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Trauma, upheaval, fear: Students and families caught in the crosshairs of immigration enforcement
Teacher Laura Brown, second from right, speaks at a rally for Miguel Angel Lopez, alongside teacher Betsy Wilson, Lopez’s wife Rosa Lopez, and son-in-law Jimmy Silva.

Courtesy of Becca Esquivel Makris
Top Takeaways

Some schools across California report that parents — and sometimes students — have been detained by immigration officials.

Teachers and other school staff are stepping up to help families get the resources they need.

When a parent is detained or deported, students may become eligible for homeless services.
The day before final exams started at Granada High School in Livermore, special education teacher Laura Brown got word that a student’s father had been detained by immigration officers.

Brown didn’t hesitate. She immediately called the student’s mother, Rosa Lopez, and went over to her house that night. She had known the family for 12 years, ever since the oldest son had been her student. The youngest, who just finished his sophomore year in high school, stops by her classroom regularly just to say hi.

Together, Brown and Lopez wrote a message calling for help. Within hours, they had contacted their local congressional representative, mayor and local activists. Another teacher, Betsy Wilson, helped organize a rally to protest Miguel Angel Lopez’s detention. Days later, he was deported to Tijuana. As his wife travels to Mexico to help him, Brown and Wilson are still trying to support the family.

“That’s the call of a teacher,” Brown said. “Your students need you and that’s it.”

She would do the same for any student, she said.

“Right now, if a student has anyone in their family that has an unknown legal status, it would be really hard for us to expect that their brains are going to be capable of learning and taking in content when they’re in such a traumatized and fearful state,” Brown said.

SUPPORTING IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids ramp up across California, so have reports of students grappling with trauma, upheaval and fear after family members — and sometimes students themselves — are detained.

A fourth grader in Torrance and his father were sent to a detention center in Texas after an appointment with federal immigration officials on May 29. They were later deported to Honduras.

In San Francisco, at least 15 people, including four children, were detained by ICE at scheduled immigration check-ins on June 4, according to advocates. In May, a first grader in the district was deported with his mom to Nicaragua after attending an immigration appointment as part of their application for a visa.

“There was no chance for them to return home to get any of their belongings or to say goodbye,” said Maggie Furey, a social worker in the district. “The first grader left school Friday not knowing that they were never going to see their friends, teacher or community again.”

Furey said the child’s deportation hit his classmates and teachers hard.

“A lot of the adults were extremely distraught, and we saw heightened anxiety in our community because we have other families that have immigration appointments coming up and were really fearful,” Furey said. “The kids really missed the student, and you’re having to have really big conversations on a first-grade level with kids.”

She said the child’s teacher set up an international video call so his classmates could say goodbye.

We’ve had to call upon our therapists, our social workers at our school site to be able to have those heart-to-heart conversations with their students when they’re feeling anxious, stressed or very worried

Efrain Tovar

In Los Angeles, dozens of people have been detained by ICE in recent days, and raids on businesses near schools have sparked fears that immigration agents may target graduation ceremonies. A Los Angeles Unified School District high school sophomore was detained last week, alongside her mother and sibling. She has since been sent to a detention center in Texas.

The effects on students extend beyond the communities where the most publicized raids have occurred. Efrain Tovar, who teaches English language development to English learners and immigrant students at Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Selma, in the Central Valley, said he’s seen an increase in fear and uncertainty.

“We’ve had to call upon our therapists, our social workers at our school site to be able to have those heart-to-heart conversations with their students when they’re feeling anxious, stressed or very worried,” said Tovar. “It’s a reality that our students are facing, and students cannot learn when these types of events flare up in the classroom.”

He said, in addition, many immigrant students are unsure of where they will be next school year, which makes it hard for them to plan for high school or the future.

“There’s this feeling among the newcomers that ‘we don’t know if we’ll be back next year.’ As we end the school year, there’s a lot of what-ifs,” Tovar said.

Jesús Vedoya Rentería, who teaches English at Hanford West High School in the Central Valley, said in response to the fear among their peers, some of his students have decided to pass out “know-your-rights” cards outside Mexican markets or at the swap meet on weekends. He said it makes them feel more empowered.

“They were concerned a lot of raids were going on and said we owed it to our immigrant population to make sure they’re informed,” Vedoya Rentería said.

School staff are anxious to know what they can do to help students and families, said Ana Mendoza, director of education equity and senior staff attorney at ACLU of Southern California. She said the organization has worked with several school districts to provide presentations on students’ and families’ rights regarding immigration enforcement and training for school employees.

“Schools have the obligation to ensure families know that students have the right to attend California public schools,” Mendoza said.

Federal law gives all children the right to a free public education, regardless of immigration status. Under California law, school districts must notify parents and guardians of that right. The state attorney general recommends that schools also work with parents to create a plan for who should have custody of the child if parents are detained, and that school staff connect families with legal help or other resources.

A family separated

When Granada High School teachers stepped up to help Rosa Lopez, the mother in Livermore, it meant a lot, she said.

“If it wasn’t for them, I would [have] probably be[en] home with my arms crossed just waiting for Miguel or the lawyer to call,” said Lopez. “That really motivated me and hyped me up, because I was like, ‘OK, I got this and I know I can do this, and we’re going to bring Miguel home.’”

Lopez said her husband’s detention and deportation have deeply affected her kids, who are 24, 23 and 17 years old.

“We’ve never been apart from each other,” she said. “He is the one always making sure we’re OK.”

Miguel Angel Lopez (center) with his daughter Stephanie, wife Rosa and sons Julian and Angel. Credit: Courtesy of the family
Courtesy of Rosa Lopez

Her youngest son, Julian, had to take final exams the day after his dad’s detention, but it helped that his teachers knew what he was going through, she said.

“My oldest son, he doesn’t know how to express his emotion, but I can see the sadness in his face, and he said he feels like the house isn’t home because his dad’s not here,” she said.

The couple’s granddaughter, who is 3 years old, doesn’t understand why her grandfather isn’t home. “She grabs his picture and says, ‘I want to go with Papa,’” her name for her grandpa, Lopez said.

Lopez, who is a U.S. citizen, said she applied for her husband to become a permanent legal resident after getting married in 2001, but the government initially denied the application, and the couple has been battling that decision in court for years. She said her husband was originally taken to a detention center in McFarland, but early Saturday morning, he called her from Tijuana and told her he was left there by immigration authorities without his Mexican passport or his California driver’s license.

“I lost it when he told me,” Lopez said. “This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go.”

She immediately booked a flight to Mexico to bring her husband clothes and his birth certificate and help him complete paperwork to get a new Mexican passport. She plans to continue to fight the deportation in court.

Students may be eligible for McKinney-Vento resources

Mendoza, from the ACLU, said after a family member is detained, school staff should check if a student’s housing situation has changed, which could then make them eligible for services for homeless students, under the federal law known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

If a student’s parent or guardian is detained, they may have to live with a new family member, for example, or the loss of income of one parent may require a student’s family to move to a new home. In that case, students have the right to stay in the same school even if they have moved farther away, and they may need help with transportation to get to school, Mendoza said.

“Stability is really important,” said Mendoza. “But if they [school staff] don’t inquire about why an address has changed, they might miss that it’s a housing instability that would then trigger McKinney-Vento.”

School personnel at a school district in Ontario, outside of Los Angeles, said they were recently approached by a grandmother who was caring for her grandchildren and needed food and clothing for them. Only after inquiring about their living situation did the district learn that the children’s parents had been detained by ICE. Their particular situation qualified them for homeless assistance resources.

“I think there’s this hesitancy to talk about ‘what does this mean for our immigrant students?’ But I think it’s even more important now because we never know who students will feel comfortable sharing that information with,” said Karen Rice, a senior program manager at student-advocacy organization SchoolHouse Connection.

So many of our members want to know, what do I do in the event that ICE does get past the office and into the classrooms?

Yajaira Cuapio

At Coachella Valley Unified School District, an uptick in fear of immigration enforcement is contributing to homelessness among families. Karina Vega, a district support counselor, said immigration-related changes in students’ lives vary widely. Some parents have had to temporarily leave the country as part of the residency process; others have a deported parent, leaving the remaining parent struggling to make ends meet on their own; others are constantly moving to stay off the radar of immigration officials.

The information from the state attorney general about how to help immigrant students and families is not always getting to teachers, said Yajaira Cuapio, a social worker with the San Francisco Unified School District. She said the teachers union, United Educators of San Francisco, is asking the district to include training on sanctuary policies in the teachers’ contract.

“So many of our members want to know, what do I do in the event that ICE does get past the office and into the classrooms?” Cuapio said. “What are our rights? What do I do as an educator?”
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13/06/2025
Interactive Map: Most California high school students don’t take courses needed to apply to CSU or UC

This is a very important chart to raise awarement across schools, districts, and the state; however, I think it needs to be corrected that these are students who don’t pass these college-prep courses with a C or higher. It sends the wrong message to say that these “students don’t take courses needed to apply to CSU or UC” as I know that most students in many schools/districts do take these courses — they just … Read More

This is a very important chart to raise awarement across schools, districts, and the state; however, I think it needs to be corrected that these are students who don’t pass these college-prep courses with a C or higher. It sends the wrong message to say that these “students don’t take courses needed to apply to CSU or UC” as I know that most students in many schools/districts do take these courses — they just don’t get a passing grade, which is another systemic issue that needs to be tackled.

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13/06/2025
Students deserve to learn with a sense of purpose

Anaheim Union High School District student ambassadors in front of City Hall.

Credit: Jason Moon/Anaheim Union High School District

My 16-year-old son, Eli, came into my bedroom the other night to share a story that was upsetting him. He had been on the phone with Everett, one of his closest friends. They were talking about marketing strategies for Eli’s streetwear business. At some point, Eli paused and asked Everett, “What do you plan to do for a career in the future?” Everett replied, “I have no idea.” And then followed with, “Maybe I’ll just continue to work with my uncle.” Eli knew that was a fallback option, and not one driven by a sense of purpose or passion.

For Eli, a kid fortunate enough to inherently have a true sense of purpose and passion, Everett’s comments saddened him. The fact is, the vast majority of young people go through school without a sense of purpose. Our school system does not foster it. The majority of schools and districts remain compliance-focused and attend narrowly to the flawed set of outcomes represented by our state’s accountability system, like test scores, attendance rates, suspensions, etc.

Fortunately, there are exceptions. In California, we have many examples of innovative teachers, schools, and even entire districts that are fostering student purpose exceptionally well. The problem is, these examples sit as islands of excellence in a sea of mediocrity.

In Cajon Valley Union School District, their vision is “Happy kids, in healthy relationships, on a path to gainful employment.” The vision is unusual in two ways: First, it’s rare for a K-8 district to focus on employment, and second, it says nothing about academic achievement. Yet, it’s truly visionary because it makes a calculated assumption that, if kids find joy at school and in learning, if they feel a sense of belonging and trust from being in healthy relationships with peers and adults, and if they know themselves well enough to have a purpose and direction for their futures, then they will learn. The vision includes an understanding of psychology and treats students as humans, rather than as parts on an assembly line. Best of all, in Cajon Valley, from Superintendent David Miyashiro on down, they live their vision every day.

At the district’s Bostonia Global high school, students are in advisory with a known and trusted adult for a full eight hours per week, including time at the beginning and end of every day. There, they not only build strong and trusting relationships with their adviser and peers, but also have a forum for exploring their identities, working through social-emotional challenges, setting goals, pursuing their college and career interests, and making plans for the future. Their “classes” are more like workshops with extended periods of time to delve into projects based on their interests and/or in service to their school and community. They feel like learning is relevant and purposeful. For that reason, they show up.

Through their World of Work program, kids come to know their strengths, interests and values. Through their TEDxKids@ElCajon program, students have freedom to pursue and articulate their passion.

In Anaheim Union High School District, Superintendent Mike Matsuda and his team have developed the Career Preparedness Systems Framework that blends three driving forces: giving students voice and purpose; promoting a set of durable skills, called the “5Cs” — collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity and compassion; and teaching students technical skills needed to succeed in the world of work. Students see relevance in many ways. They participate in career pathways aligned to their interests. They pursue projects of personal value and in service to their community. In doing so, about 2,000 AUHSD students per year earn the state’s Seal of Civic Engagement.

In Porterville Unified School District, about 4 of 5 high school students opt to participate in one of 14 open-access “linked learning” pathways across multiple fields, including engineering, hospitality, law and justice, multimedia, environmental science, agriculture, business and finance, and health. Through these pathways, students pursue their interests by doing interdisciplinary projects, participating in internships, running student enterprises and connecting with industry mentors. One of the district’s partners, Climate Action Pathways for Schools, engages students in internships to support the district’s many grants to reduce greenhouse gases (HVAC systems, solar energy, electric buses and more).

It’s no surprise that all three districts are seeing tremendous results. While pursuing distinct approaches, all are organized to foster students’ curiosity, exploration and pathway interests. They honor students’ identities, cultures and languages. They nurture trusting relationships and a sense of belonging. And, they give students a voice in what they learn, a choice in how they learn and demonstrate their competency, and agency to take ownership over their learning journey.

In education, it’s unjust for some students to have access to learning opportunities like these, while others do not; our commitment to equity must be systemic. While some students, like my son Eli, will create their own path driven by their own sense of purpose, we should not assume that all young people have the inclination, capacity and support to do so. Until we shift to a system that is increasingly student-centered, equitable, and competency-based, too many students will lack purpose. In turn, that lack of purpose will continue to feed chronic absenteeism, flat test scores and other challenges that ail the education system.

Ultimately, as educators and society, we have become complicit — valuing what we measure, rather than measuring what we value. Let’s change that.

•••

Roman Stearns is the executive director of Scaling Student Success, a California partnership dedicated to educating the whole child.

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

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12/06/2025
Students showed resilience as schools recovered from L.A. fires
Pasadena Unified School District students return to school after the Eaton fire.

Credit: Mallika Seshadri / EdSource
Top Takeaways

Every student has dealt with different circumstances and is in a unique place academically and emotionally.

Hundreds of students have left LAUSD or Pasadena Unified due to the fires.

Teachers have made the best of the circumstances and have been able to get students back on track academically.
Several weeks after students returned to Canyon Charter Elementary School following the Los Angeles fires in January, a second grade student at the school cried as his teacher packed up an absent friend’s belongings.

“What are you doing with this stuff?” the student asked, his grief ongoing, and mounting.

Katje Davis said it was difficult to explain that his friend was displaced by the Palisades fire and had to move to another school.

“This loss was hard,” Davis said. “But … we’re good teachers here. And we’ve figured out how to put the kids first.”

The second grader was one of hundreds who left the Los Angeles Unified School District, which lost two elementary schools to the fires, and the Pasadena Unified School District, which encompasses Altadena, and was the hardest hit.

And as the academic year comes to an end, teachers, administrators and experts have stressed that schools in areas affected by fires have remained a key source of stability, despite campuswide adjustments to a new normal and the ongoing grief expressed by students, many of whom lost their homes, pets and communities. Five months after the fires, students were back on track, making progress academically and emotionally.

“Schools provide a sense of continuity and safety for children,” said Pedro Noguera, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of USC’s Rossier School of Education. “And, that’s why it’s so important to be in school.”

‘Nothing like Covid’: Returning to normalcy

Despite losing some schools to the fire, Los Angeles Unified and Pasadena Unified were relatively quick to bring students back and resume classes at their new locations. Many students returned by the end of January.

The schools that burned down were relocated to new campuses, so students could stay with the same campus community, classroom, classmates and teachers.

Parents at Canyon Charter Elementary were concerned about environmental risks, according to Davis, and many kept their kids home until the district completed a Soil and Indoor Air Dust Report in late March.

In the months following the Eaton and Palisades fires, students who lived in impacted communities dealt with different circumstances and missed varying amounts of instruction. Some initially seemed happy to be back with their teacher and classmates; others struggled emotionally.

“This is nothing like Covid — because at Covid times, everybody was in the same boat,” Davis said. Her school was in a unique position — they were the closest to the burn zone but did not perish. They also didn’t have running water until mid-March.

Wendy Connor, a veteran first grade teacher at Marquez Charter Elementary School, which did burn down in Palisades, said the initial days and weeks after they resumed in January at Nora Sterry Elementary were geared toward students’ emotional well-being.

Teachers started marking tardies in mid-February, she said, and she tried to cover only the essential parts of each lesson.

“We’re reading a story. We’re writing. We’re practicing spelling and writing sentences and things like that,” Connor said in an interview with EdSource in February. “But, we’re just not doing it for as long as we normally would. If there’s five questions for them to answer, maybe I’ll just have them do three.”

As the weeks rolled on and students started to settle into their new environments, Connor said she felt she had been able to steer her first graders back into a more normal school day.

By May, most of the kids at Marquez Charter Elementary had settled down and were happy at their new location, Connor told EdSource.

“There’s been some stories of a few different students from different classrooms whose parents wanted them to go to a different school … and the kids just refused to go. They wanted to stay at Marquez.”

The efforts at Pasadena Unified have yielded some surprising results, according to Julianne Reynoso, Pasadena Unified’s assistant superintendent of student wellness and support services.

Although 10,000 of the district’s 14,000 students were evacuated from the Eaton fire, the district’s diagnostic assessments show that the number of students performing at or above grade level in math and reading across elementary and middle school has increased between the August/September and March/April assessment periods.

Specifically, the number of elementary students who performed at mid- or above-grade level rose 15 percentage points in math and 14 percentage points in reading.

Among middle schoolers, math scores rose by 11 percentage points and 6 percentage points in reading.

An LAUSD spokesperson said in an email to EdSource that they do not have any data measuring the impacts of the Palisades fire on students at Palisades Charter Elementary and Marquez Charter Elementary.

A changing landscape

In the final weeks of the spring semester, the school day looked similar to what it was before the fires, with one notable exception. Connor’s class is a lot smaller. Only 12 of her 20 students came back, and she made the most of the smaller class size.

“When you have 20, you have to run around to like six different kids that need your help. When it’s only 12, it’s like two kids,” Connor said. “And then we end up with extra time in the afternoon, and we’re starting to do some more coding activities … [and] other enrichment-type activities.”

At least 89 students left Los Angeles Unified due to the fires, according to a district spokesperson, while Pasadena Unified lost roughly 420 students.

“We did have families that left us,” Reynoso said. Other families maintained long-distance commutes to keep their kids in the same district school. “But what’s interesting about it is that they said, ‘We’ll be back. This is just temporary for us,’ I hope that’s true.”

But the fires, coupled with fears around immigration enforcement, also led to an uptick in the district’s rate of chronic absenteeism.

At the same time, Reynoso said Los Angeles Unified unexpectedly gained 263 students. She speculates that this could be the result of a California executive order allowing students who were affected by the fires to attend schools in other districts.

But every fire is different.

According to Noguera from USC, many communities in Santa Rosa and Paradise that suffered losses after fires returned and rebuilt. However, he cautioned that a large-scale return of families might be less likely in Los Angeles.

“Not everybody who was there will come back or can afford to come back,” he said. “It’s a process that’s going to take time, and we will only know, with time, how it all comes together.”
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12/06/2025
Colleges overlook the potential of students who didn’t finish their degree, study says

Shasta College serves students in Shasta, Tehama and Trinity counties.

A new study detailing how California colleges often overlook the value of students who drop out explains what colleges can do to help these students, called “comebackers,” complete their degree successfully.

Instead of simplifying the return for these students, colleges often complicate the process and create obstacles, according to a report, “From Setback to Success: Meeting Comebacker Students Where They Are” by California Competes, a nonpartisan policy and research organization.

“If you didn’t make it, it’s your fault. If you want to come back, good luck to you,” said Su Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes, about the convoluted process that comebackers go through to re-enroll in college.

Based on interviews with over 50 students who returned to college and successfully completed their degree at Sacramento State and Shasta College, the report released on Feb. 5 identified factors that may impede a student’s attempt to return to college, including owing for overdue library books and parking, having to redo the entire enrollment process and being disqualified for financial aid because of poor grades from years prior.

More than 6 million Californians have attended college without ever receiving a degree, according to a 2021 report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Jez said that reaching out to these students is an equity issue because many comebackers are low-income people or people of color.

Overlooking these students has major implications, not just for students themselves but for the state’s economy, the report states. Students without a degree or certificate may not be able to make progress in the workplace, and in turn, employers won’t be able to find qualified workers. Jez said reaching these students can stimulate economic growth.

Jennifer Liberty, one of the co-researchers who helped design the study, is a comebacker herself; she is now working on a master’s degree in psychology.

Other reasons contributing to students dropping out of college are having to work, taking care of children or family members, as well as institutional barriers like a loss of financial aid or an inflexible schedule — all of which may make balancing school with other priorities a struggle.

Comebackers bring ‘so many skills’

The report urges colleges to offer more flexibility in classes, do more to encourage students to return and reframe how comebackers are viewed.

The conversation about students who stop attending college tends to be framed around their problems, said Buffy Tanner, director of innovation and special projects at Shasta College. They are discussed as students who lack recent academic experience, who have rusty math skills or have financial aid issues.

“The reality is they come to us with so many skills,” Tanner said during a webinar on the report.

People who stop coming to school typically have a lot of work experience that other kinds of students lack. They know how to work in groups and how to work for different bosses; they have professional experience; and sometimes professional development. These are all assets in college, Tanner said.

Many comebackers may give up their studies after their grades start to slip and they are put on what is often called “academic probation.” The report recommends using language that isn’t associated with criminality.

“‘Academic probation’ sounds like, ‘You are a criminal, and we are going to keep an eye on you,’” Jez said.

The report also recommends offering extra support to comebackers who struggle academically. Many of those who left on academic probation said that they were not offered help and that the term itself made them feel like they weren’t cut out for college.

Tanner said focusing on the needs of students who return to college after stopping has benefits for the broader population of students because they would also benefit from more flexible class schedules, such as classes that are offered outside the traditional workday.

Restructured academic calendars could also benefit other kinds of students. The report recommends offering shorter, more frequent classes, such as an eight-week intensive program, in contrast to a longer 16-week program, or a fall or spring term. This makes it easier for students to fit classes into their schedule and gives them more opportunities to jump into college.

Enrollment at California’s community colleges has not fully rebounded from the pandemic, Jez noted. This pool of students with some college experience but no degree or certificate is potent as the state faces its big goals around issues such as climate change and housing.

“We can’t meet our goals,” Jez said, “unless we allow marginalized people to access and complete college degrees.”

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12/06/2025
Let’s make STEM opportunity achievable, not illusory, for California community college students

A student uses a drill press to work on an engineering project.

Credit: Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages

The design of California’s higher education system has been influential for its twin goals of high-quality undergraduate education and broad access to college. Though our public universities are renowned for their research prowess, the focal point for access has been our extensive network of community colleges — now comprising 116 — offering students first- and second-year courses with the opportunity to transfer and earn a four-year degree at a university.

But for students seeking to transfer in STEM fields, that opportunity borders on illusory: While 16% of community college students nationally complete a bachelor’s degree, only 2% earn a degree in a STEM field. Misaligned math policies play a role in unnecessarily narrowing that path. Absent a coordinated statewide approach, that is unlikely to change.

It’s not just that a student seeking to transfer in, say, computer science has to take three to six semesters of math, depending on the transfer destination. Before even taking those courses, many community college students must first complete two or three math prerequisites. And, because the actual requirements may vary from campus to campus, some have to take extra courses to ensure they are eligible for junior status at more than one university.

To make matters worse, there are inconsistencies in whether four-year campuses articulate — or recognize — a given community college course. Plus, the tools available to students to navigate their options tend to be clunky and outdated. Some students have been forced to enroll at a different college to repeat an already completed math course when one of their prospective transfer campuses doesn’t accept the first college’s course.

This maze of inconsistent and opaque math requirements is among the barriers to STEM transfer identified in our recent report, “A Complex Equation: Confronting Math Barriers on the Path to STEM Transfer.” Because these barriers are often out of students’ control, it is up to institutions to fix them. But, under current state policies, the state’s higher ed systems have little apparent incentive to alleviate them and increase transfer access to some of the state’s most popular STEM majors.

In fact, it appears that at some campuses, it is not a priority to admit even those students who do clear the math hurdles and other STEM requirements, according to the California State Auditor. The education code requires universities to provide “adequate” space for transfer students — generally interpreted as meaning at least one-third of upper-division enrollments — in all “colleges or schools.” But some high-demand majors at some campuses are balanced heavily against transfer students.

In biology, for example, for academic years 2018-19 through 2022-23, only 14% of Cal State LA’s juniors and seniors were transfer students, with Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo enrolling just 12% and UC Santa Barbara 14%, the auditor found. UC Berkeley’s transfer enrollment in two highly ranked departments was even lower: 11% of enrollments in computer science and 9% in environmental science are transfer students. Many of these campuses appear to be turning away eligible students, the auditor found: For example, in 2022, Berkeley denied 95 transfer computer science applicants whose preparation was considered “best prepared” or “strongly prepared.”

Added oversight is currently the only mechanism for shifting such patterns. A legislated pilot program requires UC campuses, beginning with UCLA, to create paths to STEM transfer. But UCLA chose to focus the program on relatively low-enrollment majors — atmospheric sciences, geology, math, and environmental science — not popular ones such as biology, computer science or engineering that are already at capacity.

Barriers in articulation also prevent community college students from benefiting from pioneering instructional approaches. Take, for example, a redesigned math sequence at UCLA. The new course, which has been offered to UCLA undergraduates since 2013, covers some traditional calculus topics in the context of modeling dynamical biological systems. Students taking the innovative course earned “significantly” higher grades in subsequent STEM courses than students who took the traditional course, and their interest in the topic doubled.

The two-course sequence is the primary math requirement for UCLA’s biology undergrads. But community colleges have not been able to offer the course. Since it is not available within the CSU system or at other UC campuses, if a community college were to offer it, only students who successfully transfer to UCLA could apply it toward a life sciences degree. UCLA allows students to transfer with a traditional calculus course, but this means that transfer students are deprived of the benefits of the modernized curriculum.

Both UC and CSU can take steps to better prioritize transfer students in high-demand STEM majors, as the auditor recommends. But to set and achieve statewide goals for transfer participation and completion — including STEM-specific goals — and improve success for historically underrepresented groups requires a greater degree of coordination across all three higher education systems.

One step toward achieving that is establishing a coordinating body in line with a proposal currently circulating in Sacramento. Another is ensuring that students have up-to-date, accurate and actionable information about transfer and course articulation through modernized transfer planning tools. A third is supporting innovation in STEM education through the California Education Learning Lab.

These would be minor investments toward ensuring more efficient, transparent, and evidence-based use not only of the billions of dollars our state invests in education, but also of another precious resource: our students’ time.

•••

Pamela Burdman, Alexis Robin Hale, and Jenn BeVard work for Just Equations, a policy institute dedicated to enhancing the role of math in education equity.

The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the authors. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.

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11/06/2025
What California college students think about online classes

“I don’t really like asynchronous or online classes. Yes, it’s convenient for me, but it’s not convenient for my learning,” Chase said. “It’s not conducive to any learning.”

Chase is currently taking a statistics class asynchronously with recorded lectures from Zoom and optional lab sections with a graduate student instructor. He feels these lab sections are helpful, but ultimately wished that his statistics lectures could also be in-person.

Chase doesn’t seek out online classes because he feels the opportunity to ask his professor questions is lost. He said although online lectures have benefits, including being able to rewind, edit and speed up lectures, he ultimately feels that interaction with classmates during lectures is more valuable for his learning.

“Sometimes a few things might slip that I can’t hear the teacher saying that I can’t get back, but I’m willing to sacrifice like a sentence or two for just a general overall interaction,” Chase said.

Despite the downsides of asynchronous learning, Chase does enjoy completing homework and exams online because he feels less pressure and is more comfortable. The flexibility in completing assignments on his own time and in a place of preference is an aspect of online class that Chase appreciates.

Ultimately, he doesn’t prefer online classes because he learns best in an in-person environment. Chase expressed the value in talking to and collaborating with a variety of classmates on problems.

“I get better understanding, especially when I’m mixing with my peers to ask for help. When everyone is separated, there’s no creativity, there’s no new ideas,” Chase said. “When everyone’s together mingling, that’s the spark of new ideas, new creations.”

By Kelcie Lee

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11/06/2025
Increasing access can raise number of California students eligible for 4-year colleges, panel says

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhH3-SDb0Io

California high schools can increase the number of students completing college prep courses if they raise awareness and support student success, according to panelists at EdSource’s roundtable, Keeping options open: Why most students aren’t eligible to apply to California’s public universities .

Throughout the discussion on Tuesday, the panelists explored why a majority of high school students fail to complete A-G requirements — courses they need to qualify for admission to the University of California or California State University systems — and offered ways that schools can help change that.

“I think we have a responsibility to raise the expectations and then lean in to making sure that we have the support in place for students to be successful in those expectations,” said Sherrie Reed Bennett, executive director of the California Education Lab at the UC Davis School of Education.

Panelists agreed that the more options students have, the better their situation after graduation and that increasing access to college prep courses is crucial.

Michael R. McCormick, superintendent of Val Verde Unified, said that awareness should start well before students enter high school and that schools should create a college and career culture with events such as College Days or elementary school lessons on A-G courses.

But beyond awareness, high school students are not getting the support they need to complete the A-G coursework, and parents and students, who often know little or nothing about these requirements, are left to figure it out on their own, panelists said.

“To expect people to go out and figure it out on their own is really difficult,” Delilah Brumer, a student at Los Angeles Pierce College, said about high school students not having the resources to learn about A-G requirements.

Some schools also struggle with offering the A-G coursework or doing so in a way that supports students. In 2018-19, 2.5% of schools offered no A-G courses, and another 6% only offered some A-G courses.

Although Brumer met her A-G requirements at a Los Angeles Unified school, she said the process was stressful and confusing. Her Career Technical Education courses often conflicted with her A-G courses, and she could only take some courses online.

Taking A-G and CTE courses shouldn’t be a matter of “either or,” Reed said, adding that districts should work to prevent those conflicts. For example, Val Verde Unified offered 42 career pathways and ensured that every course within each pathway was also A–G approved, according to Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) research in which Reed co-authored and cited during the roundtable.

Whether college or career, the A-G courses are important for all students, no matter what their plans are after high school, panelists said.

Systemic changes needed

Students planning to attend UC or CSU must complete the college preparatory courses known as A-G requirements — 15 courses in seven areas that overlap with the requirements for a high school diploma but are more rigorous.

More than half, 56%, of high school seniors failed to meet these requirements in 2023, meaning they were ineligible to apply to a California public university and may struggle at a community college.

Research indicates that enrollment and completion rates on A-G courses vary across student groups and schools. In 2023, 68% of Black students and 64% of Latino students did not meet A-G requirements, compared with 26% of Asian students and 48% of white students, according to EdSource’s analysis. The highest non-completion group was foster students at 88%, followed by disabled students at 85% and English learners at 82%.

It’s a multifaceted problem that requires systemic changes at a district, and possibly, statewide level, panelists said.

Aleka Jackson-Jarrell, program coordinator for the Heritage program at Victor Valley Union High School District, said schools must evaluate support through an equity lens because there are systemic barriers keeping African American and Latino students from qualifying for four-year universities.

With just 6% of Black students graduating with A-G courses at Adelanto High, Victor Valley started Heritage, an equity program that helps place students in A-G courses. The program also educates families about college applications, financial aid and housing, spearheading school and districtwide changes, such as career advisers helping all students with UC and CSU applications.

“So many system changes needed to be made in order for all of our students, not just the African American students, to benefit,” Jackson-Jarrell said. “So a lot of things have changed because of this one equity program; they’re mirroring and changing the systems.”

PACE research found that at the school or district level, routine data analysis, such as comprehensive A-G course audits, can also help inform school and course-level changes to support students with meeting the requirements.

McCormick suggested that a default enrollment process in the A-G courses would guarantee all students have access and the opportunity to reach their dreams.

“If we can, through a policy solution or the stroke of the governor’s pen, decide that we need to teach cursive writing, why can we not do some sort of a policy solution for A-G?” he said. “It seems like a viable path is there.”

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10/06/2025
LAUSD’s 100 priority schools target district’s highest-need students
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho interacting with a student.

Credit: LAUSD

This story has been updated to remove demographic data, which the CDE has reported may not be accurate.

Shortly after Alberto Carvalho became superintendent of LAUSD two years ago, he created a 100-day plan and named the district’s top 100 priority schools.

At the time, neither Carvalho nor district staff publicly identified the schools. However, LAUSD has continuously maintained that the schools are some of the district’s lowest-performing campuses in all measures, and that they would serve as the focal point of various district initiatives, such as decisions on adding additional instructional days to help students recover from pandemic learning loss and the new policy precluding charter schools from sharing their campuses.

LAUSD’s 100 priority schools, which is being made public for the first time because EdSource sought it, were selected based on considerations about what schools had the greatest need to improve in areas such as attendance rates, performance on the state Smarter Balanced Assessment and interim assessments, rates of completion of college-required courses (known as A-G), and proportion of students who are English learners, a district spokesperson said in a statement to EdSource this month.

The district also ensures that the principals of these priority schools participate in special programs where they can identify and express their schools’ special needs in academics, facilities or human resources.

The principals then receive an immediate response from support personnel with the goal of rapidly accelerating student achievement, the district spokesperson said.

EdSource does not have accurate demographic data for the 100 Priority Schools or the district because California Department of Education’s DataQuest website has noted inaccurate reporting from LAUSD.

Schools on the LAUSD priority list
107th Street Elementary School

109th Street Elementary School

112th Street Elementary School

28th Street Elementary

42nd Street Elementary School

49th Street Elementary School

52nd Street Elementary School

54th Street Elementary

59th Street Elementary

75th Street Elementary

93rd Street Elementary

95th Street Elementary

Alta Loma Elementary School

Dr Maya Angelou Community Senior High

Aragon Avenue Elementary

Audubon Middle School

Bancroft Middle School

Bethune Middle School

Blythe Street Elementary School

Tom Bradley Global Awareness Magnet

Budlong Avenue Elementary School

Bushnell Way Elementary School

Camellia Avenue Elementary

George Washington Carver Middle School

Century Park Elementary School

Cesar Chavez Elementary School

Cimarron Avenue Elementary

Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School

Coliseum Street Elementary

Columbus Avenue Elementary

Compton Ave Elementary School

Contreras Learning Center-School of Social Justice

Crenshaw High School STEMM Magnet

Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High

Charles Drew Middle School

Mervyn M. Dymally High School

Thomas Alva Edison Middle School

Lovelia P Flournoy Elementary

John C. Fremont Senior High

Gage Middle School

Samuel Gompers Middle School

Grape Street Elementary

Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School

Haddon Avenue Elementary

Harmony Elementary School

Harrison Street Elementary

Bret Harte Preparatory Middle School

Augustus F. Hawkins High School

Hillcrest Drive Elementary

Hillside Elementary

Holmes Avenue Elementary

Hooper Avenue Elementary

Thomas Jefferson Senior High

Dr James Edward Jones Primary Center

Jordan High School

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary

La Salle Avenue Elementary

Gerald A. Lawson Academy of the Arts, Mathematics and Science

Limerick Avenue Elementary

Los Angeles Academy Middle School

John W. Mack Elementary

Charles Maclay Middle School

Main Street Elementary

Manhattan Place Elementary

Mann UCLA Community School

Manual Arts Senior High School

Marina Del Rey Middle School

Edwin Markham Middle School

McKinley Avenue Elementary

Miramonte Elementary

John Muir Middle School

Murchison Street Elementary

Napa Street Elementary

Nevin Avenue Elementary

Normandie Avenue Elementary

Northridge Middle School

Norwood Street Elementary School

Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy

Panorama High School

Rosa Parks Learning Center

Pio Pico Middle School

Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte Elementary

Leo Politi Elementary School

Ramona Elementary

Sally Ride Elementary: A SMArT Academy

Carlos Santana Arts Academy

Francisco Sepulveda Middle School

Sheridan St Elementary School

Hilda L Solis Learning Academy

Southeast Middle School

Trinity Street Elementary

Valerio Street Elementary School

Van Nuys Middle School

George Washington Preparatory Senior High

Lenicia B Weemes Elementary

West Athens Elementary

Western Avenue T.E.C.H. Magnet

Charles White Elementary School

Woodcrest Elementary

YES Academy
Enrollment numbers at LAUSD’s priority schools

LAUSD’s overall enrollment, excluding charter schools, is 533,495. Based on census day enrollment data from the 2022-23 academic year, 53,959 students attend the district’s priority schools.

Of the 100 priority schools, there are 12 high schools, 20 middle schools and 63 elementary schools. Two are listed as K-12 schools, while three are alternative schools of choice.

Chronic absenteeism rates

The schools sustained a chronic absenteeism rate of 38.2% in the 2022-23 academic year, meaning that 38.2% of students missed at least 10% of school.

LAUSD on the whole, however, sustained a 32.8% rate of chronic absenteeism.

Performance on state assessments

Just over 23% of students attending priority schools have met or exceeded English standards, while 16.12% have met or exceeded math standards.

By comparison, across the district, 41.17% of students met or exceeded state standards in English, according to Smarter Balanced test results, while 30.5% met or exceeded state standards in math.

High school graduation rates

During the 2022-23 academic year, LAUSD sustained a graduation rate of 90.4, while, on average, nearly 80.74% of students enrolled at Priority high schools graduated.

Rate of A-G requirements completion

Across LAUSD, 43.8% of students in the 2022-23 academic year did not complete the A-G requirements and were thus ineligible for admission to the California State University and University of California systems.

At the priority schools, however, 69.18% graduates did not complete their A-G requirements.

Yuxuan Xie, EdSource data visualization specialist, contributed data analysis to this report.
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10/06/2025
Richmond students organize walkout to fight school budget cuts
Kennedy High School students rally against budget cuts proposed by the West Contra Costa Unified School District board on March 11.

Credit: Jorge González
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Students at Kennedy High School in Richmond mobilized on Instagram to protest West Contra Costa Unified’s financial decisions.

Students said that cuts proposed by their school board would threaten Pathways programs and class schedules.

The students aim to continue fighting against budget cuts they believe would have a negative impact on their education and future careers.
On March 11, Josue Enamorado stood in the teachers’ parking lot of Kennedy High School. He was nervous for many reasons, but he knew he was in the right place, among a sea of fellow students, their families and Richmond community members.

They had one common goal: to stop the district from gutting the Pathways programs at Kennedy High School, which are essential in protecting the students’ futures.

The West Contra Costa Unified School District announced its proposed plans to cut 177 staffing positions in February. This was the latest move by the district to cut $32.7 million in costs by 2027.

The district reduced the number of layoffs to eight, but Kennedy High students had more to fear than losing a handful of beloved teachers with these major budget cuts. They’d lose what makes their school special, according to Enamorado.

“Some of our teachers told us they may not return next year, and they mentioned that [the budget cuts] might cut away some of our classes,” says Enamorado, a sophomore. “And, to be honest, at Kennedy, we barely have anything, so hearing that, we knew we had to organize something and see what we could do.”

Enamorado and other leadership students from Kennedy High used social media to mobilize other students and members of the Richmond community to fight cuts that would decimate important programs. The teenagers organized a major walkout using Instagram, expert planning skills and sheer willpower.

“I believe that they have every right to protest against something that they believe is unjust, so I’m going to absolutely support them in executing their rights,” says Jackelyn Avendaño, the ethnic studies teacher and leadership adviser at Kennedy High School.

Enamorado, co-president of Kennedy High’s leadership class, was part of the group of students who organized and promoted the walkout, which was staged by students to protest the district’s proposed budget cuts.

These students were no strangers to protest. Since Donald Trump assumed office as president, the leadership class has organized several events geared toward social justice, learning your rights, and protesting the administration’s actions, including the increase in ICE raids in a city with a large Latino population.

Unfortunately, the narrative in the district, and in the area, is that our school is the bad one.

Jackelyn Avendaño

Sometimes they used class time to plan these events, Avendaño said. Other times, they organized on their own time. Many of these national issues are relevant to Kennedy students. And, as leaders of their community, they do their best to inform fellow students with the information they need to stay safe.

But this was different. This time, the issue felt personal. There’s a widespread feeling among Kennedy High students that they are deprived of many opportunities other schools in the district get, like more substantial elective offerings. Avendaño said this feeling of being given less than other schools is nothing new.

“Unfortunately, the narrative in the district, and in the area, is that our school is the bad one,” she says. “Our students were like, ‘there’s no way you are going to take this away from us when we already feel that we get the bare minimum at Kennedy High School.’”

Kennedy has three Pathways programs — Career Technical Education, Information Technology, and Health and Medical — that aim to prepare students for professional and academic careers once they graduate. With the proposed budget cuts, these programs were at risk. Additionally, the school would have gone from an eight-bell schedule to a six-bell schedule, meaning students would spend more time in fewer classes. With only six classes, they would not have the opportunity to explore electives and expand their schedules beyond the foundational courses.

For students like Enamorado, this walkout was a no-brainer. They would not let these cuts happen and made their dissent known. Leadership students took to Instagram.

They wanted their reach to go beyond the student body at Kennedy because they thought this was an issue that affected everyone. So the students held an emergency meeting, which was announced via Instagram, and they started to discuss how they’d try to prevent these budget cuts.

Finally, they landed on a plan — leadership students would organize a walkout, protesting the district’s proposed budget cuts and the effects they would have on their school. They announced it on Instagram on March 6, the day of their emergency meeting.

It was the first of nine posts about the walkout, with informational graphics about senior prom and the spring carnival peppered throughout. The mix between promoting a normal high school life and urging their community to fight for social justice mimics the dynamics of the student body of Kennedy High, Avendaño says.

“When we were kids, we weren’t as in tune with how the district was managing their funds,” she says. “It’s very special working at Kennedy High School because just working with the kids is a counternarrative to what people say about kids from Richmond.”

Whenever she mentions her job, Avendaño says she’s usually met with groans and apologies that she has to be at Kennedy High, adding that the perception of what her students are like couldn’t be further from the truth. Her 43 students are leaders with a vision for the future, she says.

At Kennedy High, 98% of the student body identifies as part of a minority group, and 65% are reportedly economically disadvantaged, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Kennedy High ranks as the lowest of seven high schools in the district, tied with Richmond High School, according to U.S. News & World Report. Being predominantly Latino from low-income families comes with a lot of false stereotypes, according to Avendaño.

“They take agency, and they’re very strong-minded and grounded, and I think that sets them apart,” says Avendaño, who also grew up in Richmond. “We have these kids who are leaders because of their lived experiences. Some of them have to grow up very quickly, so they’ve matured at different levels, or they’ve had to learn how to advocate for themselves.”

Avendaño admits that a part of her was afraid while planning for the walkout, for herself and her students.

“So I think every time there has been a demonstration, it’s definitely been in the back of my head that, OK, there could be some form of retaliation that can be directed at me from the district.”

She didn’t let that deter her, though. She said the students are very independent with their planning, and she stood by their decision to stage this walkout and supported them fully.

“It was never an option of whether or not I’m going to support them and stand by them, because it just aligns with who I am, and I believe that these students deserve to keep those Pathways and keep their teachers,” she said. “And so even though I was scared at times, at the same time I was at peace.”

The students persisted, despite interim Superintendent Kim Moses urging students to stay in class to avoid danger from crossing streets and unexcused absences.

I feel like the district should know by now that we’re still going to fight no matter what.

Josue Enamorado

Enamorado was the only sophomore at the walkout, which made him nervous. Still, he committed to the walkout for the betterment of the school, which his mother also attended.

Following the walkout, the district reduced the number of proposed layoff notices to one.

It’s unclear if the layoff reductions were a direct result of the students’ walkout. Still, Enamorado considers the walkout to be a success. For him and his fellow leadership students, this is just the start, though.

“I feel like the district should know by now that we’re still going to fight no matter what,” Enamorado said. “If [budget cuts] were to happen again next year, we will continue to fight.”
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10/06/2025