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  • Leonie Haimson: How States Can Inspire One Another to Fight for Successful Policies

    Leonie Haimson: How States Can Inspire One Another to Fight for Successful Policies


    Leonie Haimson, the executive director of Class Size Matters in New York City, is a tireless advocate for reform policies that work. She has spent years collecting research about the benefits of class size reduction and prodding legislators to take action.

    She wrote recently about the cross-pollination between New York State and Michigan, where state school board leaders used her research to advocate for lower class sizes.

    She wrote:

    On April 5 and 6, the Network for Public Education, on whose board I sit, held its annual conference in Columbus, Ohio.  More than 400 parents, teachers, advocates, school board members, and other elected officials gathered to learn from each other’s work and be re-energized for the challenges of protecting our public schools from the ravages of budget cuts, right-wing censorship, and privatization.  

    It was a great weekend to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, hear from eloquent education leaders, and participate in eye-opening workshops.  I led a workshop on the risks of using AI in the classroom, along with Cassie Creswell of Illinois Families for Public Schools, and retired teacher/blogger extraordinaire, Peter Greene. You can take a look at our collective power point presentation here.

    At one point, Diane Ravitch, the chair and founder of NPE,introduced each of the board members from the floor.  When she told me to stand, I asked her to inform the attendees about the law we helped pass for class size reduction in NYC.  She responded, you tell it –and so I briefly recounted how smaller class sizes are supposed to be phased in over the next three yearsin our schools, hoping this might lend encouragement to others in the room to advocate for similar measures in their own states and districts.

    Perhaps the personal high point for me was the thrill of meeting Tim Walz, on his birthday no less,  who said to me that indeed class size does matter.  Here are videos  with excerpts from some of the other terrific speeches at the conference. 

    Then, just four days ago, Prof. Julian Heilig Vasquez, another NPE board member, texted me a link to this news story from the Detroit News:

    State Board of Education calls for smaller class sizes after Detroit News investigation

    Lansing — Michigan’s State Board of Education approved a resolution Tuesday calling for limits on class sizes to be put in place by the 2030-31 school year, including a cap of 20 students per class for kindergarten through third grade.

    The proposal, if enacted by state lawmakers, would represent a sea change for Michigan schools as leaders look to boost struggling literacy rates. Across the state, elementary school classes featuring more than 20 students have been widespread.

    Mitchell Robinson, a Democratic member of the State Board of Education, authored the resolution and said action on class sizes was “overdue.”

    “Smaller class sizes are going to be a better learning situation for kids and a better teaching situation for teachers,” said Robinson of Okemos, a former music teacher.

    A months-long Detroit News investigation published in April found 206 elementary classes — ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade — across 49 schools over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 years that had at least 30 students in them. Among them was a kindergarten class at Bennett Elementary, where the Detroit Public Schools Community District said 30 students were enrolled.

    Less than a month after The News’ probe, the Democratic-led State Board of Education, which advises state policymakers on education standards, voted 6-1 on Tuesday in favor of Robinson’s resolution. The resolution said lawmakers should provide funding in the next state budget for school districts with high rates of poverty to lower their student-to-teacher ratios in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.

    By the 2030-31 school year, the resolution said, limits should be instituted to cap class sizes at 20 students per class in kindergarten through third grade, at 23 students per class in fourth grade through eighth grade, and at 25 students per class in high school.

    “Many studies show that class size reduction leads to better student outcomes in every way that can be measured, including better grades and test scores, fewer behavior problems, greater likelihood to graduate from high school on time and subsequently enroll in college,” the resolution said.

    The resolution added that the Legislature should increase funding to ensure schools are “able to lower class sizes to the mandated levels.”

    In an interview, Pamela Pugh, the president of the state board, labeled the resolution an “urgent call” for action. Pugh said the board hasn’t made a similar request in the decade she’s served on the panel.

    …Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have called for action on class sizes after the reporting from The News and as Michigan’s reading scores have fallen behind other states.

    During her State of the State address in February, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said just 24% of Michigan fourth graders were able to read proficiently. Michigan invests more per student than most states but achieves “bottom 10 results,” the governor said.

    Asked, in April, if she thought having 30 students in a kindergarten class was appropriate, Whitmer, a Democrat, said, “No. Of course, I don’t.”

    “I think the science would tell us that we’ve got to bring down class sizes,” Whitmer said in April.

    On Wednesday, state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said he was open to a conversation about timelines for implementing class size limits and about how schools could achieve the proposed standards with staffing and physical space.

    He noted the Senate Democrats’ budget proposal for next year features nearly $500 million that could be used by school districts to lower class sizes. “I think it’s going to be a culture change,” Camilleri said.

    As I read the story, I was delighted, of course; and noticed that the class size caps cited in the resolution were identical to those required to be phased in for NYC schools.  I also noted language in the resolution that echoed the words in some of our research summaries. 

    I reached out to Diane to ask her if she knew whether Mitchell Robinson had attended the NPE conference, and she confirmed that indeed he had.  I then emailed him to ask if our New Yorklaw had played any role in his decision to introduce the resolution, and he immediately responded,

    “Leonie, your work in NYC was the direct model and inspiration for this resolution! I was in your session in Columbus, and went home motivated to put together the resolution, using the figures from your bill and the research base on the website.”

    He cautioned me that the proposal still has to be enacted into law, and that it would be “an uphill battle,” as Republicans hadretaken the state House. 

    Then he added: “But that doesn’t mean we sit on our hands for another 2 years—we need to stay on offense and advance good ideas whenever we can.”

    I wholeheartedly agree.  This resolution and what may hopefully follow for Michigan students reveals just how importantgatherings like the NPE conference are to enable the exchangeof ideas and positive examples of what’s occurring elsewhere.  This sort of interaction can be vital to our collective struggle,not just to defend our public schools from the attempts of Trump et.al. to undermine them, but also to push for the sort of positive changes that will allow all our kids to receive the high qualityeducation they deserve.

     



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  • Cal Maritime pleads for merger with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to save the academy

    Cal Maritime pleads for merger with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to save the academy


    Cal Maritime is the smallest campus in the California State University system.

    Credit: Cal Maritime / Flickr

    This story has been updated to include reporting from the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday.

    A steep drop in enrollment has put Cal Maritime, the smallest of the California State University’s 23 campuses, on a path to merge with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

    Under the plan, which went before the Cal State board of trustees Tuesday, Cal Maritime’s 761 students would blend into San Luis Obispo’s 22,000-person student body with the goal of saving on overhead and ultimately attracting more students to the maritime academy.

    Recruiting out-of-state students and competing for federal dollars are two pieces of the turnaround plan, according to newly released details about the proposal.

    But faculty at both institutions said they have received little guidance about how the plan would impact their day-to-day jobs. And CSU officials’ proposal to the board does not address what one investigation into sexual harassment at Cal Maritime called a “history of pervasive male toxicity.”

    The CSU board of trustees opened discussions on the proposal on Tuesday and plan to raise the subject again in September. A vote on the proposed integration is set for November. If approved, CSU officials estimate bringing the two institutions together will cost $35 million over seven years. The plan would go into effect in July 2025 and affect students in the fall of 2026.

    Cal Maritime Interim President Michael J. Dumont appealed to the Board of Trustees to support the proposal on Tuesday, saying the campus has already made deep budget cuts that include leaving positions unfilled. Without dramatic improvement in the campus’ enrollment and revenue, Dumont said he does not “see the maritime academy continuing.”

    “Quite frankly, we’ve taken a chainsaw to every expense on our campus,” he said. “We are working drastically to save money everywhere we can. I don’t know how much longer that can continue … I have cut muscle, bone, and I’m now down to tendon and arteries.”

    In response to questions seeking more information about admissions, degree conferral and recruitment strategy under the proposal, CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said it would “be speculative and premature to respond to questions about details yet to be determined.” Bentley-Smith said privacy concerns limit what the university can say regarding incidents and reports related to Title IX, the federal sex discrimination law. She said Cal Maritime responds “appropriately with measures aimed at holding individuals accountable for their actions and providing equity to affected members of the community. The university has placed a great deal of focus, energy and commitment on creating a stronger culture of safety and inclusion on campus and on cruise.”

    Cal Maritime, which has a campus in Vallejo and operates a training ship, serves a strategically important niche in higher education. Six state maritime academies together educate most of the nation’s merchant marine officers, the civilian workforce that operates commercial shipping vessels and supplies U.S. military ships and bases. Almost 80% of Cal Maritime students are men, according to fall 2022 enrollment data.

    Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, located 250 miles south, is known for its architecture, agriculture and engineering programs. The campus has increased enrollment by 13% over the past decade and receives more qualified applicants than it can accommodate.

    Merging the campuses would bolster both institutions’ academic strengths in areas like engineering, oceanography, logistics and marine science while allowing degree programs that lead to a merchant marine license from the U.S. Coast Guard to continue, according to the CSU proposal. Cal Maritime would also enjoy access to Cal Poly’s marketing and fundraising resources — a leg up to recruit prospective students and right the school’s finances.

    If the marriage of the two schools goes forward, the maritime academy would be led by a superintendent who is also part of Cal Poly leadership, according to documents describing the proposal. Maritime academy faculty and staff, similarly, would become Cal Poly employees. 

    Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo campus.
    Credit: Ashley Bolter / EdSource

    Righting the ship

    Cal Maritime’s finances are so dire that last spring the university projected that it would have only $317,000 in operating reserves at the end of June 2024 — less than it would need to run the university for three days, according to the merger proposal.

    Declining enrollment is a major culprit. Student headcount fell 31% between the 2016-17 and 2023-24 school years. Even if Cal Maritime meets future enrollment targets, Cal State officials write, a growing budget deficit “is inevitable.”

    The campus has already slashed spending to save money, CSU officials say, but further cuts would threaten the university’s ability to carry out its educational mission. As it is, CSU officials acknowledge that falling enrollment and budget woes may have had “an impact on the quality of essential student support services such as housing, dining, health and counseling.”

    The hope is that maritime academy students will benefit from plugging into Cal Poly’s student services.

    Other changes would be subtle. The maritime academy would keep its Vallejo campus during the integration, though additional majors with maritime industry ties could be located there in the future. 

    Kyle Carpenter, who graduated from Cal Maritime in 2014, said he hopes the proposal can save Cal Maritime. But depending on whether and how majors are folded into Cal Poly, he said, he worries that students who are now required to understand the maritime application of their education could lose that important focus. 

    “We need to maintain a strong maritime presence, so any bit of maritime education is a great thing,” Carpenter said.

    The proposal flags possible benefits for Cal Poly students, too. First among them: Cal Poly students would get access to Cal Maritime laboratory space and, crucially, a $360 million training vessel the campus is set to receive in 2026. 

    The chance to take advantage of the Vallejo campus is welcome news to Yiming Luo, a sophomore city and regional planning major at Cal Poly. He said he hopes the proposal would expand course offerings and give Cal Poly students from the Bay Area like him the “possibility of taking classes at Maritime over the summer for credit.”

    Faculty react

    Faculty at both campuses said they have lots of questions about how the proposal could impact them. 

    Steven Runyon, an associate professor of chemistry at Cal Maritime and vice president of the campus California Faculty Association chapter, said the proposed integration “came out of nowhere” and has garnered mixed reactions. 

    “Many faculty are very optimistic,” he said. “If we’re going to be integrated with any other university, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is probably top of our list in terms of who we would like to be associated with.”

    But Runyon said a lack of clear communication from the university’s leaders makes him worry about how the proposal would impact colleagues, especially those who do not work in a tenure track position, such as lecturers and librarians.

    Faculty learned of the merger plan when it was announced on June 5. They can comment “both individually and through their represented body” before the board acts, a Cal Maritime spokesperson said.

    Jennifer Mott, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Cal Poly, said she has heard little about the proposed integration. 

    “Will we have to teach more students? Will they be teaching more students?” she said. “Will it not affect anything? We just don’t know any information.”

    Mott also questions whether her department would remain independent or merge with Cal Maritime’s mechanical engineering department — a process that would impact her department’s gender makeup. 

    “We made a huge push in mechanical engineering to hire more women faculty,” she said. “I looked at the faculty (at Cal Maritime) and it’s only men, and so I don’t know how that would affect us going forward.”

    Cal Maritime is one of six state maritime academies in the country.
    Credit: Cal Maritime / Flickr

    A reckoning with sexual misconduct

    Reports of sexual misconduct in both the maritime industry and the California State University system have put pressure on Cal Maritime to do more to address sexual misconduct on its campus.

    In 2021, an outside investigator commissioned by Cal Maritime reported “several instances of inappropriate, discriminatory, vulgar or offensive writings or other imagery, especially toward female cadets” as well as “concerns over anti-LGBTQIA+ behavior and language used frequently aboard cruises and on campus.”

    A Los Angeles Times investigation echoed those issues and found that Cal Maritime failed to follow consistent procedures to address reports of sexual misconduct.   

    The resignation of Joseph I. Castro as CSU chancellor in 2022 over his mishandling of a Title IX sexual harassment case involving an administrator when he was president of Fresno State resulted in a system-wide reckoning. Cal State retained the law firm Cozen O’Connor to assess programs at each of its 23 universities to deal with sexual harassment and assault complaints under the federal Title IX law that prohibits sex-based discrimination. The probe found that the system lacks resources and staffing to adequately respond to and handle sexual harassment or discrimination complaints from students and employees.

    At Cal Maritime, a July 2023 report by the firm found “significant improvements to process, responsiveness, training, and prevention programming” over the previous two years. But Cozen O’Connor reported that those improvements were overshadowed by a lack of a permanent Title IX coordinator, distrust of former university leaders and a culture that discouraged reporting misconduct.

    Cal Maritime now has a six-person Title IX implementation team, including a director of Title IX, to implement Cozen O’Connor’s recommendations. 

    In March 2023, Cal State hired Mike Dumont to serve as the maritime academy’s interim president. A 2024 profile of Dumont in the San Francisco Chronicle names several recent reforms at the campus, including improving training on sexual harassment, hiring a full-time victim advocate and updating uniform, naming and housing policies to meet the needs of nonbinary and transgender students.

    In a statement, Bentley-Smith said the work of improving campus safety and inclusion “continues and will continue, both at Cal Maritime and throughout the CSU. One of the CSU’s highest priorities is ensuring all students and employees across our 23 universities are protected from discrimination and harassment.”

    This month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring CSU to implement the recommendations of a state audit into its handling of sexual misconduct. CSU officials say the system is already in the process of meeting the audit requirements.

    But Mott, the Cal Poly professor, said reports of sexual harassment and assault at Cal Maritime give her pause.

    “I know it’s an issue across a lot of campuses, not to say that we don’t have issues here,” she said. “But if it is a more toxic culture up there (at Cal Maritime), that is definitely a concern that we don’t bring that here, or that the students aren’t forced to go up there if they don’t feel comfortable going to that environment.”

    Funding from fees, feds and more

    The proposal anticipates a combined institution could raise more philanthropic and federal dollars. It is possible Cal Poly’s fee model — increasing one fee and levying a second on out-of-state undergraduates to pay for more financial aid — could be applied to the maritime academy.

    The proposal also argues that Cal Maritime has a great story to tell prospective students and can use San Luis Obispo’s “unquestioned expertise in strategic enrollment management, marketing and brand-building” to tell it.

    One draw is graduates’ future earnings. An analysis by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found that a Cal Maritime degree had the highest return on investment of any bachelor’s degree from a public university in California as measured by its net present value.  

    Under the proposal, increased outreach would extend to prospective students in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. Pacific territories.

    Michael Fossum, the superintendent of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, said maritime academy graduates are in high demand. But schools like his don’t always have the marketing budget to pitch prospective students on pursuing the career.  

    “It’s a massive industry that people don’t know about,” he said. “We don’t have the reach to help educate people on how important the industry is and what great opportunities there are working in this industry.”

    ‘A nationally known name’

    If the integration proposal wins board approval, Cal Maritime’s future might look a little more like Fossum’s institution, ​​Texas A&M Maritime Academy. 

    The Texas maritime academy is not an independent institution, but is part of Texas A&M at Galveston. In terms of leadership structure, Fossum, the school’s superintendent, is also chief operating officer at Texas A&M University at Galveston and a vice president at Texas A&M University. That structure reduces some overhead on his campus.

    “I don’t have to replicate every single vice president and every single function that’s on the main campus,” Fossum said. 

    The Cal Maritime integration proposal suggests the two campuses could experience similar consolidation in areas such as facilities maintenance, information technology, cybersecurity and administrative services like payroll and accounting. 

    Fossum said he hopes that if Cal Maritime links up with Cal Poly, it will enjoy some of the same reputational benefits his campus experiences from its close association with Texas A&M.

    “Cal Poly has got a nationally known name,” he said. “When you get the power of Cal Poly, just like me having the power of Texas A&M University, that absolutely helps. The association is good.” 

    Ashley Bolter, a recent graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is a member of EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps.





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  • How Washington state stands apart as a model for community college bachelor’s degrees

    How Washington state stands apart as a model for community college bachelor’s degrees


    Netty Hull, an instructor in Yakima Valley College’s teacher education program, speaks with a group of students.

    Credit: Michael Burke/EdSource

    Up the West Coast in Washington state, some students want a bachelor’s degree to enter careers like teaching and nursing but don’t have a local four-year university to attend. Fortunately for them, they have another option: getting that degree from a community college. 

    It’s an idea that California has taken steps to embrace, with the passage of a law three years ago allowing the state’s community college system to approve up to 30 new bachelor’s degrees annually, not just associate degrees and certificates. But some officials and advocates believe the colleges could be doing more if not for restrictions on what they can offer. 

    LESSONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

    California leads the nation in many areas of higher education, including educating the largest number of undergraduates at 2.3 million. The state is also grappling with issues that are being tackled by other public universities across the country. This story is part of a continuing EdSource series on issues and innovations that relate to California’s higher education systems.

    — Rose Ciotta, Investigations and Projects Editor

    The key, they say, is making bachelor’s degrees available to place-bound students — those who can only attend college close to home, usually because of work or family commitments. That has become a reality in Washington state, where community colleges in rural areas can offer essentially any bachelor’s degree as long as they demonstrate there’s a regional workforce need and that students will enroll in the program.

    “Just because they’re in an isolated community, that does not mean the community members should not have access to higher education,” said Constance Carroll, president of the California Community College Baccalaureate Association.

    In California, community colleges can only offer four-year degrees in programs not offered by the state’s four-year universities. That takes away the option to create degrees in majors like education and nursing, even as those industries face worker shortages. Reversing that would require legislative change and would surely face pushback from California State University. The 23-campus CSU system, with unstable enrollment at several campuses, is loath to lose potential students to the community colleges. 

    The rules even apply to community colleges in remote and rural areas without a CSU or University of California campus. That’s particularly troublesome for advocates who argue that students in those regions are being left behind. Instead of traveling to another part of the state to attend a CSU or UC campus, in many cases they are not going to college at all, leading to low degree attainment and workforce shortages in those regions. 

    “Duplication limitations hurt all of our students, especially those who are place-bound,” Melissa Villarin, a spokesperson for the community college system, said in an email.

    The landscape could start to change with legislation being considered by California lawmakers, Senate Bill 895. The bill would permit up to 15 community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing. If it passes, it could set a precedent for allowing community colleges to offer degrees already offered by CSU.

    In Washington, a different reality

    Saray Preciado decided to go to college during the Covid-19 pandemic after being laid off from her paralegal job. With a newborn daughter, she wanted to advance her career so her family didn’t have to rely only on her husband’s income.

    A resident of Yakima, a city of about 98,000 in central Washington, Preciado initially considered a few colleges, including the closest four-year university, Central Washington University. But the 45-minute commute from Yakima made that untenable. With her husband working until 4 p.m. every day, Preciado needed to be with her daughter during the day. 

    Yakima Valley College’s campus
    Credit: Michael Burke / EdSource

    Yakima Valley, which caters to students like Preciado by offering evening classes, was the obvious choice. 

    “I’ve always dreamed about being a teacher,” she said. “So I thought, let me just give it a shot.”

    She graduated from the program last month and will start in the fall as a bilingual teacher at nearby Moxee Elementary.

    Like California, bachelor’s degrees at Washington’s community colleges can’t duplicate what’s offered at the state’s four-year universities. But whether a degree is considered duplicative isn’t as simple as whether a similar program is offered at a four-year college. Officials there consider additional factors, especially location.

    “There are a whole lot of students who are choosing not to go into higher ed,” said Valerie Sundby, director of transfer education with the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. “We’re not competing for the students who are already choosing and have a pathway into higher ed. We’re trying to broaden that pathway.”

    Washington’s community colleges have offered bachelor’s degrees since 2005. There are currently 33 colleges offering a total of 165 bachelor’s degrees, including in nursing and teacher education. The state has awarded nearly 1,200 bachelor’s degrees in teacher education and 790 in nursing. Unlike California, where CSU and UC have a say during the approval process for community college bachelor’s degrees, the final approval in Washington rests solely with the community college officials.

    Preciado’s experience isn’t an unusual one. For many students in the region, their options are either to attend Yakima Valley College or get no postsecondary degree at all. According to the latest census data, 17.6% of adults in Yakima County have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 36.7% statewide. 

    “One day we have to get beyond that,” said Herlinda Ruvalcaba, Yakima Valley College’s director of applied baccalaureate programs. “Most of the students are here because they’re in the valley. They’re not looking to move. They’re staying here.”

    That’s the case for Sofia Gonzalez, who in the fall will enter her final year in the college’s dental hygiene program. 

    Gonzalez lives with her mother and 8-year-old brother. Her mom is enrolled in English courses at Yakima Valley, and Gonzalez watches her little brother while her mom is at class. 

    “I’m very family-oriented. I wanted to help her out,” Gonzalez said.

    Being able to live at home and not pay rent, making the degree more affordable, was also attractive to Gonzalez. 

    Gonzalez plans to find a job locally after she gets her degree next year. Most Yakima bachelor’s degree earners remain in the region after graduation, and that’s by design. When community colleges like Yakima are considering a new bachelor’s degree, they’re required to demonstrate that there’s a regional labor market need for that profession, something that’s also required for community college bachelor’s degree programs in California. 

    Sofia Gonzalez, a student in the dental hygiene bachelor’s degree program at Yakima Valley College, practices cleaning teeth on another student.
    Credit: Michael Burke/EdSource

    In Washington, the degrees are called applied bachelor’s degrees because they are designed to give students applicable experience. 

    In Yakima Valley’s agricultural sciences bachelor’s program, the capstone project for seniors is to design an agribusiness plan that they can use outside the classroom. For Pedro Huecias, that meant coming up with a plan to own and live off his own vineyard. His project mapped out a multi-year plan to come up with the money to do that. 

    Huecias, who graduated last month, was one of six students in the agricultural program’s first cohort. He currently works in cheese production for Darigold, a dairy cooperative operating in Washington and three other states. But he’s always dreamed bigger than that: Since he was 14, Huecias and his cousin have planned on one day owning their own vineyard. He’s hopeful his new degree will help him accomplish that. 

    “I wasn’t happy where I was at, and I needed to do something different,” he said. 

    California’s landscape

    In California, there are 42 bachelor’s degree programs that are currently offered or will be soon across 35 different community colleges. But another eight proposed degrees are currently in limbo because CSU has raised duplication concerns. Four of those degrees have been held up for more than a year.

    Beyond that, there are colleges that would like to offer additional bachelor’s degrees but haven’t proposed them because of the duplication law. Francisco Rodriguez, chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, the state’s largest district, said colleges “have a strong interest” in being able to offer bachelor’s degrees in a wider array of programs, including education.

    “There are workforce shortages, and the community colleges are perfectly situated and positioned to address some of these regional needs,” he said. “My instinct tells me there are enough students for everyone.”

    Some shortages are especially dire in the state’s rural counties. Nine of the state’s rural counties are teacher education deserts, having struggled to recruit teachers, concluded a recent report by the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. One of the problems identified in the report is the lack of higher education options in those counties.

    The UCLA report suggests allowing community colleges to play a larger role in preparing teachers. That could mean letting community colleges offer credentialing programs for students who already have a bachelor’s degree. It could also include letting the community colleges offer bachelor’s degrees in education, or at least parts of those degrees, said Kai Mathews, project director for the UCLA center that wrote the report. 

    “We’re in a teacher shortage. We need as many systems and supports and programs as possible to get students engaged into this profession,” Mathews added.

    Under current state law, location isn’t considered at all when community colleges propose new bachelor’s degrees. When a degree is being considered, it goes out for review to all 23 CSU campuses, from San Diego to Humboldt. 

    “We try not to get emotionally involved or even consider it regionally,” said Brent Foster, an assistant vice chancellor at CSU.

    State community college officials acknowledge that’s the law but say they wish it were different. 

    Being able to evaluate “regional labor market needs and the state’s existing ability to meet those demands” could be useful in determining whether a degree is duplicative, said Villarin, the spokesperson for the community college system. 

    Community college and CSU officials are working to find a third-party organization to serve as something of a mediator between the two sides and help smooth the review process. 

    At the same time, SB 895, the bill that would allow up to 15 community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing, could be a turning point for the state. The bill cleared the Senate and is currently making its way through the Assembly. If signed into law, priority for the degrees would be given to colleges in underserved areas. 

    The legislation is opposed by CSU and by the Association for Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU), which represents the state’s private universities. In an opposition message submitted to lawmakers, the AICCU cited the state’s duplication law. 

    “Respectfully, we view this proposal to be a significant shift away from that recently agreed upon framework,” the AICCU wrote.

    In an analysis of the bill, Senate staff said it “establishes a precedent for permitting duplication of degree programs and expands CCC’s ability to establish baccalaureate degrees independent from California’s other public universities.”

    Carroll, whose organization supports the legislation, said the intent is not for the bill to be “a harbinger of lots of duplication.” Instead, she said it was specifically proposed to address nursing shortages facing the state.

    Carroll added, though, that she’s hopeful the state will nonetheless be able to offer a wider range of community college bachelor’s degrees at some point in the future. 

    “As people learn more about it, and they see how the bachelor’s programs have benefited students and local communities, we’re hoping that they will become supportive,” she said.





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  • Trump proposals for students with disabilities create confusion and fear

    Trump proposals for students with disabilities create confusion and fear


    Students rely on an array of services in special education classes.

    Christopher Futcher/iStock

    Top Takeaways
    • A proposal for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to oversee special education draws criticism.
    • Trump has promised stable levels of funding for special education, but critics worry about his plan to reduce oversight of those funds.
    • Advocates worry that a “brain drain” from the U.S. Department of Education could weaken the quality of education for students with disabilities nationally.

    Javier Arroyo has been impressed with the education his 9-year-old son with a disability receives.

    “This country provides so many resources,” said Arroyo, whose son attends Kern County’s Richland School District.

    Arroyo’s wife has family in Mexico, but he believes his son, who has Down syndrome, is better served here than he’d be in most other countries because of the services he receives: “We don’t have resources like this in Mexico.”

    But because of changes happening at the federal level, he said, it’s hard to tell what education will look like for his son.

    Arroyo has heard that federal cuts are already affecting disabled students and that President Donald Trump has proposed moving oversight of special education from the U.S. Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services. Local school leaders have told him that they also don’t have much clarity about how special education is likely to change.

    “It’s confusing right now, what’s going on federally,” Arroyo said. “Not even experts really know.”

    Arroyo isn’t alone. There are 850,000 students with disabilities in California. These students, their parents and educators in California say they have a lot of questions — and serious concerns — about federal proposals that could transform the way schools deliver education to students with disabilities.

    Saran Tugsjargal, 18, is a high school senior and one of the first students to sit on the state’s Advisory Council for Special Education. She said her own initial response to moving special education outside the U.S. Department of Education was confusion: “I was like, ‘What the flip?’”

    Tugsjargal attends Alameda Community Learning Center, a charter school in the Bay Area, and she often hears from students like her who have disabilities. Many have told her they are confused and fearful about how the proposed federal changes could affect their education.

    “A lot of my peers at my school were very scared. They were terrified,” she said. “They were just like, ‘What’s going to happen to me? What’s going to happen to my parents, who need to fight for those accommodation services? What’s going to happen to a lot of us?’ There’s a lot of fear.”

    Education for students with disabilities has historically received broad support across party lines. The federal government provides approximately 8% of special education funding. That’s a critical amount, though it falls well short of the original 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) promise that the federal government would pay 40% of special education funding.

    Because of that bipartisan support, most experts believe that federal funding for special education isn’t at serious risk right now. However, they say that other changes proposed by this administration could adversely impact students with disabilities. 

    Reg Leichty, the founder of Foresight Law + Policy, an education law firm in Washington, is one of those experts.

    “I said often the last few weeks, ‘Don’t over or underreact,’” Leichty said. “But we have a job to do making sure that the system continues to work for kids.”

    In his budget, Trump proposes keeping federal funding for special education at current levels — $15.5 billion nationally — while consolidating funding streams, which would reduce oversight and give more control to local governance.

    His proposal to dismantle the Department of Education requires moving oversight of special education to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which previously oversaw the education of students with disabilities.

    “IDEA funding for our children with disabilities and special needs was in place before there was a Department of Education, and it managed to work incredibly well,” U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told a Fox News host.

    In an April 4 letter to the California congressional delegation, California administrators of Special Education Local Plan Areas, or SELPAs, vehemently disagreed, stating that the proposal undermines the rights of students with disabilities and jeopardizes key funding and resources for these students.

    Scott Turner, chair of SELPA Administrators of California, wrote that moving oversight of the education of students with disabilities to a health department “reinforces an outdated and ableist, deficit-based model where disabilities are considered as medical conditions to be managed rather than recognizing that students with disabilities are capable learners, each with unique strengths and educational potential.”

    Including students with disabilities in the general education classroom to the maximum extent possible is the model that the Department of Education has aimed at over the decades.

    Before the passage of the IDEA, students with disabilities were routinely institutionalized or undereducated, if they were offered a public education at all, according to Robyn Linscott, director of education and family policy for The Arc, a national advocacy group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

    Moving special education to a health agency “promotes this medical model and continues the othering of students with a disability,” Linscott said.

    Arroyo wants to see his 9-year-old included in more general education classes, such as physical education, and activities like field trips. High staffing ratios make this kind of inclusion possible, ensuring the quality of his son’s education. His son is in a class with nine students, three aides and one teacher. He worries federal cuts could have major consequences for his son and others in his class.

    “I couldn’t imagine if (the teacher) even lost one aide,” Arroyo said.

    The Coalition for Adequate Funding for Special Education has come out in support of a federal bill that would keep the U.S. Department of Education intact and free from any restructuring, according to the organization’s chair, Anthony Rebelo. 

    “We want to make sure that folks understand students with disabilities are still students, that they don’t just get lumped with disabled people,” said Rebelo, who is also the director of the Trinity County Special Education Local Plan Area. 

    Joshua Salas, a special education coordinator at a charter school, Alliance Renee and Meyer Luskin Academy in Los Angeles, worries that the quality of education for students with disabilities will be “put on the back burner” and that there won’t be enough federal oversight to make sure schools are serving students with disabilities. 

    “What I’m worried about are the long-term implications,” said Salas. “I’m wondering about what will get lost in the transition.”

    Education attorney Leichty said it’s hard to know what education for students with disabilities would look like under a new department, but he worries about the “brain drain” of experts from the Department of Education who view education as a civil right.

    “Over time, could it be made to work? Certainly,” Leichty said. “But I think there’s a major loss of institutional knowledge and expertise when you try to pursue a change like this.”

    He said Trump’s executive order to close the Department of Education acknowledges that the Constitution limits the ability of the executive branch to do so without congressional approval.

    The federal Department of Education and other federal offices, including the Department of Health and Human Services, have already experienced wide-scale cuts proposed by the “Department of Government Efficiency.”

    The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) lost half of its staff, including shuttering the San Francisco-based office dedicated to California complaints, which had over 700 pending cases, more than half involving disability rights. A spokesperson for the administration said that it will use mediation and expedited case processing to address disability-related complaints. Those cuts have been challenged in court.

    Advocates are concerned that doubling the caseload for existing staff means there will be a federal backlog of complaints, weakening enforcement.

    Student advocate Tugsjargal has been telling students with disabilities and their parents to call their legislators and attend town hall meetings and public rallies to protest Trump’s proposals.

    “When we talk with each other about our stories, when we speak out, we learn a lot from each other,” she said. “We drive a lot of change.”





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  • California districts try many options before charging parents for student truancy

    California districts try many options before charging parents for student truancy


    Credit: Fermin Leal / EdSource

    While California’s school truancy law remains on the books, school districts in recent years appear to have become less and less likely to enforce punitive measures against parents.

    Multiple phone calls, emails, letters and requests for meetings are what parents should expect if their child is deemed truant. If those steps don’t get the child back into school, state law gives districts the right to take parents to court.

    But how often that happens is up to school officials and prosecutors and, clearly, officials say, the times have changed. Punitive measures have been shown to be less effective, especially if the reason for the child missing school is beyond the parent’s control.

    While parents have been arrested in California for their children being habitually absent from school, it is unclear how many cases resulted in criminal charges. According to state law, a district can declare a student truant and refer them to the district attorney after three unexcused absences of more than 30 minutes during the school year, potentially facing fines and even jail time.

    “It’s fair to say that most districts go beyond what the law requires in terms of trying to address these challenges internally at the district level prior to engaging the criminal justice system,” said Jonathan Raven, assistant CEO of the California District Attorneys Association.

    State law gives prosecutors wide discretion over how to charge parents when their child is truant, from an infraction, akin to a traffic violation, to a misdemeanor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

    Chronic absenteeism in California schools is part of a national crisis over children missing school, especially during the pandemic. In California, the percentage of chronically absent students skyrocketed from the pre-pandemic rate of 12.1% in 2018-19 to 30% in 2021-22, after the pandemic. The percentage dropped to nearly 25% in 2022-23.

    The state’s truancy law grew out of Kamala Harris’s efforts as a prosecutor to stem the number of high school dropouts who ended up in the criminal justice system.

    In San Francisco, where she was the district attorney from 2004 to 2010, she implemented a truancy initiative that introduced the threat of prosecution of parents and guardians when children habitually missed school. That initiative became the model for a 2010 state law that Harris sponsored which adopted strict penalties for parents of truant students: a fine not to exceed $2,000, jail time not to exceed one year, or both.

    The penalties could be applied if a student was habitually truant, meaning they missed 10% or more of the school year and only after parents had been offered a range of support services to address the student’s truancy. Truancy courts were created where the penalties could be deferred so long as the students begin attending school. While attorney general from 2011 to 2017, her office created an on-line truancy hub with truancy reports from 2013 to 2016.

    The first arrests under the law were in 2011 of five parents in Orange County. The arrest option has since become controversial as districts focus first on how to solve the problems leading to truancy. During her 2019 presidential campaign, Harris stood by the goals of the law but insisted in a podcast interview at the time, that she “never sent a parent to jail” when she was a district attorney. Even though the 2010 state law specifically changed the penal code to include fines and jail time as potential penalties in truancy cases, she said in the same 2019 interview that she regretted knowing some district attorneys had criminalized parents under that state law.

    California’s law specifies that with students who are habitually truant, the goal is to keep young people out of the juvenile justice system and in school.

    State education law lists over a dozen reasons for excusing students from school, but most excused absences, school officials say, are related to illness and mental health. Unexcused absences often mean that students lacked documentation such as a note from a doctor, or that they provided no reason for their absence or that the reason they provided does not qualify as an excusable absence.

    While six out of 10 absences were excused during the 2022-23 school year, four out of 10 were unexcused, state data shows. Both numbers were similar to pre-pandemic levels. The 2023-24 data has not yet been released.

    A case study in Santa Clara County

    In Santa Clara County, just south of San Francisco, for example, a prosecutor from the district attorney’s office speaks with parents at the start of the school year.

    “I go to back-to-school nights to speak not about the law and its consequences, but about attendance and its importance, and particularly attendance in the earliest grades,” said Alisha Schoen, community prosecutor for Santa Clara’s district attorney’s office.

    Educators and researchers highlight targeted and constant communication with families — such as phone calls, emails, texts, letters and direct, in-person contact — as a powerful solution to chronic absences. In Santa Clara County, school districts conduct home visits if a student is near truancy.

    If that communication doesn’t result in the student attending school regularly, the family is then referred to the local student attendance review board, SARB. The SARB will open a case during which the family must sign an attendance contract stipulating their child will attend school regularly.

    With methods in place to help students return to school, attendance issues are most often solved at the school or district level, said Schoen.

    But if the student continues missing school, despite all interventions, the student attendance review board then has the discretion to send the case to the local district attorney’s office, at which point the parents could be prosecuted.

    Those cases go to Schoen, who might either issue the parents an infraction, like a traffic violation, which is not punishable with jail time but could carry a fine, or decide that the district or school must take additional action in addressing the absences prior to involving the court.

    “The cases that I file in my court are almost always cases where the parents refused to come to the school site meeting, did not come to the SARB, didn’t answer the door at the home visit, so this is the necessary step to get them to the table so that then we can talk about the problem and offer supportive services,” Schoen said.

    Upon being issued the infraction, the parents then enter what Santa Clara County calls a collaborative truancy court, through which they offer students and their parents access to a county behavioral health social worker, enroll parents in a 10-week in-person or online parenting class, and assign a caseworker to families who might be experiencing far-reaching challenges such as homelessness or unemployment.

    “Our throughline is that truancy is a red flag that tells us this child or their family are experiencing some crisis, and we have to recognize that red flag as such, and then get the supportive services to the family to address that underlying crisis so that the attendance can then improve,” said Schoen.

    Schoen described how they issue infractions, for example, not misdemeanors; if parents plead guilty, they request the lowest possible fine; and they make every effort to dismiss the case to avoid fines.

    “We don’t believe that assigning a large fine will improve their child’s attendance, and it could possibly have a negative effect,” said Schoen.

    Of over 234,000 students enrolled in Santa Clara County during the 2023-2024 school year, Schoen’s office heard 130 truancy cases — although some of those cases were from the previous school year. Infractions were issued to 34 parents; 28 were dismissed as student attendance improved, and six parents pleaded guilty. Those six were issued fines, and their court fees were waived. The remaining cases will be continuing this year.

    In the past, some counties are known to have taken a more punitive approach.

    Merced County in 2017 initiated an anti-truancy effort that included the arrest of 10 parents for failing to send their children to school. They were charged with misdemeanors, contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

    Jennifer McHugh, a deputy district attorney in Yolo County, considers it “very unlikely” that she would support jailing parents in truancy cases because once the case is over, “have you really solved the problem?”

    In the last year, McHugh got school district referrals for 15-20 students who were excessively truant.

    “In the past year, it’s only been one district that’s sent me names of truant students, and I don’t think they’re sending me everyone who’s been truant three or more times, because those would be way more people,” said McHugh. “They’re sending me the people who are excessively truant, you know, 60, 70, 80% of the time that this child’s truant kind of cases.”

    Those students and their families entered mediation with the district attorney’s office. During mediation, McHugh meets for 30 minutes to an hour at the county office of education — “a neutral place,” she said — to sign an attendance contract. The meeting includes the student, their parents, McHugh, student support services from the district who have made previous contact with the parents, and others with direct knowledge of the student’s situation.

    The point of the contract is not perfect attendance; rather, “good enough” attendance is what McHugh is looking for in order to avoid further court involvement. It’s up to every district to decide when to prosecute.

    “My perspective on it is we’re trying to resolve the issue. We’re trying to get them into school,” she said.

    Of the 15-20 students in mediation, only two cases were filed against parents. In one case, the student began attending school and the case was dismissed. The second case is pending.

    Impacts of targeting chronic absenteeism

    While the law stipulates that students with many absences are truant, language today describes the problem as chronic absenteeism, a situation that can be fixed with the proper supports. Another issue is who is targeted when district attorneys get involved in fighting truancy or chronic absenteeism.

    “The problem is having kids being labeled unexcused, it’s not equally distributed,” said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that works to improve student attendance.

    Her research on unexcused absences, published last year in a PACE report, also found that California “schools serving more socioeconomically disadvantaged students communicate more punitive approaches.”

    Certain demographics of students are more likely to have unexcused absences: Black, Native American, Latino, and Pacific Islander, regardless of socioeconomic status, along with low-income students, the study found.

    Schools serving students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged were far more likely “to publish policies stating that truancy would result in suspension of driver’s licenses, loss of school privileges like extracurricular participation, and Saturday school or in-school detention,” the report said.

    The researchers reviewed the school handbooks of 40 California middle and high schools — half of the schools had a population of over 90% of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and the other half had a population of less than 50% of socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

    There are some biases in the system “around how absences are treated and who gets labeled unexcused,” Chang told EdSource. “And sometimes that’s because we don’t have the supports and resources to really do outreach to families.”

    She added, “When the truancy laws got created, you didn’t have chronic absence even as a metric or even as an accountability metric for schools, and by having chronic absence as an accountability metric, you are saying: ‘Hey, schools, you’ve got to do something about this.’ So it’s not just the court system that has evolved over time. There is a pretty broad standing consensus that you want to invest in prevention first and you use a legal system as a last resort.”





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  • Waiting for financial aid offers creates problems for California students

    Waiting for financial aid offers creates problems for California students


    Sierra Community College in Rocklin.

    Credit: Sierra College / Flickr

    This summer was filled with stress for Leslie Valdovinos as she awaited her financial aid offer letter for her fourth year at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

    “I don’t have a backup plan in case I can’t rely on financial aid,” Valdovinos said. “Financial aid is the only plan that I have.”

    Leslie Valdovinos

    Widespread problems with the revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) caused unprecedented difficulties with the application resulting in delays in college decisions and making it particularly hard for the many “mixed-status” students in California — students who have at least one parent without a Social Security number — to complete the form. Students are still experiencing delays in getting their financial aid information.

    “It’s very stressful because tuition is going up, and I’m not sure how my financial situation is going to look like for this school year,” Valdovinos said.

    Valdovinos finally received her financial aid offer letter on Aug. 8, but many are still waiting. As of May, 28% of students nationwide had not received their financial aid offer, according to a survey done by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

    Some students have been able to get scholarships to help cover the costs of school. Azul Hernandez, an incoming freshman at California State University, San Bernardino has gotten help from local scholarships. 

    “Right now, I am able to cover my tuition for this year through local scholarships that I was awarded but am still fighting to get aid to help cover the years to come and other fees like books,” Hernandez said. 

    California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) has started offering a $4,000 “backup” scholarship to support low-income students whose financial aid is delayed. The money is aimed at low-income California residents.

    “This initiative comes as a response to the challenges posed by FAFSA delays, with CSUMB committing to support its community by ensuring no student is left behind due to procedural setbacks. The scholarship is designed to provide immediate relief to students who are still awaiting federal and state aid decisions,” said a notice announcing the program.

    While some students might be able to make it through the school year without financial aid, many will not be able to continue with school if they do not get their financial aid offer in time.

    Jonathan Ramirez is supposed to start his first year at Victor Valley College in a few weeks but has not yet received his financial aid letter. 

    “I’m kind of worried because, you know, I don’t really have that much money, and I kind of want that money because I want to keep going to college and get a career and stuff. Without (financial aid) I don’t think I’ll be able to,” Ramirez said.

    If he doesn’t receive his financial aid and has to drop out of school, Ramirez said he plans on going to a trade school or start working to save up money.

    With the decline of completed FAFSA forms across the state, Ashish Vaidya, president and CEO of Growing Inland Achievement, is concerned that fewer students will be able to attend college. Through Aug. 2, 49% or 298,026 members of the Class of 2024 completed an application. That’s 30, 550 fewer than 2023.

    Vaidya described this year’s rollout of the FAFSA as having “a catastrophic impact on the students, especially in the Inland Empire,” referring to a feared drop in the number of students who would attend college.

    Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) is a nonprofit organization working toward education and economic equity in the Inland Empire, which is made up of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. GIA supports students through the financial aid process with workshops, step-by-step guides and digital resources to help students be successful.

    “This is an all-hands-on-deck sort of approach,” Vaidya said. 

    Other organizations, such as uAspire, a nonprofit that focuses on supporting students with the financial aid process, work with students directly with free one-on-one advice and financial aid workshops. 

    Valdovinos took advantage of the workshops and tutorials provided by her school, though she found the one-on-one attention the most helpful because it was so personalized.

    “(The tutorials) gave a nice guideline of what was going on, but I think because me and my brother’s and my sister’s applications were different, it was very frustrating because it didn’t really have all of our personal situations accounted for,” she said.

    Valdovinos said she hopes next year’s application will include “more detailed and accessible explanations for each section of the FAFSA, including examples and FAQs of all the possible scenarios that may come up,” which she said would help reduce confusion. 

    Typically, as has been the process for decades, high school seniors and community college transfer students would begin completing the FAFSA in October to meet California’s March priority deadline for access to state aid like the Cal Grant. During that period, those students would submit applications to the colleges and universities that they’re seeking admission to, so they would have their offer letters by early spring. The traditional timing allowed financial aid offices to send details about grants, loans and scholarships to students around March and April, in time for them to make a decision on the college they plan to attend in the fall. 

    But this year’s repeated FAFSA disruptions means colleges haven’t been able to send out aid awards, either because students have had trouble applying, the department has miscalculated some students’ aid, or colleges haven’t received any aid information from the department. Each award letter sent by colleges to their admitted students that complete a financial aid application is customized with a combination of federal, state and institutional grants, loans and scholarships.

    On Aug. 7, the Department of Education announced that the 2024-25 FAFSA will once again be delayed as the Federal Student Aid office works to identify and correct problems in the form. The new form will have a phased rollout, opening on Oct. 1 for testing, then launching on Dec. 1 with full functionality, “including submission and back-end processing at the same time.”

    “When they roll out the new FAFSA for the following year, you know, it will be a much improved process if you don’t have the glitches and the hiccups that we faced this past year,” Vaidya said. “So we’re hopeful about that; however, we’re not going to rest on our laurels.”

    GIA plans to amp up efforts this coming year to reach more students and get out the message that “college is for everyone.”

    U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona promised changes for next year’s FAFSA.

    “Following a challenging 2024-25 FAFSA cycle, the Department listened carefully to the input of students, families, and higher education institutions, made substantial changes to leadership and operations at Federal Student Aid, and is taking a new approach this year that will significantly improve the FAFSA experience,” he said.

    Ashley Bolter, a recent graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is a member of EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps.





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  • State bailout for California school districts comes with long strings attached

    State bailout for California school districts comes with long strings attached


    Credit: Andrew Reed/EdSource

    Top Takeaways
    •  Plumas Unified in northeast California, with an enrollment of about 2,000 students, will be the first district in over a dozen years to seek a state bailout.  
    • California’s system of financial oversight of school districts has mostly worked, having kept all but nine of them from seeking a state bailout loan to avert insolvency.  
    • The key to keeping school districts from financial disaster has been close oversight by county offices of education and monitoring by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team. 

    Plumas Unified, a small school district in the Sierra Nevada in far northeast California, is on track to become the first district in over a dozen years to join nine others that have had to get a bailout loan from the state to avert bankruptcy.

    In the last week of April, its school board voted to request an emergency state loan of up to $20 million, explaining that it has “exhausted all of its sources of alternative liquidity and any external sources of short-term cash.”

    The district joins a select group of districts that no one wants to belong to.    

    A state bailout is accompanied by rigorous state and county oversight, loss of local control, extra expenses in paying off the loan, and other conditions that last for years. 

    “Manage your finances because you don’t want this,” said James Morris, the administrator appointed to oversee Inglewood Unified in Los Angeles County, which has been in state receivership for 13 years. 

    Carl Cohn, a leading educator who was superintendent in Long Beach Unified and San Diego Unified, and a former member of the State Board of Education, says getting a state bailout is a fate to be avoided at all costs.  

    “It’s really important to maintain that sense of an empowered community through locally elected officials,” he said. 

    From the state’s perspective, “There’s no way the state is itching to get its hands on these districts either,” said Richard Whitmore, the first state-appointed administrator at Compton Unified after it got an emergency bailout loan in 1993.  

    “It’s bad for public education to have these districts fall into what is essentially bankruptcy,” said Whitmore. “It costs the state a ton of money to intervene and do all this work, which they are not well-prepared to execute, so they have to go into crisis mode when it happens.”

    On the face of it, however, it is remarkable that fewer than 10 school districts, out of close to a thousand in California, have had to submit to state receivership in return for getting a bailout. 

    It suggests that the state’s system of oversight is mostly working as planned.   

    Districts Placed Under State Receivership

    West Contra Costa Unified, 1990* 
    Loan amount: $28.5 million.
    Low-income students:  63%**

    Coachella Valley Unified, 1992
    Loan amount: $7.3 million. 
    Low-income students:  92.4%

    Compton Unified, 1995  
    Loan amount: $19.9 million  
    Low-income students: 93% 

    Emery Unified, 2001
    Loan amount $1.3 million.  
    Low-income students: 52% 

    Oakland Unified, 2003 
    Loan amount: $100 million  
    Low-income students:  80%

    West Fresno Elementary:  2003***
    Loan amount: $1.3 million 
    Low-income students: 86%

    South Monterey County Joint Union High, 2009
    Loan Amount: $13 million 

    Low-income students:  85%

    Vallejo City Unified 2004
    Loan amount: $60 million 
    Low-income students: 85% 

    Inglewood Unified, 2012
    Loan amount: $29 million  
    Low-income students:  87 pct. 

    *Date refers to the year the loan was awarded.

    **Low-income refers to the percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced price meals.

    ***District merged with Washington Unified; low-income figure is for Washington Unified. 

    That system came into existence in response to West Contra Costa Unified’s insolvency in 1990, when it became the first district to get a bailout from the state. 

    Assembly Bill 1200 in 1991 decreed that, as a condition of receiving a loan, the state superintendent of public instruction must appoint an administrator to oversee the district. Under 2018 legislation (AB 1840), it is now the county superintendent of schools who appoints the administrator. 

    The 1991 legislation also established an independent fiscal oversight agency, the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, or FCMAT (universally pronounced “Fickmat” in education circles).

    One reason only a small number of districts have had to turn to the state for a bailout has been the effectiveness of FCMAT, and the stability of its leadership. Since its founding, it has had only two CEOs, Joel Montero and Michael Fine, its current leader. Both are highly regarded in education circles. 

    Another factor is that school districts must submit their budgets to county superintendents for review at least three times during the year, known as the first and second interim budgets, and the final budget, which must be approved by July 1. 

    “They’re the early warning system,” said Karen Stapf Walters, executive director of California County Superintendents, referring to the school superintendents in all 58 counties. “When they see a district going south, they jump in with body and soul and give a district whatever it needs to get back on track.” 

    Fine said FCMAT’s role is to steer school boards to the point that they ultimately sit down and do what they need to do when they need to do it.”

    But getting out of receivership is an arduous process. Districts have to meet over 150 standards set by FCMAT, in areas such as financial management, pupil achievement, personnel and facilities management, governance and community relations. 

    Even after it meets those standards, and the administrator leaves, the district is likely to be paying off its loan still. The county superintendent then appoints a trustee with fewer powers than the administrator, but who can still veto financial decisions made by the elected school board until the last loan payment is made.  

    Many school leaders say the funds and years that districts spent paying off a loan could have supported current education programs. “The children sitting in classrooms in Inglewood today are paying for mistakes made, many of them before they were even born, by folks who are not here any longer,” said Inglewood’s Morris. 

    In West Contra Costa’s case, it took 21 years to pay off its bailout loan of $28.5 million, plus $19 million in interest and fees. 

    When the district paid its final installment in 2012, then-board member Madeline Kronenberg called it “Independence Day” for the district. But she regretted that years of loan payments meant “thousands and thousands of children were unable to get what other districts provide.”

    And yet, enduring years of state receivership doesn’t necessarily translate into a district’s long-term financial health. 

    Just the opposite. Of the nine school districts that have been through state receivership — all serving mostly low-income students — at least five are still experiencing severe financial difficulties.  

    Coachella Valley Unified, which got a bailout loan in 1992, is cutting hundreds of jobs as it tries to close a $6 million shortfall. Inglewood Unified is about to close five schools, including its storied Morningside High School. 

    In what should be cause for celebration in Vallejo and Oakland, both will pay off their state loans next month and regain full control of their districts for the first time in 20 years. 

    But both districts still face major financial challenges. Vallejo City Unified, dealing with a budget shortfall of $36 million, is on the verge of closing two schools. Oakland is similarly struggling, with considerations of another insolvency not yet off the table.   

    West Contra Costa, whose budget just received a “positive certification” from the county office of education, is still operating with a structural deficit and will rely on reserves to get through the next two years. 

    At times, the underlying conditions that got districts into trouble persist, such as declining enrollments and the absence of strong fiscal leadership by subsequent school boards or superintendents. Too often, the lessons learned from earlier financial meltdowns are forgotten or ignored. 

    One district that has turned around is Compton Unified, which, under the leadership of Superintendent Darin Brawley, has made significant improvements not only on the academic front but also in achieving financial stability. 

    Brawley said he only calculates his budgets based on funds actually in district coffers, not on funds it is slated to receive. In addition, he made cuts gradually over the years as conditions warranted, and did not wait until the district was in crisis.   

    He says district officials are too often “conflict-averse,” and “rather than make the tough choices, and what may be the right decisions to remain fiscally stable, they will oftentimes not make decisions, and then the problem balloons into a much bigger issue.” 

    Now it’s Plumas Unified’s turn to cede control to the state. In late April, facing an $8 million deficit on its $42 million budget, Plumas Unified’s board called a special meeting to request a state bailout loan. 

    The district covers 2,600 square miles, a vast area in the Sierra Nevada, providing schooling for about 2,000 students with few other options. 

    How did it escape the oversight system that has, over the past dozen years, kept every other district but nine from having to turn to the state to bail them out? 

    “Plumas unfortunately came up on the radar too late for us to help them,” said FCMAT’s Fine. One reason, he said, is because “I don’t think they were being 100% honest about their numbers.”

    For example, the district awarded staff a 14% pay increase, without having a viable way to calculate its costs, he said. “Without reliable numbers, it is difficult to know the condition of a district and thus to get in early enough to assist.”

    Editor’s note: Richard Whitmore is a member of the EdSource board of directors.

    Next Week: Inglewood Unified’s unfinished journey to get out of state receivership





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  • The rise of microschools: A wake-up call for public education

    The rise of microschools: A wake-up call for public education


    Superintendent Michael Matsuda speaks with students in a technology classroom in Anaheim Union High School District.

    Courtesy: Anaheim Union High School District

    The demise of great corporations like Kodak, Sears and others serves as a stark reminder of the perils of failing to innovate and evolve with consumer demands. Kodak famously ignored the rise of digital cameras despite inventing the technology itself. Similarly, Sears, once a retail giant, failed to adapt to the changing landscape of e-commerce. These cases highlight a common theme: success breeds complacency, whereby nimble competitors can quickly exploit new technologies and consumer trends. 

    Will public education, ensconced in outdated brick-and-mortar buildings and traditions, be next? 

    The pandemic forced schools to close but did not necessarily stifle learning. New models of teaching, such as neighborhood learning pods run informally by local parents, called “microschools,” were created. These microschools, many now monetized for profit, have grown exponentially, serving over 1.5 million K-12 students, mostly unregulated and taught by noncertified, noncertificated “teachers.”  The jury is still out on this new model, but, in the meantime, microschools are gaining momentum with parents who want more choices for their children.

    Arguably, the rise of microschools poses a significant threat to the traditional public school system, challenging its long-standing dominance in the American educational landscape. While California doesn’t specifically track homeschools or microschools, the number of private schools with fewer than five students has more than doubled to nearly 30,000 from prepandemic 2018-19 to 2023-24.

    Microschools, with their aggressive marketing to adapt quickly to the evolving needs of students and families, offer a “fresh” approach to education that starkly contrasts with the bureaucratic, often stagnant nature of public schools. As microschools grow in popularity, they expose the deep-rooted issues within the public education system, particularly its resistance to change and reliance on traditions tethered to a “teach to the test” culture making schools mostly unengaging and irrelevant to students’ lives. 

    According to a recent article in Politico, startup companies backed by investors like Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, act as the support system for teachers running microschools by handling issues like leasing classrooms, getting state approval and recruiting students. One such startup, Primer, recruits the “top 1 percent” of teachers and pays them 25% more than they would make on a school district salary. The company also offers teachers a revenue share for bringing in more students, treating them as “entrepreneurs.” It doesn’t currently operate in California, but is planning on expanding to more states. 

    Microschools, which typically serve small groups of students in personalized learning environments, have gained traction as families seek more flexible and tailored educational options. This flexibility is particularly appealing in an era when traditional education models are increasingly seen as one-size-fits-all, leaving many students either unchallenged or overwhelmed.

    One strength of microschools is their ability to innovate rapidly. Unlike public schools, which are often bogged down by layers of bureaucracy, microschools can implement new teaching methods, curricula and integrate technologies quickly. This agility allows them to meet the needs of students who may not thrive in a traditional classroom setting, such as those with learning disabilities, gifted students or children who simply learn better outside the confines of a traditional school day.

    However, without regulation or oversight, uninformed parents and students may be shortchanged in that classes are often not taught by well-prepared certificated teachers (who are more likely to be steeped in the science of learning and development) and schools may exclude students who do not “fit” into the model, thereby leading to more segregation and “otherness” — not a good outcome for society. Unfortunately, because of a lack of accountability, it is unknown whether microschools are meeting their student learning outcomes or preparing students for college and career readiness.

    In stark contrast to the nimble nature of microschools, public schools are often viewed as educational behemoths — large, slow-moving institutions that struggle to adapt to the changing needs of students and society. This inflexibility is rooted in the very structure of the public education system, which is designed to serve large numbers of students in a standardized manner, which is seen as outdated in a world that demands more personalized and flexible approaches to education.

    Furthermore, the bureaucratic and compliance-driven nature of public schools often stifles innovation. This makes it difficult for schools to implement new ideas or respond quickly to the needs of their students. In contrast, microschools, which are often run by small teams of educators or even parents, can make decisions quickly and adapt to new challenges as they arise.

    The growing popularity of microschools represents a significant threat to the traditional public school system. As more families opt for microschools, public schools may find themselves facing declining enrollment, which could lead to reduced funding and resources. This, in turn, could exacerbate the challenges that public schools already face, such as overcrowded classrooms, insufficient funding, and a lack of access to modern educational tools and technologies.

    Moreover, the growth of microschools highlights the shortcomings of public schools and puts pressure on them to reform. As parents and policymakers become increasingly aware of microschools, they may demand more flexibility, choice, and innovation from the public education system. 

    The threat posed by microschools is not just a challenge to the public education system, but also an opportunity for redesign and reform. If public schools are to remain relevant in the face of growing competition from microschools, they must find ways to become more flexible, innovative and responsive to the needs of their students. This may involve rethinking traditional methods of instruction, reducing bureaucratic obstacles, and placing a greater emphasis on personalized learning augmented by technology. 

    There are a number of obstacles to innovation. One is the difficulty in shifting from a traditional “seat based” instruction, tethered to the old Carnegie unit of attendance, to more “work-based” instruction to support internships, mastery grading and flexible scheduling. Another requires a mind shift beyond a top-down standardized test culture to teaching to the “whole child” with a focus on relevance and engagement. 

    As microschools continue to grow in popularity, public schools must either find ways to innovate and meet the demands of today’s students or risk becoming increasingly irrelevant in the rapidly evolving educational landscape.

    •••

    Michael Matsuda is superintendent of Anaheim Union High School District.

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





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

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


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

    Photo: Andrew Reed/EdSource

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    That response never came, the lawsuit says. 

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

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

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

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

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

    Unlawful practices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    ‘This year made staying very challenging’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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





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  • Head Start offers path to success for children, families

    Head Start offers path to success for children, families


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Program is more than child care

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Head Start serves children in deep poverty

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

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

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

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

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

    Parents are involved

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

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

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

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

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

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

    What could replace Head Start?

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

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

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

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

    California program meets local needs

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

    Map: Head Start programs across California

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

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

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

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

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





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