دسته: 1

Teachers need more prep time

Credit: Allison Shelley / American Education

Yesterday — like every day last week — I had just 27 minutes to plan my lessons and grade my fourth-grade students’ work. In reality, I spent that time signing in to the office, getting my mail, setting up breakfast for my students, and calling a parent about their child who had been absent four days in a row. I had no time left to prepare for my first lesson of the day.

This isn’t just an occasional bad day — it’s a constant reality. Survey results from recent years found that teachers nationwide identify “more planning time during the school day” as one of the most critical changes districts could make to support their teaching.

Yet, in my district, Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest school district in the nation, elementary teachers have only 27 minutes of prep time — a staggering 20 minutes less than the national average of 47 minutes, which is still too little. This gap isn’t just a statistic; it’s a crisis that directly impacts our ability to plan, collaborate and provide the essential support our students deserve.

As a 20-year educator and 2017 Teacher of the Year, meeting the needs of every student is my mission. However, a lack of prep time makes it nearly impossible to fulfill that commitment. Many of my students face behavioral challenges that require additional support — particularly those from our highest-needs neighborhoods. But without time to prepare, access resources or collaborate with colleagues, we are failing students before they even begin their day.

Beyond the individual toll of teacher prep time, the schedule also isolates educators. Teacher collaboration is essential for strong schools, and while I value learning from my colleagues and offering guidance to new teachers, my district’s prep time policy leaves no space for additional collaboration, like mentoring, sharing best practices, or building a community. Burned-out, unsupported teachers cannot create thriving classrooms.

The new reading program in LAUSD exemplifies the intense time demands on teachers. Each 90-minute lesson requires 30 to 40 minutes of planning — every day, five days a week — for just one subject I teach. This leaves little time for other critical tasks like grading, providing feedback or planning small group instruction. To keep up, I’m forced to spend hours working from home each week, sacrificing time with my family.

Teachers should not have to choose between their families and students. Yet, a recent survey by Educators for Excellence, “Voices from the Classroom 2024“, found that the second-biggest reason teachers plan to leave the profession is that they take on too many responsibilities outside of paid hours, including lesson planning and grading at home. For teachers in high-need schools, this was the most significant reason — even more important than concerns about low pay.

At the same time, the Nation’s Report Card (NAEP) 2024 scores show little to no improvement in learning since the pandemic, particularly for LAUSD students. Hispanic students — who make up 80% of the district’s student body — continue to lag behind, with an average 31-point gap compared with white students across all grade levels and subjects.

Addressing the root causes — including insufficient prep time — is critical for districts to close these gaps and keep teachers in classrooms.

The future of our students depends on a system that prioritizes educator support and adequate prep time. Without action, schools risk losing more talented teachers and leaving students further behind. By demanding more prep time, we can create a stronger, more collaborative school environment — one where teachers stay, students thrive and outcomes improve. The clock is ticking.

•••

Misti Kemmer is a 20-year LAUSD educator, 2017 Teacher of the Year, and an active member of Educators for Excellence – Los Angeles, a teacher advocacy organization.

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.

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12/04/2025
Concern grows as visas are terminated for dozens of international students at California colleges
UCLA campus in Westwood on Nov. 18, 2023.

Credit: Julie Leopo / EdSource

This story has been updated with additional information on visa terminations at UC Riverside.

California campuses are searching for answers after dozens of international students had their visas terminated in recent days, a worrying trend for the state’s public colleges and universities, which enroll tens of thousands of international students and depend on the millions of dollars in tuition revenue they provide.

Concerns are also growing that the visa actions could result in a sizable number of international students choosing not to attend U.S. colleges in the fall.

Across the University of California’s 10 campuses, California State University’s 23 campuses and the state’s 116 community colleges, more than 80 current and former students have had their F-1 visas terminated, a number that could grow. In most cases, campus officials said the federal government, under new Trump administration policies, terminated the visas without explanation.

The cancellations are especially concerning to UC and CSU because the two systems combine to enroll about 50,000 international students, who make up significant enrollments in many graduate programs and pay tuition at much higher rates than California resident students. Including private universities, there are 154,000 international students in California, according to data from the SEVIS Data Mapping Tool, accounting for about 14% of all international college students in the U.S. and the most of any state.

The timing of the terminations is also concerning: Many prospective international students are currently deciding where they will attend in the fall, said Bernie Burrola, the vice president for international, community and economic engagement at the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU).

Burrola added that he’s worried there could be a chilling effect on international student enrollments.

“Students spend quite a bit of money when they come to university. Do they want to invest that time and money and then get a visa termination? I’m sure that calculus is happening around the world right now, with students weighing their options between a U.S. higher education and that of another country,” he said.

According to experts monitoring the terminations nationally, it’s possible the students had an infraction with law enforcement, even something as minor as a traffic violation. Nationally, there have also been reports that students are being targeted for involvement in pro-Palestinian protests.

The State Department, which handles student visas, did not return a request for comment Monday.

In recent interviews, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the federal government will not cancel the “overwhelming majority of student visas” but is targeting students it believes “are supportive of movements that run counter to the foreign policy of the United States.” He also acknowledged that the government is also pursuing terminations that “are unrelated to any protests and are just having to do with potential criminal activity.”

Visas have been terminated for current or former students from at least seven UC and CSU campuses and one community college:
- Six students and six recent graduates at UCLA
- Seven students and five recent graduates at UC Davis
- Five students at UC San Diego
- Four students and two recent graduates at UC Berkeley
- Three students at UC Santa Cruz
- Two students and four recent graduates at UC Riverside
- One student at San Diego State
- An undisclosed number of students at San Jose State
- Six students at Santa Monica College
In total, a CSU systemwide spokesperson said the visas of 32 students had been revoked as of Monday, but did not disclose which specific campuses were affected.

Four students and two recent graduates at Stanford University have also had their visas terminated, showing the actions are also occurring at private institutions.

“We reiterate our strong support for all international students and scholars,” UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive said in a message to her campus. “UC Santa Cruz is enriched by the contributions of our international community members, and we are fortunate to research, teach, and learn with and from such outstanding students and scholars.”

In fall 2024, the UC system enrolled about 35,000 international students, or about 11.5% of all students. About 20,000 were undergraduates and 15,000 were graduate students. CSU, in fall 2024, enrolled 13,718 international students, or about 3% of that semester’s enrollment. Of those students, 5,765 were graduate students.

Across California’s 116-campus community college system, 14,533 students had a student visa in fall 2024, or about 1% of the student body.

UC and CSU receive significant tuition revenue from international students, who are charged a nonresident supplemental tuition fee on top of the base tuition that is also charged to in-state students. During the 2022-23 academic year, UC received $1.1 billion in revenue from nonresident supplemental tuition charged to nonresidents, which includes both out-of-state and international students. CSU likely receives tens of millions of dollars annually in tuition from out-of-state students.

Concerns about that tuition revenue come as the universities also worry about federal threats to withhold funds for research and other purposes and a possible reduction in state dollars for UC and CSU because of budget constraints.

Higher education experts emphasized, though, that universities stand to lose more than just tuition revenue if international students choose not to attend. Burrola, the APLU vice president, noted that many graduate programs are “heavily dependent on international students” and that certain departments would be in jeopardy without those students, who often add value by working as teaching assistants leading discussion sections and being deeply involved in research.

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, an important lobby group for higher education, said it is “important for a host of reasons” that the United States remain a top destination for international students, “from the positive impact they make on our economy and cultural vibrancy to the way so many become ambassadors for the value of a U.S. education and our way of life.”

“It is important for international students to be treated fairly and afforded due process. It would be detrimental to the United States, both from an economic and academic standpoint, to chill the willingness of prospective international students to come here,” he said.

In most cases, students at UC and CSU who had their visas terminated were not given explanations. Officials at UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, and CSU officials at San Diego State said the federal government didn’t explain the rationale behind the terminations. UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk offered some clarity, saying the termination notices at that campus “indicate that all terminations were due to violations of the terms of the individuals’ visa programs.”

The Associated Press reported that some students across the country have been targeted over pro-Palestinian activism, criminal infractions or even things as minor as a traffic violation.

Burrola said an emerging theme nationally is that students who received terminations might have “some kind of infraction” with law enforcement, sometimes minor ones. He added, though, that his understanding is based only on anecdotal reports and that APLU is seeking further clarification from the federal government. He said the group sent a letter to Secretary of State Rubio asking for a meeting “to better understand why this is happening.”

Mitchell of the American Council on Education penned a similar letter to Rubio and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, requesting a briefing on the terminations.

“Recent actions have contributed to uncertainty and impedes the ability of our institutions to best advise international students and scholars,” Mitchell wrote. “It is important institutions are in a position to reassure international students so they can continue to make exceptional contributions to their campuses, communities, and the nation.”
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12/04/2025
How districts can increase student access to computer science | Quick Guide
Credit: Alison Yin / EdSource
Top Takeaways

Collaboration between districts and community organizations, including to mentor teachers, is the key to expanding the pool of educators to teach computer science.

Educational leaders must prioritize including computer science classes in course offerings.

Parents can play an important role in getting their children to take computer science classes and in pressuring administrators to offer the classes at their schools.
In spite of statewide initiatives to increase access to and participation in computer science classes, California lags behind the national average of 60% and trails about three dozen other states in the percentage of high schools offering at least one computer science course.

According to the national 2024 State of Computer Science report:
- 52% of high schools across California offered computer science in the 2023-24 school year.
- Students who are female, belong to a racial or ethnic minority group, live in rural areas and small towns or attend schools serving predominantly low-income students are less likely to attend schools offering computer science classes.
- Policies in other states have expanded student access to computing skills and closed racial, gender, geographic and socioeconomic gaps.
What is computer science?

Computer science, as described in the computer science academic content standards adopted by the State Board of Education, is “the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles … implementation and impact on society.” The course teaches and prepares students to “meaningfully engage” in a digitally driven world, according to Computer Science for California (CSforCA), a group of educators, nonprofit organizations and industry leaders that has worked to improve equity in computer science access.

Advocates say that in addition to legislative action, districts and communities can and should take the following steps to increase access to and enrollment in computer science.

Start with teachers

Julie Flapan, co-director for Computer Science for California (CSforCA), said proper teacher preparation is the first step in computer science education.

“Part of that means sending a teacher to professional learning. Not only do they learn the curriculum and pedagogy, but they’re part of an ongoing community of practice to feel supported in teaching computer science,” Flapan said.

Local, regional or statewide collaborative spaces where educators can learn from and support one another are crucial for teachers who are the only computer science instructors in their schools.

Teacher collaboration is key in small, rural districts or schools, where there may only be one educator trying to integrate computer science, said Tracey Allen, who has worked with rural districts across Northern California for Seasons of CS, California’s year-round computer science professional learning and training program.

“They might be the only science teacher that’s trying to integrate computer science, or they’re the only math teacher on site,” Allen said. “It’s kind of hard to have a robust conversation with yourself if you’re the only one in that content area.”

How do schools or districts find interested teachers?

Karen Mix, co-director for the federal CS4NorCal grant under the Small School Districts’ Association, said recruiting teachers requires developing relationships.

“I pop into schools and meet teachers,” she said. “Answer questions that they may have, show them the benefits and the values of computer science and how they can use it and encourage them to go to the training. One of our teachers — I had to pop into their school and talk to him and their principal maybe four or five times before we got them on board.”

Do teachers need to have a background in computer science?

In 2016, the state passed legislation allowing educators in other disciplines to pursue computer science certification with required coursework.

Though a leader in computer science advocacy, Allen in Northern California was a multiple-subject credentialed teacher with no background in the subject.

“You don’t need a background in computer science to begin learning about computer science and find easy entry points to start implementing or integrating it into your classroom for the benefit of your students,” she said.

Beyond professional development, how can schools and districts support teachers?

State and federal grant funding for computer science initiatives created ongoing professional learning. For that to continue after grant funding expires, Allen said, districts and schools can connect with county offices or other districts that are already doing the work.

“We are strapped for time,” she said. “Don’t feel like you have to create the wheel or that you have to be the one to put a resource bank together for your teachers. Reach out to other colleagues and tap into professional learning that’s already happening.

“I think sharing resources, sharing professional learning opportunities, will be key.”

CS4NorCal has even created and regularly updates an implementation dashboard — an interactive online tool — that will allow educators and school leaders to explore ways to implement computer science through the different approaches being used elsewhere.

And advocates emphasize the importance of connecting with local community partners.

Collaboration with community groups is vital, too

In the 2018-19 school year, Modoc County high schoolers had no access to any computer science courses, but nonprofits and community organizations participated in training opportunities to better collaborate in the development of computer science. The nonprofit Advancing Modoc, which eventually began leading course implementation, recruited staff to support the initiative.

Partnerships can broaden access and participation not just in computer science concepts but in basic digital and technological skills.

“Partnerships where you actually bring in subject matter experts like ourselves into classrooms can augment and help,” said Damon Thomas, co-founder of Quiq Labs, a tech education company that teaches students science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) through enrichment programs.

‘Be creative with your master schedule’

“You have to really have that administrator in your building or in your district being a support for you,” Mix, the co-director for the CS4NorCal grant, said.

It’s school and district leaders who determine what classes are offered on a school’s master schedule.

So, no matter how much professional development teachers receive, it goes nowhere if computer science isn’t prioritized in schools, said Rudy Escobar who has provided professional development and offered family engagement in his roles in Stanislaus County, the Central Valley and statewide.

School and district leaders must balance the availability of courses required to graduate with non-mandatory but needed classes that can, undoubtedly, prepare students for life after high school. But many administrators are reluctant or unable to prioritize a subject that isn’t explicitly a part of the state’s dashboard, the requirements that are used to measure and hold districts accountable for student progress toward college and career readiness.

“We have to really change the mindsets of site and district administrators, and even superintendents, to be able to see this as a priority,” Escobar said.
To increase access, Turlock Unified in Stanislaus County will start by offering an Advanced Placement (AP) computer science course in its high schools, Escobar said.

The College Board, which administers the AP program, offers resources to California educators teaching or planning to teach AP. According to Holly Stepp, a spokesperson with College Board, those include:

Free professional learning for educators planning to teach AP Computer Science in the 2025-26 school year

A grant is available for the four-day online or in-person training in June, July or August that will provide teaching strategies, instructional materials and a supportive teacher community

Online workshops led by veteran AP instructors

Mentoring

A teacher collaborative

Innovative curriculum with pre-approved syllabi, lesson plans and other instructional materials

Professional learning is also available to prepare teachers to use the curriculum

Free, online resources that can be tailored to meet the needs of students
Computer science advocates urge leaders to be creative with their master schedules and balance what courses they offer.

For example, in rural Siskiyou county in far Northern California, a kindergarten teacher on a half-day schedule teaches computer science as an afternoon elective in other elementary grades, Mix said.

Likewise, the small, rural Modoc County created a middle school coding class in the 40 minutes between 2:40 p.m. (when classes end) and 3:30 p.m. (when buses arrive).

“Just be creative with your master schedule,” Mix said.

How can administrators justify adding a class?

Kathy Hamilton with the Small School Districts’ Association acknowledged that small, rural schools and districts lack resources and credentialed teachers to offer computer science courses, and students may have no interest or awareness of the value of such classes.

“It’s a long-term strategy, but you have to build up the interest, build up the pressure, in grades K-8 so that by the time the kids get to high school, there’s a demand for the course, and then the principal can justify providing the assignment in the master schedule to offer a course,” Hamilton said.

Escobar recommends that administrators open up opportunities for teachers to integrate, or merge computer science into another subject area, to expose students to computer science in middle and elementary grades.

“Start early,” he said. “Make it a consistent thing that the students are seeing every year, so that way, when they get to high school, students are seeking to take those courses.”

What resources are available to school and district administrators?

Administrators remain concerned about how to implement computer science courses, especially if it becomes a requirement.

According to Flapan, the co-director for CSforCA, several organizations, many of which have received grant funding, have provided resources, including learning guides on how to implement computer science.

“There’s a lot of statewide resources and a lot of momentum and expertise in computer science in the state of California,” she said. “All of these folks are interested in helping to guide and support other administrators that are looking for ways to implement computer science in their schools.”

Resources for administrators and others

Some of those include:

How parents can help

“Parents want computer science when they hear what we talk to them about,” Escobar said, and they can advocate for computer science to be a priority in their school district.

“Statewide, we’re seeing that even though there are more computer science classes being offered, that the classes themselves aren’t always representative of the student body in the schools they serve,” Flapan said.

“How do we make sure that students of color and girls are taking advantage of those opportunities? We think that parents can play a strong role in encouraging their students to take it if they have a better understanding of why it’s important and how it could help them in their post-high school plans — whether it’s college or careers or just engaging in their communities.”
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12/04/2025
As University of California searches for new president, Trump’s policies make the position more difficult

University of California presidents since 2008.

The presidency of the University of California has long been considered one of the more challenging positions in American higher education. It requires overseeing nearly 300,000 students, 10 campuses, $8 billion a year of premier research, six medical centers and three federally funded national energy laboratories.

Now, UC’s board of regents is looking for the next person to fill the role and replace President Michael V. Drake, who plans to step down at the end of the academic year. But in the months since the search began, the job has only grown more complicated and pressured as a result of Donald Trump’s election and his policies affecting funding, racial diversity, student protests and many other aspects of higher education.

“I think the university is dealing with more significant challenges all at the same time than they probably have in the last 50 years, 60 years,” said John Pérez, the former state Assembly speaker who served on the university’s board of regents for a decade, including a stint as chair, before stepping down last year. “My friends on the regents have a difficult task to find the person to lead through this moment.”

The U.S. Department of Justice is currently investigating, among other things, allegations of discriminatory admissions practices and complaints of antisemitism at several UC campuses.

The federal threats are on top of issues that existed even before Trump took office, such as the likelihood of a nearly $400 million cut or 8% to UC’s state funding this year. Even with that probable budget reduction, the next president will be expected to increase graduation rates — especially among Black and Latino students — and to keep enrolling more California residents.

And there are the perennial questions of how to deal with the many and sometimes conflicting constituencies within the state and university, including the state’s governor and legislators, faculty, alumni, student leaders, labor unions, political activists and parents.

“We need a UC president that can be ready to advocate and fight back on any reduction of potential federal funds, and then also be ready to figure out what to do in case we do incur those losses,” said Assemblymember Mike Fong, D-Alhambra, who is chair of the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee. He said some legislators have floated the idea of another tuition hike for out-of-state students.

University presidential searches often raise the questions of whether to get someone from inside the university or someone with fresh, outside experience, and whether to hire someone with experience in academia or from another background, such as in business, government or philanthropy. UC has tried different routes in its most recent presidential hirings.

It’s unlikely that the next president will have every desirable skill and experience, said Hironao Okahana, a vice president at the American Council on Education, a national organization that lobbies on behalf of universities.

What’s most important, he said, is that the president be prepared for a constantly evolving job. He noted that in the past five years, college leaders have had to navigate a pandemic, a racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd and now the many federal threats. “Higher education leadership is never static, especially for a place like the University of California,” he said.

The search for the next president was launched last summer after Drake announced he would step down. Drake, who earns a base salary of $1.3 million after getting a raise last year, entered the job in 2020 and had to deal with many of the issues arising from the pandemic, including a temporary switch to online classes.

The university’s website for the search says the regents are seeking “an individual who is an outstanding leader and a respected scholar who has successfully demonstrated these abilities in a major complex organization.”

At the most recent regents meeting last month, board chair Janet Reilly said the special regents committee in charge of finding the next president “has been working diligently” but did not say when the search would finish. The committee’s work is being tightly held: It has met only in closed session and has not released the names of any potential finalists.

UC also hosted three town hall meetings in January to gather public feedback. Assisting with the process is SP&A Executive Search, a national search firm specializing in higher education and nonprofit sectors.

Drake’s final months on the job have been marked by policies and actions responding to the Trump administration, a reality with no end in sight.

Last month, his office announced UC would no longer require faculty job applicants to submit statements about how they would promote diversity. That move came after the Trump administration threatened to withhold funding from universities with programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Earlier that same day, Drake announced a systemwide hiring freeze in anticipation of those potential funding cuts.

In February, UC also filed a declaration of support when California and 21 other states sued the Trump administration over billions in proposed National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding cuts. The judge in the case has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from making those reductions.

UC gets about $6 billion annually in federal funds for research and other program supports, with NIH being the top source. Cuts to that funding would be felt across the immense system, which comprises nine undergraduate campuses and one graduate-only campus, UC San Francisco. All 10 campuses have R1 status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the highest tier for research universities.

Also potentially at risk if the White House and Congress decide to pursue deeper, broader cuts is the $8 billion in Medicare and Medicaid that UC receives for patient care at the medical centers at its Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and San Francisco campuses. So far, Trump says he will not reduce those.

UC’s next president could be squeezed from two sides: trying to preserve federal funds while also facing pressure from students and faculty not to succumb to any potential demands from Trump. Last month, Columbia University agreed to change its protest policies, security practices and Middle Eastern studies department to keep $400 million that the Trump administration threatened to cut.

Students are “extremely concerned” that a similar scenario could play out at UC, said Aditi Hariharan, a fourth-year student at UC Davis and president of the systemwide UC Student Association. The U.S. Department of Education is investigating UC’s Berkeley, Davis, San Diego and Santa Barbara campuses for possible Title VI violations “relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination.” Separately, the Department of Justice is investigating Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine for potentially considering race in admissions, which UC has denied doing.

Hariharan said she was disappointed to see UC stop requiring diversity statements, which she viewed as a concession to Trump.

“I’m hoping to see the next UC president push back stronger,” she said.

To navigate the many federal complications, UC might consider hiring someone with government experience this time, said Adrianna Kezar, director of the University of Southern California’s Pullias Center of Higher Education.

She pointed to Janet Napolitano, who was UC’s president from 2013 to 2020 and took the job after stints as the U.S. secretary of homeland security and governor of Arizona.

“Someone like that will understand how to navigate all the executive orders, how to navigate shifts in the agencies,” Kezar said. “Over the next four years, this is going to be a landscape where, if you lack that kind of experience, I think it’s going to be really challenging.”

It would also help if the next president has philanthropic acumen, Kezar added. If UC loses significant federal dollars, the university will need to look for new funding sources, she said.

Napolitano was succeeded by Drake, who had a much more traditional academic background. He served as president of Ohio State University and, before that, was UC’s vice president for health affairs and later chancellor of UC Irvine. Napolitano’s predecessor, Mark Yudof, also had an academic background. Before serving as UC’s president from 2008 to 2013, he was the dean of the University of Texas at Austin’s law school, president of the University of Minnesota and chancellor of the University of Texas system.

Pérez, the former regent who chaired the board when Drake was hired, said he’d prefer UC to hire another president who has headed a large public research university, especially if they have experience overseeing academic medical centers.

Despite the many threats and challenges UC faces, Pérez added that he’s confident “in the strength of the institution to weather these storms.”

“But having the right leader means that we will weather the storms more easily and that folks will have confidence that we won’t lose sight of all that’s essential in the university,” he said.

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12/04/2025
LAUSD denies entry to federal officials, affirms support for immigrants

LAUSD Superintendent Albert Carvalho during a school board meeting on August 30, 2022.

Credit: Julie Leopo/EdSource

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho confirmed Thursday morning that the district denied campus entry earlier this week to Department of Homeland Security officials seeking information about five students in first through sixth grades.

On Monday morning, federal officials arrived at two district elementary schools, Lillian Street Elementary and Russell Elementary in South Los Angeles, Carvalho said, adding that Monday’s interactions marked the first effort by federal authorities to enter Los Angeles public schools since the Trump administration announced efforts to boost immigration enforcement and speed up deportations.

At a news conference Thursday morning, he said that the visit by the federal officials was “a sad day across Los Angeles — not just for our school system, but for our entire community.”

“As a school system, we have a professional responsibility to protect, to educate, to inspire young people,” Carvalho added. “I also have, beyond my professional responsibility, a moral responsibility to protect these students.”

The authorities were dressed casually and only presented identification when asked by the principals of the schools, Carvalho told reporters. He also claimed the officials quickly hid their credentials when the principals attempted to write down their information.

According to Carvalho, the agents said they wanted access “to the students to determine their well-being” because they had come to the United States as unaccompanied minors.

The agents said they were authorized by the students’ caretakers to go to the campuses, but the district has since confirmed the assertion to be false by speaking with the caretakers, Carvalho said.

“Across the country, different agencies have been deputized and deployed to collaborate with ICE,” Carvalho said Thursday, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “So, if a federal agent presents themselves to our schools, regardless of agency, asking for direct access to our students, that is suspect behavior that we’re not going to tolerate.”

He also praised the schools’ administrators and staff for their response, saying they are trained to handle these situations, including demanding officials’ credentials and examining any warrants or subpoenas.

If proper documentation isn’t presented, Carvalho said the officials will be asked to leave, and LAUSD’s operations department, legal department and school board police department are notified.

“We will protect our kids. We will educate our kids. We will inspire our kids. We will not allow abuse, intimidation of our children or our workforce,” he said. “Schools are places for learning. Schools are places for understanding. Schools are places for instruction. Schools are not places of fear.”

LAUSD’s actions, Carvalho maintained, are in keeping with the law. And in November, Los Angeles Unified affirmed its commitment to being a sanctuary district.

Carvalho, a native of Portugal, said he arrived in the U.S. as a youth without authorization. “If I am to represent who I am and what I became in this country, I have to do it in a way that honors the humanity and dignity of those who are currently in the same exact condition decades after I was in that predicament,” Carvalho said. “So, I would put my job on the line in the protection of our students and our workforce.”

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11/04/2025
Ice cream socials, fights and vomit: Why Cal State resident assistants want to unionize
Lynn Chan-Nguyen and Faith Ballesteros, two resident assistants at Sacramento State, at the Public Employment Relations Board office in Sacramento. They back unionization for about 1,400 RAs at CSU campuses.

Credit: Courtesy of the California State University Employees Union
Takeaways:

The union wants to absorb 1,400 or more resident assistants, who do everything from organizing karaoke nights to navigating health crises. They want more guidance about responsibilities.

Cal State opposes the bid, claiming it “would have detrimental effects for students.”

Student RAs typically don’t get paid, but receive benefits like free or reduced-cost housing.
To be a resident assistant (RA) in a college dorm is to be many things at once. The person who hosts university-approved events — and cleans up after nonsanctioned revelry. The person who builds community among students — and mediates between feuding roommates. The designated friend — and emergency first responder to a freshman spiraling into a mental health crisis.

That’s why the students behind the current push to unionize an estimated 1,400 resident assistants in the 23-campus California State University system argue they deserve better workplace protections and stronger guidelines defining their positions. If their bid succeeds, RAs would add to the more than 17,000 other student workers who joined the CSU Employees Union last year.

But CSU is opposing the move. In a letter to state labor authorities, a CSU representative said allowing RAs to join a union would “would have detrimental effects for students” and argued RAs should be considered “live-in student leaders,” not employees.

An RA’s role can include everything from organizing karaoke nights to making sure students know how to apply for food stamps. At CSU, they help manage dorms that encompass more than 67,000 beds. RAs receive no salary but get benefits like free housing or access to a campus meal plan.

“Sometimes we are (students’) therapists, and we’re essentially sitting there and connecting with students, one on one, and we’re talking them through really difficult times,” said Yasamean Zaidi-Dozandeh, an RA at CSU Dominguez Hills. “Sometimes we’re their doctors. We’re sitting there calling 911 for them.”

And it’s a position that can vary widely depending on the dorm’s size and the students it serves. An RA in one building might sleep peacefully while another is jolted awake by middle-of-the-night calls.

The union points out other reasons resident assistants could benefit from labor protections. Because RAs live in dorms, they risk losing their housing if dismissed unfairly, it says. Students interviewed for this story said RAs would be more willing to voice concerns to housing administrators, too, with union backing.

A successful union drive would put Cal State students in the company of RAs who have already organized at Boston University, Wesleyan University, Grinnell College and Georgetown University, among others. Though some colleges have voluntarily recognized such bids, others have resisted. The American Council on Education similarly argued against resident assistant unions in a 2016 amicus brief in a case before the National Labor Relations Board involving RAs at George Washington University.

“RAs often are required to be available around the clock to attend to emergencies. If universities and colleges had to bargain about the ‘hours’ of RAs, it is entirely possible that any agreed-upon hours limits would conflict with real-life emergencies,” an attorney representing the council and other higher education organizations wrote. “Could an RA rely on a union contract’s hours limitation to refuse to assist a depressed student in the middle of the night?”

The board ultimately gave George Washington’s resident assistants the go-ahead to form a union, though a union election planned for 2017 was later canceled.

At CSU, the employee union wants to absorb RAs into its existing unit of student assistants, who include part-time workers at places like campus health centers and libraries. Early last month, the union filed papers arguing that resident assistants share a “community of interest” with student assistants, meaning they have similar working conditions and job duties. CSU is currently negotiating its first contract with student assistants.

In opposing the bid, CSU says the housing and meal credits RAs receive are effectively financial aid, not wages. It argues that converting RAs to employees will jeopardize “peer-to-peer relationships” with student residents. It warns that RAs would need to pay taxes on in-kind perks that can reach nearly $30,000 in value. And it says blending RAs into the existing student assistants unit would “overly complicate ongoing negotiations.”

Finally, CSU argues that one of the reasons some RAs favor a union — a lack of consistency in their duties — is a better reason to reject the union’s claim that they share a community of interest with student assistants. “There are no set ‘duties’ or expectations nor set hours for RAs as a whole. In fact, the only uniform characteristic of RAs is that they live on campus alongside other students,” the letter says.

CSU’s opposition means that RAs will likely have to wait for a few more steps to unfold before state labor officials make a decision on the petition. A union spokesperson said the union disagrees with CSU’s response and expects a hearing before state labor officials to be set.

‘No clear distinction in what our role is’

Lynn Chan-Nguyen decided to work as a resident assistant for one reason: “I really could not afford to go to school without the job.”

Chan-Nguyen, a third-year student at Sacramento State majoring in nutrition, grew up an hour’s drive south in Stockton. If not for the meal plan and housing she gets by being an RA, she probably would have stayed closer to home and taken classes at a local community college rather than enrolling at Sacramento State.

But Chan-Nguyen has found noneconomic reasons to love being an RA, too. She enjoys hosting activities like ice cream socials, which help the upper-division, international and transfer students in the apartment-style housing where she works make new friends.

Still, parts of the position she could do without, like cleaning up vomit or trying to defuse physical altercations. “There’s just no clear distinction in what our role is,” she said. “And a lot of the times, when people do get hired, or when people are first starting off from the job, it is not defined what we’re going to be doing.”

First-time resident assistants only start to grasp how emotionally taxing the role can be during a two-week training at the start of the school year, Chan-Nguyen said.

It’s then that RAs realize they might face a life-or-death test of their counseling skills if called on to help a resident experiencing suicidal ideations or a similar health crisis. A 2019 study found that RAs who encountered a resident engaging in self-harm experience higher levels of burnout than RAs who didn’t have those interactions.

CSU Monterey Bay students move into campus dorms in August 2021.
Credit: Monterey Bay/Flickr

Resident assistant Zaidi-Dozandeh at Dominguez Hills, who supports the union drive, said her first-year on-campus housing experience prompted her to become an RA.

The university’s housing department mishandled an escalating conflict among the students in her three-bedroom apartment, Zaidi-Dozandeh said. As an out-of-state student, however, she felt she had no choice but to return to university housing the following year. She shared her concerns with a staff member — who suggested she use that passion to become an RA.

Zaidi-Dozandeh, a fourth-year computer science major, enjoys connecting student-residents to resources like the school’s food pantry. But the work of an RA can also be vaguely defined, she said, creating miscommunication, inconsistencies, and, ultimately, a worse experience for students who live on campus — a problem as CSU campuses experience enrollment declines.

“The question really is, why are these students leaving housing,” she said, “when in some cases they really don’t have anywhere else to go?”
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11/04/2025