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LAUSD families still struggling to access disability supports
Special education has been inconsistent in California schools since the coronavirus pandemic.

Alison Yin/EdSource

When the Covid-19 pandemic led to school shutdowns in 2020, and students began plugging into their classes online, Naomi Burn saw her 17-year-old son’s grades soar.

Her son seemed more engaged, completed his assignments and was in better spirits. The virtual classes seemed to serve him better. So, when face-to-face instruction returned, Burn decided to enroll him in one of the district’s virtual academies, where he would also be able to receive the counseling outlined in his individualized education program (IEP).

But in October 2023, Burn received an unexpected message from her son’s psychiatric social worker, who had previously provided him with the support he needed.

“He was removed from my caseload at the start of the year, and due to staffing issues, none of the virtual students are receiving their IEP services,” the email read. “I hope they are able to find a solution soon, so that he may begin to access this support.”

Several months later, Burn received an email from the district offering a solution: a chance to make up for lost services whenever the district has adequate staffing. Karla V. Estrada, LAUSD’s deputy superintendent of instruction, told EdSource in January that any problems with unfulfilled IEPs at Burn’s son’s school had been fixed.

On Jan. 9, the next day after Estrada’s statement, Burn said nothing had changed. No one had reached out to her. Her son’s educational plan and needs were still not addressed, and the family was still waiting.

“I understand it’s a societal issue,” Burn said. “But, at the same time, today’s counseling minutes don’t help the child with yesterday’s emotional social barriers.”

Burn is one of many parents in the Los Angeles Unified School District who say they have struggled to get their children adequate disability accommodations and support this past academic year. They say the district has been largely unresponsive and are concerned about possible repercussions for their children.

Experts warn that not providing accommodations in a timely manner could worsen students’ disability symptoms, while adding additional hurdles, including social and emotional challenges.

Meanwhile, the number of district students with disabilities continues to grow, and teachers have sounded alarms that as their workloads skyrocket, more student needs could go unaddressed.

“There’s no time like the present. Right, time only moves in one direction,” said Rebecca Gotlieb, a human developmental psychologist and educational neuroscientist at the University of California Los Angeles. “And I want every student to have all the supports they need.”

An old tale

Students with disabilities have long struggled to get the support they need in Los Angeles Unified. In April 2022, a federal investigation found that the district had provided hardly any special assistance to students with disabilities during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

When students were attending school online, LAUSD allegedly decreased services provided to students with disabilities and failed to properly track them, according to the U.S. Department of Education investigation.

The agency also found the district informed its staff that LAUSD was not responsible for school closures and was therefore “not responsible for providing compensatory education to students with disabilities,” according to the report.

Meanwhile, the investigation determined that the district “failed to develop and implement a plan adequate to remedy the instances” when students with disabilities were not provided access to a fair public education during remote learning.

Soon after the investigations, the district entered an agreement with the agency, promising to address the Department of Education’s concerns.

“Today’s resolution will ensure that the more than 66,000 Los Angeles Unified students with disabilities will receive the equal access to education to which federal civil rights law entitles them,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said in a 2022 media release.

“I am deeply grateful for the district’s commitment now to meet the needs of its students with disabilities.”

Estrada told EdSource that the district conducts a report at the beginning of each academic year to find out how many students aren’t receiving the services they are entitled to and need. The process also helps the district come up with solutions, including providing services retroactively once they are available, she said.

“There are certain students that aren’t receiving special education services or as outlined in their IEPs,” Estrada said. “Sometimes, it’s not that they’re not receiving services, but not to what has been prescribed in the IEP.”

Less than a year after the investigation, parents and advocates sounded alarms that the district was not following through on their promises and that children were still going without necessary supports.

Lourdes Lopez is one of many LAUSD parents who have had to work tirelessly to get the necessary support for their children. She has two children with disabilities who rely on speech and occupational therapy.

“As a parent, we’re begging for the services the child needs,” Lopez said in Spanish. “But always, they say she doesn’t need it.”

Her son, Dylan, was eventually able to get an IEP at his elementary school. But Lopez said she’s worried that the services Dylan is receiving are not enough to tackle the challenges his disability poses.

“They give him 10 minutes, and he’s in a group. They ask questions to one; they ask questions to another. It’s really sad how very little they are giving him,” Lopez said in Spanish. “Then, they return him to the classroom.”

A growing need

Lopez said that LAUSD students with disabilities are only able to graduate and stay confident into adulthood if “they’ve really had everything, all the services, all the support.”
Going Deeper

From language barriers to jargon-filled legal language in the IEP application process, families often struggle to get accommodations for their child in the first place, according to Paul Morgan, a social and health equity endowed professor at the University at Albany, SUNY.

Sometimes, Morgan said, schools are not proactive about informing parents about services because they can be costly to offer. And there can be instances where students don’t get an IEP because the findings of a school evaluation don’t match the conclusions of outside providers.

To increase the odds of getting an IEP, Morgan stressed the importance of having objective measurements that can answer these questions:

What kinds of challenges is your child having?

Have these challenges been going on for a period of time?

How are they performing in relationship to their peers?

“I know families that are coming from two parent, two income households [where]both parents are highly educated … and they have great difficulty getting the services,” Morgan said. “I’ve had parents say they have to fight like hell to receive those services from schools.”
Adrian Tamayo, a special education teacher at Lorena Street Elementary School, is one of the LAUSD educators who work day in and day out to support students with special needs.

Tamayo arrives at school at 7:30 a.m. to begin a day packed with regular teaching duties like working with students and planning lessons — as well as unique responsibilities that come with a job in special education, including district and statewide assessments that track students’ progress.

As a special education teacher, he also helps students secure IEPs; he administers standardized tests and carries out observations that are central to that process. This past year alone, he has conducted about 34 IEP assessments, with each taking three to four hours.

“It’s amazing how much time out of our own time we put in outside of the typical school day for the average educator,” Tamayo said.

Tamayo says he and his colleagues feel overworked and understaffed partly because the number of special education hires across the district has fallen — alongside retention, which dropped from 90% to 77% among credentialed teachers in the past three years, according to a district committee presentation.

Meanwhile, special educators who remain are having to support an increasing population of students with disabilities — which has grown from 13.4% to 15.9%, despite LAUSD’s overall enrollment dropping by about 20% in the past decade.

Estrada, the district’s deputy superintendent of instruction, added that since the pandemic, providing speech and language services has been especially difficult due to staffing constraints — but that the district has been able to contract with an outside provider to help fill the void.

“You have so many service providers, and IEPs are happening constantly,” Estrada said. “So, (a) new IEP requires potentially new services, and so we’re constantly adapting and making changes to caseloads.”

Soaring caseloads

This year, Tamayo’s caseload began at 19 students — and increased to 27 by the end of the year. A load higher than 28, he said, would violate California’s education code.

He said having the support of a paraprofessional in the classroom is invaluable — as it allows him to break his class into smaller groups based on grade level. But paraprofessionals aren’t always available.

“I have got to mentally prepare for any unforeseen (circumstances),” Tamayo said, adding that he is “always adjusting as we go.”

Tamayo said he is one of the lucky ones at Lorena Street Elementary; some of the programs have far surpassed their cap of 12 students, with a single professional working with up to 20 students.

He also said the number of psychiatric social workers at his school — supporting students with needs, like Burn’s son — has dropped. A year ago, there was one on campus every school day, he said.

This year, one was available to students three days a week, he said. Next year, he anticipates, they will be available only one day each week.

“That doesn’t mean that children that need that support also decrease,” he said. “You’re basically being asked to do the same job with one day of service.”
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21/05/2025
More outreach and access are needed in adult education, panel says

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-TxSs3XHpA

Despite efforts across various sectors, adults throughout California continue to struggle to access education opportunities that can be critical for their family’s economic mobility.

The panel at EdSource’s roundtable, “Adult education: Overlooked and underfunded,” discussed how adults and their families can benefit from adult education, the common barriers to access and ways to overcome them.

“During the pandemic, our emergency room took in some of our most at-need people and triaged them to the right medical care that they need,” said John Werner, the executive director of Sequoias Adult Education Consortium at Thursday’s discussion. “Adult schools do very similar work with education.”

Barriers to adult education

Panelist Francisco Solano grew up in Mexico, where he earned a high school education but had no interest in continuing his schooling. About 16 years ago, he came to the United States and found himself working for salad-packing companies.

He eventually enrolled in adult education classes at Salinas Adult School and is now wrapping up a doctorate in molecular biology at UCLA.

But the road through his adult education was “exhausting” and “not convenient at all.”

“That’s what I see with my peers,” Solano said. “They are not able to get out of that lifestyle because it’s so difficult for them to be able to have a job that secures rent and food for the families and, at the same time, find time and resources to go to school or try something else.”

Solano also believes that larger companies do not want migrants like him to succeed because that would take away a source of cheap labor.

Rural areas — where barriers associated with time and distance are greater — have a high need for adult education.

Steve Curiel, the principal of Huntington Beach Adult School, said not enough conversations about adult education are held at the policy level because most people in elected positions are unlikely to understand the critical role it plays, having experienced more traditional educational journeys.

Raising awareness and marketing

Carolyn Zachry, the state director and education administrator for adult education at the California Department of Education, stressed the importance of raising awareness and sharing stories like Solano’s among potential students.

“That gives the courage to come forward and to walk in those doors of that school,” she said. “And once they’re inside those school doors, then that school community wraps around them and really supports them.”

Werner also emphasized the importance of actively seeking students. He mentioned specific efforts to speak to individuals at local community events, like farmers markets and flea markets. A TV or radio presence can also be helpful, he said.

Helping communities overcome barriers

Numerous organizations are enacting measures to expand access to adult education, including creating remote and virtual options as well as providing child care for students while they are in school.

Several panelists agreed that virtual learning can be a helpful way to bring educational opportunities to adults at home — though Kathy Locke, who teaches English as a second language in Oakland Unified, emphasized the importance of in-person instruction, so adults can learn the skills they need to succeed online.

“The more marginalized, the greater your need in terms of English level, the harder it is to access the technology to be able to use the technology to do distance learning well,” Locke said.

To improve access to online learning, Curiel said the Huntington Beach Adult School has provided laptops and channels for internet connection.

Providing child care is another way to help reduce barriers for adults.

“Our classes provide babysitting for our students to be able to come with their children. Their children go to child care, and then they’re able to come and learn,” Locke said.

“I think that as a district, we really named that as a barrier and really put our money where our mouths were, I think, and made that a priority to get adults in our classrooms, so that they can do the learning that they need.”

Broader benefits of adult education

Adult education also helps support a child’s education, the roundtable panelists agreed.

For example, a child’s literacy benefits when parents attend English language classes, Locke said. And parents are more likely to be involved with their child’s education later on.

“If you want to help a child in poverty, you have to help an adult in poverty,” Werner said. “Only the adult can go get a job tomorrow.”

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19/05/2025
Computer science bill to address disparities in access – if it passes
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

Unless Assembly Bill 2097 — requiring every public high school to teach a computer science course — advances in the state Legislature on Thursday, access to computer science in California will continue to be inequitable across socioeconomic, racial, gender and geographic lines, according to the bill’s author.

“It’s predominantly our underserved communities, our Black and brown communities, our rural communities, where students are going to schools that don’t even give them access to computer science,” said Assemblymember Marc Berman about his bill, which would close gaps and increase access to computer science classes in California, as 30 other states do.

Currently, the legislation is under “suspense” in the Senate Appropriations Committee, a process in which the bill’s fiscal impact is considered. If it doesn’t come out of suspense Thursday, the bill dies.

According to a September 2021 report, California lagged behind the national average and about three dozen other states in the percentage of high schools offering at least one computer science course, which can build a foundational understanding of technology.

Across California, the home state of the Silicon Valley, only 42% of high schools offered computer science in the 2018-19 school year, and just 5% of the state’s 1.9 million students enrolled. Access to the course varied, depending on the socioeconomic status, racial makeup and geographic location of schools.

For example, the report showed that 31% of schools serving low-income students offered a course, compared with 69% of high-income schools.

Policy requiring schools to offer computer science has been implemented in states such as Nevada, where about 96% of the state’s schools offer a course, based on a national 2023 State of Computer Science Education report.

Closing equity gaps: The need for a computer science requirement

Since the 2018-19 school year, the percentage of California schools offering a computer science course has slightly increased to 45%, based on 2023 data. But California still lags the national average of 57.5% and still shows disparities among student groups and schools in certain communities.

“It’s been frustrating to see either the lack of progress or the remarkably slow progress that we’ve made, and that really emphasizes for me how important it is that we set this requirement,” Berman said. “If we don’t set that requirement, we’re never going to do the work necessary to accomplish it. Not having a requirement — it’s not yielding the progress that our students deserve.”

Based on the 2023 data from the 2022-23 school year:
- 55% of high schools don’t offer any computer science courses.
- 27% of rural schools offer a course, compared with 50% of urban schools and 52% of suburban schools.
“That’s why we need this effort,” Berman said about the proposed legislation bringing schools to the baseline of offering the course.

“The data is clear that depending on what ZIP code you grow up in is determining whether or not you get the chance to get computer science education, and that shouldn’t be the case in California.”

National data shows that 99% of high schools in Arkansas and Maryland offer computer science, with Nevada, Alabama, South Carolina and Indiana having rates above 90%.

Among other policies, all of those states require their high schools to offer computer science.

What is computer science? ‘A fundamental understanding’

Credit: Allison Shelley for EDUimages

AB 2097 defines computer science as “the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles … implementation and impact on society, as described in the computer science academic content standards adopted by the state board.” Furthermore, the bill wants students to go beyond using the technology; they should understand how and why those technologies work.

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.

According to the group, computer science education can improve digital literacy, critical thinking and other skills that can be applied across multiple fields, including education, entertainment, agriculture, art, medicine and social justice. For example, a class may create an app that increases access to health care services or explore the ethics of data privacy.

“We require that (our seniors take government), not because we expect them all to become politicians,” said Modesto City Schools computer science teacher Amy Pezzoni, “but because if they are going to be citizens in our world, we want to make sure they understand how their world works, how to have their voice heard, how to make sure they’re not lost in the noise.”

Technology is everywhere, Pezzoni said.

According to a 2020 Brookings Institution analysis, jobs requiring a medium and high level of digital skills increased over the last 20 years, and jobs requiring low-level skills decreased, Bloomberg reported. A 2023 analysis from the National Skills Coalition found that 92% of jobs required digital skills.

Based on 2023 data, each month, California averaged 45,245 open computing jobs with an average salary of $153,544.

“We are not giving California students the opportunity and access to these jobs in the state they live in,” said Mary Nicely, the state’s chief deputy superintendent of public instruction, who represented Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond during a June 12 Senate Education Committee hearing.

Pezzoni said that offering at least one computer science course, such as introductory computer science, builds students’ “fundamental understanding” of technology.

“It’s in our personal lives. It’s in every industry,” she said. “We just want to make sure they have the skills and the knowledge — the understanding of tech — to be successful (with whatever) they choose to do.”

Pointing to computer science concepts such as artificial intelligence, web design and development, graphics, computer programming, robotics, cybersecurity and problem-solving, Pezzoni said, “It’s … the understanding of how technology works and how many different ways that you can engage with computer science.”

In 2018-19, high schoolers in Colusa, Mariposa, Modoc, San Benito and Sierra counties had no access to any computer science courses, according to the September 2021 Computer Science Access report.

In other California schools, only 34% of campuses with a high proportion of Black, Indigenous, Latino and Pacific Islander students offered a course. And only 30% of females were enrolled in computer science courses even though they made up 49% of the student population before the pandemic.

Opponents of the bill say the inequity in both access to computer science courses and basic digital skills could create difficulties for some students, making it hard for them to do well in the course. Mark Epstein, with the California Environmental Technology Education Network, said at an April 24 Assembly committee hearing that students need a prerequisite course on basic digital skills to even succeed in a computer science class.

But Pezzoni said she meets students where they are. At the beginning of the class, she finds out what motivated students to take the class and what they want to do with their lives.

“I give them the skill, but I allow them to apply it in a way … that’s going to be meaningful for them,” Pezzoni said. “And I have seen students who were hell-bent on getting out of the class end up becoming some of my best students because they realized what they could do with it in their own interest. I have some that are continuing on a path that’s not tech, but they’re really appreciating the skills that our classes are giving them.

“There is no reason students cannot engage in computer science.”

Berman echoed the importance of meeting students where they are.

“If they come in and they don’t have any computational skill, all the more reason for them to be taking this course and to get that experience,” he said. “I don’t think that we should penalize or punish students just because they haven’t had the chance yet to get these skills. I think that’s who we should be trying to support.”

Computer science skills apply to practically any industry a student will pursue in the future, Berman added. The CSforCA coalition, for example, explained how computer science can make agriculture more sustainable and productive, highlighting robotic machines used in farming.

And it can spark a passion for tech, Berman and Pezzoni said. Pezzoni has even had students who wanted to pursue medicine or business change their minds and decide to go into tech.

“They didn’t realize all of the opportunities they have to make a difference in tech, so they made that switch,” she said.

Implementation is a concern

Berman’s computer science bill would require the class to be offered in all public high schools by 2028-29. Even though the legislation doesn’t require immediate action, Berman said some school administrators have anxiety about implementation.

Pezzoni, who started and grew computer science courses in two low-income schools in the Central San Joaquin Valley, said it is achievable.

If “this could be done in a low socioeconomic area in the Central Valley,” Pezzoni said, “it could be done anywhere in California.”

After she started a computer science class in Ceres Unified in Stanislaus County, she said, “Students took it and were like, ‘OK, what’s next?’”

“‘What can we do with this now?’” she said students asked her. “It, organically, will grow. They will drive that demand. But if they never have the opportunity to experience it, they don’t even know what they’re asking for. Or they just make the assumption, ‘Oh, well, that’s not for me because if it was important, they would offer it.’”

Pezzoni said there is a misconception that implementing computer science is a “big scary hurdle to overcome” because of the needed equipment or upgrades and necessary teachers and curriculum.

“And really none of that is an issue,” she said. “I think once districts start diving in and making this happen, they’re going to be pleasantly surprised how easy this is going to be for them to do.”

Berman explained, “You don’t have to create curriculum. You don’t have to create professional development. That all exists already.”

According to a bill analysis by the Senate Appropriations Committee, school districts would have to purchase instructional materials and provide professional development to current teachers.

While the exact cost is unknown, “it could be in the millions to potentially low tens of millions of dollars in Proposition 98 General Fund each year,” the analysis concluded.

The Department of Finance opposed the bill based on its estimate of $50 million to $73 million in ongoing funding from Proposition 98.

California has invested nearly $100 million for professional development and certification of computer science teachers, Berman said. In 2016, the state updated credentialing guidelines to allow single-subject credentialed teachers in other disciplines to pursue a computer science supplementary authorization with required coursework, preparing educators to teach the course.

Last year, another bill requiring all high schools to teach computer science stalled in the Senate, in part because of the lack of teachers, CalMatters reported. The following October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1251, the “next step to increase accessibility for equitable computer science education in California,” the CSforCA coalition said in a news release at the time. The legislation requires the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish a work group to develop a teacher preparation pathway for computer science to address the number of teachers able to teach the course.

Graduation requirement removed from bill, but not from vision

Among the 30 states that require high schools to offer a course, eight mandate it as a graduation requirement.

“I think that should be an eventual goal,” Berman said. “I think the next logical step, especially as the economy continues to change and people continue to see the value and the benefit, is that every student should take it.”

When the bill was first introduced in February, it included requiring the course as a graduation requirement. According to Berman, the requirement was removed from the bill.

“I have some colleagues that feel like we’ve already created some additional graduation requirements and to add more is not appropriate at this time,” he said.

In late June, lawmakers rushed legislation to make California the 26th state with a graduation requirement for personal finance, starting in 2030-31. It adds to mandates such as the 2029-30 graduation requirement for ethnic studies.

The computer science bill passed the Assembly in May and the Senate Education Committee in June. It now sits in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where a similar bill died last year. The bill faces a similar fate on Thursday if the Appropriations Committee doesn’t send it to the full Senate for a vote.

“What the bill does is, it says this is a priority. This is a priority for our students. This is a priority for our communities,” Berman said. “It forces school districts to make this a priority. But I think once they do that, the benefit is going to be massive.

“This bill will make computer science availability and access for every student a priority.”
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17/05/2025
Federal judge orders UCLA to ensure equal access to Jewish students following pro-Palestinian protests

Hundreds of UCLA students protest in support of Palestinians on May 2, 2024.

Credit: Christine Kao

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction that goes into effect Thursday ordering UCLA to ensure equal access to Jewish students in reaction to the university’s handling of pro-Palestinian encampments last spring.

Three Jewish students in June sued the University of California system, arguing that UCLA allowed protesters to erect an encampment that blocked Jewish students from accessing parts of campus, including classrooms and an undergraduate library.

U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi agreed that UCLA knew students could not enter parts of campus because of their religious beliefs.

“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” he wrote.

“UCLA does not dispute this,” Scarsi wrote. “Instead, UCLA claims that it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students because the exclusion was engineered by third-party protesters. But under constitutional principles, UCLA may not allow services to some students when UCLA knows that other students are excluded on religious grounds, regardless of who engineered the exclusion.”

The order bars the UC defendants from “knowingly allowing or facilitating the exclusion of Jewish students from ordinarily available portions of UCLA’s programs, activities, and campus areas, whether as a result of a de-escalation strategy or otherwise.” It also gives the campus until Aug. 15 to instruct campus security, police and student affairs “not to aid or participate in any obstruction of access for Jewish students to ordinarily available programs, activities, and campus areas.”

The order was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

UCLA was one in a wave of campuses where protesters built encampments in solidarity with Palestine as part of a campaign demanding universities sever financial ties with Israel.

The Los Angeles Times and other news outlets have reported on incidents in which Jewish students said they were blocked from entering the encampment. An April 30 video of Jewish students being rebuffed by protesters when they attempted to walk through the camp went viral. Pro-Palestinian organizers have said restricting who could enter the camp was a measure meant to protect protesters from harassment and abuse.

Counter protesters attacked the camp on the evening of April 30, attempting to tear down barricades and hurling objects at the protesters. The university was criticized for not doing more to protect the pro-Palestine students.

The university’s police chief was temporarily reassigned in May pending a review of the school’s security processes. UC President Michael Drake has also requested an investigation into how the campus responded to the violent attack on the pro-Palestinian camp.

Attorneys for the UC system seeking to prevent the injunction argued that the university has already taken steps to ensure its students’ safety and access to education, including by creating a new campus safety office that is “empowered to take decisive action in response to protest.”

Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in a written statement that the ruling interferes with how the university can react to events on its campus.

“UCLA is committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination, and harassment,” Osako said. “The district court’s ruling would improperly hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground and to meet the needs of the Bruin community. We’re closely reviewing the Judge’s ruling and considering all our options moving forward.”

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Clement & Murphy PLLC represent the plaintiffs. Becket indicated in a press release about the order that UC defendants are expected to appeal the ruling.

“UCLA is still in charge of its own campus,” Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and an attorney for the students, said in a statement to EdSource. “But the court’s order means that however UCLA decides to manage its campus, allowing the exclusion of Jewish students is not an option on the table.”

The Los Angeles Times reported that UC leaders are working on a systemwide plan regarding how its campuses will respond should protests of the Israel-Hamas war continue in the fall. Drake has until Oct. 1 to issue a report to that effect, according to the Times.

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17/05/2025
Getting California’s millions of kids to access free money relies on community partnerships
Credit: Ekrulila/Pexels

When Stephanie Martinez Anaya was a senior at Hamilton High in Anza in 2023, her college success coach told her about scholarship money for college or career training.

The money — between $500 and $1,500 automatically deposited and waiting in an interest-bearing savings account — is from the California Kids Investment and Development Savings program (CalKIDS), a state initiative for eligible low-income students and English learners enrolled in the public school system.

Launched in 2022, CalKIDS is intended to help families save for and lower the costs of college or career training.

“Even if expenses come up,” Martinez Anaya said, “I won’t have to worry about that.”

And unexpected expenses did arise once in college. She ended up using her $530, $30 of which was interest, to purchase homework access for her classes at the University of California Riverside.

Now, Martinez Anaya promotes CalKIDS as a coach for the California Student Opportunity and Access Program, or Cal-SOAP, assisting high schoolers with college and scholarship applications.

The Cal-SOAP-CalKIDS partnership illustrates how the state can raise awareness about CalKIDS by using personal, relatable stories in local communities, said Libby Schaaf, co-author of Advancing CalKIDS, a research report on strategies to increase the college participation rate for low-income families.

Her research reinforces that CalKIDS must increase, incorporate and integrate community partnerships into each aspect of its outreach to expand access among eligible students.

Schaaf, former mayor of Oakland and co-founder of Oakland Promise, a nationally recognized cradle-to-career program, conducted the research while a fellow at The EdRedesign Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Who’s eligible?

Low-income public school students and English learners, identified by the California Department of Education, are automatically awarded $500 if they:

Were in grades 1-12 during the 2021-22 school year

Were enrolled in first grade during the 2022-23 school year, or

Are first graders in subsequent school years, meaning the number of eligible student accounts grows each year.

An additional $500 is deposited for students identified as foster youth and another $500 for students classified as homeless.

Children born in California, regardless of their parents’ income, are now granted $100 in an account. More than 1 million newborn accounts are currently eligible.
Over 3.9 million school-aged children now qualify for at least $500 in free money with CalKIDS.

As of March 31, only 12% of students had registered for their CalKIDS account, up by nearly 4 percentage points since last year but still far from reaching most of the state’s students.

Not quite 3 years old, “CalKIDS is still in its early development stage, so now is an impactful time to explore potential refinements and additions to its operational and programmatic approaches,” Schaaf said in her report.

Schaaf’s research recommends strategic actions to increase the number of claimed accounts.

“A lot of the challenges are going to require other people to step up,” she said. “Some might require counties or school districts to take more actions.”

The CalKIDS team has started implementing some of those strategies.

“My dad didn’t finish college, himself,” Schaaf said, reflecting on the personal experience that led to her work. “He was a traveling shoe salesman, and he made this big point of how important education was. He started investing and built up these little funds for me and my sister to go to college.”

As the mayor of Oakland from 2015 to 2023,Schaaf built Oakland Promise, a cradle-to-career and savings account program that features personalized financial coaching and other resources and is now a national model for its comprehensive system.

Schaaf’s research, conducted over the past year, is based on her experience with Oakland Promise as well as a literature review; work with the CalKIDS Institute at UCLA; in-depth interviews with 14 CalKIDS partners and 15 college and career savings account experts and leaders of governmental groups, nonprofit organizations and school systems; an on-site community event; and parent focus groups.

Schaaf is also a 2026 candidate for state treasurer, whose office oversees the CalKIDS program. She announced her candidacy in January 2024, after being selected for the Harvard fellowship in 2023. Current State Treasurer Fiona Ma is running for lieutenant governor in 2026.

“One of the reasons I actually got excited about running for state treasurer is the fact that the Treasurer’s office runs this program,” she said. “I’m somebody who doesn’t want to take on a job without feeling like I am the most competent person to do it.”

Her research and recommendations, she said, educated her about the program and have empowered her to run for the position. But regardless of whether she wins the electon, she said “this work needs to happen.”

Advancing CalKIDS

Leverage community partnerships

Schaaf’s report stated that automatically establishing the accounts at birth and at first grade minimizes barriers. But that doesn’t prevent or eliminate problems, because families must claim the accounts by registering online.

CalKIDS’ letters, notifying eligible students about accessing their accounts, are mailed out after students finish first grade, and letters for newborns are mailed within a few months of their birth.

Schaaf recommended that notifications be more aligned, for example, sending the award letter with newborns’ birth certificates, like Pennsylvania does for its Keystone Scholars program.

Advocates told EdSource last year that many people in low-income communities ignore the mailers because they question its credibility, even if it has an official letterhead.

Schaaf’s research revealed two seemingly contradictory points: that families take action when encouraged by a government entity and that messages from community organizations are more effective in spurring action among families.

Parents said aspects of both concepts make programs trustworthy. For instance, they trusted the local, community-based Oakland Promise, which was set up by the city and involved the county.

“She (a parent) said, ‘These are the programs we trust, the ones where the government is involved,’” Schaaf said about realizing it’s not one way or the other.

Recommendation: CalKIDS ambassadors

In fact, Schaaf recommends creating a certification for community-based partners to be CalKIDS ambassadors.

“The fact that they (would be) certified by the state of California or by the treasurer’s office gives them the formality effect of government’s gravitas, but their community voice – their cultural competency – is the winning combination,” she said.

“That’s what really made me realize both of these bodies of research are true. Where we are most effective is when we combine them.”

Embodying that collaboration, recent partnerships with community organizations have spread the word about CalKIDS and provided other benefits to families, such as:
- EverFi, which launched a financial literacy program in Los Angeles County
- Golden 1 Credit Union, which held four educational community events in April in Northern California and the Central San Joaquin Valley for families to learn about the bank’s financial services and claim their CalKIDS accounts. In all, 125 accounts were claimed
- Covered California, which has tied well-child exams and immunizations to the ability to earn up to $1,000 in the newborn accounts until March 2026.
Leveraging the community partnerships will remain imperative for the four-member CalKIDS team.

“Rather than trying to be everywhere all the time, all at once and feeling spread thin, we are being very intentional in how we do outreach,” the program’s new director, Cassandra DiBenedetto, said about a different approach to outreach.

According to the California Child Savings Account Coalition, as of February, there are 15 local child savings account programs, serving 180,000 youth with over $26 million.

California’s local child savings accounts

The 15 local programs are:

In places where there are local programs, claim rates were, at one time, much lower than the state percentage, perhaps because of a lack of clarity about CalKIDS. For example, in December 2023, 4.8% of eligible students in San Joaquin County and 7.3% in Los Angeles County had claimed their accounts.

However, partnerships between CalKIDS and local programs, joint promotion and branding of materials with both logos have nearly doubled the claim rates to 8.6% in San Joaquin County and 12.2% in Los Angeles County, as of March 31.

Hardest part about CalKIDS outreach: A number

To check student eligibility and claim the CalKIDS account, families must enter students’ Statewide Student Identifier (SSID), a 10-digit number that appears on student transcripts. EdSource found that many families are unsure where to find the ID numbers.

To alleviate this concern, the updated CalKIDS website instructs families to locate the ID number on a student’s transcript, school portal, or report card or to contact their child’s school directly.

Schaaf suggested that school districts provide the student identification information at back-to-school events.

Fresno Unified officials at a Golden 1-CalKIDS event provided the ID numbers to make account registration easy, said a parent who registered her children in April.

Oakland Unified has granted Oakland Promise permission to access students’ ID numbers for CalKIDS enrollment events, Schaaf said.

Once aware, families must understand and trust information

Within the last year, to address language and literacy barriers, CalKIDS has created materials in other languages and used more accessible words, moving from terms such as “savings accounts” to “scholarships” or “free money.”

But Schaaf and others warned that the term “free money” can cause fear and distrust among some cultures and communities. For example, Thanh-Truc “April” Hoang, a second-year UC Riverside student of Vietnamese background, who claimed her CalKIDS funds and helped her younger cousins claim theirs, said one of the greatest obstacles was skepticism about the “free money.” Her grandparents, aunts and uncles learned English as a second language, and she had to carefully explain what CalKIDS was before she could convince them.

“I said, ‘It was an aid. It wasn’t just free money for no reason; it’s there specifically to help them with college,” she said about how she eased their concerns about having to pay the money back or dealing with stipulations for use.

CalKIDS recipients advocating for and about the program

Tapping the actual experiences of students who’ve registered for the accounts and used the funds is the best tool for convincing families about the potential of CalKIDS, Martinez Anaya, the UC Riverside student, said, echoing a sentiment Schaaf shared with EdSource.

The CalKIDS program has even started collecting student testimonials, such as those of UC Davis student Chloe Cota, who said the money helped relieve some of the financial stress of school, “allowing me to focus more on my classes.”

Rossalee Mina used her scholarship funds to fill the financial gap of transferring from the four-year Cal State Fullerton to Mt. San Jacinto College.

Also a Cal-SOAP coach, Mina takes pride in helping high schoolers access their accounts.

“It’s just really rewarding — coming from having CalKIDS too — that I can also help show these students, who are stressing out about how to pay for everything, that they do have this amount of money to use that’s available for them,” Mina said. “I’m always saying, ‘Congrats, you can use this towards college.’ They’re like,’Oh wow, it’s a lot of money.’”

As of December, 81,232 students enrolled in college or career programs have received their share of over $43 million in CalKIDS funds.

“This money,” DiBenedetto said, “is making an impact in real time with every single semester that goes by.”
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09/05/2025
It hurts not to have access to affordable health care

Credit: Liv Ames / EdSource

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

•••

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

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

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20/04/2025
In the age of AI, students urgently need access to computer science

Credit: Alison Yin for EdSource

For school leaders, artificial intelligence (AI) might feel like the latest shiny new thing to tackle in education.

With ethical questions to reflect on, it may be shiny, but computer science teachers will tell you it’s not new — it’s been part of computer science education for 60 years.

Computer science is foundational to learning about artificial intelligence, including thinking critically about AI’s ethics and impacts, data and algorithms, and equipping students to use technology responsibly. Like learning to drive a car, it’s good to know what’s under the hood, and be aware of the dangers, troubleshoot problems, know where you’re going and how to get there safely. If technology is driving the future, how can we prepare students to do the steering if they do not learn computer science in school?

Yet, only 5% of California students take computer science in high school, something we need urgent action to change.

A high-quality computer science education offers a new way of teaching in the currency students understand best: with their technological devices. Learning to think computationally — using algorithms to construct learning — can be a tool for engaging students to think critically about technology’s influence in making meaning of their world. Whether we like it or not, the choice facing us now is: either we teach students how to use technology safely and be justice-minded creators of it, or risk students’ harm of getting used and manipulated by it.

Despite widespread use of technology, school leaders are overwhelmed with decisions about teaching with AI tools and teaching about artificial intelligence in the classroom. Research conducted by the UCLA Computer Science Equity Project affirms that administrators struggle to juggle their overflowing plate of responsibilities. But instead of seeing AI as yet another thing to fit into the school schedule — one of the main reasons more schools aren’t offering computer science — understanding how it’s part of a high-quality computer science education can help expand access to this foundational learning.

California’s computer science (CS) strategic implementation plan serves as a road map to realizing the state’s vision that all schools offer computer science education and all teachers are prepared to teach it. To make good on that plan, the Legislature funded the Educator Workforce Investment Grant, to provide professional learning in computer science for thousands of California’s educators. This comprehensive model of professional development, Seasons of CS, equips educators with knowledge and skills to engage students with culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy aligned with the state’s computer science standards (which classifies AI as a sub-discipline of computer science).

California, a hub of innovation across industries, has made significant efforts to prioritize equity, access and engagement in computer science education, but remarkably, California lags behind the national average and 38 other states in the percentage of high schools offering at least one computer science course. As of 2021, just 34% of schools serving high proportions of Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Pacific Islander students offered computer science courses, compared with 52% of schools serving a greater proportion of white and Asian students. Despite student interest in computer science, not enough schools prioritize it because they are not held accountable for it by the state.

Yet, exposure to computer science can impact college majors and increase earnings, especially for students of color who are underrepresented in computer science.

Educators need support bringing computer science to every student, regardless of their background, and school leaders have a role to play in bridging this gap. District and county-level supervisors can leverage state-level initiatives like the Math, Science, Computer Science Partnership Grant to build a pathway with more computer science class offerings that are integrated into other subjects.

To ensure every student has access to this foundational knowledge that prepares them for college, careers and community engagement, every school should offer computer science education. This year, Assemblymember Marc Berman is re-introducing legislation that will add California to the list of states whose schools are required to offer CS. Assembly Bill 887 would require every high school to offer at least one course in computer science by the 2028-29 school year, with support for schools in rural and urban areas.

Regardless of a student’s post-high school plan, computer science can help students grapple with the good and bad of technology, including effects of social media, biased algorithms that lead to inequitable outcomes, and controversial issues around privacy and disinformation that influences our democracy. All students should have access to the foundational learning computer science provides, building critical skills for our students’ future, no matter whether their future career is in tech or not.

It’s not easy keeping up with the rapid change of technology’s newest tools, but one thing is clear: Computer science education can inspire students to become competent and confident navigating online life. Expanding access to opportunities to teach and learn computer science and ensuring all schools offer it, will help respond to the ever-changing landscape of technology and prepare students for our digital future.

•••

Julie Flapan is a researcher, educator and the director of the Computer Science Equity Project at UCLA Center X, School of Education and Information Studies and co-lead of the CSforCA coalition.

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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19/04/2025
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