimal impact on staff and students.”

    More than 60 West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) educators showed up in person and virtually to urge the board to reconsider the fiscal solvency plan it passed. For nearly two hours, almost every speaker asked the board to reconsider the cuts. Union members wore matching red shirts, held up signs, and cheered after every public comment.

    Community members at Wednesday’s board meeting chanted “revote” throughout the meeting. 

    A speech-language pathologist and member of United Teachers of Richmond addresses the West Contra Costa school board during Wednesday’s meeting to protest the staffing cuts the board approved one week prior, which included speech specialists.
    Credit: Monica Velez / EdSource

    “We are urging the board to keep our schools stable,” said United Teachers of Richmond President Francisco Ortiz. “This is going to have a destabilizing effect, and they (the board) have the authority to (avoid cutting staff).”

    West Contra Costa Unified School District officials have said that to stay afloat, they need to cut a total of $32.7 million in funds between 2024 and 2027. The bulk of those cuts, $19.7 million, were slashed from the current school year’s budget. 

    Declining enrollment, expiration of Covid-19 relief funds, increased costs for special education programs, and underfunded mandates from state and federal governments left West Contra Costa strapped for cash, according to district officials. These struggles are being felt across the state, including nearby districts in San Francisco and Oakland which are grappling with budget cuts, school closures and consolidations.

    Meanwhile, the California Teachers Association last week launched a statewide campaign called We Can’t Wait, uniting teachers in 32 school districts to leverage their administrations for higher pay and benefits, smaller class sizes, and mental health support. As part of the campaign, more than 100 San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond educators rallied in a downpour in front of Oakland City Hall.

    Will the board revote?

    No board member has indicated any plan to call for another vote on the budget.

    Board members Leslie Reckler, Cinthia Hernandez, and Guadalupe Enllana voted for the plan. Jamela Smith-Folds abstained, and Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy was absent. 

    “These reductions are not secret,” board President Reckler wrote in an email to EdSource. “They are part of a years-long public fiscal solvency plan that was approved by the Contra Costa County Office of Education. Further, Labor has worked alongside board members and staff to identify reductions. These reductions are necessary to align adults to declining student counts.”

    West Contra Costa has faced challenging budget deficits before. In 1991, the district became the first in the state to go insolvent and received a $29 million bailout loan, which took 21 years to pay off. 

    Board member Gonzalez-Hoy said in a statement that the district needs to stop concentrating on what to cut and begin focusing on where it needs to invest and how to bring in more revenue. He added that resources should be put into increasing enrollment, daily attendance and growing programs. He said he will ask the board president to form a task force to address these issues.

    “We as a whole spend more time getting rid of what is broken instead of trying to fix it,” Gonzalez-Hoy said. “If we just keep concentrating on cuts and reduction, eventually we will disappear. We are deeply divided as a community, and it is time for us to come together for the future of our students.”

    West Contra Costa is not currently considering school closures or consolidations, trustee Hernandez said in an emailed statement. 

    “As a board member, I deeply understand the profound impact these financial challenges have on our school community and the urgent need for essential services that may no longer be available,” Hernandez said. “These are difficult choices, and none were made lightly. However, our priority remains securing a fiscally responsible path forward that allows us to continue serving our students effectively.”

    Vacancies and staffing cuts 

    Emilia Calderón teaches math at Richmond High School, and she said she constantly has to sub for other classes during her free period because of the high number of vacancies.

    “Every year they cut teachers, and even though we are lacking teachers, they (the district) still cut teachers,” she said. “And so I’m subbing for classes with vacant positions, and then it feels ridiculous to have them turn around and say, ‘We’re going to cut more teachers.’ How does that make sense?”

    Over the next two school years, about 1.6% of the United Teachers of Richmond staff will be let go for a total savings of about $3.7 million, including teachers, social workers, speech therapists and assistant principals.

    But with looming cuts, students and staff have also felt the weight of having longtime vacancies. How do these exist at the same time? It’s a question the teachers union and community has been grappling with, Ortiz said.

    Francisco Ortiz, United Teachers of Richmond president, addresses the West Contra Costa school board on Wednesday during public comment to protest the staffing cuts the board approved one week prior.
    Credit: Monica Velez / EdSource

    West Contra Costa’s fiscal solvency plan uses multiyear projections based on fully-staffed schools, Ortiz said, which is about 1,600 educators. Currently, there are about 130 vacant positions, which is equivalent to nearly $19 million, he said.

    “It creates this crisis that we have to reduce but we don’t have fully staffed people,” Ortiz said. “If we had a fully staffed school district, then that could potentially make sense, but we don’t have a fully staffed school district.” 

    But Moses said that when there are vacant positions, the district still needs to pay for substitutes, overtime or contractors to cover services. 

    “These replacement costs offset the salaries that have been set aside for the vacant positions,” Moses said. “Due to current vacancy levels, we expect that there will be a certificated job available for all current WCCUSD educators for the 2025-26 school year.”

    The deadline for the district to send layoff notices is March 15.

    “A lot of the folks we have in our district, they’re either homegrown or they choose to come here,” Ortiz said, referring to district educators. “We want to provide them with an incentive to stay in our district, and we’re currently not doing that with these haphazard or ill-conceived moves.”

    But in the meantime, the educators who are choosing to stay in West Contra Costa are trying to help students in ways they weren’t trained to.

    “We not only provide curriculum and teaching, but we’re literally like their parents sometimes and emotional support,” Calderón said. “Since they’re cutting all these social workers, guess who gets the brunt of that emotional support? I try my best, but I’m not a therapist, and it’s quite honestly dangerous to try and have a math teacher be a kid’s therapist.”





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  • Fresno Unified teachers condemn district for plan to cut extra class time for students

    Fresno Unified teachers condemn district for plan to cut extra class time for students


    Fresno Unified School District will cut its Designated Schools program that provides 30 additional instructional minutes to over 24,000 students each day. Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla and around 100 educators protested the decision on Wednesday.

    Credit: Lasherica Thornton/ EdSource

    About 100 Fresno Unified educators slammed the state’s third-largest school system for its “unilateral” decision to eliminate a decadelong initiative for underserved students during a news conference Wednesday evening. 

    The district’s decision-making is being challenged as leaders face pushback for getting rid of a student-focused program that, from the district’s perspective, isn’t consistently meeting the needs of those students. 

    The district will cut its Designated Schools program, an initiative to improve student achievement through additional daily instruction. The district announced in January that the program, affecting about 40 schools, 24,000 students and over 1,250 educators, will end after this school year.

    Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla said educators feel devalued and disrespected because eliminating the Designated Schools program without input from the school community is not a classroom-centered decision as it takes money away from the classroom, from teachers and from much-needed resources. 

    “It is a huge cut to trust,” Bonilla said. “It is a huge cut to respect and to value in this district. And we’re here to say, ‘We’re not going to put up with it.’”

    For the superintendent and district staff, the main consideration in the decision to eliminate the program is its effectiveness: “Are we getting the return for the investment that we’re making?” asked interim Superintendent Misty Her. 

    “While we have gotten some results, they’ve not been consistent,” Her said. “We’ve not had consistent (growth) year after year.” 

    What are Designated Schools?

    At Designated Schools, which are intended to close academic gaps at a faster pace, students have 30 extra minutes of instruction each day, teachers have 10 additional work days for professional training, and campuses have a full-time teacher on special assignment to assist with reading or math intervention, costing the district $30 million annually.

    Designated Schools are typically located in neighborhoods with large numbers of students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. They serve vulnerable student populations that often start behind other groups. The extra time and resources are meant to catch students up by focusing on foundational skills they’re missing, teachers told EdSource. 

    Those students are going to lose 30 minutes of instruction every day, Bonilla said, equating the time to 90 additional instructional hours each year. 

    For example, during that 30 minutes of intervention time, teachers divide their classes into small groups by proficiency level and target students’ weak points. Teachers have the assistance of support staff who provide enrichment activities and targeted instruction.

    “Having that 30 extra minutes makes such a difference for these students, and we can see the gains, and we can see the growth that they make,” said Kate Hooper, a first grade teacher at Wilson Elementary, a Designated School.

    What does the decision mean?

    Designated School teachers are paid for the extra time and extra days they work, so eliminating the program means less pay for them. 

    Bonilla said the decision forces teachers to take a 12% pay cut, ranging from $651 to $1,150 each month. 

    District spokesperson Nikki Henry asserts that district officials stand behind their decision to end the $30 million program, but that much of what’s been communicated by the teachers union is “blatantly false” and “fear-based rhetoric.” 

    Nearly two-thirds of Designated School teachers will not see a pay reduction because there are already pay increases planned in their salary schedules, Henry said. In 2023, when the school district and teachers union reached a “historic” contract, the district agreed to 4.5% educator raises with a 2.5% bonus next school year. The remaining one-third of impacted teachers will see about a 2% decrease over two years. 

    Rather than keeping money in classrooms, Bonilla accused the district of wanting to pad its reserves and put the money toward consultants who, teachers say, don’t help them or students. According to Bonilla, the district’s reserves currently sit at about $234 million.

    Most of the money is already tied up by the district’s financial obligations, Henry said, explaining that only about 7%, or $121 million, belongs to the unrestricted reserves that can be used. The district plans to spend the reserves to a projected 4% in the next two years, she said. 

    Fresno Unified is in its second year of budget cuts with at least two more years of “tough decisions” ahead. Though cuts were at the district level for this school year, they will likely touch the classroom next school year, including consultant contracts, Henry said. 

    Much like other California school systems, the district is facing declining enrollment, less funding due to lower average daily attendance, and lower than expected cost of living adjustments from the state — all of which contributed to the decision to end the program. Now the district must add the volatility at the federal level to that, district officials said. 

    Is funding the only reason for the decision?

    The Designated School program seemingly includes all the components necessary to better student outcomes: more time with kids, more time for teachers’ professional learning and more support staff. 

    Henry said that in evaluating student growth over time, regardless of where student proficiency started, Designated Schools perform about the same as non-designated schools. 

    “You put $30 million a year into a program, and they perform similarly to non-designated schools,” she said. “There’s not a bigger growth.”

    And there should be, Henry said. The Designated Schools initiative was meant to show that with extra investment, schools make academic gains faster. 

    An analysis of the program, conducted by Hanover Research in the 2020-21 school year, also found that evidence of the program’s effectiveness on academic outcomes is mixed.

    “It’s just, more than anything, disheartening, coming from people who haven’t been in the classroom in a very long time,” Hooper, the Wilson Elementary teacher, said. 

    She and other teachers say they see the gains students are making. Devyn Stephens, another Wilson Elementary teacher, said she had a first grader who didn’t know their letters or sounds on the first day of school and is now able to read at a kindergarten or early first grade reading level, adding that she can’t imagine that being possible “without that 30 minutes.”

    Wilson Elementary third grade teacher Jessica Avila said the time is needed to ensure her students know how to read since the third grade curriculum is to read to understand, not learn to read. 

    There are “a few bright spots” in the data, the district admits, but not enough. The district did not provide the school-specific data it used to make its decision.

    Henry said after-school programs, which include homework help and intervention, will absorb the students who will no longer have 30 extra minutes of instruction in the classroom. Fresno Unified will also look to other programs that can make a difference.

    Since eliminating the program is a superintendent and staff-level decision, district staff won’t be recommending the program’s continuation in next year’s budget. Technically, the school board has the discretion and authority to add it back. 

    To many, that process is the problem. 

    “It’s not just the teachers that are suffering in regards to this lack of leadership, a lack of direction and student-focused decisions,” Bonilla, the teachers union president, said about a decision that affects tens of thousands of students. “They have not gone to our community whatsoever to have a discussion.”

    “If the district wants to own this, they need to come out and be real leaders and talk about it with the community.”





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  • Districts offer early retirement. Are students collateral damage?

    Districts offer early retirement. Are students collateral damage?


    San Francisco Unified School District office building.

    Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

    California school districts that are at risk of falling off the fiscal cliff are increasingly turning to early retirement incentives as a humane way to balance their budgets, but students could be the ones who lose.

    Many California school districts are facing large budget deficits brought on by continuing declining student enrollment and lower cost-of-living increases in state funding, said Michael Fine, chief executive officer of the state’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team. Districts also have expanded their staffing in recent years, using federal Covid-19 funding that has since gone away.

    The state’s schools spend about 80% of their funding on staff salaries and benefits, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. This leaves districts to choose between unpopular options such as layoffs, school closures and early retirement incentives if budget cuts are needed.

    Early retirements often leave school districts with more inexperienced and under-prepared teachers, which research has shown can have a negative impact on student performance, particularly in high-needs schools.

    This school year, two of the state’s largest districts, San Diego Unified and San Francisco Unified, are offering to pay older, veteran teachers and staff to retire early. Santa Ana Unified and Paso Robles Joint Unified offered an early retirement incentive to their staff earlier this school year. 

    “Part of the cost savings that come with a SERP (supplemental early retirement plan) is, because school districts have a step and column salary schedule, that you realize savings by having teachers that are higher on the salary schedule retire,” said Amy Baer, associate superintendent of human resources for San Francisco Unified School District. 

    “They’re replaced with teachers who are lower on the salary schedule, so it would bring down the number of experienced teachers that you are going to have,” she said.

    In hard-to-fill areas, such as special education, math, science and bilingual education, districts sometimes have to hire under-prepared teachers who have not completed teacher training to fill vacant jobs.

    “We are concerned that the early retirement incentive could exacerbate the existing vacancies for special education we have continued to experience for the last five school years,” said San Diego Education Association President Kyle Weinberg.

    The districts are not excluding teachers in hard-to-fill jobs from retirement incentives. 

    “I think it would be difficult, if challenged legally, that you won’t honor a math credential, but you will honor an English credential (for the incentive),” Fine said.

    Deficits mean staff cuts

    San Francisco Unified leaders, with the help of state-appointed advisers, are trying to reduce the district’s deficit by $113 million. District officials estimate it will have to cut 535 positions, with about 300 coming from early retirements, according to district officials.

    To help meet that goal, San Francisco Unified is offering an early retirement incentive to all staff aged 55 or older, who have more than five years of consecutive service. In return, the district will pay them the equivalent of 60% of their current salary, according to documents from Keenan & Associates, the company administering the plan. The deadline to apply for the supplemental early retirement plan is Feb. 21. 

    San Francisco Unified officials have indicated layoffs will still be needed to bridge the district’s budget deficit.

    San Diego Unified offered an early retirement incentive earlier this school year as part of an effort to eliminate a $112 million projected deficit. The district had 965 employees, including 478 teachers, apply for the incentive — 27% more than expected by the Jan. 15 deadline. The district hasn’t announced how much they expect the retirements will save.

    The supplemental early retirement plan was open to employees eligible to retire under the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), or CalPERS, a public pension service for state workers, by June 30. The district is offering staff 70% of their pay, capped at $124,000 — the top step in the teacher salary schedule. The money will be put in an annuity and paid out over five years.

    District officials at San Diego Unified also have not ruled out layoffs, but expect them to be minimal. 

    “The higher number of people taking early retirement is another positive step toward our goal of delivering a balanced budget in June,” said Fabi Bagula, San Diego Unified School District interim superintendent, in a statement. “The increased number of retirees provides us an opportunity to work with site administrators to assess the way we have been doing things and reimagine our staffing approach to better serve our students and families.”

    Santa Ana Unified offered teachers and other certificated members of the teachers union an early retirement incentive in October, in an effort to reduce a $180 million structural deficit. Although 160 teachers accepted the deal, the district still expects to lay off at least 100 more certificated employees before the end of the year, said Ron Hacker, associate superintendent and chief business official.

    The school board recently voted to reopen the window for early retirement applications and to extend it until May, according to LAist.

    More under-prepared teachers

    Schools in San Francisco and San Diego counties made some of the most requests for emergency-style teaching permits and waivers during the 2022-23 school year, according to California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) data. 

    Districts request emergency-style permits to allow teachers who have not completed testing, coursework and student teaching, to work on provisional intern permits, intern credentials and short-term staff permits when they can’t find enough credentialed teachers. Waivers and limited-assignment permits allow credentialed teachers to teach classes on subjects outside their credential.

    San Diego County is among the top 10 counties to request intern credentials, short-term staff permits and limited assignment teaching permits in 2022-23, according to the CTC. San Diego Unified serves 114,000 students — just under a quarter of the students in San Diego County.

    That year, San Diego Unified had 55 teachers working on intern credentials, 68 on short-term staffing permits, two on provisional intern permits, 98 on limited assignment permits and three on waivers, according to state data.

     The district, the second largest in the state, had 5,051 teachers in 2022-23, the most recent year state data is available.

    San Francisco Unified, which serves 55,452 students, currently has 59 intern teachers and about 230 teachers on various other emergency-style permits, according to the district. 

    The district, which serves all but about 1,000 students in San Francisco County, has 3,364 TK-12 teachers and 128 early childhood educators. The county was listed among the top 10 counties to request district intern credentials and waivers during the 2022-23 school year, according to commission data. 

    Teacher shortage persists

    At a Dec. 10 San Francisco Unified school board meeting, parents and community members complained about long-term substitute teachers teaching in classrooms where there is no credentialed teacher.

    Parent Cheryl Thornton urged the board not to eliminate 500 positions, saying the district already is struggling with empty positions. “We should prioritize central office positions and look for extra funding,” she said.

    Another parent complained that her autistic son, who attends James Lick Middle School, has substitutes instead of a regular teacher. “We need a teacher as soon as possible,” she said.

    San Francisco Unified, like most districts, has a shortage of teachers in special education and other high-needs areas. District leaders say they don’t know yet whether losing veteran teachers in these subjects could result in more under-prepared teachers working on emergency-style permits.

    “It’s really too soon to say what the impact would be next year, but we are committed to making sure that our students do continue to get rigorous and enriching programs in our schools,” said Laura Dudnick, spokeswoman for the district.

    The San Diego solution

    In San Diego Unified, 57 special education teachers are taking the early retirement incentive, San Diego Education Association President Weinberg said. That means more classrooms being taught by long-term substitutes, he said.

    Concern from the teachers union resulted in a program that will retrain district teachers to be special education teachers while they work in those positions next school year. In a deal bargained with the union, the district will pay all the costs associated with earning a special education credential, he said. 

    The union will propose making this program a permanent part of its contract, and is working with unions in other large districts throughout the state to make similar agreements, Weinberg said.

    “We are optimistic that this will become the template for how we address the staffing crisis around special education moving forward, and provide a path for educators within our unit who are in more precarious contracts like temporary contracts or who would be potentially laid off or who are visiting (long-term substitute) teachers to be able to get a special education credential and make the commitment to teach in one of these vital special education roles,” Weinberg said.

    San Francisco is contracting with Keenan & Associates and San Diego with Pacific Life Insurance company to administer their early retirement programs. 

    “I have never seen an early retirement that actually saves the money that the vendor tells you it’s going to save,” Fine said. 

    Despite that, Fine supports the use of early retirement incentives.

    “I think we have to treat people with absolute dignity, and layoffs just destroy morale,” Fine said. “And when morale is destroyed, instruction is destroyed. So, when the morale of our teachers in the classroom is low, instruction is not as good as it should be. And you can’t harm kids that way. So I guess it’s a fine balance.”





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  • Let’s redefine student success to measure what really matters

    Let’s redefine student success to measure what really matters


    Anaheim Union High School District students discuss their work with Superintendent Michael Matsuda.

    Courtesy: Anaheim Union High School District

    Traditional measures of academic success, long dominated by elite universities, have often perpetuated systems of exclusivity rather than fostering true opportunity.

    As the superintendent of a high school district in Southern California, I have frequently heard major employers express concern that graduates from top UC and private universities often lack essential skills in project management, basic interpersonal abilities and the capacity for creativity and innovation. This reveals a significant mismatch between K-12 education, higher education and the demands of the modern workforce.

    Elite universities have long depended on rigid criteria — high test scores in math and English, advanced coursework like calculus and AP classes, and curated extracurricular activities — to determine which students gain admission. But these metrics often favor those with access to private tutors, well-funded schools and the insider knowledge of the admissions process provided by college admission coaches. As a result, this system excludes many students who possess extraordinary talents but lack the means to navigate these traditional pathways.

    The narrow definition of success currently used by elite universities creates two major problems. First, it reduces student potential to a set of numbers and polished narratives, ignoring qualities like resilience, emotional intelligence and social impact. Second, it fails to recognize students who may excel in less conventional but equally critical domains, such as interpersonal skills and the ability to creatively solve problems. By relying on these outdated measures, the current system not only limits individual opportunities but also deprives society of the diverse perspectives needed to solve complex challenges.

    In response, districts like Anaheim Union High School District are pioneering new ways to assess and celebrate student success through what we call the 5Cs: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication and compassion. This approach challenges outdated definitions of “college and career readiness” and offers a more holistic vision for the future.

    In collaboration with UC Irvine professor June Ahn and the nonprofit education technology organization eKadence, Anaheim Union is developing and piloting an AI-enhanced learning strategy that redefines how student talent is measured.

    Much as a student driver reflects on what went wrong after failing a driving test or how a coach has a team analyze their mistakes after losing a big game, the district is embedding structured reflection into student learning. After completing a major unit or project, students engage in written or oral reflection, considering what they did well, where they struggled and how they can improve. These reflections are then fed into an artificial intelligence (AI) analysis, designed and tested by Ahn’s team, that immediately generates a summary for both the student and the teacher. The AI not only highlights the main reflection points but also provides actionable advice for growth.

    Going Deeper

    See an example of the student input and AI analysis of one student’s project work here.

    For example, if a student works on a community-based project to address food insecurity and later reflects on how they struggled with organizing team meetings but excelled in presenting their findings, the UC Irvine AI tool will capture these insights. It might suggest strategies for better time management or offer communication techniques to improve team coordination. This iterative process ensures that students are not only gaining subject knowledge but also developing essential life skills.

    One of the most promising aspects of this AI-enhanced learning strategy is its potential to influence college admissions. Universities are increasingly questioning the efficacy of traditional criteria, especially in light of decisions to eliminate SAT/ACT test requirements. The tool we are developing provides a scalable addition to current criteria: a portfolio of AI-summarized reflections that highlight a student’s strengths that cannot be measured by test scores or in an essay.

    Imagine a college admissions officer reviewing an applicant’s portfolio. Instead of a single GPA or test score, they see a dynamic narrative of growth and impact — how a student led a community project addressing food insecurity, demonstrating compassion and collaboration, or how they developed an innovative solution to a STEM challenge, showcasing critical thinking and creativity. Such a system not only makes admissions more equitable but also better aligns with what colleges and employers increasingly value: adaptable, motivated and socially conscious individuals.

    The future of education depends on dismantling systems that reward the old factory model — which benefits some students and sidelines others — and replacing them with models that recognize and nurture diverse forms of excellence. This approach offers a road map for how school districts across California can empower all students to transcend traditional barriers and realize their full potential. If adopted widely, it could transform not only K-12 education but also college admissions, workforce development and society at large.

    The question is no longer whether change is necessary, but how quickly we can scale up innovations like this to ensure that every student has the opportunity to thrive. By embracing this shift, we can create a more just, dynamic and inclusive educational system — one that values every student for who they are and what they contribute to the world.

    •••

    Michael Matsuda is superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District. June Ahn is a professor of learning sciences and research-practice partnerships at the UC Irvine School of Education.

    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.





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  • California college leaders anxious, uncertain as Trump administration orders end to diversity programs

    California college leaders anxious, uncertain as Trump administration orders end to diversity programs


    San Diego City College’s Chicano-Latina graduation ceremony in 2024 is the kind of event the Trump administration is targeting in its efforts to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion policies on campuses.

    Credit: San Diego City College

    California college leaders are responding with a mix of uncertainty, resistance and worry over a U.S. Department of Education order to eliminate any race-based programs by the end of the month.

    The “dear colleague” letter, published Friday by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, goes far beyond telling colleges they can’t consider race as a factor in admissions. It says colleges that factor race into “admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life” are in violation of federal law. 

    The letter gives colleges until the end of the month to get rid of such programs or risk losing federal funds, though it doesn’t specify which funding would be held back. 

    Some officials at California’s colleges and universities said Tuesday that they have no plans to abolish those types of programs in dorms, graduation ceremonies, resource centers and other areas. However, others were still determining their next steps amid great uncertainty. Many are concerned about how possible funding losses might hurt campuses and how students might be harmed if there are cuts to programs.

    Greg Smith, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, said he has “no concern about our compliance in anything that we’re currently doing.” He noted that the district already complies with Proposition 209, the 1996 ballot measure that banned public universities in California from considering race in admissions and giving other race-based preferential treatment.

    He added, however, that it would be demoralizing for students if colleges were forced to get rid of programs designed to “create inclusivity and belonging based on culture and identity.”

    “I think it creates a sense of fear that the progress that’s been made in the civil rights going back to the mid-’60s is starting to be undermined,” he added. 

    The district, one of the largest in the state, is home to San Diego City, San Diego Mesa and San Diego Miramar colleges. Each year, the colleges hold a Rite of Passage Ceremony, a celebration meant to honor the achievements of Black students graduating or transferring. 

    San Diego Mesa also holds a Raza Grad Ceremony to honor Latino, Hispanic and Indigenous students, while San Diego City holds a similar event and also has a UMOJA Community offering counseling and tutoring to Black students hoping to transfer to a four-year university.

    Those programs and other cultural initiatives will continue, Smith said, though he acknowledged that he is concerned about possibly losing federal funding. 

    The college is currently planning how it would “backfill those funds” if it loses any federal dollars, such as by using reserves in the short term. “We’re really committed to ensuring those programs continue,” Smith said.

    The University of California similarly suggested in a statement that the order would not immediately impact its 10 campuses, which have a number of racially themed programs. The letter serves as “guidance on the Department’s interpretation of existing anti-discrimination laws and does not name any specific institution,” UC said in its statement. 

    “It indicates how OCR intends to enforce these legal requirements. Given the UC’s compliance with Prop. 209, we do not use race-based preferences in our practices,” UC added. 

    UC could be especially vulnerable because it receives nearly $6 billion annually in federal funds for research and other program support and at least $1.7 billion in student financial aid, including Pell grants and work study programs. That does not include federal funds for medical care across UC’s hospitals. 

    UC Riverside, which has prided itself on being one of the nation’s most diverse universities, says on its website that it was the first campus to have a professionally staffed Black student resource center and the first UC campus to have an office serving Native American students. 

    Many campuses across UC and the 23-campus California State University (CSU) also have racially themed dormitory floors, such as the African Black Diaspora Living Learning Community at UC San Diego. The mission of the community is to “establish an environment of personal and academic excellence through the affirmation and celebration of Blackness in its various expressions,” according to the campus website.

    CSU was still uncertain of potential impacts as of Tuesday. The system faces its own vulnerabilities if federal funding were to be cut: It estimates that more than $511 million in research expenditures were funded by federal agencies during the 2022-23 academic year.

    “As this type of action is unprecedented, we are consulting with the California Attorney General and higher education partners across the country to better understand the statewide impact of this letter,” said Amy Bentley-Smith, a CSU spokesperson.

    A spokesperson for the chancellor’s office overseeing California’s 116 community colleges said the office is “in conversations with state and federal partners and providing colleges as much clarity, guidance and support as we can.” Colleges are encouraged to “continue their critical work in alignment with state and federal laws,” the spokesperson added.

    Some campuses and college districts declined to comment altogether as they were still assessing the potential impacts of the order. That includes Sacramento State University, which has been a vocal leader in programming aimed at helping Black students, and the Los Angeles Community College District, the state’s largest district. 





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  • ‘A step backwards’: How federal threats to DEI are impacting California schools 

    ‘A step backwards’: How federal threats to DEI are impacting California schools 


    Credit: Carlos Kosienski/Sipa via AP Images

    Tough decisions lie ahead for schools across California as the federal government cracks down on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.  

    The latest measure came in the form of a letter issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Education, giving K-12 schools across the country two options: to eliminate programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within two weeks, or face unspecified cuts in federal funding.  

    “I fully anticipate that it will have a chilling effect on school districts, but also colleges and universities,” said Royel Johnson, who leads the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center’s National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates. 

    The Department of Education’s letter isn’t law — nor is it legal, Johnson said. 

    However, many advocates and community members say they are concerned that more and more districts will gut their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives out of fear and deprive students from marginalized backgrounds of the support they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.

    “We often think about California as being protected from this larger right wing movement,” Johnson said. “But as we saw with changing patterns and demographic votes in the presidential election, I think there are many people in California who are wrestling with this conservative movement and who are afraid of it — and who are proactively or preemptively making decisions.” 

    ‘An underlying disconnect’: The letter 

    The Department of Education’s letter opens with the words “Dear Colleague,” but the ensuing message takes on a different tone. 

    “Rather than engaging in that work of acknowledging and affirming educators, what the Trump administration has done thus far is to express hostility and disdain,” said John Rogers, a professor at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies and associate dean for research/public scholarship. 

    The letter specifically claims that white and Asian American students, including those from lower income backgrounds, have been discriminated against and that “educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism.’”

    Increasing schools’ scores on the Nation’s Report Card has been a justification for some of the administration’s changes, according to Rogers. 

    But instead of boosting student performance, Rogers maintains that the directive could “throw K-12 schools into further tumult” due to the high fiscal costs of culture wars. Just last year, conflicts surrounding race and LGBTQ+ issues cost schools more than $3 billion nationwide. 

    “They’re pushing superintendents and those underneath the level of the superintendency to spend time seeking out legal counsel, talking with other educational leaders, trying to figure out, ‘What do we do? What are we doing now that might be considered problematic? Do we need to take action, etc?’” Rogers said.  

    “All of that time and energy, and to the extent that they’re seeking out costly legal counsel, that has real costs associated with it. It’s pushing people away from the important work of improving student learning and supporting student well-being.” 

    While Rogers maintained that the letter was hostile in tone, he also described it as vague and confusing — a sentiment shared by many.  

    Rogers said: “If I was a superintendent, I would want to know: ‘Can my principals bring together a group of Asian American students to talk about whether they’ve experienced anti-Asian hate? Could my district invite African American parents to share their oral histories about growing up in my community as part of African American History Month, or, for that matter, can we even celebrate African American History Month?” 

    Superintendents, he said, “don’t have enough information — yet they’re being given two weeks to either take dramatic action or not, of which they have really no sense of what that would mean.”

    ‘Uncharted territory’ for California districts  

    With new, unclear circumstances on the horizon, more questions than answers are percolating through school districts across California. 

    Nikki Henry, spokesperson for Fresno Unified School District, said Tuesday that the district and its attorneys are reviewing the letter to understand its impact. 

    Fresno Unified’s school board in 2020 passed a resolution declaring the district an anti-racist institution that would “examine and confront biases” and in January reaffirmed the district as a safe place for all students, including immigrant students and families.

    That mindset and approach may put Fresno Unified, which received around $238 million in federal funds this school year, in jeopardy of losing such funding under the new administration.

    With nearly 93% of its students identifying as members of minority communities, the district has implemented “strong” diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Henry said. Their DEI policy ensures that students have equitable access to the district’s programs and services, that the curriculum reflects and celebrates diversity and that there are sufficient academic, social-emotional and behavioral supports. 

    Further south, administrators in Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest district, have also expressed support for students of all backgrounds — a move that is lauded by Evelyn Aleman, the organizer of Our Voice/Nuestra Voz, a bilingual Facebook group largely made up of parents and advocates.

    “In terms of advocating for and supporting the difference between populations that it serves, (LAUSD])really does try to do that, so … I think we’re going to be OK. I think we have a district that gets us.”

    In a statement to EdSource, a Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said the district “adheres to all federal and state law and guidance” — and that if there are discrepancies between the two, they would be resolved through the state. 

    However, last July, Parents Defending Education, a Virginia-based conservative group, filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights against the Los Angeles Unified School District for its Black Student Achievement Plan. 

    Months later, the district watered down the language surrounding the program. 

    And some members of LAUSD’s larger community, including United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz, said they fear that this decision could signal how the district might respond to directives from the federal government. 

    “If I only had to go on that (decision regarding the Black Student Achievement Plan), then I would say I’m concerned,” Myart-Cruz said. “I believe in our students. … I know that UTLA, we’re going to stand right alongside our students and our community. … If we put resources in for our students, then it helps everyone.” 

    Other districts like Clovis Unified, however, maintain that they will not be impacted, according to spokesperson Kelly Avants. 

    Based on the way Clovis Unified is interpreting the Education Department’s letter, Avants said affected districts are likely those with hiring practices or scholarships with DEI guidelines or selection criteria based solely on race or gender. 

    Avants added that all Clovis Unified activities to celebrate different cultures are open to the entire student population. 

    “We’ve not gone one direction or the other,” Avants said. “We really have tried to be sensitive to our programs being holistic versus centrally focused.” 

    What’s at stake

    Experts and teachers have continually emphasized that diversity, equity and inclusion programs enrich students’ learning and that they also play a critical role in students feeling like they belong. 

    “DEI provides mechanisms for addressing issues of safety and security for students who sometimes experience physical harm, psychological harm,” Johnson said. “But, if we start removing the very mechanisms that are designed to address these issues, we’re going to see higher reports and students having concerns around their safety at school.” 

    He added, “If students feel a sense of connectedness and belonging to the school environment, they’re more likely to be retained, they’re more likely to come to school on time and persist toward their goals.”

    Several indicators of student success, from student attendance rates to engagement, rise when DEI programs are implemented, he said. 

    And in the classroom, Aleman from Our Voice/Nuestra Voz, emphasized the importance of learning about the contributions of immigrants from various backgrounds. 

    “We’re at a stage of global interaction that requires that we understand … the rich history and contributions of immigrants and different populations,” Aleman said. “We are a heterogeneous culture. … and we don’t understand why the administration doesn’t understand that.” 

    Pushing back 

    While the Department of Education’s letter focuses on race, civil rights protections — including through diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — support students from various identities based on other factors, including gender, disability and age, according to Amir Whitaker, senior policy counsel of the ACLU of Southern California.

    And Johnson said marginalized groups, including those who are LGBTQ+ and first generation, could also be impacted by potential cuts to DEI.

    “I hope that school district leaders and leaders of college and universities will not back down from this moment — and lean into the institutional values that have animated their work for years prior to this erroneous sort of guidance that is designed to threat and intimidate,” Johnson said. “If we all roll back and back down at this moment, then our students will suffer.” 

    Whitaker added that the very policies that the letter cites — like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — were victories that “people fought and died for.” 

    The Trump administration’s action, he said, is a “a step backwards in this nation’s journey towards equality and justice.”

    “If California backs down,” Johnson said, “I wonder also what message that sends to the rest of the country, that this ultra-progressive place is already making concessions and their sort of commitments to do DEI, what that might mean for less progressive places who are figuring out where they fit within this conversation.” 





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