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  • Orange County district pioneers new Korean American studies course for high school

    Orange County district pioneers new Korean American studies course for high school


    Jeff Kim, a teacher at Cambridge Virtual Academy in Anaheim Union, is teaching the first-ever Korean American ethnic studies course for high school students.

    Credit: Courtesy of Jeff Kim

    Jeff Kim, a world history teacher in Anaheim Union High School District, had long dreamed about how a Korean American studies course could help his students connect with their heritage. But it was the surge of hatred against Asian Americans during the pandemic that made him realize just how urgently the class was needed.

    Shortly before the pandemic reached the U.S., a seventh grade student came up to him before class and expressed concern that she or her family might face anti-Asian violence because of this new virus in China. Although Kim had experienced discrimination in his own life, he wanted to reassure her and so told her that in California, a relatively liberal state, and Orange County — where 23% of students are Asian — she and her family would not face those problems.

    “I just said, ‘We live here in California, I don’t see that type of violence happening to Asian Americans here,’” Kim said. “I gave her the wrong information.”

    That Kim was wrong became apparent in the early days of the pandemic, during which time a surge of xenophobic rhetoric scapegoated Asian Americans as the cause of the pandemic. It was both a local and national issue. Anti-Asian hate crimes doubled in California in 2020, compared with the prior year. In Orange County, the number of hate incidents against Asian Americans jumped 1,800% in 2020, according to the annual Orange County Hate Crime Report. News of Asian American spa workers in Georgia who were killed in a shooting rampage was a turning point for Kim.

    He asked himself, “What is a way I can respond with love and wisdom?”

    Fast-forward to this year – the Anaheim Union High School District has launched a first-of-its-kind high school ethnic studies course focused on the experiences of Korean Americans.

    For the past three years, Kim worked with district leaders in Anaheim Union High and scholars of Korean American history — many of whom are based in Southern California — to pioneer the first high school course dedicated to Korean American history. It’s a historic moment in the development of Korean American studies, which has been maturing as an academic field in recent decades.

    “It’s huge,” said professor Edward Chang, the founding director of the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at University of California Riverside. “It’s a starting point, and I’m hoping it will spread to other school districts.”

    Chang is the co-author of “Korean Americans: A Concise History,” a book that covers leading figures and highlights in Korean American history in a little over 100 pages, a book he said he conceived with future K-12 students in mind, and which now serves as a textbook for Anaheim Union High’s new course.

    The course debuted earlier this month as a virtual course through Anaheim Union High’s Cambridge Virtual Academy and is open to all high school students in the district.

    Building the curriculum

    The Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles sponsored the development of the curriculum; Kim worked with Grace Cho, a professor in Cal State Fullerton’s department of secondary education, to come up with the components of the proposed course, which consists of seven lessons adapted to California state standards, and available online.

    The lessons begin with the earliest wave of 19th-century Korean immigrants and end with K-pop’s global dominance. There are lessons on the struggles and triumphs of key figures, such as war hero and humanitarian Col. Young Oak Kim and Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, the founder of the first American Koreatown.

    It’s a class for everyone, said Kim. Other ethnic groups can connect with Korean stories of resilience, such as how gold medal-winning Olympic diver Sammy Lee was barred from practicing in public pools because of his race or how most Koreans were barred from immigrating to the United States before 1965.

    “This class is not just about Korean Americans. It’s U.S. history, but through the eyes of Korean Americans,” said Cho. “By learning other ethnic groups’ history, you get to expand your perspectives and views.”

    The course will enable students to fulfill the ethnic studies requirement that will go into effect for all California high school students in two years. But many of the first 34 students who signed up for the course simply wanted to learn more about their own cultural background.

    Celine Park, a freshman at Oxford Academy, said this class is a unique opportunity for second-generation Korean Americans like her who haven’t had a way to synthesize Korean and American history in their lives.

    “I wanted to meld these two together, to make these connections between the two histories and bond my own identity, while helping other second-generation Korean Americans like me,” Park said.

    It has also inspired pride in students’ families. Yuri Yamachika, a first-year student at Oxford Academy, said that her mom, a first-generation Korean American, didn’t have many opportunities to learn about her culture beyond what her own parents shared with her.

    “She was excited and proud that we have a course to learn about our own heritage,” said Yamachika. “She’s glad I took it.”

    Parents are a crucial firsthand source of information in the course. Understanding that every student has an ethnic heritage is a key part of the ethnic studies discipline. Kim encouraged his students, no matter their background, to learn and reflect on their families’ stories.

    “Sometimes parents haven’t had a chance to tell these stories, because there’s a language barrier or a cultural barrier,” Kim said. “But if I make it a class assignment, they’re much more inclined to ask — and parents are much more inclined to tell their story.”

    That makes the course a draw to students — including those who aren’t Korean American.

    When Karina Soliman interviewed her father for a class assignment, she learned about the discrimination he faced as an Egyptian in the post-9/11 era, when Arab Americans were widely stereotyped as terrorists. The senior at Savanna High School connected this to the stereotypes that other ethnic groups in the U.S. have faced. She hopes the course will help her model the importance of respecting others’ stories.

    “I’ve grown more cognizant of other cultures and other people, and realizing how important that is,” Soliman said.

    Students in Kim’s class will also participate in a civic project of students’ own choosing. This is a facet that has earned the notice of the California Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. In a letter of support, Assemblymember Evan Low and state Sen. Dave Min praised the course for “allowing students to foster collaborations and partnership with Asian American organizations.”

    This new course also represents a high-water mark for scholars who have promoted Korean American studies. It was only recently that there was a critical mass of scholars interested in Korean American history, Chang said. There’s a growing interest in the field in higher education, but promoting it at the K-12 level has been a major goal of scholars.

    Korean American history didn’t make it into the early drafts of the state’s ethnic studies model curriculum, but scholars pushed back, said Cho. The state’s model curriculum now includes a lesson on the L.A. civil uprising of 1992, known as Saigu or 4/29 among Korean Americans, which marked a turning point in the community’s identity.

    Chang said that he looks forward to students like Kim arriving at college. He has seen students’ eyes widen as they learn about their own history. He believes college is too late for that experience.

    Kim said in the early days of deciding to push forward with the curriculum, he felt like he was taking a big risk. He worried about how the course might be misunderstood, but he feels like it has paid off. Now he reminds his students of their own role in blazing a trail for the next generation of students. His students are already eager to see that continue.

    Soliman has advice for teachers or administrators considering a course like this: “Don’t be afraid to put it out there, or to start a conversation for that kind of course to be created because it can greatly impact and inform a lot of students on topics that they’re not traditionally going to learn about until college.”





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  • Orange Unified becomes sixth California district to adopt transgender parental notification policy

    Orange Unified becomes sixth California district to adopt transgender parental notification policy


    Packed crowd anticipates discussion on Orange Unified Parental Notification Policy on Sept. 8, 2023.

    Credit: Mallika Seshadri / EdSource

    In a unanimous 4-0 vote, the Orange Unified School District passed a policy Thursday evening that would require school officials to notify parents and guardians if their child asks to use a name or pronoun different than what was assigned at birth, or if they engage in activities and use spaces designed for the opposite sex.

    The policy, which has now percolated through a half dozen California districts, has its origins in Assembly Bill 1314, proposed by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, which was denied a hearing at the state level in April.

    Rocklin Unified School District passed such a measure Wednesday. Previously, Temecula Valley Unified (Aug. 22), Anderson Union High School District  (Aug. 22) Murrieta Valley Unified (Aug.10) and Chino Valley Unified (July 20) passed almost identical policies.

    The policies passed by Chino Valley Unified and Murrieta Valley Unified have garnered backlash from state officials – who called the decisions a violation of students’ civil rights and have initiated an investigation into Chino Valley Unified. A Superior Court judge in San Bernardino County has also temporarily halted Chino Valley Unified’s policy.

    It would specifically require parents and guardians to be notified if their child asks to use a different name or set of pronouns, or if they ask to use a different sex’s segregated spaces, such as bathrooms or locker rooms.

    The policy would also mandate school principals be informed of pupils experiencing gender dysphoria or gender incongruence.

    District officials would be required to tell school principals or counselors if a student makes any attempt or threat of suicide. The principal would then have to seek out medical or mental health treatment for the student, ensure that they are supervised until their parents, guardians or another support agency intervenes, and notify emergency assistance – such as law enforcement – if necessary.

    Verbal and physical altercations, along with complaints of bullying, would have to be relayed to parents within three days.

    But the policy’s opponents say denying student’s a source of support at school – especially if they come from toxic home environments and non-accepting parents – could exacerbate their mental health.

    “When our lawmakers fail, when our families don’t accept us, when our friends leave us…I just want to feel safe at school,” said an Orange Unified School District high school student at the previous Aug. 17 meeting.

    School Board Member Angie Rumsey said the majority of teachers would also back the policy.

    “As a [someone in education], I hold and hide nothing from the parents of my students. The relationship begins with a realization that, as the teacher, I am not going to hide anything or keep information from a parent,” Rumsey said during the meeting. “Teachers should communicate with parents regarding any change in behavior.”

    However, before the Aug. 17 meeting, the Orange Unified Educators Association released a letter, arguing the policy would violate various aspects of California law as well as “student privacy rights grounded in the California Constitution.”

    The union added that the policy would burden teachers with the difficult task of discussing sensitive issues about their students with parents.

    “In addition to the legal issues, this policy requires certificated employees to have the appropriate knowledge, training, and time to have communication with students and guardians about sensitive and confidential issues,” the letter stated.

    “With the number of requirements and expectations already placed on certificated staff, this is an unreasonable and highly concerning expectation.”

    Thursday evening, California Attorney General Rob Bonta also issued a letter to the board opposing the measure.

    The school board meeting was heated – and dozens of activists spoke passionately for the measure, including many who didn’t have a direct connection to the district.

    The three board members who opposed the policy walked out of the meeting before the vote, following a disruption.

    “There’s a chilling effect that occurs for folks who then are unsure about what they can say and not say or what they’re required to do, and…. it creates a lot of stress on top of what is already a very stressful job for teachers,” said USC Professor of Education Julie Marsh.

    “…But the broader ripple effect is that you know, might it dissuade potential teachers from actually going into the teaching profession.”

    The policy

    Orange Unified School District is now the sixth district in California to pass a policy that would require parental notification when students show signs of being transgender.

    The district had originally considered that same policy at its meeting on Aug. 17, but Thursday’s agenda included a version where school counselors or psychologists would be informed instead of parents and guardians.

    The board ultimately decided to revert back to a parental notification policy between Thursday’s closed and open sessions.

    In response, several board members objected to discussing the item and tried to postpone the vote to a later meeting, after the Superior Court heard arguments for Chino Valley on Oct. 13. Those board members also claimed that they did not have enough time to adequately review the policy.

    The version that ultimately passed reverted back to the policy’s original intention.

    After the proposed AB 1314 was denied a hearing at the state level,  Essayli – who spoke at Thursday’s meeting – vowed to bring it to local districts and encouraged parents to pursue litigation.

    “In a state like California… a blue state, it becomes really the only option for these kinds of policies and actions to be occurring,” Marsh said. “And it shows us that we’re not immune.”

    The protocols outlined in the policy in response to bullying and threats of suicide have become a common argument in favor of its passage – but detailed policies and protocols to support students through these challenges already exist in Orange County and other districts.

    The 2023 Lead-Up at Orange Unified

    January – The new Orange Unified School Board fired then-Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen during a closed session meeting without a stated reason. She was out of the country at the time. Angered by that board decision, parents have dubbed that night the “Thursday night massacre.”

    Later that month, the board suspended the district’s digital library in response to parents’ complaints about the book “The Music of What Happens.”

    February – Orange Unified School District’s interim superintendent Edward Velasquez resigned after one month in the position.

    The board also faced a Brown Act complaint for allegedly not providing enough notice prior to a meeting, among other claims.

    March: The district faced two lawsuits about alleged Brown Act violations as well as one from parents about the Superintendent firing.

    June – The Orange Unified School Board adopted a policy that would ban Pride flags and other flags, calling them divisive.

    August – The OUSD School Board appointed Ernie Gonzalez as its new superintendent and held an initial discussion of the new parental rights policy that would require school staff to inform parents if their child indicates they are transgender.

    For the past several months, community activists have been calling for a recall of Board Members Rumsey, John Ortega, Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma, the president.

    “All that we’re seeing in Temecula and Chino and Orange and other places around the state are examples of the same thing, where we’ve got a very concerted effort that started with trying to elect conservative members to the board to get a majority and to then advance policies that are more conservative in nature,” Marsh said.

    “Some would argue it’s a politics of distraction to distract us from the core work of what schools are supposed to be doing around teaching and learning. And others would even go further to say this is an explicit effort to undermine public confidence in the public school system.”

    Marsh added, “I feel like it’s a wake-up call for folks to just pay a little bit more attention to school boards.”





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  • How our district moved the needle on early literacy (and you can too)

    How our district moved the needle on early literacy (and you can too)


    Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource

    Palo Alto Unified sorely needed to improve.

    Despite ample resources and a reputation as one of California’s top districts, we were dramatically failing high-need students in education’s most fundamental subject: reading. For me, as a school board member, that was a tough pill to swallow.

    But we have started to turn around our long-term problem as borne out by the results for our district on the state’s CAASPP/Smarter Balanced tests. Our students and teachers raised third grade reading scores for underserved groups from among the worst in the state to one of the best.

    Even better, any district can follow the approach we used; it did not rely on big spending or complicated new programs. Early literacy is a “solvable crisis” for California’s schools.

    Like most districts in California, we were struggling to teach reading to low-income and historically marginalized students. For low-income Latino third graders, 80% were below grade level, which ranked us near the bottom of all California districts.

    This was a shocking realization for a district that thinks of itself as No. 1. It almost certainly meant that we were failing many other students, too, though some were being saved by a safety net of well-educated parents and out-of-school support.

    The superintendent and his team decided to go “all-in” on improving early literacy. Instead of piecemeal changes, they put together a comprehensive reworking of our approach to early literacy, called the Every Student Reads Initiative.

    Starting in 2021, this initiative has impacted almost every aspect of Palo Alto’s early literacy program, from teacher development and instructional materials to district administration and leadership:

    Teacher training

    • The district uses the Orton-Gillingham (O-G) training, a leading method for teaching reading foundational skills, for all K-three teachers, reading specialists, and all elementary principals.
    • Reading-focused optional after-school workshops are available for TK-five teachers and elementary specialists.
    • Teachers receive curriculum and assessment-specific training.

    Coaching and on-the-job support

    • The district provides ongoing support to teachers with implementation of the new curriculum.
    • There is now a repository of high-quality resources for teachers on reading instruction including instructional materials and videos.
    • The team leading the initiative has weekly communication with elementary educators.

    Reading curriculum and interventions

    • The Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study, criticized for lack of foundational skills, has been replaced by the widely used Benchmark Advance/Adelante plus O-G foundational skills and “decodable” texts.
    • Schools offer targeted interventions for students who need additional support focused on phonemic awareness and phonics.

    Reading assessment

    • The Fountas & Pinnell BAS, a teacher-administered “running records” assessment, has been replaced by the computer-based and nationally normed iReady Reading Assessment.
    • Staff conduct continued universal dyslexia screening in grades K-three using the iReady assessment.

    District leadership

    • The district appointed our first-ever literacy director, a respected elementary principal with expertise in reading.
    • School administrators participate in monthly Elementary Principal Learning Collaborative meetings dedicated to pre-K-to-five reading instruction and supporting teachers with the implementation of curricular and assessment changes.

    School board

    • The school board has established multiyear improvement goals for third-grade student achievement, specifically focused on lower-performing student groups, to be included in the superintendent’s annual review.
    • District staff provides updates to the school board at least three times per year.

    While phonics was an important part of the initiative, our Every Student Reads Initiative is not a “phonics first” or “phonics only” approach — far from it. In every grade, it includes all the major pillars of reading from the National Reading Panel (comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, phonics and phonemic awareness).

    District leaders made implementation of the Every Student Reads program a top priority; this was key. Early literacy was one of just five major district goals, called the Palo Alto Promise, and the only goal explicitly focused on student achievement. It has remained one of our top goals for the last three years.

    Equally important was our superintendent’s outspoken personal leadership on the issue. He constantly talked about the initiative with parents, teachers and his own leadership team. His community messages included frequent updates throughout the year. And our school board was given formal updates three times a year, including a detailed readout of annual results versus goals. There was no doubt: Every Student Reads was a big deal for Palo Alto Unified.

    The results so far have been impressive. Over two years, we’ve seen significant improvement on the state’s CAASPP/Smarter Balanced assessments across all the targeted groups compared with 2019, despite the headwinds from the pandemic. The bellwether low-income Latino third-graders have gone from 20% reading at or above grade level to 47% — one of the top results in the state.

    Credit: Todd Collins

    Percent of third grade students meeting or exceeding standards on the state’s CAASPP/Smarter Balanced assessments. Statewide results for 2022-23 have not yet been released.

    In fact, nearly all groups saw double-digit growth last year. The share of third-grade English learners reclassified to English proficient reached its highest level in at least the last 10 years. And last year’s third graders have held onto their gains in fourth grade.

    Credit: Todd Collins

    Percent of third-grade students meeting or exceeding standards on the state’s CAASPP / Smarter Balanced assessments. Statewide results for 2022-23 have not yet been released.

    Palo Alto is an outlier in some ways, with above average funding and relatively few high-need students (about 17%). But the Every Student Reads approach isn’t just for outliers; it did not rely on big spending or complicated new programs.

    Instead, it focused on doing the fundamentals well: an “all-in” commitment, strongly backed by senior leadership, coupled with an array of supports to help teachers build their knowledge and refine their practice in teaching reading. Any district can do what we did.

    California faces an early literacy crisis. Just 42% of all third-graders are at grade level for reading. For low-income Black and Latino students, the number plummets to 25%. Our history of struggle in Palo Alto mirrors a broader failure across the state to recognize and address this crisis. While some schools have managed to buck the trend, most face challenges similar to ours.

    But we can change this. School boards, superintendents, and district leaders have the power to address this “solvable crisis.” By going “all-in” on early literacy, districts all over California can move the needle for students who rely on school the most. Every Student Reads should be at the top of every California district’s priority list.

    •••

    Todd Collins is a member of the Palo Alto Unified School District Board. 

    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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  • Fresno teachers vote to strike; negotiations with district continue

    Fresno teachers vote to strike; negotiations with district continue


    Thousands of Fresno Unified educators – a part of the Fresno Teachers Association – started voting on whether to strike during an Oct. 18 rally.

    Credit: California Teachers Association / X

    Thousands of educators in Fresno Unified have voted to strike, the Fresno Teachers Association announced Tuesday morning.

    From last Wednesday to Monday, more than 4,000 FTA members had the opportunity to cast their votes on whether to strike. Nearly 3,700 voted with 93.5%, or over 3,400 educators, voting yes.

    Teachers union President Manuel Bonilla said the vote sends a clear message: “We have a mandate, and we are willing to strike.”

    “Our teachers are tired,” he said. “Tired of the empty promises, the nonsense slogans, the highly paid administrators paying lip service to solving real issues on our campuses.”

    After more than a year of negotiations, four key issues have emerged, Bonilla said: reducing class size, reducing the caseload for special education teachers, paying educators a wage that keeps pace with inflation and maintaining the employee health fund.

    If Fresno Unified School District and the teachers union can’t agree by next week, starting Nov. 1, teachers will strike and form picket lines in front of the district’s 100-plus campuses and district office.

    Besides initiating the strike on Nov. 1, educators plan to be at district schools this Friday to inform parents about the four issues and provide information about the strike.

    The district, according to a Tuesday afternoon statement, are prepared for a strike.

    “Fresno Unified reassures its families, students, and staff that we are prepared to keep our schools open, safe, and full of learning during an active teacher strike,” the statement said.

    Can a strike be averted in the face of mutual disrespect?

    Even though the last teachers strike was in 1978, Fresno Unified and the teachers union have been on the brink a few other times. In 2017, teachers voted to strike, but a third party stepped in and negotiated a compromise.

    This time, even a week ahead of a strike, Bonilla said the union is ready “at any moment to come to the table and reach a fair contract.”

    “As we prepare for a potential strike, we are always willing to be at the table,” Bonilla said. “A strike can be averted.”

    Fresno Unified and FTA leaders were in negotiations Tuesday afternoon, according to district spokesperson Nikki Henry.

    And that dialogue will continue, Fresno Unified’s statement said, because “we support our staff, our families, and our students while remaining fully committed to a mutual agreement.”

    Fresno Unified’s latest proposal includes 19% pay increases over the next three years, expanded medical benefits for the rest of employees’ lives and changes to class size overages.

    “Fresno Unified stands proud of the updated offer we have made to the FTA which includes raising the average teacher’s base salary to $103,000 annually, provides affordable, high-quality medical coverage for life, and continues moving towards lowering class sizes,” the district’s statement says. 

    The teachers union rejected the proposal because the offer does not raise teachers’ pay enough to keep pace with inflation and cost-of-living increases, doesn’t reduce class size and still comes with a cut to the district’s health care fund contribution.

    “During the course of negotiations, it has become abundantly clear that Superintendent Nelson is disconnected from the realities of the classroom, out of sync with our district’s needs,” Bonilla said, “and now, he’s out of time.”

    The district’s revised proposal came after daily negotiations with the union, from the Oct. 5 release of a fact finder’s report until Oct. 13, Superintendent Bob Nelson said.

    Much of what’s in the district’s latest proposal was recommended in the report, including creating a problem-solving team to focus on issues, ways to increase pay, expanded medical benefits for employees working in the district for 20 years and the union-district contract becoming a “living document.”

    But there were so many unresolved items ahead of the fact-finding process in early September that Don Raczka, author of the fact-finding report, said it was as if the district and union had not bargained in the year prior.

    In a matter of days, Raczka said, he witnessed both the district and union be “disrespectful” and exhibit behaviors that are detrimental to establishing trust.

    Ultimately, the report, shared publicly on Oct. 16, focused on salary, benefits and class size, three of the four areas that the district and union remain deadlocked on.

    What happens during a strike?

    If teachers strike on Nov. 1, Fresno Unified will keep schools open. But many programs and services may suffer.

    School transportation and before-and-after-school care will continue during a strike, but all Fresno Unified events — including camps, field trips, community meetings, tournaments and access to health centers — outside of regular school and after-school hours, will be canceled, according to a document shared with families and posted on the district website. The only exception will be high school sports practices and competitions, which will be supervised by administrators and hired security.

    Students’ individualized education plan schedules must be adjusted.

    The district also has made plans to ensure that dozens of medically fragile students have uninterrupted access to services.

    As part of a $3 million allocation, the district will pay $451,000 for student health care services as needed because nurses could also strike as members of the union, which represents over 4,000 teachers, nurses, social workers and other professionals. The allocation will also fund curriculum, security and substitute teacher hiring and orientation, not including their daily pay.

    According to Fresno Unified, the district will pay substitute teachers $500 a day if the strike happens. It has over 2,100 subs who are credentialed, qualified, fingerprinted and have completed background checks. But because that isn’t enough to cover the 3,400 union members who voted to strike, the district also plans to put district personnel in the classrooms.

    Bonilla referred to the substitute teachers as babysitters who would hand out packets of work — $2 million worth of curriculum materials, which was part of the $3 million the district allocated to prepare for the strike.

    “That is not quality education,” he said.

    Parents, he said, must choose between sending their children to school during a strike with “a random babysitter” or keeping their kids home — which would bring the strike to a quick end.

    However, students who miss school during the strike will not receive academic or attendance credit, and the absence will not be excused, according to Fresno Unified.

    Despite the district’s reassurance that learning will take place, Bonilla said education won’t be happening during a strike.

    “Teachers are making a sacrifice – in this case, they won’t be compensated for those days,” Bonilla said. “They’re making a sacrifice on behalf of their students in this community…”





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  • College district investigating employees’ actions during union meetings on sexual violence case

    College district investigating employees’ actions during union meetings on sexual violence case


    Fresno City College on Dec. 5, 2023

    Credit: Lasherica Thornton/ EdSource

    The State Center Community College District announced late Friday that it is investigating allegations of “inappropriate behavior” by several unnamed employees who allegedly made several female employees “feel unsafe” during union meetings this month.

    The district received “several complaints” of alleged misconduct, a spokesperson, Jill Wagner, said in the statement. “We fully support survivors of violence and harassment, and we find this behavior, if confirmed, unacceptable, as it greatly impacts the faculty in our district and contributes to a toxic work environment.”

    Noting that the district “does not normally become involved in internal faculty union activities,” the statement adds that “these complaints warrant further investigation by the faculty union, especially as they impact” district employees.

    Multiple people familiar with the matter said the union meetings involved discussions about Fresno City College Academic Senate President Tom Boroujeni, whom the district placed on paid leave Nov. 30. The move came the day after EdSource reported that in 2020, a Fresno State University investigation determined that Boroujeni committed an “act of sexual violence” against a professor. The alleged victim also teaches part time at City College.

    The union met on the matter Dec. 1, with some members calling for the group’s leadership to be transparent about what it knew about Boroujeni. In an internal statement obtained by EdSource, union leadership had written, “In no way does the federation endorse or condone acts of harassment or violence in any circumstance.”  That statement, Laurie Taylor, an anthropology professor at Clovis Community College, told Edsource seemed “dismissive and placating,” adding “more could have been said.” 

    Keith Ford, president of the union, the State Center Federation of Teachers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Nor did members of the union’s executive committee.

    The district’s Friday statement also called for the union to investigate the alleged misconduct. 

    Wagner did not respond to a request for an interview Friday with Chancellor Carole Goldsmith.

    The statement said that complaints brought to the district involve allegations of behavior that “greatly impacts the faculty.” 

    The day after the EdSource report on the Fresno State sexual violence, three female city college instructors abruptly canceled class, telling EdSource they felt unsafe on campus. The cancelations came as students were preparing for final exams and contributed to the district’s decision to place Boroujeni on paid leave. 

    The district’s action against Boroujeni, 38, of Clovis, a communication instructor also known as Farrokh Eizadiboroujeni and Tom Eizadi, was the subject of heated union discussions, according to people familiar with them. Some members defended Boroujeni, who is also being investigated over what he told EdSource were complaints of three women for what he defined as “gender discrimination.”

    In an interview with EdSource in October, Boroujeni identified one of the complainants as Cyndie Luna, dean of the college’s Fine, Performing and Communication Arts Division. Separately, Luna issued a letter of reprimand to Boroujeni last year that criticized him for incidents of unprofessional conduct which were “becoming more frequent and aggressive” and “causing me grave concern as your supervisor.” 

    Luna also wrote that in a conversation with her, Boroujeni referred to a colleague with an apparent racial slur and, in a “menacing and threatening” tone, said he “will get” the colleague for gossiping about him. 

    Boroujeni told EdSource that Luna fabricated the accusations in the letter. “She makes up a lot of things,” he said. Boroujeni also claimed to EdSource that the professor against whom Fresno State determined he committed “an act of sexual violence” fabricated the allegations against him. 

    He also complained that Luna was criticizing him for actions he took as academic senate president, a position in which he said he was immune from her oversight.

    At a SCCCD board of trustees meeting Tuesday in Fresno, the president of the academic senate at Clovis Community College said Ford had supported at a union meeting that Boroujeni was being punished.

    “Our union president helped to create and perpetuate a narrative that a specific harasser was being targeted by the administration because of his work on the academic senate,” Teresa Mendes, an English instructor, said at the meeting without mentioning Boroujeni by name. 

    “This was a false narrative,” Mendes said, “and I blatantly reject the characterization that those who participate in participatory governance are targeted or reprimanded for their work.”

    The “system has to be changed so that there is no safe harbor in (the district) for those who commit sexual assault and harassment,” she said, and no “safe harbor in our unions” for people who “harbor misogynistic and discriminatory thoughts against other faculty, staff and students.”

    Trustees and district officials did not respond to Mendes. Neither Boroujeni nor Ford was present in person at the meeting. It is unclear if either participated electronically. 

    Stetler Brown, an alumnus of the college district, ripped the district via Zoom on Tuesday. “The system is designed to protect educators that have been found (to have made) credible racist threats, misogyny and sexual violence,” he said.

    Without mentioning Boroujeni by name, Brown stated that tenure granted by SCCCD gives employees “a job as long as they desire.” Boroujeni received tenure this year. He told EdSource that district officials knew of the Fresno State sexual violence case when he was tenured. 

    ”Tuition and taxpayer dollars will protect predators, and that nobody will take responsibility for this individual’s tenure and promotion,” Brown said. “It is no wonder public support for higher education is waning. I hope that this serves as a call to the leadership of this district to make changes that protect survivors and show students that they stand for justice.”

    The district’s investigation of misconduct at the union meetings comes as the bargaining unit is choosing its leaders. Ford, a Fresno City College English instructor, is seeking another term as union president. He faces at least one challenger — Madera Community College business instructor Gina Vagnino, in an election scheduled for Jan. 16. It was not immediately clear Friday if there are other challengers.

    Vagnino confirmed she is a candidate but did not respond to multiple questions from EdSource about whether she is running specifically because of the disagreements within the union over the Boroujeni matter.

    The Fresno State investigation, based on the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX, determined that Boroujeni committed the act of sexual violence in 2015, when he was a graduate student and part-time instructor at Fresno State. The case wasn’t fully resolved until February, when the alleged victim reached a $53,300 settlement with the university after claiming it hadn’t done enough to protect her, university records show.

    Boroujeni was also a part-time instructor at Fresno City College while finishing a master’s degree at Fresno State in 2015, records show.

    He resigned from Fresno State last year while facing a second, unrelated misconduct allegation that was found to be unsubstantiated, records show. He agreed to never seek or accept work in the 23-campus system again. 

    Boroujeni was never disciplined in the sexual violence matter because he was a graduate student when the alleged violence occurred. But Fresno State officials told him that the investigative report on the matter was going to be placed in his personnel file last year when he was up for a performance evaluation. He said he resigned so that a three-person committee reviewing him could not have access to the document.

    Fresno State released a redacted copy of the report to EdSource under the state’s Public Records Act. “Given that Mr. Boroujeni remains active in the educational community and is teaching at a local community college, there is strong public interest in knowing that a college instructor has been previously found to have committed an act of sexual violence at another university,” the report stated.





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  • LAUSD receives mostly ‘B’ grades from district parents, survey reveals

    LAUSD receives mostly ‘B’ grades from district parents, survey reveals


    Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho, right, with students at Miles Avenue Elementary School in Huntington Park.

    Credit: Twitter / LAUSDSup

    Parents and guardians of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District offer mixed reviews of the nation’s second-largest school district, scoring it low on how it disseminates information and considers parents’ perspectives but generally high on the quality of education their children are receiving. Specifically, less than a quarter give the district an “A,” according to the Family Insights survey, conducted by GPSN and Loyola Marymount University’s Center for Equity for English Learners.  

    The 2023 survey also marks the second year of the district’s four-year strategic plan under Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who garnered approval from two-thirds of survey respondents. 

    Forty-one percent of parents in the survey give district schools a ‘B’ overall — and 43% give the same grade to their children’s individual campus. 

    “Families generally feel positive about the quality of teaching and instruction in their direct school and their own child’s academic performance, but gave mixed results on the district’s overall performance,” according to the report.

    “Raising up family perspectives on the state of the district and its performance is key this year when we may expect to see progress from the many investments made to address learning loss and other impacts of the pandemic on students.” 

    The Penta Group, an independent research firm, surveyed a random sample of more than 500 district parents and guardians between Aug. 22 and Sept. 14, 2023 — asking them about the district’s progress and what they would like to see LAUSD focus on. 

    The survey sample was representative of Los Angeles families “with students attending district, magnet, pilot, and both affiliated and independent charter public schools, and aligns with key demographic variables of enrollment by grade level, race/ethnicity, school type, English learner status, language spoken in the home, board district enrollment, and family income level.”

    Academics 

    According to the report, parents throughout the district say they are satisfied with their children’s education and would like to see LAUSD invest in more enrichment opportunities and individualized support. However, many do not understand how their child or the district as a whole is performing. 

    Specifically, 82% of parents surveyed say instruction at their children’s school is “good” or “excellent.” 

    Parents’ broader perception of LAUSD’s academic performance, however, paints a different picture. A little more than half of parents think the majority of district students perform at grade level in reading and math. 

    Three-quarters of LAUSD parents surveyed also think their own child is performing at grade level in core subject areas. 

    In reality, however, 41% of students in the district met state standards in English language arts this past year, while 30.5% met state standards in math, according to state standardized test scores. 

    “As a family member, a parent or a guardian, you’re looking for the basic thing: Can my kids read? Can they do math at whatever level you think that’s appropriate?” said Ana Teresa Dahan, GPSN’s managing director. 

    “But … what type of words you’re reading and what your comprehension is really what differentiates having a basic skill versus being at grade level, and I think that’s like a nuance families don’t always understand.” 

    Families that make more than $60,000 are more likely to believe their child is performing adequately, the survey found. In contrast, only 28% of low-income families and 27% of families of English learners have the same confidence in their child performing at grade level. 

    “When you’re sending your kids to your neighborhood public school, there’s a trust that … the school is delivering on getting your kids at grade level,” Dahan said. “Unless someone is telling them that that’s not happening, I think they just inherently are trusting that it’s occurring.” 

    In previous years, the survey revealed a high demand for additional academic support as well as after-school and summer enrichment opportunities. And this year, the number of parents calling for that assistance — including one-on-one tutoring — increased even more.

    Parents “recognize and respect the challenges schools are facing and teachers are facing” in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dahan said. “You can’t just expect a teacher or the school to solve the entire challenge of what the pandemic brought to students and families and communities.” 

    Fifty-six percent of parents name high-quality tutoring as their top priority for the district as a whole —– marking a 25 percentage point increase over the past two years. Meanwhile, 54% say they want to see LAUSD offer free, widely accessible summer programs. 

    And specifically at their child’s school, 85% of parents — and 93% of English learner families — say they want one-on-one or group tutoring on campus.

    More than half of parents surveyed also voiced strong support for enrichment programs, including arts programs, sports and coding. 

    “We’re also seeing, for students in particular, what those 18 months of isolation did,” Dahan said.

    “Families are recognizing (that) impact (on) their students, whether that means not wanting to go to school or not being happy at home. … They know that straight learning at school isn’t going to bring back the joy, right? So, it’s the enrichment opportunities that do that.”

    Emotional support 

    Additional support for students’ mental health is also a top concern among the parents, with 45% of respondents naming counseling and therapy as their third priority for the district overall. 

    In comparison, 32% of parents made the same request in 2021, and 44% called for the same in 2022. 

    Food assistance 

    For the first time in the survey’s history, 38% of families called for food assistance to be more readily available on their child’s campus. 

    “The district has done a lot in the years (to feed students)” Dahan said. 

    “We know that the people most impacted coming out of the pandemic … continue to be families in low-income households. And, as different government financial support has faded away, I think we’re starting to see the effects of that in LAUSD.” 

    Internet connectivity 

    During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, LAUSD promised to provide a laptop to every student and provide free internet access to families in need. But now, nearly three-quarters of the families surveyed said they experience a barrier to consistent, quality internet access. That number, however, marks a 10% improvement since 2021. 

    This year, 42% say the cost of internet is a barrier, while 34% said their challenges had more to do with securing a good quality connection. 

    Twenty-six percent, however, attribute their challenges to their geographical area.

    Community involvement and communication 

    Parents also said they feel their input is increasingly insignificant to the district — and that they would like communication from LAUSD to improve, especially concerning academic standards. 

    Specifically, the number of parents who feel their thoughts matter “a great deal in school and district decisions” decreased by 9 percentage points, only accounting for 40% in 2023. That drop was even larger for low-income families, the study found. 

    Meanwhile, most families applaud LAUSD for timely and accessible communications, but more than half also say it “takes a lot of effort” to understand the messages. 

    Forty-eight percent of parents say they want to receive district communications via an app, while 44% said they prefer email. 

    More than half of the parents also say they want more information about academic standards and a better idea about what their child is learning in the classroom. Fifty-two percent also said they want to know whether district students are performing at grade level in the main subject areas. 

    “We want to ensure that families receive accessible and understandable information that aligns with their expectations and needs,” Dahan said. “That’s also going to be a factor not only just accessing programs, but their understanding of where their child is.” 

    A future in LAUSD 

    Despite mixed reviews in various areas, about 90% of families said they would likely keep their children in the district until they graduate from high school. 

    Respondents who said they are “extremely likely” to keep their children enrolled in the district, however, dropped by about 18 percentage points in the past year from 53% to 35%, according to the study. And the number of families who are “not very or not at all likely to stay” in LAUSD has increased from 3% to 8%.

    Forty-two percent of families that voiced an interest in leaving the district — which included disproportionate rates of low-income families, families of English learners and white families — said they would most likely pursue a charter school. 

    Private schools lagged in popularity for those considering leaving the district and would be the first choice of roughly 32% of families, while 28% said they would take their child to a public school in another district altogether. 

    “Whatever perspective families had about communications, or even their policies, the district (and the superintendent) really did rate high,” Dahan said. 

    “Effective leadership plays a pivotal role in driving school improvement and meeting the diversities of our community. I think that is a signal that families think that the district is going in the right direction. It also underscores the importance of sustained leadership support in fulfilling these aspirations of our families and kind of fostering a thriving educational environment.”





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  • Farmers markets in this school district provide access to healthy food options

    Farmers markets in this school district provide access to healthy food options


    Chelsi Allen, a mother with children in a Fresno private school, buys farm-grown produce at a Fresno Unified farmers market. Allen saw the market while picking up her daughter from a basketball game at Fort Miller Middle School on February 5, 2024.

    Credit: Lasherica Thornton / EdSource

    When the end-of-school bell rang, groups of students, parents and community members headed for the on-campus farmers market displaying plump green vegetables, potted seedlings and even boxes of free food.

    Reflecting the community’s diversity, signs in the booths advertised crops not often seen in mainstream grocery stores, such as chijimisai (a hybrid Asian green that’s packed with nutrients) and other items popular with Asian or Latino families, alongside the standard fare.

    As adults bagged and paid for the produce or helped themselves to any free items, young children questioned the farmers about how much water or sunshine a plant needs.

    Later, when after-school activities ended, more parents and their student athletes, many still wearing their game uniforms, joined the crowd in the schoolyard at Fort Miller Middle School in Fresno on Feb. 5 — one of a number of farmers markets being held on Fresno Unified campuses this year.

    Fresno Unified contracted with Fresno Metro Ministry, a nonprofit organization, to bring farmers markets to schools and increase access to fresh, healthy and affordable food in neighborhoods where it’s not easy to come by.

    Fresno Unified and Fresno Metro Ministry leaders say the partnership is important for students, families and the community. Here’s how:  

    Why start the program?

    Much of Fresno is a food desert, lacking access to affordable, healthy food due to an absence of nearby grocery stores, or a food swamp with better access to junk food than nutritious food options, said Amanda Harvey, director of nutrition services with Fresno Unified.

    Bringing farmers markets to schools within a food desert or swamp — which mostly exist in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods — provides access to nutritious food. 

    Is this the first time Fresno Unified has put farmers markets on its campuses? 

    In the past, the district has hosted farmers markets sponsored and run through community partnerships, Harvey said, but the partnership with Fresno Metro Ministry is run with the school district. 

    The big difference is that through the new partnership, Fresno Unified students and staff will learn how to operate the markets, said Chris De León, the farm and gardens program manager with Fresno Metro Ministry. 

    Why partner with Fresno Metro Ministry?

    Fresno Metro Ministry creates school and community gardens at locations throughout Fresno to educate the community about gardening and provides land access and other resources for beginning farmers and community members to grow fresh, local produce in food-insecure neighborhoods. De León said it was a “no-brainer” for the organization to partner with the school district to engage students and bring farmers to school campuses.

    What’s sold at the markets? 

    Xiong Farm Produce, one of the vendors at the Fort Miller Middle School farmers market, sells Romanesco broccoli. Fresno Unified has been placing farmers markets on its campuses to provide affordable, nutritious food options for families.
    Credit: Lasherica Thornton / EdSource

    The Fresno Unified partnership is funded, in part, through a grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture that requires the farmers market to sell specialty crops, such as apricots, avocados, asparagus, beans, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and other fruits and vegetables, as well as tree nuts, herbs and other plants. 

    Crops from different cultural groups, such as Latino and Southeast Asian farmers, can be offered, too. For instance, Casillas Farms and Siembra y Cosecha Farms, managed by Spanish-speaking farmers, and Xiong Farm Produce, which sold Chinese cauliflower, were at the Fort Miller market. 

    How does the program impact students? 

    The farmers markets are meant to be student-led. 

    Students learn how to seek out farmers, work with market vendors, organize, then promote the upcoming event and set up the market, Harvey said. 

    Students can even earn food safety and handling certifications, an experience Harvey called a “resume-builder.”  

    The farmers market itself highlights and promotes student clubs and district programs, especially activities related to agriculture. 

    Harvey said schools give students the autonomy to come up with ideas for the markets: “What do they want to see in their event?”

    A community member and student visit a booth with herbal plants.
    Credit: Lasherica Thornton / EdSource

    Eighth graders Lilly Blanco and Andrea Morgan (who managed a booth with herbal plants) pointed out to shoppers how enslaved Africans used herbs, a topic they’re exploring in their ethnic studies class. Aloe vera was used to treat burns and inflammation, and mullein could treat whooping cough, chronic bronchitis and congestion, Morgan said about the research she and her classmates conducted and published in pamphlets for the market. 

    The farmers market allows students to sell, feature or display products. 

    “They’ve been really excited planting their own herbs,” Morgan said. 

    Having students lead, plan and facilitate the events puts them at the forefront, gives them a voice and teaches them responsibility, said Yang Soua Fang, a farm and gardens project manager with Fresno Metro Ministry. 

    How is it beneficial for families? 

    While picking up her daughter from a basketball game at Fort Miller, Chelsi Allen expressed how convenient it was for her, a mother of five, to be able to shop while on campus. 

    “Being at the school setting,” Allen said, “I never thought about it. It just feels right to get some healthy foods and go home and cook.” 

    Allen, whose children attend Holy Cross Junior High, a private school in Fresno, said that what Fresno Unified is doing gives families affordable access to items needed for a balanced meal. 

    She pointed out the stark difference between the convenience of the school farmers market and a grocery store, where most people shop for specifics and may not seek out healthy food options that aren’t “in your face” like those at the farmers market. 

    “We get to serve our students every day,” said Harvey, the district’s nutrition services director, “but to be able to also bring nutritious meals to our adults in our community is huge.” 

    Will the school district do anything differently? 

    During the markets, Fresno Metro Ministry can offer food demonstrations to show families ways to serve the farm-grown produce. The food demos weren’t available at the Fort Miller market on Feb. 5, but Fresno Unified plans to do its part to promote nutritious food options to families. 

    Harvey said the district’s nutrition team can obtain participants’ input on introducing products into the food students eat in school. 

    “Is this something you’d be interested in seeing on school menus?” a survey asked farmers market attendants about kale. 

    “The more familiar students are with them, the more likely they are to ask for them at home,” she said. “‘I had this item at lunch; it was delicious. Let’s buy it.’” 

    What else do markets mean for families, school and community? 

    The farmers market also “puts a face to produce,” De León said. 

    “There’s so much: ‘What is this? How did you grow it? How do you cook it?’” he said.

    He said he believes those conversations will build relationships between farmers and families, leading to more awareness and a better understanding of the importance of local farming. 

    Patricia Hubbard is a farmer who grows produce at Fresno Metro Ministry’s Yo’Ville Community Garden & Farm behind the Yosemite Village housing complex. 

    At the Fort Miller market, Hubbard sold starter plants of sweet peas and kale, including Ethiopian and Portuguese kale. The products are easy-to-grow plants that can hold kids’ interest in growing their own vegetables, Hubbard said. 

    “We need young people farming,” she said. 

    The farmers market can pique that interest while changing the narrative about farmworkers, Soua Fang said. 

    “There’s such a negative stereotype to being a farmworker or laborer, but yet their contribution to our society is so important for us: That’s how we can sustain ourselves,” he said. “But … it’s like we put them at the bottom of the pedestal.” 

    Connecting and engaging with farmers places value and respect in their craft, especially when they share the stories of how they overcome barriers to become farmers. 

    Are there more markets? 

    With plans for different schools to host markets on a monthly or quarterly basis, Fresno Unified and Fresno Metro Ministry hope to set up about 15 farmers markets on campuses this school year. In addition to the Fort Miller market, Phoenix Secondary Academy held a farmers market in the fall to launch the partnership, and a couple of markets have been held in collaboration with the Fresno High School Flea Market. For the rest of the school year, markets will be at:

    • Fort Miller Middle School on the first Monday of each month. The March 4 market has been rescheduled for March 18.
    • Fresno High School on the second Saturday of each month.
    • McLane High School, which is still planning dates but has confirmed April 6 for its first market.  

    Some of the designated schools are located in the middle of food deserts or serve high numbers of students experiencing food insecurity, Soua Fang said.

    At other Fresno Unified schools where there may be agricultural programs offering gardening and farming, Fresno Metro Ministry hopes to “fill the last little gap” by creating a culture around farmers markets. At the Fresno High Flea Market,  De León said the organization adds healthy food access to an already thriving market “to connect that bridge from community to school, so it’s not so separate.”

    Schools interested in hosting a farmers market should reach out to Fresno Metro Ministry. 

    To host a farmers market, schools can contact De León at chris@fresnometmin.org or Soua Fang at yang@fresnometmin.org. 

    Allen, the mother who attended the Fort Miller market in early February, said, “More schools should do this.”





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  • LAUSD, partners provide 25 affordable housing units for district families

    LAUSD, partners provide 25 affordable housing units for district families


    Sun Valley Apartments provide homes to LAUSD families that have experienced chronic homelessness.

    Credit: Mallika Seshadri

    Twenty-five units of permanent, supportive housing have been made available to families of LAUSD students who have experienced chronic homelessness. 

    After more than seven years of collaboration, district officials and partners — including Many Mansions, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing to Los Angeles County and Ventura County residents — cut the ribbon for the new Sun King Apartments on Monday and vowed this would be the first of many structures to come. 

    “I am filled with hope and determination to continue bringing housing opportunities to more LAUSD families in need,” said school board member Kelly Gonez on Monday. “Because while we’re not in the housing business, we are in the business of doing everything we can to advocate for our students and families.” 

    High rates of poverty “should not be the reality in the richest country on Earth, in the richest state in the nation, in one of the richest counties of this state,” district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho added. 

    The Sun King Apartments — consisting of one, two and three bedroom apartments — are located in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, where Gonez said there are several elementary schools where more than 20% of students are homeless. 

    The apartments’ residents are supported through a voucher, and their rent is based on a sliding scale. 

    In addition to the housing, residents will have access to a range of youth services — including after-school tutoring, summer camps, family events and school supplies, according to Rick Schroeder, president and CEO of Many Mansions. 

    Several of the district’s partners and collaborators on the project attended Monday’s event, including U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas, City Council member Imelda Padilla and the city’s chief housing and homelessness officer, Lourdes Castro Ramirez, along with business partners. 

    ‘Not stopping here’ 

    Annika, Angel and their daughter, Faith, live in one of the Sun King Apartments. 

    The parents, whose last names were not provided, met at a homeless shelter 16 months ago. 

    In late December, they — along with their daughter, Faith — moved into the Sun King Apartments. 

    “We all started a new chapter of our lives, and it has filled us with the highest hopes, blessings and glory,” Annika said Monday. “With the thanks to Many Mansions, we have been able to create a safe and stable chapter of life and a new home for our daughter, Faith.” 

    Noting that homelessness among school-aged children has increased, Carvalho said Monday that similar projects to house members of the Los Angeles community are critical.  He said the Sun King Apartments project is something “that we need to replicate and amplify very quickly.” The superintendent did not provide details or a timeline for when additional housing is expected.

    This initial effort took more than seven years, but Carvalho hopes future projects will take less time. 

    So far, the district has put out a request for information for seven potential properties — some of which may also serve as workforce housing for teachers and classified personnel, Carvalho said. 

    He declined to share how many people the district is ultimately looking to house and said Los Angeles Unified School District would pursue options that do not cost them financially.

    “How do you tackle (homelessness)? One unit at a time, 25 units in a building, many buildings, many mansions across our entire community,” Carvalho said. 

    “And why do we do this? … Families today live on the third floor. They see the mountains. They see the street. They’re close to the school where their baby girl attends. They feel maybe for the first time somebody paid attention, they’re important.” 





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  • A district practice that breaks hearts and squashes teacher morale

    A district practice that breaks hearts and squashes teacher morale


    You’re being excessed.

    Those three little words uttered by my principal at the first staff meeting, my first day back at work, three days before the start of the school year. Excessed. Numbly, I stumble out of the meeting and make my way back to my classroom. I sit in the new green chair I had just purchased to match the decor for my universal transitional kindergarten class. I sit and stare at my classroom, trying to process what has just happened. Excessed. I have to pack my personal belongings and supplies. Excessed. I have to take everything off the walls. Excessed. Where am I going to put all these boxes? What school and grade will I be moving to, and when? Excessed.

    Excessing, also known as involuntary transfer, occurs when schools have a lower number of enrolled students than were projected, and now there are too many teachers at one site. Districts move teachers between schools to fill vacancies that can open, partially due to higher/lower than expected enrollment, funding shifts, teacher retirement, etc. Excessing a teacher from their site usually happens in the spring, at the end of the school year.

    Fall excessing, or being transferred to a new school/grade in the time after the new school year has begun, is rarely voluntary. It is a heartbreaker and destroys a teacher’s spirit due to the emotional investment that teachers put into their classrooms and their future students at the start of each new school year.

    I explained fall excessing to my husband, a retired school bus driver, like this: “Imagine someone tells you that they have too many bus drivers and they need you to now drive a dump truck in a brand-new city. You know how to drive, you’ve been doing it for ages, and you are well trained to drive vehicles. However, you’ve never driven a dump truck before, and you’ve never driven in this new city. There is no new training for driving a dump truck, and you are expected to master the new vehicle, new city and its rules within two days.”

    Sounds great, right?

    In the spring of 2024 my union, San Diego Education Association, and my district came to an agreement to “minimize fall staffing movement.” This signed and approved contract agreement is supposed to encourage the district to sort out their enrollment numbers well before the start of the school year. The idea behind the agreement is to reduce the chances of a teacher being moved after school has already started. But it wasn’t enough to keep me from being excessed.

    So I call for reinforcements. A teacher friend whose district hasn’t started yet gets busy packing up my old classroom. My husband loads my new green chair into his truck and takes it home. Eight hours later, my personal classroom items are making their way onto two pallets, headed to the school’s multipurpose room, while a stunned teacher who has been moved down two grade levels is making his way into the classroom to now teach transitional kindergarten.

    My former classroom looks like it’s been pillaged, with leftover boxes, rolls of tape and a steady stream of boxes from the new teacher. The once sunny and bright room looks sad and forlorn, like she’s having trouble letting me go, as I am struggling to let her go as well.

    I grapple with the hopes and dreams I had for these new students, whose names were already written on their tables, and etched on my heart. The students will be fine, they will only know one teacher, the one taking my place, three days before the official start of school. But I will always know that they were mine first.

    The next few days are a blur of packing the last few boxes, crying, showing the new teacher the curriculum, crying and talking to union reps and the human resources department at my district. I feel crushed, unimportant, deflated. I am dismayed to hear that I have to stay on my campus for, a minimum of three weeks, but likely more like six or seven weeks. As a newly excessed teacher, I have to wait until the official fall excess date, typically the third or fourth Friday of September, before I know where the district will place me. In the meantime, I will remain on my campus as a support teacher. It is a painful reminder of who I am to the school district. A body, an ID number. A bus driver who can be told to drive a dump truck.

    In an ironic plot twist, only half of the district’s excessed teachers were moved to new school sites. The other half, myself included, were allowed to stay at our current schools. To reduce the number of combo classes, I was directed to teach a newly created first grade class. At this point, I felt like a pawn in a mysterious chess game, with the rules only known to the upper administration.

    I’m just a teacher who was excited to get ready for going back to school, but instead was delivered a big dose of fall excessing. I took my green chair with me to my new classroom, but it wasn’t the same. I left a little piece of me in that former classroom and with those students who were supposed to be mine.

    •••

     Kelly Gonzales is a primary grade teacher at a Title 1 school in San Diego, and a teacher leader with the California Reading and Literature Project.

    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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  • Bay Area district settles suit alleging inequitable education practices

    Bay Area district settles suit alleging inequitable education practices


    Black students and English learners were disproportionately placed in special education in Pittsburg Unified, according to a lawsuit recently settled.

    Alison Yin/EdSource

    A Bay Area school district has settled a lawsuit claiming that Black students and English learners were denied a proper education and were disproportionately suspended, expelled or funneled into special education classrooms offering poor instruction.

    Pittsburg Unified School District in Contra Costa County reached the settlement on Oct. 23 in a suit filed in 2021 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

    As part of the agreement, the district agreed to hire two independent consultants to help address the issues raised in the case — the district’s disciplinary practices, special education placement and literacy education for students with disabilities, especially English learners. 

    “This is an excellent settlement that is an important step in the right direction for Pittsburg Unified,” said Linnea Nelson, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California. “It seeks to dismantle past practices that have marginalized students, particularly Black students, English learners and disabled students.”

    The case

    The lawsuit claimed that the district illegally denied meaningful instruction to Black students, students with disabilities and English learners; that special education teachers were not trained to teach disabled students grade-level standards, and that general education teachers were not trained to differentiate their instruction for disabled students.

    According to the complaint, one plaintiff, special education teacher Michell Redfoot, claimed that the district dissuaded teachers from holding special education students to the same standards as general education students. Another plaintiff, Mark S., an English learner with autism, spent his school days doing arts and crafts and watching Disney movies, instead of learning to read and write.

    Pittsburg Unified meted out discipline, including suspensions and expulsions, to disabled students and Black students at disproportionate rates, the complaint stated. The district had one of the largest disparities between Black and white students in the state for days of instruction missed due to disruption or defiance, according to the suit. It also claimed that Black students were transported to psychiatric wards at three times the rate of other students. 

    Jessica Black says her daughter, who has since graduated from high school, is still traumatized from an incident when she was in the sixth grade and the school called police, strapped her to a gurney and transported her to a psychiatric ward.

    “The fact that the state sanctions this level of violence — that we pay for with tax dollars — is egregious,” Black said.

    After the approval of the settlement at a meeting on Oct. 23, Pittsburg Unified board President Heliodoro Moreno read a statement on behalf of the board, stating that district practices affecting Black students, English learners and disabled students were not consistent with a district that views itself as a champion of equity and inclusivity. 

    “For instance, Black/African American students have and continue to have suspensions at a disproportionate rate than their peers,” according to the statement. “Our system requires consistent courage, honest dialogue, and continuous growth to interrupt practices that lead to disproportionate outcomes for our scholars, especially for some of our African American scholars and scholars receiving special education services.”

    The settlement

    Superintendent Janet Schulze said the district had been working to address issues even before the suit was filed and that the settlement process will ultimately improve the district in the long run.

    “The settlement agreement is focused on areas where we still have work to do, and I see it as a positive outcome of a hard process,” Schulze said in a statement to EdSource.

    The district agreed to hire two independent experts who will create a plan to address the issues.

    One expert, Mildred Browne, will address how the district disciplines students and places students into special education, while the other, Linda Cavazos, will address the district’s early literacy program for special education students with an emphasis on English learners.

    The district had previously been working with Browne and recognized the importance of retaining her.

    “It will allow us to continue and deepen the work we have been doing and were already doing when we were served with the lawsuit,” Schulze stated in an email to EdSource.

    Under the agreement, working with the district, Browne and Cavazos will create a plan by next May, and then, through 2028-29, monitor the district’s progress in implementing their recommendations. They will submit reports twice a year that will be publicly presented to the board.

    The district had previously come under scrutiny for its special education practices. The 2021 suit alleges that the district failed to implement recommendations to improve special education evaluations made in 2016 by Frances Stetson, another consultant. 

    According to Stetson’s report, “the positives to report are few and the concerns are many.” It noted that the district fell below the state requirement that disabled students spend at least 80% of their day in a general education classroom — a concern echoed in the 2021 suit.

    Nelson, the ACLU attorney, is hopeful that the district will address the issues this time because the settlement agreement is legally binding with accountability measures. 

    She added that the district has already taken important steps demonstrating good faith, such as eliminating “willful defiance” as a reason for suspension, ahead of a statewide requirement.

    Pittsburg Unified was flagged by the California Department of Education for having significant “disproportionality“, which happens when students of a certain race or ethnicity in a district are three times more likely to be identified as having a disability, receiving discipline or being placed in special education for three years in a row.

    Black students at Pittsburg Unified were more likely to be identified as having an emotional disability or other health impairment. But Schulze said the district is no longer flagged for significant disproportionality.

    Malhar Shah, an ACLU attorney who previously worked on the case as an attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, said the settlement could create a program that is a model for other districts.

    Literacy is a hot-button topic in education right now, but Shah said that literacy instruction in California doesn’t always address the individual needs of a student. For instance, plaintiff Mark S. has unique needs as both an English learner and a student with autism. Teachers in California need training on how to best support all students with evidence-based literacy instruction, Shah said.

    However, Black, one of the parent plaintiffs in the suit, is not optimistic that the settlement will result in the serious change that students like her daughter would have needed. Her daughter’s time at Pittsburg Unified was marked by fighting to get her daughter the social-emotional support and tutoring she needed, Black said. But even under the threat of litigation, her daughter’s education didn’t improve. She said she lost faith in the district and the state of California.

    Ultimately, Black pulled her daughter out of Pittsburg Unified and sent her to St. Paul, Minnesota, to live with family members. She thrived in the school system there, graduating from high school early. A teacher at Pittsburg Unified told her daughter that welding or manual labor were her only career options. Black is proud that her daughter is currently studying to be a registered nurse.

    She said educators in Minnesota “stopped, paused and listened” to her daughter, and “considered what she needed.”

    The case against Pittsburg Unified also named the state of California as a defendant, claiming that, by not intervening, the state failed to protect students’ fundamental right to an education. The state settled its part of the case separately this summer.

    Shah said the state previously took a “hands-off approach,” relying on school districts to monitor themselves when data showed that certain racial or ethnic groups were disproportionately harmed by school practices.

    The state agreed in a settlement to monitor districts much more closely by reviewing individual student files, observing classrooms and conducting interviews. 

    Malhar said this is important because there are plenty of problems in school districts that don’t “pop up on paper.”





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