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  • Central Valley struggles to produce college grads; key programs are turning that around

    Central Valley struggles to produce college grads; key programs are turning that around


    Daylarlyn Gonzalez organizes a class project among freshmen at Arvin High taking a dual enrollment course through Bakersfield College.

    Credit: Emma Gallegos/EdSource

    A new report delivers bad and good news for the Central Valley.

    The bad news: The vast majority of parents, 79%, want their children to get a bachelor’s degree, but just 26% of students in the region are on pace to achieve that.

    The good news: Central Valley educators in both K-12 and higher education are pioneering strategies that could transform the region’s low college attainment rates. That includes broadly expanding dual enrollment opportunities; increasing the number of students meeting requirements to graduate from high school; and creating regional partnerships to smooth key transitions between high school, community college and four-year universities.

    A sweeping new report, “Pathways to College Completion in the San Joaquin Valley,” by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found a multitude of factors contributing to lower college attainment rate in the region, compared to the rest of the state, including a lack of preparation in high school, low university application rates (especially to the UC system), financial constraints, campus proximity, and a perception of less access. That’s a problem for the state, as well as the region.

    “When we look to the state’s future, the San Joaquin Valley is especially important,” said Hans Johnson, one of the report’s authors.

    That’s because the Central Valley is populous, young and growing rapidly — 4 million and counting — compared with other parts of the state. But it is also a region that requires attention, because, over the last 50 years, it has fallen behind the rest of the state economically. In 1974, residents in the Central Valley made 90% of the state’s per capita income. In 2020, that number had fallen to 68%.

    “When you increase the educational attainment rate here in the Central Valley, it lifts the entire region socioeconomically and culturally as well,” said Benjamin Duran, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

    He said that too few students obtaining any kind of degree — associate, bachelor’s or advanced — means the valley will continue to have too few people in critical professions, such as nursing, medicine and teaching.

    “It’s way below what our economy in general demands,” said Johnson, a senior fellow with PPIC. “We know the value of a college degree statewide is incredibly strong — and in the Valley as well. So, not everybody has to go (to college), but more people and more students should be going than are going right now.”

    The report finds that students in the Central Valley tend to graduate from high school at nearly the same rate as other students in the state, but show a sharp decline during the critical juncture of transitioning from high school to college and, for students who register at community colleges, which a majority of Valley college students do, transferring to a four-year university or college.

    High school students lack preparation

    According to the PPIC report, students in the Valley have wildly different experiences based simply on which school districts they attend. 

    “That’s both encouraging and kind of discouraging that we have such a wide variation that where you go to school, to not a small extent, is going to determine what kind of possibilities you have for going on to college,” Johnson said.

    School districts that do a good job preparing socioeconomically disadvantaged students tend to also prepare their wealthier peers well, the report shows.

    Two of the Valley’s largest districts, for example, demonstrate this. The college-going rate for Fresno Unified’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students is 64%, compared with 67% of their more advantaged peers. Those same rates for the Kern High School District are 48% and 53% respectively.

    The problem is that many Central Valley students are not graduating from high school with the preparation that they need to succeed in college, according to Olga Rodriguez, one of the report’s authors. 

    One important metric is how many students have taken the full college preparatory sequence — known as A-G — required for admission to California’s public universities. In the Central Valley, 4 out of 10 high school graduates met the A-G requirements, compared with 6 out of 10 for Los Angeles and Bay Area students. 

    “If you want to increase the number of college graduates, that’s where we have so much potential,” said Rodriguez, director of the PPIC Higher Education Center.

    Students who do not meet A-G requirements are not able to begin their college career at a CSU or UC school. Additionally, this lack of preparation makes it more challenging for students at community colleges to successfully transfer to a four-year university, Rodriguez said.

    To improve their rates, some school districts have shifted to mandating that students graduate with A-G requirements; others have simply dropped classes that are not A-G eligible. However, many other districts are not prioritizing A-G classes.

    “A-G policies often seemed centered on politics and local industry needs — as opposed to being focused on students’ needs and aspirations,” the report states.

    An analysis by EdSource found that 56% of high school seniors do not complete the A-G requirements. EdSource found that the problem is particularly dire among Black and Latino students, as well as in certain regions, such as Northern California and the Central Valley.

    For many communities in the Central Valley, higher education is considered more “aspirational” than realistic, Duran said, adding that it’s the job of all educators across the spectrum to educate both students and parents about how to make college a reality.

    The default choice for many Central Valley students is to stay at home and attend a local community college, rather than attend a CSU or UC — even for students who have the grades. The perception is that it ends up being cheaper and maybe a safer option, but that’s not always the case.

    “When you look at the net price, it’s actually more affordable to go to a CSU than it is to stay at a community college,” said Rodriguez. “Especially when you think about the likelihood of completion and how long it’s going to take you.”

    Partnerships make the difference

    Because the transitions between institutions is where students tend to fail, the report says that partnerships between high schools, community colleges, CSU campuses and the region’s only UC campus, in Merced, are important for Central Valley students.

    In this area, the region is “ahead of the game,” said Rodriguez.

    The Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) is a program that guarantees community college students who meet certain requirements a spot at a CSU campus, but the UC system has not joined in. However, UC Merced — the only UC in the Central Valley — is unique in having its own version of an ADT guarantee for regional community colleges, Johnson notes. The university also has a similar guarantee program aimed at high school students in regional districts. 

    There are similar partnerships throughout the Valley that are trying to ease those transitions. For instance, Fresno State has a new Bulldog Bound Program that guarantees admission to high school students in over 40 school districts who meet requirements — and also gives them support during their high school career.

    The region has three K-16 collaboratives that focus on making sure that schools are able to prepare students for college at a young age — whether that is through educating parents or helping high school teachers, particularly in English and math, get master’s degrees so they can teach dual enrollment courses.

    Dual enrollment has thrived in the Central Valley, thanks to partnerships largely between community colleges and K-12 schools in the region. Dual enrollment allows students to take college credit courses during high school, which makes them more likely to continue on to college after high school.

    The work being done in the Central Valley serves as an incubator for what can happen in the rest of the state, said Duran.

    “The work we do is collaborative,” said Duran. “We try to bring projects and initiatives that can not only be replicated here, but in the rest of the state.”

    If these changes lead to a swell of enrollment, the report notes that there is plenty of higher education infrastructure in the region. Few colleges or universities have programs that are impacted — unlike in other parts of the state. Both CSU and UC are banking on growth in this region.





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  • How California can help all schools harness AI, avoid its pitfalls

    How California can help all schools harness AI, avoid its pitfalls


    Participants at the Think Forward: Learning with AI forum in April were asked to share their hopes and fears for the future of AI in an opening exercise.

    CREDIT: Photo by Ray Mares Photography

    In recent months, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) faced a significant setback when the tech provider it contracted to build personalized report cards for students went out of business. This was both a major financial loss for the district and a significant loss for students. The chatbot dust-up underscores a critical issue in our education system: the need for robust, forward-thinking policies and practices to navigate the integration of technology in our schools. Our school systems must be able to not only withstand disruptions but thrive on them.

    As post-pandemic learning gaps widen, school districts everywhere are at an inflection point when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence (AI). AI offers unprecedented opportunities to tackle complex challenges like widening achievement gaps, teacher shortages, and mental health crises among students — but AI systems must also promote equity and access, particularly for historically marginalized communities. There must be policy guardrails to protect student privacy. And there must be high quality training to empower educators. Achieving this vision requires bold leadership and a clear understanding of each stakeholder’s role.

    While AI can be a powerful tool to address long-standing inequities and improve educational outcomes, it requires strategic and collaborative efforts. The call to action is clear: Educators, policymakers, education technology innovators and community leaders must join forces to create resilient, adaptable education systems.

    With a thriving tech sector, including a broad base of AI startups, California is uniquely positioned to lead the country in the use of AI in education. The state Department of Education has already offered early guidance to schools. The Los Angeles County Office of Education’s cross-sector task force developed guidelines to support responsible AI implementation across 80 school districts. Los Angeles’ Da Vinci Academy piloted the use of AI in project-based learning. Lynwood Unified has been a leader in thinking about how AI can be used responsibly to transform district operations and learning systems. These are steps in the right direction, but more is needed.

    A new report that my organization, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), just released, “Wicked Opportunities: Leveraging AI to Transform Education,” presents an action plan for harnessing AI to transform education.

    Here’s what California could do next:

    1. Think big about how AI can transform education. Leaders in the space must have a clear vision for the future of education before technology can help realize that vision. The state should consider fostering partnerships between educators, policymakers, Silicon Valley ed-tech developers, and community leaders to rethink and redesign schools and education systems for a world where generative artificial intelligence is ubiquitous. 
    2. Help districts use AI strategically. Districts face an overwhelming number of AI-enabled tools and “solutions,” and risk spreading limited resources on a random assortment of disconnected products. California’s educational county offices can play a role in helping districts identify priorities and streamline funds to proven AI-enabled tools and strategies designed to solve specific problems. 
    3. Allocate funds to support and test AI initiatives, particularly in low-income and historically marginalized communities. CRPE’s research with the Rand Corp. shows that school districts with more advantaged populations are ahead in training their teachers on AI. Funding and evidence-building initiatives are needed to close, rather than widen, existing learning gaps. 
    4. Provide detailed, actionable implementation strategies to help districts navigate AI adoption effectively. Our report suggests California and other states should be “dogged about implementation,” ensuring schools get technical assistance and research partnerships to support them as they try various approaches. 
    5. Make sure there are effective state policy guardrails. It’s essential for California to provide ongoing policy guidance and rules so that every district need not go it alone. Legislation under consideration in Sacramento calls for policies to be in place by January 2026. While we are glad to see policy attention, protections for kids cannot wait that long. A better approach would be to begin piloting policies immediately and revising them as needed. 

    California, a leader in technological innovation, must ensure that its education systems are future-ready. By embracing these strategies, California can lead the nation in transforming education through AI. The LAUSD incident serves as a stark reminder of what happens when systems are unprepared for technological integration. Let’s use this moment as a catalyst for change, ensuring that our schools are equipped to harness the positive potential of AI for the benefit of all students.

    •••

    Robin Lake is director of the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) which is housed at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

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





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  • Cellphone bans becoming more common in California schools

    Cellphone bans becoming more common in California schools


    Credit: Alison Yin / EdSource

    Este artículo está disponible en Español. Léelo en español.

    In California and across the United States this year, policies banning or restricting student cellphone use on school campuses are being enacted in an effort to curb bullying, classroom distractions and addiction to the devices.

    “It’s part of the zeitgeist right now, and there is a trend toward cellphone restriction,” said Troy Flint, spokesperson for the California School Boards Association. “There’s more scrutiny of the issue now than there was previously.”

    Lincoln Unified School District in Stockton, Santa Barbara Unified, San Francisco Unified, Roseville City School District and Folsom Cordova Unified near Sacramento are among the California districts starting the school year with cellphone restrictions on their campuses.

    Cellphone restrictions look different across the state, depending on school district, school or even individual teachers’ policies. In some schools, students entering a campus or classroom are required to put their phones in an electronic pouch that can only be unlocked by school staff with a special magnet. In other schools, cellphones are turned off and put in lockers in the classroom. More commonly, students are asked to turn off their phones and to put them in their backpacks or pockets during class time.

    California district leaders got a nudge from Gov. Gavin Newsom last week when he urged them to take immediate steps to restrict cellphone use this academic year. Newsom reminded school leaders that legislation signed in 2019 gives them the authority to regulate smartphones during school hours.

    “Excessive smartphone use among young people is linked to increased anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues,” Newsom said in a letter to school leaders on Aug. 14. 

    California lawmakers are also considering proposed legislation to restrict student cellphone use on all public school campuses, a mandate at least five other states have already enacted. Without a statewide mandate, it’s up to districts, schools or teachers to implement a policy.

    San Diego Unified officials have indicated they are studying the issue, while Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD), the state’s largest school district, is finalizing a policy that will ban student cellphone and social media use. It will go into effect in January.

    “Kids no longer have the opportunity to just be kids,” said Nick Melvoin, the LAUSD school board member who authored a resolution calling for the policy. “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.” 

    Melvoin commended Newsom for encouraging other districts to follow suit. 

    “I have seen the positive effects firsthand at schools that have already implemented a phone-free school policy, and look forward to seeing the benefits of this policy take hold districtwide next semester,” Melvoin said.

    But the policies have had pushback from some parents who fear losing touch with their children during emergencies.

    “Some parents, some families feel that the cellphone is essential for notification in the case of a natural disaster, a school emergency, or a school shooting,” said the CSBA’s Flint. “Or some people use it for less extreme, but still important reasons, like monitoring their kids’ required medicine. Some families with students with disabilities like to have an additional level of contact with their students at schools.”

    Cellphone addiction is a problem

    School cellphone bans gained momentum nationally in May when Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory calling on policymakers, technology companies, researchers and families to minimize the harm of social media and to create safer, healthier online environments to protect children online. 

    Murthy said there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to a young person’s mental health, adding that 95% of children between the ages of 13 and 17 use at least one social media platform, and more than a third use social media constantly. 

    Santa Barbara Unified has made mental health a priority when it comes to cellphone use on campus. The Off and Away policy requires cellphones be turned off and put away in classrooms, and anywhere on a campus where learning is taking place, said Assistant Superintendent ShaKenya Edison. 

    Consequences for not complying with the policy ranges from students and parents being required to meet with school staff, to confiscating phones. Students may be referred to counseling or a therapist if necessary, Edison said.

    “One of the things that the (planning) committee was very clear about — we had doctors also on our committee, and psychologists — is that we need to treat cellphone usage as an addiction, not as defiance,” Edison said. “So it really is trying to get at the root of the dependency of the phone.”

    Students became more reliant on cellphones and smartwatches during the Covid pandemic, when the devices were the only way they could connect to their social circle, Edison said. Students sometimes use their phone to deal with the anxiety of being in the classroom, or when they are struggling with academics, she said. 

    University of San Francisco researchers found that 12- to 13-year-old children in the U.S. doubled their non-school related screen time from 3.8 hours a day to 7.7 hours a day when campuses were closed during the pandemic. 

    Warning signs of smartphone addiction in students include becoming distressed at the thought of being without their phone, thinking about their phone when not using it, interrupting whatever they are doing when contacted on their phone, or having arguments with others because of phone use, said Jason Nagata, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco. 

    Santa Barbara Unified is taking on the cellphone addiction problem inside and outside the classroom. Along with including parents in the planning of the program, the district offers parents information about monitoring social media and age-appropriate apps on their website.

    “We receive gratitude from parents saying, ‘Thank you for tackling this. I’m trying to tackle it at home, and I don’t know how to tackle the dependency. So thank you for at least dealing with it on the school site,’ ” Edison said.

    Students are more focused without phones

    Andrea Blair-Simon says the ban on cellphone use in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District allows her eighth-grade daughter, Laila, to fully focus on her studies in the classroom and to socialize with others during breaks and lunch. She had previously watched her daughter sit with her friends texting one another instead of talking.

    “I love the cellphone policy,” Blair-Simon said. “I think it benefits the kids. I think it benefits the teachers. I’m not saying don’t have it (a cellphone), I’m just saying it’s not necessary during school hours. Before or after, do whatever you want. It’s your life. It’s your own time. But when you’re on a teacher’s time — school time — using school resources, listen to your teacher.”

    The no-phone policies also curtail online bullying, Blair-Simon said. Things like posting unflattering pictures with mean comments can damage kids’ self-image, she said.

    Under last year’s cellphone policy update, Folsom Cordova Unified no longer permits students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade to use cellphones, smartwatches or other mobile communication devices anywhere on campus during the school day. High school students can’t use them in classrooms.

    Last year, Laila and her classmates were required to use a lockable Yondr Pouch, which allows students to keep their phone, but with no access to it unless a teacher or school administrator unlocks the pouch. Now, instead of pouches, students have been asked to turn off their phones and put them away.

    “This year, there are no warnings, and you are to be sent straight to the office,” Laila said. “This year, they have a little locker in the office, like a phone locker, and it has to be locked in there until the end of the day if they catch you with it.” 

    Laila would like to have her phone at lunch or during passing periods, but she acknowledges that students are more focused and spend more time talking to one another during breaks than before the ban.

    Policies improve school climate

    Drama teacher Keith Carames says there has been a positive shift in culture and climate at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco since the school began requiring students to lock their phones in a Yondr Pouch at the beginning of the school day. 

    “There’s been a significant shift away from the buzzing and the distractions,” Carames said. “There’s been a significant decrease in digital bullying.”

    The school is part of San Francisco Unified, which requires cellphones, smartwatches and other mobile devices to be turned off and put away during classes and passing periods. 

    James Lick Middle School has its own, stricter policy that requires students to present a lockable pouch, provided by the school, when they show up on the campus — empty or not. If the student does not have their pouch, the phone is confiscated. If a student’s phone is not in the pouch during the school day, security is called to confiscate it, Carames said.

    Some districts in the state without districtwide cellphone bans allow individual schools to make their own rules about cellphone use on their campus.

    Fresno Unified relies on a 20-year-old policy that prohibits students from using phones in an inappropriate and disruptive way, like invading someone’s privacy, cheating on tests or ridiculing or shaming someone. Students who violate the policy can have their phones confiscated, or can be suspended or expelled.

    The board policy is the “minimum requirement” for the district, Fresno Unified spokesperson A.J. Kato told EdSource on Wednesday. Each school determines how the policy is implemented on its campus and has the discretion to go beyond what the policy dictates.

    Bullard High in Fresno Unified introduced the Yondr Pouch in 2022 to create a phone-free campus, The Fresno Bee reported.  Students must lock their phones in the pouch during the school day – even during lunch. After 2022-23, the first school year with the pouches, Bullard High officials credited its 17% improvement in English proficiency to the restriction, The Bee reported. 

    Teachers largely support restrictions

    Teachers nationwide say cellphones are a major distraction for students in class, according to Pew Research released in 2023. A third of public K-12 teachers surveyed for the report said cellphones are a major problem, while 20% said they are a minor problem. Almost three-quarters of the high school teachers surveyed said phones are a major distraction to their students, compared with 33% of middle school teachers and 6% of elementary school teachers.

    Cellphone disruptions in the classroom have been a recurring topic for teachers and administrators at staff meetings in the Roseville City School District, said school board member Jonathan Zachreson.

    Some teachers in the district conducted an informal experiment, asking students to note how many times they received alerts on their phones during class. The teachers discovered that the students who had the most alerts were performing worse than others academically, Zachreson said.

    The K-8 district near Sacramento put a new cellphone policy in place this year to cut down on classroom distractions and behavior problems. The policy requires students to turn off cellphones, personal tablets, Bluetooth headphones or smartwatches and to store them away during school hours.

    The district’s elementary schools already had a no-phone policy, but it was not enforced uniformly across the district, Zachreson said. The district decided to put a uniform policy in place and to expand it to all grade levels.

    Even without district policies, some teachers have banned phones in their classrooms. Nicolle Fefferman, a longtime LAUSD educator and co-founder of the Facebook group Parents Supporting Teachers, is one of them. When cellphones are not tucked away, Fefferman said, it can be challenging for teachers to “police” their use. 

    “I would tell my students: ‘I see you for so little time every day that I’m really selfish. I’m really greedy,’” Fefferman said. “‘I want every minute of your attention for the work that we’re doing together in this class.’” 

    A Phineas Banning Senior High School classroom with a “phone parking lot” in Los Angeles Unified School District.
    Credit: Mallika Seshadri

    United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing more than 35,000 educators across LAUSD, supports the board’s decision to implement a districtwide policy. 

    “For these policies to be effective, strong collaboration is essential,” Gina Gray, an LAUSD middle school English teacher, told EdSource in a statement on behalf of the union.

    “School district administrators must work closely with educators and parents to implement these changes,” Gray said. “Educators care deeply about the well-being of our students, and their families should be included in decisions about changes to our school communities.” 

    California Teachers Association President David Goldberg agrees: “Our union has supported improving school environments and restricting the use of smartphones on campuses,” he said in a statement. “As educators, we always seek to help our students reach their full potential, and we are moved by the data, listening to our students and their families, and our own experiences showing that smartphones can be a distraction and harmful to the mental health of students.”

    Bans gain national momentum

    California may soon join Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, South Carolina and Ohio in passing legislation that bans or restricts cellphone use on public school campuses.

    Although California law allows districts to restrict the use of cellphones on campus, it does not require them to. That could change if a bill working its way through the Legislature passes. Assembly Bill 3216 would require school districts to adopt a policy to limit or prohibit the use of smartphones by students. The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee last week and is likely to make it to the governor’s desk for final approval, according to School Services, an education consulting company. 

    Another piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1283, would allow, but not require, districts to limit students’ use of social media while on campus. The bill is expected to get a vote on the Assembly floor this month.

    The bills have bipartisan support. 

    “Josh Hoover’s a Republican who’s putting forth this legislation (Assembly Bill 3216),” Zachreson said. “Gavin Newsom is pushing school districts to take action. You have Ron DeSantis and an Arkansas governor doing the same thing. I mean, when you have Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis on the same page, I think you have a winning issue.”





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  • Lawsuit against West Contra Costa schools could set precedent for how districts handle complaints

    Lawsuit against West Contra Costa schools could set precedent for how districts handle complaints


    West Contra Costa Unified’s Stege Elementary School in Richmond.

    Photo: Andrew Reed/EdSource

    A recently filed lawsuit against the West Contra Costa Unified School District could set a new precedent for how districts in California handle and comply with complaints filed by students, educators and community members. 

    The lawsuit, filed by civil rights law firm Public Advocates last month, alleges the school district failed to remedy issues in the required time frame for nearly 50 “Williams complaints” filed by teachers, students and parents since June 2023. The bulk of the complaints were about poor building conditions at Stege Elementary School, and three were filed about teacher vacancies. There are five complainants, including four educators and a parent, who are suing the district.

    West Contra Costa is the first district in the state to be sued under the Williams v. California settlement in 2004, a landmark case that established the Williams complaint process, and the right to textbooks, safe schools and qualified teachers for all California public school students. Public Advocates attorneys led that charge 20 years ago and are now turning to the courts to uphold the standards it set and to stop the unlawful practice of filling full-time teacher positions with rolling substitutes.

    “It’s important for districts to know that this is a process that can be enforced by the courts, and they can be subject to a court order when they don’t abide by this specific process,” said Dane Shikman, attorney with Munger, Tolles, & Olson LLP, who is assisting with the lawsuit.

    Public Advocates attorney Karissa Provenza said she hopes the lawsuit sets a precedent and that other districts that aren’t complying with the Williams complaint process “fall in line.” 

    The law firm has kept a close watch on West Contra Costa for years, and Provenza has spent the last few years building relationships with educators, organizers and families. But it shouldn’t just be those districts that Public Advocates attorneys are watching that are held accountable.

    “We know there are issues across the board when it comes to districts following through with Williams complaints,” Provenza said. “We’re hoping this (lawsuit) can stand out.”

    Anyone can file a Williams complaint, and school districts have up to 30 days to fix the issue and 45 days to respond to the complaint in court. District officials responded to the 45 building condition complaints at Stege Elementary School six months later, and only after plaintiffs’ attorneys repeatedly reminded the district of its legal obligation, the lawsuit alleges. 

    “It’s a highly informal process that the districts often get away with something less than a full remedy of the complaints, or they delay on getting a response back,” Shikman said.

    According to the lawsuit, West Contra Costa’s response “acknowledged the complaints, cited a nonexistent section of the Education Code, claimed the district had no duty to respond within the statutory 45-day timeline, and promised to provide a substantive response with an update by January 12, 2024.”

    That response never came, the lawsuit says. 

    The complaints said the Richmond school had moldy walls, inoperable windows, classrooms reaching more than 90 degrees without ventilation, and broken floor tiles. Lead and asbestos were also found after the district hired an environmental firm to test building materials. 

    “One of the worst conditions for the students’ learning and teaching was probably the heat,” said Stege teacher Sam Cleare, who is one of the complainants in the lawsuit. “My first year there, we even watched crayons melt outside, but it wasn’t even that much hotter outside than it was inside.”

    A student in the after-school program at Stege Elementary School in the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
    Credit: Sam Cleare

    Building conditions at Stege Elementary were never improved, and district officials have “repeatedly” acknowledged conditions at Stege were “dangerous,” the lawsuit says. Superintendent Chris Hurst announced the school was closing for repairs on July 23, four days after the lawsuit was filed and hazardous materials were detected during the removal of window panels.

    District officials did not respond to requests for comment on this story and have previously said they don’t comment on litigation. 

    Unlawful practices

    District officials did respond to the three complaints about teacher vacancies, the lawsuit says, but the positions weren’t filled within 30 days and solutions weren’t reported.

    Hurst addressed teacher vacancies at a recent board meeting and said the district is “working hard” to fill all positions before the start of the school year this week. The district has posted on job boards and social media platforms, attended job fairs and is partnering with residency programs to recruit teachers.

    “But the district’s statutory mandate is not just to ‘try hard’ to recruit teachers; it is to actually provide every student with a permanent, qualified teacher,” the lawsuit says.

    If positions aren’t filled, the district’s plan is to fall back on substitutes, which is the reason teacher vacancy complaints were filed in the first place. The complaints said it was illegal to rely on substitutes long-term and in the district’s response, officials acknowledged its practices were unlawful. 

    Provenza said she is not surprised the district continues to rely on substitutes.

    “I wish I could start hearing that they were going to start shifting their ways, but unfortunately, it seems like relying unlawfully on substitutes is something that they’re going to continue to do,” Provenza said.

    The district has relied on day-to-day, 30-day, and 60-day substitutes to fill teacher vacancies. Teachers have also had to pick up extra classes or have had students added to their classrooms, often from different grades. This school year, the district is also asking credentialed staff who aren’t usually in the classroom to step in.

    “Substitutes did not follow curricula or assign homework as a dedicated year-long educator would have, and students in those classrooms were denied the stability and consistency that a permanent qualified teacher provides,” the lawsuit says.

    Complaints were filed at Stege Elementary, Helms Middle and Kennedy High schools, some of the district’s highest-need schools, where more than 80% of students are low-income. Substitutes were used for an entire school year in some classes, the lawsuit says.

    Some students at Kennedy High weren’t sure they would receive grades at the end of the last school year because they never had a permanent teacher, according to the lawsuit. Permanent teachers weren’t assigned to an English language development class, a reading and writing class, a P.E. class, and two music classes. 

    Most of Kennedy’s students are Hispanic or Latino and Black or African American — 73% and 18% respectively in the 2022-23 school year, the most recent year of available state data. That same school year, 84% of students did not meet grade-level math standards and nearly 58% did not meet reading standards.

    A math, science and English class at Helms Middle did not have permanent teachers the last school year, the lawsuit alleges. Nearly 70% of Helms students did not meet grade-level literacy standards and 82% did not meet math standards for the 2022-23 school year, data shows.

    Helms Middle mostly serves Hispanic and Latino students, almost 83% in the 2022-23 school year. The next largest population is Black or African American, about 7%. Almost half the students (47%) are also English learners. 

    There weren’t permanent teachers in a kindergarten, third grade, fourth grade, and second and third grade split class at Stege Elementary last year, according to the lawsuit.

    Most of the student population is Black or African American, nearly 39% in the 2022-23 school year, and Hispanic or Latino, 34%. About 73% of students did not meet grade-level standards in math and 75% did not meet literacy standards. 

    The lawsuit calls the teacher vacancy problems in the district a “crisis.” 

    West Contra Costa “faces more teacher vacancies than its neighboring districts and continuously under performs in retaining fully prepared and properly assigned teachers,” the lawsuit says. “Quality teachers are the leading school-related factor contributing to a student’s success.” 

    Students have complained to the board during public comment about teacher vacancies this past school year, saying they aren’t motivated to attend class with consistently different teachers. One high school student said they weren’t learning any new materials in math class. 

    According to the lawsuit, the district hasn’t reported any solutions to fill teacher positions and blamed the vacancies on the statewide teacher shortage. The lawsuit gave various solutions, including assigning certified teachers of other subjects to vacant classes, using emergency teaching permits, and hiring university interns and retired teachers.

    Last year, West Contra Costa did tap into retirees to help fill vacancies, but it’s unclear how many and if these efforts are continuing. The district has said it can’t hire retired teachers for a full school year, the lawsuit alleges, but attorneys claim that under SB 765, districts can do so.

    Problems filling teacher vacancies are also connected to poor working environments, Provenza said. It’s difficult to attract and retain teachers when they don’t feel supported, are overworked, and lose prep periods to cover other classes.

    ‘This year made staying very challenging’

    Educators, parents and community members have fought for better conditions at Stege Elementary for years, and for teacher Sam Cleare, her advocacy efforts began with the 45 Williams complaints. 

    She called the conditions at Stege “inhumane” and “unbearable” and said there was nowhere to escape the heat. 

    “Students felt sick,” Cleare said. “I felt lightheaded. Not only was it difficult or impossible to learn, but it felt unsafe as well.”

    Sam Cleare, a third-grade teacher, has taken a job with the teachers union.
    Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource

    Cleare remembers the windows starting to fall apart when trying to open them and said once she cut her finger on the edge of a window. She taught at Stege for the last seven years, and said it was her dream to retire there. But she’s decided to take a job with the teachers union. 

    “I will miss working at Stege terribly, but this year made staying very challenging,” Cleare said. “Many teachers struggle to stay at the school due to the working conditions.”

    On top of teacher vacancies, Stege has battled dwindling enrollment, chronic absenteeism and a long-awaited renovation for nearly a decade. The building was slated to be remodeled by the 2020-21 school year, but there have been delays. Last November, the board approved an increased budget for renovations, from $2.9 million to $43 million, because of the severe need for repairs.

    Parents and community members have been frustrated by the delays and lack of funding going toward repairs. The concerns resurfaced at a Stege community meeting last week when parents were calling out district officials for not addressing the health hazards and safety concerns sooner. 

    District officials shared an annual report on Stege with the community, the Facility Inspection Tool, a visual inspection that determines if a school needs repairs. According to the report, Stege received a “good” rating, which means “the school is maintained in good repair with a number of non-critical deficiencies noted. These deficiencies are isolated, and/or resulting from minor wear and tear, and/or in the process of being mitigated.”

    Meeting attendees were outraged by the conclusion of the inspection, which was done last August, and said it was offensive. Parents and educators told stories about sewage coming out of the toilets when flushing, drywall issues, and complained that students were subject to unhealthy conditions.

    With the temporary closure of Stege Elementary, students and staff are starting the 2024-25 school year at Dejon Middle School. 





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  • Jewish legislators not giving up on more ‘guardrails’ on ethnic studies

    Jewish legislators not giving up on more ‘guardrails’ on ethnic studies


    Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, explains AB 2918 during an Aug. 5 Senate committee hearing.

    Credit: Senate Education Committee

    A solution to curb antisemitic content they say is infecting some districts’ ethnic studies courses is eluding Jewish legislators. The legislation they authored has failed to gain traction so far, despite the support of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

    Assemblymembers Rick Zbur, D-Los Angeles, and Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, are pledging to return next year with a new version of their bill and a bigger coalition behind it. Last week, they pulled Assembly Bill 2918 from consideration amid sharp opposition from the California Teachers Association and college ethnic studies faculty. And they have yet to make the case to the largely progressive Legislature that some ethnic studies courses are problematic, and that it’s not just a Jewish problem. 

    The bill would have added levels of public review, additional disclosure and additional anti-bias provisions to 2021 law (Assembly Bill 101) that set a mandate for students to take high school ethnic studies as a graduation requirement, starting in 2030-31. Zbur said that he, Addis and the backers are ready to “really start from scratch, put everything on the table, and try to share something that addresses the problem that we are facing.”  

    The “problem,” they charge, is anti-Israel content that is bleeding over to antisemitism in the classroom. The primary intent of California’s high school ethnic studies is to focus on the historic struggles and achievements of minority groups within the United States. But a collection of groups, called the Coalition for Liberated Ethnic Studies, led primarily by college ethnic studies faculty, have made the Palestinian conflict with Israel a theme of a high school ethnic studies course. They have characterized Israel as an oppressive settler colonialist nation that compels the liberation of Palestine. Jewish families complain that teaching a biased and one-sided view of the conflict has provoked antisemitic remarks, bullying and antagonism toward Jewish students. The courses also stress the continuing harms of white supremacy and corporate capitalism.

    More than two dozen unified school districts, including Santa Ana, San Diego, Hayward, San Diego, Oakland, Castro Valley and Berkeley unified school districts, have signed contracts with consultants affiliated with the “liberated” approach to ethnic studies. The groups include the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, Community Responsive Education, the Association of Raza Educators, and the Xicanx Institute for Teaching and Organizing.    

    “Unfortunately, we are witnessing harmful situations where, intentionally or not, some ethnic studies curriculum and instruction is creating classrooms that Jewish students are not experiencing as safe, inclusive, or affirming,” Addis said at an Aug. 5 hearing of a Senate committee. 

    The clash between the Legislative Jewish Caucus and the authors of liberated ethnic studies instruction predates the adoption of the state’s ethnic studies model curriculum framework in 2021. But the ongoing conflict in Gaza, in which 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered and 40,000-plus Palestinians have perished, has heightened tensions. Since Jan. 1, the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education has opened investigations of Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco unified districts on charges they have failed to respond properly to incidents of antisemitism. 

    Several UC and CSU ethnic studies faculty advised or participated in creating the first draft of the state’s ethnic studies model curriculum, which the State Board of Education ordered rewritten in 2019 to present a more balanced perspective on race. The final draft excised the initial draft’s endorsement of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Israeli government and universities.

    Addition of guardrails

    At the encouragement of the Legislative Jewish Caucus and Gov. Newsom, Assembly Bill 101 establishing the high school graduation mandate explicitly stated that the Legislature intended for school districts to not use unadopted portions of earlier drafts of the model curriculum.

    The law also states that ethnic studies materials and instruction should be appropriate for use with pupils of all races, religions, nationalities and other legally protected student groups and that it “not reflect or promote, directly or indirectly, any bias, bigotry, or discrimination against any person or group of persons.”

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Newsom administration have reminded school districts to follow the law’s requirements for “inclusivity, sensitivity, and accuracy.”

    “Vendors have begun promoting curriculum to use for ethnic studies courses. We have been advised, however, that some vendors are offering materials that may not meet the requirements of AB 101, particularly the second requirement (not reflecting or promoting any bias, bigotry, or discrimination), an important guardrail highlighted when the bill was signed,” Brooks Allen, executive director of the State Board of Education and an education adviser to Newsom, wrote in a memo to districts a year ago. “Accordingly, before any curriculum or instructional materials for ethnic studies courses are selected, we strongly encourage you to closely scrutinize them to ensure that they meet the above requirements.”

    Allen’s guidance does not single out any vendor or group, but the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council assumed it was aimed at them. In response, the council denounced the guardrails as censorship. “We vehemently oppose the preemptive restriction of what can be taught, examined, and researched as part of ethnic studies. … In a very real sense, the guardrails are themselves a form of bias, bigotry, and discrimination. California teachers should be able to deliver lessons on important concepts such as settler colonialism, apartheid, and resistance without having to fear censorship or legal action by the state.”

    The Legislative Jewish Caucus, however, argues that the “guardrails” and transparency requirements under the law must be more explicit to be effective.

    The last version of AB 2918, posted July 3, included compromise language suggested by staff of the Senate Education Committee. Among its key provisions, it called for districts to create a committee to review ethnic studies curriculum and materials prior to adoption. Although the majority would be teachers, it would include parents and guardians and representatives from community organizations “with experience assisting children build cultural awareness and understanding.” The district would notify parents how they could participate in the process or comment on the courses and materials once they are produced.

    And, once materials or a curriculum is approved, the school board or superintendent would certify to the California Department of Education that it followed the review process — requirements that do not apply to other academic programs. 

    Under current law, districts must hold a hearing on a proposed ethnic studies curriculum before adopting it at a second board meeting. But some parents have complained that they were unaware that an ethnic studies course had been adopted, and some boards had placed the curriculum on a “consent” calendar for automatic approval without discussion.

    In August 2023, the Washington, D.C.-based Louis Brandeis Center and other legal groups sued Santa Ana Unified school board for violating the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in passing a liberated ethnic studies curriculum without proper notice, and for allowing members in the audience to insult Jewish speakers.

    “By failing to intervene in the heckling and harassment of Jewish speakers at its board meeting, the board contributed to creating a hostile environment that prevented Jewish members of the public from fully exercising their right to participate in SAUSD Board meetings as the Brown Act requires,” the lawsuit read.

    The bill also would have added another protection to the existing “guardrails” in the current law, that the curriculum “foster respect and acceptance and focus on the experiences of communities of the United States” — as opposed to tensions abroad. The implication is that a lesson on the war in Gaza should incorporate the perspective of Israel and American Jews. And the principle would apply to other minority groups portrayed negatively, he said.  

    “A  lot of people think we are ‘trying to water down the curriculum’ “and steer away from the four primary groups that are the focus of ethnic studies (Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and Asian Americans), Zbur said at the Aug. 5 Senate hearing. “We’re not. But to the extent there is content that is about or affects other communities, you need to look at how it will be viewed by the community itself.”

    A threat to ethnic studies?

    Opposition to the bill was strong. In an urgent call to action to ethnic studies supporters at UC Santa Cruz, Christine Hong, professor of critical race and ethnic studies and literature at the university, wrote that AB 2918 would require an extra round of approval and another round of state certification.

    “No other K-12 discipline has these requirements — ethnic studies, a field forged by students of color, is specifically being targeted by special political interests,” she wrote. And she charged that undefined community “stakeholders” would be able “to shut down an ethnic studies program if they don’t like what is being taught.”

    Seth Bramble, a lobbyist for the California Teachers Association, agreed, saying the bill singled out ethnic studies courses and educators “as the only discipline where we need extra scrutiny and where we need extra red tape to ensure the class is appropriate for all learners.”

    “These unnecessary hurdles replicate the very inequality that ethnic studies seek to address, limiting the potential reach and impact of ethnic studies,” he said at the hearing.

    Although most of the speakers who identified themselves as Jewish expressed support, Maya Steinhardt, who said she was a Jewish teacher and former Sacramento State student who had spent time at a pro-Palestinian encampment, dissented. “I’m concerned that this bill will result in the same kind of biased education that the authors say they are combating. As the authors stated, marginalized communities should have a voice in how their stories are told. But what happens when different marginalized communities have differing views on the same history? Do you privilege one group’s perception over another?”

    The authors and the caucus say that ethnic studies require a different response because it is different. For other subjects — math, English language arts, history, and science — the state has adopted academic standards with a state-led textbook and materials adoption process. For ethnic studies, there is only a voluntary model curriculum framework, leaving it to districts to choose what to teach.

    The lack of academic standards, along with a materials review, “makes school districts susceptible to adopting variations of curricula that go beyond the law’s guardrails,” Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, and a caucus member, wrote in an email. He said the ethnic studies course at a high school his son attended was “a clear and dramatic violation of the law” on ethnic studies “with obvious factual inaccuracies.”

    More time to build support

    Zbur and Addis introduced AB 2918 late in the legislative session, leaving too little time to assemble a coalition outside the Legislative Jewish Caucus, Zbur acknowledged. He said he would spend the coming weeks negotiating with education unions, including the CTA, and increasing the support by showing that “these guardrails protect all communities,” not just Jewish Californians.  

    He said he expects support from Thurmond, who has not participated in negotiations thus far, and Newsom, who committed in his April 2024 Golden State Plan to Counter Antisemitism that he “will work with the Jewish Caucus and Legislature to pursue legislation strengthening the guardrails established by AB 101.”

    Along with setting a high school graduation mandate, AB 101 requires that all high schools begin offering an ethnic studies course in 2025-26. In preparation, many school districts will approve courses and materials this year.

    AB 2918’s delay could mean the window for affecting that process will close too soon to affect that process in many districts. 





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  • Q&A: How one Cal State professor plans to teach politics during ‘the most important election since 1860’

    Q&A: How one Cal State professor plans to teach politics during ‘the most important election since 1860’


    Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Sipa via AP

    David McCuan is no stranger to strong disagreements in his political science classes.

    “Everything is framed as a life or death struggle and decision, in a very serious way,” said McCuan, a professor at Sonoma State University. “So what I do tell students at the beginning of the class is, ‘We’re going to work hard. We’re going to disagree. And everything is going to be OK, because politics is a game for adults.’”

    McCuan should know. Over the past two decades, he’s guided easily 400 budding politicos through an election-year course that teaches them not only how to unearth the money and power structures behind state ballot measures but also asks them to register voters, educate fellow citizens on the election and, quite frequently, work with a student from the opposite end of the political spectrum.

    Sonoma State political science professor David McCuan
    Sonoma State political science professor David McCuan
    Credit: Courtesy of David McCuan

    This fall’s course comes ahead of what McCuan’s syllabus calls “the most important election since 1860” — the election that preceded the Civil War.

    In the 2024 election, roughly 8 million youth nationwide will age into the electorate in a divisive election year that has highlighted deep fissures on issues like immigration and the war in Gaza. 

    It’s also a moment of generational transition. Sonoma students returned to the Rohnert Park campus the same week as the Democratic National Convention, where Vice President Kamala Harris’ brisk rise to the top of the ticket signaled the passing of power to a younger group of Democratic Party politicians. 

    All of that means fall 2024 could be a volatile time to teach politics, a reason why McCuan wants students to work with peers with whom they don’t see eye to eye. Students entering his classroom even fill out a questionnaire to gauge their political views, information McCuan uses to pair students with their ideological foil on class projects.  

    “I try to take two opposite individuals and put them together to work on a team to understand what’s going on,” he said, “because I’ve found over the years that actually lends itself to a lot of help for each other.”

    The idea behind the class dates to the late 1990s, when as a young academic, McCuan began to contemplate the disconnect between the political science literature — where whether political campaigns even matter is an ongoing subject of debate — and the world of politics as it’s practiced on the ground. 

    McCuan’s students work with the League of Women Voters to research state ballot measures. The league compiles arguments in favor and against each measure, while students piece together the story of who is funding the ballot issue, how much money they’re spending, which consultants they’ve hired and how those strategies could swing the campaign.

    The course also has a service learning component. Students lead a public forum in which they present their ballot measure research to the rest of the campus and receive training on how to register voters. Many interactions with the government can feel punitive, McCuan said, like serving on a jury or paying taxes, so the hope is that more positive experiences of democracy will inspire students to stay civically engaged for the rest of their lives. 

    “We know that voting is a habit, so if you get people civically minded and engaged to register people to vote or to analyze what’s on the ballot, it has an educative effect,” McCuan said. “The idea is to create something that’s positive about what it means to be civically minded.”

    Sonoma State also does not shy away from political science programming that can provoke strong emotions, McCuan said. The university has hosted a lecture series on the Holocaust and genocide, he noted, and McCuan himself teaches a course that examines terrorism and political violence.

    McCuan said high-profile events have galvanized youth interest in politics in recent years. The 2016 election of Donald Trump, the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision holding that abortion is not a constitutional right each emerged as lightning rods for youth political engagement. 

    Efforts to harness students’ political energy on McCuan’s campus have paid off in the past: 88.3% of registered voters at Sonoma State cast a ballot in 2020, besting the 66% average turnout rate across more than 1,000 colleges and universities in a national study of college voters that year. 

    It’s not just young people at Sonoma State who are eager to cast a ballot. CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, found that turnout for voters age 18 to 29 rose from 39% in 2016 to 50% in 2020.

    Will younger voters turn out this year? More than half of voters 18 to 34 told pollsters they were “extremely likely to vote.”

    What those numbers don’t show is the long-standing voting gap between college goers and people without a bachelor’s degree. In 2020, 75% of 18- to 29-year-olds with a college degree voted compared to just 39% with a high school education, a CIRCLE analysis of census data found.  

    McCuan recently discussed why he thinks universities should invest more in civics education and how he prepares students to discuss difficult issues in the classroom.

    The following Q&A was edited, condensed and re-ordered for length and clarity.

    What should K-12 schools be doing to teach students about civics and politics?

    We’re integrating civics rather than holding it separate. We’re trying to integrate things across the curriculum because we have so many things that we want people to learn or that we demand that they know. And I think that’s losing depth of understanding in the guise of trying to provide breadth of coverage.

    (In political science), we pay very close attention to the relationship between economic, social and political variables, (also known as) ESP. They (students) might be able to name off ESP components of American history and American politics. It’s the what they’re really good at. It’s the why that is always the struggle.

    They might be able to note certain things on the history timeline, but how those were moments of change or inflection points — or why they matter, or how they’re consequential — that’s the part that’s often still the same as it was before. All the stuff they’re covering from K through 12 is ticking off boxes that aren’t necessarily providing greater understanding.

    Is there anything that would better prepare students before they reach your classroom?

    Invest in civics. I struggle, because I was a department chair for a long time and, as you know, in higher education, it’s faced a lot of pressure and a lot of financial pressure.

    I have a great passion about learning. I’m a first generation college student. I’m the son of a cop. I’m not supposed to even be here. The neighborhood I grew up in is the ‘hood, man, and if I can do it, others can do it. It takes a great deal of courage to call things out, and I don’t see that with a lot of higher education leaders, so I need an investment in civics that’s greater.–

    And as we’re cutting budgets and we’re cutting requirements, we’re taking things out– like how to write and how to think — because we’re trying to cram other things in there, or graduate people faster, or push things through. 

    Do you ever have to step in as a conciliator between students in your classroom?

    I haven’t generally had to weigh in on severe disagreements. I think your question, though, is appropriate for this fall, where everyone’s made up their mind about how they’re going to vote, except for 5% of people. So I’m going to have people in this class who are on far sides of the political spectrum trying to work together. Can that be combustible? Yeah, sure, maybe.

    I just feel like a professor who hadn’t been teaching this course for as long as you have would run in the opposite direction from starting now.

    I want a lively, engaged classroom, man!

    And also, remember, while we’re looking at the election, paying attention to candidates, we’re also concentrating a lot on non-candidate on ballot measures. Now, those are our proxy for blue and red, for left and right, sure — but we are concentrating on ballot measures, non-candidate elections, so it does remove some of that heavy partisanship.

    Do you hear this sentiment among colleagues, a reluctance to talk about political views with students?

    What I do hear from colleagues, especially younger colleagues or newer colleagues, is a frustration with trying to delve into issues that are hard. They often avoid those because they’re worried that they won’t have a chair or an administration that will back them up if things get heated. 

    Sometimes I have newer, younger colleagues who try to steer around issues if it makes students uncomfortable or will lead to aggression in the classroom. I’m not afraid of that.

    What makes you not afraid of that?

    I trust that we can get to a place of respect, if not understanding. I want a classroom that’s lively, engaged. I think the best thing in a student in my class is intellectual curiosity. That’s what I want. I’m not interested in the politics — and what I mean by that is, I’m not interested that they feel strongly this way or that way. I need them to be intellectually curious, because I can work with that. We can work together on that. And intellectual curiosity is something we see less and less of, so it’s harder.

    You don’t strike me as somebody who’s disillusioned with political processes — or are you?

    I think to be in this profession, to do this job, you have to have an optimistic view of the human condition. Because you don’t do it for the pay. You don’t do it for the benefits. You do it because you have a passion and a mission that the next generation can do it better. 

    When you see that ‘aha’ moment with students, it’s not because they’re mimicking your view. It’s not that at all, and I don’t do this in the classroom. It’s that they are understanding and making connections that I never saw. Or that they are finding and understanding in depth and making those connections that are analytical, not political. And that’s really helpful, because that’s a skill. 

    Is there some way that the students you’re teaching have changed since you started this course in 2003?

    They use social media tools to get an idea of what’s going on. So in other words, as the digital space has grown in campaigns, they’re in that space. 

    I don’t know what the hell a “Swiftie” is. I didn’t know the BeyHive is Beyoncé, and I would have spelled it like a beehive. But they know, so they’re operating in the space where the BeyHive and the Swifties are operating. 

    They’re understanding that space, and therefore, they are understanding the colors that are used by Kamala and her team, that lime green color. They know what that means, right?

    Their understanding of social media, their clarity about what messages are being communicated, would fly over the head of most pointy-headed academics. So I need them.





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  • Map: Head Start programs across California

    Map: Head Start programs across California


    Head Start programs serve more than 73,000 children in California. Use the map to explore current Head Start programs across the state, including their status and capacity.

    Data source: Center for American Progress


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  • Head Start offers path to success for children, families

    Head Start offers path to success for children, families


    Malaya Peterkin and other preschoolers sat in bright blue chairs around a table on a recent afternoon, listening raptly to teacher Rachel Cepeda read a book about butterflies. Afterward, the children created butterfly-themed pieces of art.

    Malaya, age 5, attends the Head Start program at the Sharon Geese Early Learning Center in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood of Sacramento. Her mother, Timeisha Seymore, is confident her daughter will be prepared for kindergarten next school year. 

    “She hasn’t started kindergarten yet, and she can already read,” Seymore said. “My son is doing math already. He’s 4. … You know, they are learning, they are bringing these tools, and we are just ecstatic about it.”

    The children also learn science and, because of the diverse teacher workforce, languages that include Spanish and Mandarin, Seymore said.

    Malaya Peterkin, 5, listens as Rachel Cepeda reads aloud at the Sharon Neese Early Learning Center in Sacramento on April 23, 2025.
    Credit: Randall Benton / EdSource

    Seymore is among the many low-income parents who count on Head Start to prepare their children for kindergarten and to care for them while they work. The program, run locally by schools and nonprofit organizations, serves more than 750,000 children nationwide from birth to 5 years old.

    Now, Head Start parents, teachers and other supporters are worried that potential cuts during federal budget negotiations could either reduce the number of children who can attend the program or eliminate it.

    Program is more than child care

    Students in the Head Start program, operated by the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), spend their days learning through play in brightly colored classrooms filled with books, blocks, toys and games. Children on tricycles zoom around the fenced playground, play in a giant sandbox or climb on a jungle gym under the watchful eyes of school staff during recess. 

    “It’s an amazing place,” Seymore said. “I love Head Start. My family would not be the same without Head Start.”

    The Sharon Neese Early Learning Center’s program serves 60 preschool students and 29 toddlers. It is one of more than 100 Head Start programs, serving a total of 4,400 students, that SETA operates at schools and other community sites in the Sacramento region.

    Head Start not only teaches children foundational math and reading skills, they receive healthy meals, referrals to dental and medical services, and behavioral support, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California.

    Head Start teachers, who work with students as young as 18 months, sometimes potty-train the children, teach them to wash their hands, how to eat healthy foods and how to take care of their bodies, said Annabel Stofer, who has been a teacher in the Sacramento program for 23 years.

    Annabel Stofer, a 23-year Head Start teacher in Sacramento, says the federal program provides much more than quality child care. “We also support the family and the students to reach their potential, to connect them with resources, referrals, services that their children may need,” Stopher says.
    Credit: Randall Benton / EdSource

    “Head Start is not just a great place for high-quality child care, we also support the family and the students to reach their potential, to connect them with resources, referrals, services that their children may need that they might not even know about,” Stofer said.

    Head Start serves children in deep poverty

    Head Start started in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It serves children who are homeless, in foster care, on public assistance or whose family income is below the federal poverty level — currently $32,150 annually for a family of four. A limited number of students from families with slightly higher incomes are eligible if space allows. 

    “In a family living in deep poverty, parents are focused on, how am I going to pay rent, how am I going to buy food,” Cottrill said. “They don’t have much capability to focus on A, B, C’s and 1, 2, 3’s.” 

    Early Head Start programs enroll children before they are born, allowing their mothers access to prenatal services and home visits. After the child’s birth, Head Start staff screen the baby for developmental delays. Children as young as 18 months can take part in Early Head Start classroom-based programs for toddlers.

    Jackie Stephens had a home visit from a Head Start worker the morning she spoke to EdSource. The worker checked on her newborn son, Elijah, and offered lactation support. Stephens has been struggling to get Elijah to breastfeed. She tried to schedule an appointment with her medical provider but was told she would have to wait a week.

    “Head Start is about children,” a teary-eyed Stephens said as she discussed the possible funding cuts. “I get the funding part, and I understand, I truly do. But you have to look at the bigger picture — on the effect that it’s having on these children, that it’s helping these parents who are trying to work, who are trying to do better for their family. For something to be ripped apart because of money, it just doesn’t seem right to me. … I pray that it doesn’t happen.”

    Parents are involved

    Family engagement is important at Head Start. Parents are involved at every level of the organization, including as members of the National Head Start board. 

    Teachers meet with parents throughout the year to ensure families aren’t in need of services and to develop educational plans for students. They also help families with their child’s transition to kindergarten — helping them navigate immunization and medical requirements and registration, Stofer said.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r6on2Twj0s

    “We’re a family,” she said. “… I consider these children my grandchildren, too. I have three of my own. But these children are equally as important to me emotionally.”

    Stofer finds it difficult to believe the program, in existence for 60 years, could be gone in one presidential administration.

    “I can’t even imagine a world without Head Start,” she said.

    What could replace Head Start?

    If Head Start funding is cut, preschool-age students could be eligible for the California State Preschool Program, which enrolls children beginning at age 3, and transitional kindergarten (TK), which enrolls them at age 4. 

    But Head Start supporters say TK doesn’t offer all the services that low-income families need and that its shorter day isn’t long enough for working families. Head Start programs are generally available at least six hours a day.

    About 75% of all Head Start programs also operate California State Preschool programs at their site with similar services and hours. Early childhood education programs often weave funding from both Head Start and the California State Preschool programs to provide or expand services to all their students.

    But the state isn’t expected to increase funding for additional seats in the California State Preschool Program in the near future, Cottrill said. That means that while early childhood education programs might remain open if Head Start funds are cut, they may have to close centers or eliminate seats, she said.

    California program meets local needs

    California’s Head Start program is unique in that it is designed to meet local needs, Cottrill said. There are Head Start programs in homeless shelters, at schools, in community centers and in private homes.

    Map: Head Start programs across California

    Use the map to explore current Head Start programs across the state, including their status and capacity.

    “One of my favorite examples is that we have a preschool program that is kitty-corner from a library, so they take the parents to the library, and they help them get their library card and access everything that the library has to offer,” Cottrill said. “So, really, it’s about uplifting the entire family.”

    In rural areas of the state, Head Start staff make home visits, offering curriculum to parents and helping them understand their child’s development. 

    Cottrill is hopeful that Head Start will survive upcoming budget negotiations in Washington.

    “What a tragedy it would be to end the program after 60 years of supporting the American Dream,” Cottrill said. “That’s really what we’re talking about, right? This program builds that. It sets people up on a path for success when they did not have it before.”





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  • How parents can limit children’s harmful cellphone use at home

    How parents can limit children’s harmful cellphone use at home


    The use of personal devices has increased since the Covid pandemic closed school campuses in 2020.

    Credit: Brett Sayles / Pexels

    Children who use cellphones, smartwatches and other personal devices excessively are more likely to have shorter attention spans, be more anxious, have trouble thinking critically, be less physically fit and have problems interacting socially, according to research.

    The debate about how much screen time is too much has been ongoing for more than two decades, but it has gained urgency in recent years as young people have become more reliant on cellphones and other devices. 

    The use of personal devices increased during pandemic school closures, with 12- to 13-year-olds more than doubling their recreational screen time to 7.7 hours a day in 2020, according to research led by the University of California San Francisco.

    Adolescents have since decreased the number of hours they are on the phone, but cellphone use is still well above pre-pandemic levels, said Dr. Jason Nagata, an associate professor of pediatrics at UC SanFrancisco. 

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom brought the issue to the forefront earlier this month when he urged school district leaders to take immediate action to restrict cellphone use on campuses this school year. Newsom said excessive cellphone use by young people is linked to anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.

    Cellphones, smartwatches and other personal devices aren’t inherently good or bad, Nagata said. They can be a useful tool for communication, education and socialization, but they also have their dangers, he said.

    “The goal of parents and for teens is really to try to optimize all of the benefits, while really minimizing the risks,” Nagata said. “And, I do think that one of the risks associated with constant connection on phone use is that some teenagers and adults really can develop signs and symptoms of an addiction.”

    Up to 95% of young people ages 13-17 nationwide report using social media platforms. A third say they use it “almost constantly,” according to the Office of the Surgeon General.

    “If kids are on their phones 24/7, it doesn’t help them develop a sense that they can create, understand and generate thoughts and ideas,” said Dr. John Piancentini, a psychologist and professor at UCLA Health on its website. 

    Too much screen time can be bad for kids

    Excessive cellphone use can impact a child’s mental health, resulting in anxiety and sometimes disruptive behavior disorders, according to research. Teens who use social media too much can develop body image issues and eating disorders, Nagata said. Others may feel less connected to friends and family.

    Excessive phone use also has potential health consequences. One of the primary ways that phone use can adversely affect a young person’s health is by displacing sleep, which is essential to health and development, Nagata said. The blue light emitted by cellphones and other devices can suppress melatonin, a hormone that helps a person to sleep.

    Cellphone sounds, such as notifications and rings, can also disturb rest. Sleep is important for teenagers in particular. Research shows that one-third of teens already get fewer hours of quality sleep than is required for optimal growth, development and academic achievement, Nagata said.

    Young people who excessively use cellphones are also more likely to have sedentary lifestyles and to focus on the screen instead of what and how much they are eating, he said.

    Increasingly, school districts are banning cellphones and other personal devices to keep students focused on school work and to encourage them to interact more with their teachers and peers. But what can parents do to ensure their children have a healthy relationship with their cellphones and other devices?

    Warning signs of addiction

    There is no consensus among researchers or physicians about exactly what constitutes phone addiction or problematic phone use, Nagata said. Despite that, the issue has become dire enough for the Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to issue an advisory in May, calling on policymakers, technology companies, researchers and families to minimize the harm of social media and to create safer, healthier online environments to protect children online. 

    “I think, in general, parents and kids have a sense that maybe their use is too much, maybe it’s leading to problems at home, maybe it’s leading to problems at school,” Nagata said. “And so those might be indications that someone has problematic phone use or a phone addiction.”

    Nagata said there are a few indications that your child may not have a healthy relationship with their phone: 

    • If they are upset at the thought of being without their phone.
    • If they stop whatever they are doing to answer calls, texts or messages.
    • If they argue with others over the amount of time they are on the phone.
    • If they can’t reduce the amount of time they are on their device.
    • If time on the device interferes with schoolwork, chores or in-person socializing with family or friends.

    Parents can limit phone use

    Decreasing the use of cellphones and other devices before adulthood can be particularly important because research shows that screen-use patterns in young adulthood persist through adulthood.

    Tips to decrease screen time:

    • The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends having a family media use plan that outlines when phones can be used and when they can’t. 
    • Initiate screen-free times before bedtime so that children get enough sleep. Parents could consider prohibiting screens in the bedroom and turning off devices and notifications at night.
    • Establish that dinner and social times are screen-free times to better promote conversation and socialization.
    • Parents should have regular conversations with their children about screen use and find opportunities for children to put away their phones and do nonscreen activities with friends.
    • Parents should try to work with the parents of their children’s friends to institute similar rules on social media and screen use to make implementation easier.
    • Parents should adhere to the family media plan and model good cellphone practices.

    “The biggest predictors of children’s screen use are their parent’s screen use,” Nagata said. “It’s really important to practice what you preach.”

    Parental monitoring and limiting of adolescent screen use were both linked to lower adolescent screen time, according to UCSF research. Punishing adolescents by taking away their devices or rewarding them with more screen time was not effective, Nagata said.

    “There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for screen rules, so parents should consider their children’s ages, what electronic devices are in the household, and the family’s needs for communication and school work on electronic devices when constructing a family media use plan,” Nagata said.





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  • Let’s ensure ‘Recess for All’ law really does apply to all

    Let’s ensure ‘Recess for All’ law really does apply to all


    Recess at Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland.

    Credit: Alison Yin / EdSource

    When one of our sons (then a third grader) lost recess privileges for a week last school year, he came home cranky and irritable. As he put it, “Recess is the only time I can actually really play with my friends without so many rules.” Research in education, psychology, physiology, and brain science consistently points to recess as a vital part of the school day. There’s a reason most kids claim recess is their favorite subject in school.

    As students across California return to their classrooms, they will step back into healthier learning environments thanks to the landmark Senate Bill 291, known as Recess for All, which requires elementary schools — for the first time in the state’s history — to provide students with at least 30 minutes of daily recess, while also prohibiting withholding recess as punishment.

    The law is a response to the growing concerns about inactivity and the mental health crisis among our youth — challenges exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. As public-school parents and professors who study recess and school health, we applaud the effort to not only increase students’ opportunities for school-based play but also to help address the traumas and social isolation our children faced during the pandemic.

    Now we must ensure that schools implement these changes so all children have the access to recess they need and deserve.

    Unfortunately, many still see recess as simply fun and games. This view — a vestige of the No Child Left Behind era, which ramped up school testing and created disincentives for developmental activities like recess, arts, music, and civics — had led some localities to reduce or eliminate regular breaks for children. This was a major issue post-pandemic when concerns about learning loss were pitted against the healing power of play in school. Research supports the importance of taking recess breaks from traditional academic subjects like math and reading; stepping away from classroom learning to move and play can help improve students’ test scores.

    Why is recess so essential for California’s more than 3 million public school students? The play, teamwork, socialization, leadership and self-regulation that happen at recess are critical for child and youth development. Recess is the only unstructured time in the school day when students can acquire and practice these skills. Young children learn a tremendous amount through organized and imaginative play — how to create and follow rules, be inclusive, make good decisions and collaborate.

    The physical activity that occurs at recess is important for many reasons, including helping students to get their wiggles out. But brain science tells us there is more to it than just wiggles. Physical activity and social connection at recess help students regulate their behaviors and emotions. Supporting these executive functions improves students’ abilities to concentrate and learn throughout the school day. 

    Providing students with daily recess can help students deal with trauma. With the distress and isolation they experienced through remote learning, coupled with the escalating mental health concerns, we need low-cost solutions to reach as many students as possible. Research shows that people under stress act reactively, and they behave poorly as a result. Recess allows students time to practice their executive functioning skills, which can help them cope better with stress and reduce anxiety. 

    Importantly, Recess for All is an anti-racist and equitable policy. It has the potential to close the gap in access to recess that exists in California and across the country.

    Students of color and those in low-income areas routinely have less recess time than students in wealthier and whiter areas. Additionally, children of color are disproportionately more likely to be disciplined in school. By abolishing the practice of withholding recess, schools can create restorative practices that support appropriate behavior, rather than punishing students by forcing them to sit out and miss essential growth time. 

    Recess for All is vitally important for California’s youth. As California public school parents, we plan to speak directly to our principals, PTAs and school boards to show our educators how much we value school-based opportunities for play and socialization. We encourage other parents to do the same. Schools respond to the issues most important to parents and their communities. Talk to your school administrators about their plans for ensuring kids get the newly mandated 30 minutes of recess a day. Our children, and our communities, will be healthier for it.

    •••

    Rebecca A. London, Ph.D., is professor of sociology and faculty director of Campus + Community at the University of California Santa Cruz. She is author of the book “Rethinking Recess: Creating Safe and Inclusive Playtime for All Children in School” (Harvard Education Press, 2019).

    Hannah R. Thompson, Ph.D., MPH, is assistant research professor at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. She works with school districts to study the impact of improved school-based physical activity and nutrition opportunities on student health.

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





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