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  • Cellphone bans don’t solve the real problem — addictive social media

    Cellphone bans don’t solve the real problem — addictive social media


    Courtesy: Ednovate Charter School

    Recently, Instagram unveiled new policies designed to address what we all see: teenagers suffering the adverse effects of addictive social media apps. The new policies include making teen accounts private by default, stopping notifications at night, and including more adult supervision tools for parents. 

    While this is a first step, as school leaders and parents, we know the addiction is bigger than just Instagram. This is a larger reflective moment for us as educators, parents and caretakers of tomorrow’s leaders. We must go beyond platform-by-platform fixes.

    I’ve been an educator for more than 20 years. Now, as a school leader of seven high schools in Southern California, reaching nearly 3,000 students from historically underserved communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, I see the impact that technology has had on our teenagers, and how captivating social media and gaming apps have become. It has taken a long time to teach myself the self-regulation skills to manage social media and more, and I am in my 40s. Now imagine trying to learn it at 13, unaware of all the tools working to hook us.

    Jonathan Haidt, author of the book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” argues that girls who “spend five or more hours each weekday on social media are three times as likely to be depressed as those who report no social media time.”

    It is overwhelming for parents, teachers or anyone who cares about the future leaders of our communities.

    Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like every week another school district or state was announcing a sweeping cellphone ban, but no one was asking a critical question: Are America’s youth hooked on phones, or are they addicted to the social media and gaming apps that have become central to their social lives and to staying informed? How do we break the spell that these companies have cast over teenage minds?

    Cellphones themselves aren’t the problem. Notice that we don’t need to ban the Calculator, Camera app, Google search, or many other tools, because those tools don’t have the intentional captivating pull of direct messaging, new posts or endless scrolling.

    It seems to me that social media apps and games that are optimized for long-term addiction should be banned or significantly altered before banning cellphones, which are ultimately a great learning and communication tool. Cellphones can promote the development of a student’s necessary sense of independence. 

    This calls for collective action. We must work together and continue listening to our teachers, acknowledging the challenges and burden that cellphones present in the classroom for them. But the first step should be to tackle what is distracting students on their cellphones before banning the phone outright. Maybe our time as educators is better spent pushing for balanced policies that protect our kids rather than working tirelessly to police our kids and their phones. Instead of focusing on cellphone use or hoping for each platform to announce their individual fixes, school leaders from across the nation need to come together and demand answers from social media and addictive gaming companies. Instagram is the first company to make a move, but the rest of these companies are actively recruiting users as young as 13 years old with minimal verification, and watching these cellphone bans from a comfortable distance. Surely, educators and social media apps can partner to create an innovative solution to the real problem.

    As school leaders, we should call on social media companies and gaming companies to meet with us, to come up with practical solutions to the addictive technologies they have created.

    •••

    Oliver Sicat is the CEO of Ednovate, a network of free, public charter high schools in Los Angeles and Orange County. Ednovate primarily serves first-generation college-bound students from underrepresented and underserved communities.

    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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  • Thom Hartmann: Trump and the Death of Our Ideals

    Thom Hartmann: Trump and the Death of Our Ideals


    Thom Hartmann sums up what Trump is: a malignant narcissist intent on destroying every shred of our democracy and our ideals. we knew from his first term that he was a liar and a fraud. Yet here he is, acting with even more rage, vengeance, and destruction than before.

    Let us not forget that Trump is enabled by the Republican Party. By their slim majorities in Congress. They have meekly watched as he terminated departments and agencies authorized by Congress. They have quietly given the power of the purse to Trump and Musk. They have watched as he turned himself into an emperor and made them useless. They could stop him. But they haven and they won’t.

    He writes:

    The Trump administration just gutted Meals on Wheels.

    Seriously. Meals on Wheels!

    Donald Trump didn’t just “disrupt” America; he detonated it. Like a political Chernobyl, he poisoned the very soil of our democratic republic, leaving behind a toxic cloud of cruelty, corruption, and chaos that will radiate through generations if we don’t contain it now.

    He didn’t merely bring darkness; he cultivated it. He made it fashionable. He turned cruelty into currency and made ignorance a political virtue.

    This man, a grotesque cocktail of malignant narcissism and petty vengeance, ripped the mask off American decency and showed the world our ugliest face. He caged children. Caged. Children. He laughed off their cries while his ghoulish acolytes used “Where are the children?” as a punchline for their next QAnon rally.

    He welcomed white supremacists with winks and dog whistles, calling them “very fine people,” while spitting venom at Black athletes who dared kneel in peaceful protest.

    He invited fascism to dinner and served it on gold-plated Trump steaks. He made lying the lingua franca of the right, burning truth to the ground like a carnival barker selling snake oil from a flaming soapbox.

    And let’s not forget the blood on his hands: 1,193,165 dead from COVID by the time he left office, 400,000 of them unnecessarily, dismissed as nothing more than “a flu,” while he admitted — on tape — that he knew it was airborne and knew it was lethal. His apathy was homicidal, his incompetence catastrophic.

    He tried to overthrow a fair election. He summoned a violent mob. He watched them beat cops with American flags and screamed “Fight like hell!” while cowering in the White House, delighting in the destruction like Nero fiddling as Rome burned.

    And now, like some grotesque twist on historical fascism, Trump’s regime is quietly disappearing even legal U.S. residents — snatched off the streets by ICE and dumped into El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison, a dystopian nightmare of concrete and cruelty.

    One such man, Kilmar Ábrego García, had legal status and a home in Maryland. But Trump’s agents defied a federal court order and deported him anyway, vanishing him into a foreign hellhole so brutal it defies comprehension.

    This isn’t policy: it’s a purge. A test run for authoritarian exile. And if Trump’s not stopped by Congress, the courts, or We The People in the streets, it won’t end there.

    But somehow, he’s still here, waddling across the political stage like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man of authoritarianism, bloated with power, empty of soul, and reeking of spray tan and sulfur.

    Donald Trump didn’t just bring darkness: he’s a goddamn black hole, a gravity-well of cruelty sucking the light out of everything he touches.
    This is a man who desecrates everything good.
    Empathy? He mocks it. Truth? He slanders it. Democracy? He’d bulldoze it for a golf course.
    And if we let him continue, he won’t just end democracy — he’ll make damn sure it never rises again.

    So the question is: are we awake yet?

    Or will we let this orange-faced death-cult leader finish the job he started, grinning over the corpse of the America we once believed in?

    Now is not the time to kneel: it’s the time to rise. Stay loud, stay vigilant, and show up. Every protest, every march, every call to DC, every raised voice chips away at the darkness.

    Democracy isn’t a spectator sport: it’s a fight, and we damn well better show up for it.



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  • Transitional kindergarten can’t expand without the right kind of classrooms

    Transitional kindergarten can’t expand without the right kind of classrooms


    Credit: Sarah Tully/EdSource

    This is the fourth in a series of stories on the challenges impacting California’s efforts to offer high-quality instruction to all 4-year-olds by 2025.

    Transitional kindergarten for all 4-year-olds has been touted as a way to boost declining enrollment and offer universal preschool. One major roadblock: Some districts just don’t have the space.

    Some districts do not have room to accommodate additional transitional kindergarten, or TK, classes at all schools. Others, especially those in less affluent areas, lack the resources to add toilets and playground equipment made for 4-year-olds. A lack of state funding makes the problem worse.

    “We’re going to see inequitable outcomes as a result of the inequitable access to appropriate facilities for transitional kindergarten,” said Jessica Sawko, education director at Children Now, an advocacy organization. “The state needs to continue to invest in the facilities that it has asked school districts to create.”

    Some districts, such as Oakland Unified, are losing potential TK students because they don’t have space at all schools. Some elementary schools in Oakland don’t have any TK classrooms, and many have only one. As a result, some children end up on waitlists for their preferred school, and families are opting to wait until kindergarten to enroll their children.

    Oakland district spokesperson John Sasaki acknowledged in an email that “there is a general capacity issue as we build out TK-appropriate classroom spaces,” noting that demand also varies between schools.

    “School A may have 100 applications for 24 seats and school B may have 15 applications for 24 seats. Those families for school A may not go to school B because it’s far away, etc. and so it’s less that we weren’t able to accommodate, and more about family choice and preference,” Sasaki wrote.

    Emily Privot McNamara applied for her 4-year-old son to attend transitional kindergarten in Oakland as soon as the district opened enrollment in 2023.

    She was hoping for her son to attend his neighborhood school, Montclair Elementary, less than a two-minute drive from their house. Her neighbors told her getting into Montclair for kindergarten was easy for their children, since the district gives priority to students who live in the neighborhood.

    But getting into TK there was different. Montclair has far fewer TK classrooms than kindergarten classrooms; in 2023-24 the school enrolled 28 students in TK, compared to 90 in kindergarten. McNamara’s son didn’t get into Montclair or Thornhill Elementary, another nearby school. Instead, the district offered him a seat at Emerson Elementary, more than 3 miles from their house and a 10-minute drive each way.

    The McNamaras considered sending their son to Emerson for TK and then moving him to Montclair for kindergarten, but felt that would be too many transitions.

    “We’d had several years of shifts and changes. We wanted to start consistency. The idea was once we got into TK, we could stay there a number of years,” McNamara said.

    So the McNamaras declined the spot at Emerson and kept their son in private preschool, paying $1,900 a month for tuition. They stayed on the waitlist for Montclair but were never admitted. 

    McNamara’s son is one of 143 children who applied to transitional kindergarten in Oakland Unified in 2023-24 but ultimately chose not to enroll, according to Sasaki. That number is equivalent to about 12% of the district’s total transitional kindergarten enrollment that year.

    TK enrollment has been lower than expected statewide. According to the California Department of Education, 151,491 students were enrolled in TK in the 2023-24 school year, far below projections. The Learning Policy Institute had estimated that between 159,500 and 199,400 would enroll.

    A lot of districts, on paper, they’re under-enrolled. However, the devil’s in the details. … Is there potential extra space where it’s actually needed? And what’s the condition and quality of those spaces?”

    Jeff Vincent, Center for Cities+Schools

    Oakland Unified and Alum Rock Unified in San Jose are both trying to use empty space creatively, revamping previously closed elementary school campuses and converting them into early childhood centers to serve both TK and younger students in preschool. Oakland gives priority at this center and another early childhood center to students who come from neighborhoods with schools that don’t have a single transitional kindergarten classroom. Yet the situation in Oakland, where some schools are under-enrolled, while others have waitlists, shows that expanding TK is more complicated than simply filling empty classrooms with 4-year-olds, said Jeff Vincent, who co-directs the Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley and has done extensive research on school facilities.

    “A lot of districts, on paper, they’re under-enrolled,” said Vincent. “However, the devil’s in the details on that, right? Is there potential extra space where it’s actually needed? And what’s the condition and quality of those spaces, and what would it take to turn them into TK-appropriate classrooms?”

    A problem statewide

    According to a February 2023 Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) budget brief, 25% of districts said they did not have adequate classroom space to meet projected transitional kindergarten enrollment. Similarly, a survey conducted by the California Department of Education and analyzed by the Learning Policy Institute found that 18% of school districts did not have enough classroom space for transitional kindergarten expansion, and more than a third cited facilities as the biggest challenge.

    That report found that school districts will need 946 additional classrooms to enroll all projected transitional kindergarten students in 2025-26. TK has been gradually expanding since 2022 to reach all the state’s 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year.

    One of the challenges for districts is the requirement for transitional kindergarten classrooms.

    State guidelines for TK and kindergarten classrooms are more stringent than for classrooms for older children. New classrooms must include bathrooms with toilets sized for young children, and be at least 1,350 square feet. Renovated classrooms must be at least 1,250 square feet. In contrast, classrooms for grades 1-12 must be at least 960 square feet.

    Victoria Wang, one of the authors of the report, said some districts told the Learning Policy Institute that the lack of classrooms has made it difficult to offer full-day TK and that they are instead offering half-day morning and afternoon TK sessions in the same classrooms, in order to accommodate more students. Parents who need a longer program to meet their child care needs are unlikely to enroll in half-day TK.

    Many districts cited not being able to provide bathrooms connected to classrooms as a challenge.

    “If they don’t have a bathroom that’s in the actual classroom space, a staff member will need to walk with the child to go to the bathroom,” Wang said. “That’s just an additional layer of challenge staffing-wise.”

    In San Juan Unified, near Sacramento, lack of classrooms “has been a concern,” said spokesperson Raj Rai. In 2023-24, 16 of the district’s 28 transitional kindergarten classrooms had waitlists, and about 249 students who applied eventually declined to enroll in TK at the schools where they were assigned, she said. The district has been offering spots in state-subsidized preschool to some families on the waitlist.

    San Diego Unified and San Francisco Unified also had waitlists at some schools, but they would not share how many of the children who applied did not enroll.

    Some districts that wanted to expand to more 4-year-olds faster than the state’s phased timeline for TK expansion could not because of facilities constraints, Wang said. The state required schools to offer TK to all 4-year-olds who would turn 5 before April 2 in 2023-24, and to all 4-year-olds who would turn 5 before June 2 in 2024-25, but districts could enroll younger children if they had room and met stricter rules: a 1:10 adult-child ratio and a maximum class size of 20. 

    A spokesperson for Garden Grove Unified in Orange County said the district had to place 84 children who were younger than the TK birthday cutoff on a waitlist this year; 25 had been pulled from the list as of mid-September.

    Inequitable access to funding

    Districts are often forced to choose between renovating current classrooms, demolishing, then reconstructing new transitional kindergarten classrooms, or purchasing portables, said John Rodriguez, facilities planning director for Central Unified, a 16,000-student district in Fresno County. 

    “What do you do when there’s growth?” he said. “And where’s the money going to come from?”

    This year, overall facilities funding was cut by $500 million to address the budget shortfall, and funding set aside for transitional kindergarten facilities has run out. The state had provided $490 million in grants to construct or retrofit early education facilities, including for TK, in 2021-22 and $100 million in 2022-23, but that funding was “oversubscribed,” the LAO budget brief found. Additional promised funding of $550 million for TK facilities was first delayed to 2024-25, then to 2025-26, and ultimately was eliminated from the budget altogether.

    “It puts at risk the ability for school districts who do not currently have the right facilities to provide those proper learning environments,” Sawko, from Children Now, said.

    California voters will be able to vote in November on $40 billion in local construction bonds and on a $10 billion statewide bond to put toward facilities, but none of those funds would be exclusively for transitional kindergarten. Because districts are also struggling to meet facilities needs such as outdated or deteriorating buildings, TK may not take priority.

    The ability to build new classrooms or renovate old ones is often tied to a district’s property wealth, said Sara Hinkley, California program manager for the Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley.

    “The only way for districts to do real facility upgrades, like adding bathrooms and reconfiguring a number of classrooms, is by getting capital funding, which means going to their voters or tapping into an existing bond measure, and districts have really different capacities to do that,” said Hinkley. “If they have less property wealth, they just have less ability to tap their voters to pay for those kinds of things.”

    Julie Boesch, the administrator for small school district support in Kern County, said some of the county’s small districts don’t have the classrooms to serve transitional kindergartners at all sites, so they bus them all to one school, sometimes far from home. Other superintendents have said they may not offer transitional kindergarten at all, she said.

    She said one small school district north of Bakersfield is constructing a new building for transitional kindergarten but could not afford a new playground. Another district was approved for some state funding for a new TK building but had to put it off because it could not afford its portion. The district did not qualify for the state to pay the full share because its total assessed property value was just over the current $5 million limit. That limit for a district to qualify for full financial help would be increased to $15 million in assessed property value if voters pass Proposition 2, the state construction bond.

    “People are really struggling with figuring out what to do and having enough money when they do get funding,” Boesch said. “The frustrations are real.”

    Winters Joint Unified School District, a small district serving about 1,500 students in Yolo County in the Central Valley, had to divert funds planned for other facilities to meet the urgent demand for TK classroom space. According to Superintendent Rody Boonchouy, voters passed a bond measure in 2020 to address major maintenance issues, including adding a multipurpose room to an elementary school. But then, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to expand TK to all 4-year-olds.

    “It was a big, ‘Uh oh, what do we do?’ Everything came to a halt and everything shifted toward, ‘How do we ensure we have capacity for TK as it expands?’” Boonchouy said.

    After a long process that included a demographic study and analysis of all facilities needs, the district is using some of the bond money to build four transitional kindergarten classrooms in a dedicated wing of the elementary school, with its own playground. The district was also able to do some maintenance at other schools, but it no longer has funds for the planned multipurpose room.

    Without that bond money, the district wouldn’t be able to build new TK classrooms at all, a situation Boonchouy knows many other districts face.

    “Ideally, in a perfect world,” Boonchouy said, “that legislation (expanding transitional kindergarten) would have come with money to build facilities for it.”





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  • What schools should know about the liability insurance crisis in foster care

    What schools should know about the liability insurance crisis in foster care


    Koinonia Family Services is one of the foster family agencies that received a letter of nonrenewal. Their policy expires in 2025.

    Credit: Ourpromiseca/Instagram

    A seismic disruption of the foster system is underway in California, with no clear solution in sight for the 9,000 school-aged children whose lives and schooling may be severely impacted.

    Most foster family agencies in California either lost liability insurance coverage on Sept. 30 or will lose it once their current policies end after their insurer pulled out of the market.

    “A blanket non-renewal would cause a collapse of the California foster family system,” the company, Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California, acknowledged recently.

    The agencies cannot remain open without liability insurance, and few companies offer the required coverage for the agencies, which manage thousands of foster families caring for roughly 9,000 foster children statewide.

    Some agencies that managed to acquire coverage in recent weeks complained that the premiums are exponentially higher than what they paid previously.

    The insurance crisis currently affects only the foster families managed through the state’s more than 200 agencies, not those managed by their local counties. The impact may be far-reaching, however, especially if counties have to take on a significant number of foster families from agencies.

    Families are screened and certified to foster in two ways: directly by their local counties or through private nonprofits that counties contract with called foster family agencies.

    No matter how a foster care family obtains its certification, it must retain insurance to protect against potential liabilities.

    As agencies decide on their next steps, advocates say educators should keep in mind that some of their students might be part of the foster youth at risk of being displaced from their homes.

    This guide explains how the crisis occurred, what it means for foster youth, and what school staff can consider as it unfolds.

    What do foster family agencies do?

    Agencies are known for providing 24/7 support to foster families, which can include, but is not limited to:

    • Training foster families to advocate for children’s educational rights, such as establishing individualized education plans
    • Facilitating reunification visits between the foster youth and their biological family
    • Providing tutoring services
    • Providing transportation to and from extracurricular activities that the foster parent might not be able to work into their schedule
    • Supporting foster families as they become mentors for biological parents reunified with their child

    Families fostering through agencies often expect to receive a higher degree of support than a county might be able to offer.

    Why is this happening?
    Nonprofit Insurance Alliance of California previously insured 90% of foster family agencies in California, but they issued letters of nonrenewal to all of those agencies in late August.

    The company said foster family agencies are “uninsurable” because they are “being set up as scapegoats” and “held accountable for the wrongful acts of others beyond their scope of control” in cases where children are harmed.

    The nonrenewal letters came less than a year after a jury awarded $24.8 million in December to three siblings who were sexually abused in a foster home certified by a Northern California foster family agency that failed to complete many of the required screenings and assessments prior to placing children in the home.

    The nonprofit insurance alliance insured the agency and initially rejected multiple settlement offers from the three siblings. The insurer instead took the case to trial, where the jury awarded a settlement higher than the siblings’ initial offers.

    The non-renewal decision also came after recent legislation extended the statute of limitations for reporting child sexual assault and provided a three-year window for victims to sue in cases where the statute of limitations had expired. The changes also allowed for damages to be tripled in certain cases.

    Who is impacted by the insurance challenge?

    The challenge affects foster youth and families whose lives are in limbo as their agencies confront the issue, agencies that are ending services in the face of sudden increased insurance costs, counties that might be managing greater caseloads amid their own staff shortages as foster families potentially transfer under their care, and the people whose jobs might be on the line if foster cases are transferred from agencies.

    Roughly 9,000 youth out of over 41,000 total foster youth in California live with families overseen by agencies.

    They are some of the highest-needs children and teens within the foster system, said Christine Stoner-Mertz, CEO of California Alliance of Child and Family Services, which represents foster family agencies. Many are medically fragile, identify as LGBTQ+, are older and sometimes have other teenage siblings, or they have significant behavioral challenges.

    The families who foster them are burdened with uncertainty as they figure out if their agency will remain open and if their foster children will remain in their homes.

    Counties are verifying the scope of the problem, at times transferring families into the county foster system to avoid displacing children. They are checking in with local agencies to ascertain if they received a notice of non-renewal and how long their policies are in effect, said Eileen Cubanski, interim executive director of County Welfare Directors Association of California.

    But counties are rife with problems as it is, with shortages of staff and foster homes.

    Tiffany Sickler, executive director of a foster family agency called Koinonia Family Services, received a notice of non-renewal, but their policy doesn’t expire until next year.

    Even so, some of her agency’s families have transferred to counties, believing that is their only option for keeping their foster children at home.

    Agencies sustain themselves by taking on foster cases; losing a foster family leads to a reduction in revenue and caseloads. If this continues, Sickler said it could ultimately lead to staff layoffs.

    What happens to foster youth?

    Many children’s lives are expected to be disrupted, particularly those whose agencies are shuttering or losing coverage before they can transfer families to counties or another agency.

    In those cases, foster youth might be moved to placements far from their schools of origin, requiring them to transfer and lose connections they may have developed at school.

    Some may be moved to placements that allow them to remain at their school of origin, but advocates say the disruption in their home lives is likely to impact their education.

    “If you’re worried about where you’re going to sleep, how well do you show up? Even if you’re physically present, how well do you show up to learn in the classroom?” said Cubanski. “It’s those added traumas and stressors, I think, that really play a significant role in the educational trajectory of these youth.”

    Some agencies whose insurance policies ended Sept. 30 got coverage with other companies. In such cases, foster youth remain in their current homes with no disruptions. But agencies are reporting increased premiums anywhere between 30% to 400% from their previous coverage.

    “Many (agencies) are saying, ‘We don’t know exactly how we’re going to get the money, but we’re going to do this at least for a year’ in hopes that maybe there’s a broader solution that gets put in place to keep kids and families stable,” said Stoner-Mertz. “At this moment, that’s the best case scenario because people are concerned about kids’ stability on a very broad level, and certainly education is a component of that.”

    Advocates are hopeful that some relief might come their way via the state. The state’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, issued a notice in August “encouraging all property and casualty insurance companies licensed or doing business in California” to offer the coverage that agencies need, but it remains unclear how many companies have heeded the call.

    “What we need is the state to really step in to really stabilize the market,” said Stoner-Mertz, who said her organization is discussing solutions with the Department of Social Services and the Department of Insurance.

    What should educators know?

    Advocates say educators and school staff are likely unaware that foster youth may be displaced due to the insurance crisis. They suggest checking in with youth and their foster families to better understand what might be happening with their placements.

    On a larger scale, advocates are looking to build a coalition to focus on the insurance issues — and they are hoping that schools will join.

    That’s because “schools are facing this exact same problem” of insurers seeking to exit their market due to increased settlements related to child sexual abuse cases, according to Stoner-Mertz and Adrienne Shilton, vice president of public policy and strategy at the California Alliance of Child and Family Services.

    “It’s a huge issue far beyond these very niche organizations,” Stoner-Mertz said.

    The starting point would be to ensure children are not hurt, she added. If they are hurt, they should have their day in court.

    In that process, Stoner-Mertz said the challenge for a coalition would be: “How do we ensure that they’re getting their needs met and that there are systems that are not destroyed in the process that they also need?” she asked.

    Can families transfer to their local county or another agency?

    They can, but one challenge with transferring to counties is that the families certified through agencies are accustomed to a higher level of support, said Shilton.

    Additionally, agencies can work with families who live across the state, making transfers more complex than they may initially appear.

    Stoner-Mertz provided the following example: Some families have foster children from different counties. If that family transferred from an agency to a county, “then how does that get sorted out in terms of what county takes on that placement?”

    Advocates also have significant concerns about counties’ capacity to take on a currently undetermined number of youth and families.

    “It’s a big lift for some counties. … We’ve certainly heard from LA that they are not equipped to take on the number of families that could potentially end up having to be transferred,” Stoner-Mertz said.

    Advocates say staffing shortages play a role in that diminished capacity, but often, there is also a difference in philosophy.

    County child welfare programs are “very child-only focused” and agencies are family-focused, said Sickler, meaning that counties often provide services solely for children, while agencies often provide services for the entire foster family.

    “You can’t just leave the foster families kind of out in the wind and just offer services and programs to the kids that are in their home,” said Sickler, whose agency works with families across 11 California counties. “You have to support the family — I mean, if you want a successful outcome anyway.”

    Families can also transfer between agencies, a process recently streamlined by legislation.

    Assembly Bill 2496 was initially championed by the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California. Its original text included provisions that limited the insurer’s liability, which advocates said deteriorated victims’ rights to sue.

    The bill’s text was amended at the eleventh hour, removing the provisions and instead streamlining the transfer of families between agencies by removing administrative burdens.

    The company responded to the amended bill by announcing the non-renewals and stating that “foster family agencies are being set up as scapegoats” in claims of child abuse.

    They also announced they will immediately terminate coverage, rather than non-renew, of agencies that take families from an agency utilizing the new streamlined process.

    The bill will “substantially increase the risk to California FFAs and the children they serve,” the company wrote in the announcement, stating that the bill allows for “transfers with a less-rigorous vetting process.”

    The announcement threw a wrench into an already complex series of events, advocates said. “Frankly, what has been the bigger burden has been the insurer itself,” said Cubanski.

    “They’ve asserted that the bill makes those families riskier, makes the children less safe,” she continued. “I cannot vehemently enough object to that characterization. It really is about trying to streamline some of the administrative paperwork burden — there is nothing different about the risk or the level of safety of these families.”

    A previous version of the story incorrectly noted that the non-renewal decision came after “recent judicial changes” and misquoted the insurance company regarding the agencies’ insurability. The story has been updated to reflect that the non-renewal decision came after recent legislation signed into law in 2019 and to correct the company’s statement on agencies being “uninsurable.”





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  • New York: Orthodox Jewish Schools Hope to Evade the Law and Collect Public Money

    New York: Orthodox Jewish Schools Hope to Evade the Law and Collect Public Money


    New York State law requires private and religious schools to offer an education that is substantially equivalent to what is offered at secular public schools. Some Orthodox Jewish schools refuse to comply. Repeated inspections have found that the recalcitrant Yeshivas do not teach English and do not teach math and science in English.

    Dr. Betty Rosa, an experienced educator and New York State Commissioner of Education, has insisted that Yeshivas comply with the law. She fears that their students are graduating from high school without the language skills required for higher education and the workplace.

    The Hasidim are a tight-knit group that often votes as a bloc to enhance their political power. They vote for whoever promises to support their interests. Both parties compete for their endorsement.

    Eliza Shapiro and Benjamin Oreskes reported the story in the New York Times:

    New York lawmakers are considering a measure that would dramatically weaken their oversight over religious schools, potentially a major victory for the state’s Hasidic Jewish community.

    The proposal, which could become part of a state budget deal, has raised profound concern among education experts, including the state education commissioner, Betty Rosa, who said in an interview that such changes amount to a “travesty” for children who attend religious schools that do not offer a basic secular education.

    “We would be truly compromising the future of these young people,” by weakening the law, Ms. Rosa said. “As the architect of education in this system, how could I possibly support that decision,” she added.

    Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced a $254 billion budget agreement but acknowledged many of the particulars are still being hashed out.

    Behind the scenes, a major sticking point appears to be whether the governor and the Legislature will agree to the changes on private school oversight, according to several people with direct knowledge of the negotiations, which may include a delay in any potential consequences for private schools that receive enormous sums of taxpayer dollars but sometimes flout state education law by not offering basic education in English or math.

    The state is also considering lowering the standards that a school would have to meet in order to demonstrate that it is following the law.

    Though the potential changes in state education law would technically apply to all private schools, they are chiefly relevant to Hasidic schools, which largely conduct religious lessons in Yiddish and Hebrew in their all-boys schools, known as yeshivas.

    The potential deal is the result of years of lobbying by Hasidic leaders and their political representatives…

    The Hasidic community has long seen government oversight of their schools as an existential threat, and it has emerged as their top political issue in recent years.

    It has taken on fresh urgency in recent months, as the state education department, led by Ms. Rosa, has moved for the first time to enforce the law, after years of deliberation and delay….

    There is little dispute, even among Hasidic leaders, that many yeshivas across the lower Hudson Valley and parts of Brooklyn are failing to provide an adequate secular education. Some religious leaders have boasted about their refusal to comply with the law and have barred families from having English books in their homes.

    Mayor Eric Adams’s administration, which has been closely aligned with the Hasidic community, found in 2023 that 18 Brooklyn yeshivas were not complying with state law, a finding that was backed up by state education officials.

    A 2022 New York Times investigation found that scores of all-boys yeshivas collected about $1 billion in government funding over a four-year period but failed to provide a basic education, and that teachers in some of the schools used corporal punishment.

    It is clear why Hasidic leaders, who are deeply skeptical of any government oversight, would want to weaken and delay consequences for the schools they help run.

    It is less obvious why elected officials would concede to those demands during this particular budget season. There is widespread speculation in Albany that Ms. Hochul, facing what may be a tough re-election fight next year, is hoping to curry favor from Hasidic officials, who could improve her chances with an endorsement….

    Hasidic voters are increasingly conservative and tend to favor Republicans in general election contests.…

    New York’s state education law related to private schools, which is known as the substantial equivalency law, has been on the books for more than a century.

    It was an obscure, uncontroversial rule up until a few years ago, when graduates of Hasidic yeshivas who said they were denied a basic education filed a complaint with the state, claiming that their education left them unprepared to navigate the secular world and find decent jobs.

     



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  • How to help kids and teens use the internet safely

    How to help kids and teens use the internet safely


    Two children use a laptop to go online.

    Credit: Mary Taylor / Pexels

    Not all screen time is created equal, and how kids spend it, whether creatively or passively, can make all the difference. 

    For instance, young children who watch a “Bluey” episode or play a memory game with their parents can build new cognitive and social-emotional skills early in their development. Also, teenagers can and have used their online networks to engage with social media-based mental health resources before they feel confident enough to reach out to a counselor or therapist.  

    But as children and adolescents have become increasingly isolated from their support systems at home and at school — exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic — they have become more vulnerable to threats such as cyberbullying and predatory behavior online. Kids’ first line of defense, ultimately, is an adult who has earned their trust and is able to guide them when necessary.

    According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, in 2022, 21.6% of students who were bullied said the bullying had happened online, a nearly 6 percentage-point jump from those reporting being bullied online in 2019. A 2021 survey by the National Crime Prevention Council found that only about a third of victims blocked their bully online, and only about a tenth told their parents about the incident.  

    New risks like AI-generated imagery and financial sexual extortion also contribute to the 87% increase in online child sexual abuse reports since 2019, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. As young children get online at earlier ages, preteens spend over half of their waking days on screens, and social media algorithms push harmful, addictive content to teen users, the threat of a dangerous interaction is often one unsolicited or derogatory message away. 

    Lawmakers and school administrators across the country are tackling online safety and well-being with policies such as banning cellphones in schools and restricting addictive algorithms on children and teenagers’ social media feeds. For Fareedah Shaheed, a children’s online safety expert, prevention and intervention start with the adults — parents, teachers and school counselors — interacting with kids on a daily basis.

    Children’s online safety expert and consultant Fareedah Shaheed.

    “I see the real change in those interpersonal relationships between (educators) and parents, people exchanging information they can use to start talking to (each other),” Shaheed told school administrators, counselors, teachers and advocates at a student wellness conference. “I believe the biggest impact is on the ground.” 

    EdSource interviewed Shaheed about her experiences and how adults can help keep young people safe online. Her remarks have been edited for length and clarity. 

    What can students learn about online safety from your early internet experiences? 

    When I was 13, I got my first smartphone. I started playing mobile games and talking to strangers online. I had a near miss with an online predator. I was (planning on) meeting someone at 16, when he was 40 years old. I was a very private teenager, and I kept my online life secret. So the only reason why I told my mom, ‘Hey, I’m just going to meet this guy that I met at an online game in the park,’ was because I was her only child, and I felt like it was the mature thing to tell her where I was going. But I wasn’t asking her for permission because she would’ve said no. 

    She knew that this was really serious if I was telling her this, because she knew I was a very private person. But she didn’t ask to look into my phone. And instead of her taking away my phone, getting upset with me, she just wanted to know, ‘Who’s this person? What’s his name? Why did you connect? Why do you like him? Why do you want to meet?’ And that changed my entire life because she came to me as an experienced friend, and I decided I did not want to go. That conversation saved me. From those experiences being groomed online and talking to strangers as a kid, I went into cybersecurity and threat intelligence, and I started doing workshops with organizations to raise awareness and then create some actionable impact on internet safety for kids.

    What concerns about online safety do you hear from parents, educators and school counselors?

    I hear a lot of stories about cyberbullying, kids talking to strangers online, being addicted to social media and making comparisons (online.) The hardest stories to hear are when parents lose their children. They lose their child through suicide, or they lose their child’s (trust) to someone targeting them. I heard from one parent that her son, who was groomed as a (child), was now grooming another child. The mental turmoil that she went through as a parent completely took her out. She came back from that, and told me her son is in therapy now (unpacking) his own history of abuse. She’s looking back at her life and retracing her steps as a parent, thinking, “What the hell did I do wrong?” 

    I advise parents to prioritize safe spaces, accountability, fun and empathy to protect kids online. We also have discussions over time about mental health resources and helping kids create a community around a shared problem, such as an after-school program for kids experiencing bullying. Many school counselors can also have a closer relationship with the student only because there is that degree of separation of, “You’re not my parent, and you’re not trying to control my life.” In certain circumstances, counselors have an easier time becoming the experienced friend role. 

    How have these threats, such as cyberbullying, grooming and sextortion, changed since you first used the internet?

    We would always tell kids, “Don’t share pictures of yourself with other people, especially strangers,” right? Now you have AI (artificial intelligence). We’re at a point where it doesn’t matter if you don’t share (photos), someone can create something that looks real. I didn’t grow up with that. That’s a whole different ballgame. So I believe we have to act like everyone has been in this situation — anyone can experience extortion — and have mental health (resources) for those who are experiencing or experience this at some point. 

    New developments like AI can often feel inaccessible to parents and educators. How can adults protect kids if they don’t entirely understand the threat in the first place?

    You don’t have to know more than your kids to protect them. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to protect them. You don’t have to know all the new slang to protect your kids, because what predators want are parents staying in the darkness. When you’re thinking about sextortion, AI, cyberbullying, predatory behavior, inappropriate content, screen time, all of these things rely on one domino effect. If you research the predatory handbook for targeting kids on Roblox or Minecraft, they’re not saying, “We want parents who don’t understand technology or the newest thing.” They’re saying, “We want parents who don’t know what their kids are going through emotionally.” They want parents who themselves struggle with mental illness, lack support or resources and feel isolated. That’s why the resources that will help protect kids are also support for parents — financial, self-care, mental health. That’s what matters more than parents knowing the latest thing. 

    Can school cellphone bans help protect kids online?

    I believe there’s a better way to do it. Schools are trying to introduce something new to solve a huge problem, and I do believe that it’s necessary, but I don’t believe “ban” is the best term. I think “policy” is the best term. I believe schools have to have the students be part of the decision, otherwise it’s going to create a lot of friction. If the students are part of the decision, you understand how students are using the cellphone and how they can use it in a way that’s according to the policy and what’s best for them. 

    Many students don’t approach school counselors about their online problems, and many might not recognize that online interaction could be unsafe or outside the norm. In that case, how can schools better identify the issue and intervene?

    Schools can help by giving them the tools to solve a problem that they don’t see, because the adults are not in control of what happens. Counselors can provide educational programs about mental health resources, talking through online scenarios and explaining the tools (students) can use to deal with a situation so that they can, one, identify it for themselves, and then two, know how to self-regulate. They can slowly work themselves out of the situation, whether it’s removing themselves from the relationship, blocking somebody, reporting somebody — no one has to know. Sometimes you can remove yourself from a situation and not have to talk to somebody about it. There should be resources for them when they need to talk about it and provide that support, but it’s also about making it normal to have those conversations in school, letting them hear different stories from other people, teaching them red flags and how to identify their own discomfort. 

    Can online threats present differently, especially for students in marginalized communities? 

    [A 2022 survey found that Black teens are about twice as likely as Hispanic or white teenagers to say they were targeted online for their race. Teenagers who identify as part of the LGBTQ community also face more harassment online related to their identities, including hateful language or sexual victimization, and have been found to be more susceptible to cyberbullying.]

    Whether it was being a Black gamer girl online or posting on social media as a Black girl, I spent my entire childhood being bullied for being Black and for being the only Black girl in classes a lot of the time. It’s harder for kids from these backgrounds to have the tools and support systems to deal with the (bullying). So if there are other minority or underrepresented communities, they can also have that community at school. I’ve seen schools that have groups like Black Gamer Girl clubs — these five students that meet every Thursday after school, for example — that are really helpful for their mental health and for them to feel safe online. Schools can also have classes that serve them, in particular by giving them tools to deal with bullying, having conversations about what they see online if they’re creating content, how they make sense of someone saying something horrible about them, and then how to walk through that and emotionally regulate. 

    Teenagers also seek emotional support and information about their identities online. How can they identify the line between dangerous interactions and ones that might feel new and uncertain — and a little uncomfortable for parents — but might also help them feel more secure in themselves?

    [For example, transgender and queer students often find acceptance in online communities known to reduce reports of depression and suicidal thoughts in LGBTQ youth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many reported being stuck at home with unsupportive parents, flocking to online communities for acceptance.] 

    It’s so much better for your child to be involved in communities that you may be uncomfortable with when you’re there to support them, even in your discomfort, than for your child to go behind your back and not tell you and get a burner phone. Most of the time, the community that your child is connecting with online is going to be OK, so long as they have your support and someone to talk to. It becomes dangerous when the parent or caretaker can’t be involved because the child thinks that they can’t share their experiences. 

    I loved anime. I loved cosplaying. I loved gaming. And the online world has a lot of communities that understand you, you feel safe and that you’re in a non-judgmental space. But then, when you go to school or are with your parents or friends who are outside that space, they might make you feel like you’re different or too much or too little or weird. The reason why I started talking to strangers wasn’t because I love talking to strangers, but because I didn’t feel accepted elsewhere. If you’re a teenager and you’re worried about your best friend speaking with older strangers online, for example, the best thing you can do is stay in their life in whatever capacity is safe for you. When something happens, you can be there for them in whatever capacity you have and help them out of that situation. 

    What advice do you have for educators and parents trying to introduce young children to the online world in a positive way?

    When children are younger than 7 or 8, it’s all about play and their association with you and play, being there with them in the environment, eye contact and engaging with them. Sensical, from Common Sense, is a great organization that has screen time suggestions based on age that are fun and joyful. As children get older, (parents and educators) can start introducing more teaching concepts. For some digital literacy resources and activities, you have FBI Safe Online Surfing, Google’s Be Internet Awesome and Net Smartz Kids. Fun is one of the most underrated ways to protect kids online and help them with screen time too. It doesn’t matter if the online activity is the greatest activity in the world, if a teacher is stressed out, in what way can you find fun in the activity? For early educators like preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers, anytime I do a workshop with a school, I ask, “What do you need? What are you seeing? What is your capacity? What is the kids’ capacity? What are their ages, their background?” Then, we create something customized for them. But (educators) shouldn’t shy away from technology.





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  • Pastors for Texas Children on the Signing of the Voucher Bill

    Pastors for Texas Children on the Signing of the Voucher Bill


    One of the most determined opponents of vouchers in Texas was the Pastors for Texas Children. While some faith leaders celebrated the opportunity to get public money for their religious schools, the PTC stood firm for separation of church and state. They believe it is the state’s responsibility to provide good public schools, and it is the duty of religious groups to support their own faith.

    They know the research. They know that most of the $1 billion in vouchers will be used to subsidize students already enrolled in private schools. They know that many private schools will raise their tuition in response to the state subsidy. They know that the public schools, which serve the vast majority of students, will continue to be underfunded.

    PTC sent out the following message:

    The Signing of HB 3

    An old preacher once said that God’s Justice was figuring out what belongs to whom and giving it to them.

    Universal education for ALL children is God’s Justice. A $1 billion voucher subsidy program for children already in private schools— mostly religious schools that use Caesar to support their religion— is not.

    Texans know that. They have rejected voucher programs for 30 years.

    Gov. Greg Abbott had to rely on a Philadelphia billionaire to give him over $12 million dollars to defeat conservative, rural Republican state representatives who opposed vouchers on deep conviction and moral principle.

    We take no pleasure in calling out our governor’s lies and bullying against these decent public servants. God is not mocked by Gov. Abbott’s corruption.

    The voucher bill was signed on Saturday. Also on Saturday Texans all over the state overwhelmingly approved public school bond programs and elected pro-public ed trustees as a direct response to Abbott’s voucher scam.

    We will have another opportunity to express our will on public education and against the privatization of it:

    The 2026 primary and general elections.

    DONATE TO PTC

    PO Box 471155, Fort Worth, Texas, 76147

    ***************************************

    What Happened After Passage of HB 3.

    A statewide rejection of extremism.

    In the aftermath of the passage of the voucher bill, voters in several districts responded by ousting hard-line conservative school board members. Texan Michelle H. Davis described the devastating losses of MAGA school board members across the state.

    It was a tough night for MAGA-aligned candidates in Texas. In the May 3, 2025, local elections, voters across the state decisively rejected far-right candidates, particularly in school board and city council races. From Tarrant County to Collin County, and from San Antonio to Dallas, communities chose leaders who prioritize public education, inclusivity, and pragmatic governance over culture wars and partisan agendas. This widespread shift signals a growing resistance to extremist politics at the local level. 

    Last night, voters across Texas sent a message loud enough to rattle the far-right out of their echo chambers: we’re done with your culture wars, your book bans, and your crusade against public schools. Voters chose community over chaos, educators over agitators, and progress over extremism.

    The local elections weren’t just a series of wins but a sweep. MAGA-backed candidates got absolutely trounced across the state. This was the result of deep organizing, years of work by local Democrats, and voters who are fed up with the far-right hijacking of school boards and city councils to push their agenda.

    Texas isn’t turning blue overnight, but make no mistake: the MAGA movement had a very bad night, and the momentum is shifting.

    Tarrant County. 

    The Republican Party poured money, endorsements, and out-of-state personalities into these Tarrant County races, and they got wiped. Every single candidate backed by Patriot Mobile, the far-right Christian nationalist group trying to take over school boards, lost. That’s losses in Mansfield ISD, Keller ISD, and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. A clean sweep.

    The Tarrant County GOP went 0-for-11 in the county’s three largest cities: Fort Worth, Arlington, and Mansfield. Let that sink in. They didn’t just lose a few races. They got shut out entirely. In Mansfield, Republican Rep. David Cook’s backyard, where Allen West himself came out to rally the troops, the GOP lost all five races they backed.

    Meanwhile, Democrats made real gains on the Fort Worth City Council. One of the biggest victories was Debrah Peoples’s victory in her race. A longtime activist and former Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair, Peoples gave progressive voters a reason to celebrate in a city that’s often overlooked on the statewide map.

    Huge, huge shout out to the Tarrant County Young Democrats. They didn’t just show up, they organized, knocked on doors, made calls, and fought for every single school board seat they were targeting. And guess what? They swept them all. That’s the kind of ground game that wins elections. That’s the kind of energy we need to keep building.

    Open the link to continue reading about the pushback in Texas against bookbanning rightwing MAGA culture warriors.



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  • The Nation’s First Conference for Higher Education Podcasters – Edu Alliance Journal

    The Nation’s First Conference for Higher Education Podcasters – Edu Alliance Journal


    May 5, 2025, by Dean Hoke: For years, there have been conversations among many higher education podcasters asking: Why isn’t there a podcasting conference just for us? This question lingered, raised in passing at virtual meetups, in DM threads, and on campuses where faculty and staff were creating podcasts with little external support or collaboration.

    Last winter, a group of us decided it was time to do something about it.

    Joe Sallustio and Elvin Freytes of The EdUp Experience, Dean Hoke of Small College America, and Gregg Oldring and Neil McPhedran of Higher Ed Pods took a leap of faith and began planning a first-time national gathering. We believed there was a clear void. Podcasting in higher education was growing rapidly, but most lacked a community outside of their home institution to network with, share ideas, and be inspired.

    That leap of faith is now a reality. On Saturday, July 12, 2025, we will convene in Chicago for the inaugural HigherEd PodCon—the first conference built by and for higher education podcasters and digital media creators.

    Hosted at the University of Illinois, Chicago

    This one-day event will bring together over 40 presenters, 15 sessions, and 25+ institutions and organizations from across North America. Whether you’re a faculty innovator, student producer, tech strategist, or communications pro, HigherEd PodCon offers an immersive, hands-on experience designed to elevate the impact of campus-based podcasting.

    Sessions run from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., which includes networking opportunities and a reception closing out the day. The program is structured across three practical and dynamic tracks:

    • Strategy, Growth & Discovery
    • Content & Production
    • Tech, Tools & Analytics

    The keynote speaker is Matt Abrahams, lecturer in Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business and host of Think Fast, Talk Smart. His insights on clarity, message delivery, and audience engagement will set the tone for a day of meaningful exploration.

    A National Cross-Section of Institutions

    HigherEd PodCon showcases participation from institutions of all sizes and types, including:

    • Purdue University
    • Stanford University
    • University of South Carolina Beaufort
    • Lansing Community College
    • Brigham Young University
    • Penn State University

    Whether it’s a faculty-led series, a student-led network, or an advancement-focused production, you’ll hear how campuses are using podcasts to educate, engage, and amplify their stories.

    Session Spotlights

    Here are three sessions you won’t want to miss:

    1. Podcasting, Social Media, and Video: Oh My!
    Kate Young and Maria Welch, Purdue University
    With more than 130 episodes and thousands of monthly downloads, This Is Purdue is among the country’s top university podcasts. In this session, Kate and Maria walk through their formula for success, including social media workflows, video strategy, and content optimization.

    2. Why Podcasts Fail (And How to Make Sure Yours Doesn’t)
    Dave Jackson, Podpage; Podcast Hall of Fame Inductee
    Dave Jackson has helped hundreds of shows succeed—and watched others fall flat. This session offers practical guidance for anyone launching or relaunching a podcast with purpose. Topics include budget-friendly production, YouTube distribution, and sustainable growth.

    3. From 5 to 30: Growing a Podcast Network That Speaks Higher Ed
    Daedalian Lowry and Layne Ingram, Lansing Community College
    What started as five faculty shows grew into a 30+ program podcast network that engages the entire campus and community. Learn how Lansing Community College scaled LCC Connect with collaboration, creativity, and cross-departmental buy-in.

    Why Attend HigherEd PodCon?

    Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your podcast to the next level, this is the community you’ve been waiting for. Here are three reasons not to miss it:

    • Network with your peers: Build meaningful relationships with fellow higher ed podcasters and digital media innovators.
    • Gain tools and templates you can use immediately: From show planning to promotion, walk away with actionable strategies you can implement on Monday.
    • Stay ahead of the curve: Learn how leading institutions are using podcasts to engage students, alumni, donors, and the public.

    Save the Date

    HigherEd PodCon 2025 is your opportunity to help shape the future of podcasting in higher education—and to find your people in the process.

    Learn more and register at www.higheredpodcon.com. We have room for only 200 attendees in this inaugural event.
    Early bird rate of $249 available until the end of May

    Dean Hoke is Managing Partner of Edu Alliance Group, a higher education consultancy, and a Senior Fellow with the Sagamore Institute. He formerly served as President/CEO of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA). With decades of experience in higher education leadership, consulting, and institutional strategy, he brings a wealth of knowledge on small colleges’ challenges and opportunities. Dean, along with Kent Barnds, is a co-host for the podcast series Small College America. 



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  • The Atlantic: The Inside Story of How Trump Regained Power: “I Run the Country and the World”

    The Atlantic: The Inside Story of How Trump Regained Power: “I Run the Country and the World”


    The Atlantic published a fascinating story about Donald Trump’s surprising return from what seemed to be the disastrous end of his political career in 2021 to regain the presidency in 2024.

    In 2021, he left the White House in disgrace: twice impeached, leader of a failed and violent effort to overturn the election, so bitter that he skipped Joe Biden’s inauguration. For four years, with the exception of an occasional slip of the tongue, he nourished the fantasy that he was the rightful winner in 2020.

    Surely there were Republicans who thought he was finished, as did all Democrats. I remember how thrilled I was to think that I would never again have to see his face or hear his voice.

    His redemption began when Congressman Kevin McCarthy flew to Mar-a-Lago to pay homage to Trump. Trump spent most of the last four years plotting and planning for his return.

    The article was written by Atlantic staffers Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer.

    It begins with the story of how they won an interview with Trump. They filled out forms describing the reason for the interview and thought their request might be approved. But Trump personally rejected them, denouncing the reporters and the magazine as part of the leftist effort to embarrass him. Trump called Ashley Parker a “radical left lunatic.”

    The reporters had spent many hours preparing for the interview, and they were determined to land it.

    Soon after they were turned away, they decided to try another route. They obtained Trump’s private cell number, and they called him. He answered his phone, and they had a long conversation. During the conversation, he said matter-of-factly, “I run the country and I run the world.”

    Humility was never his strong suit.

    Trump eventually agreed to sit with them for an interview in the Oval Office with them and the magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who had been accidentally invited to be part of Defense Secretary’s Signal conversation about bonbing Yemen.

    This is a must-read.



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  • Why bringing children to the voting booth matters

    Why bringing children to the voting booth matters


    Billie Montague, 2, puts a vote sticker on her nose while watching her mom, Ashley Montague, vote in Newport Beach in 2020. Credit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Polaris

    Children are not merely passive recipients of voting outcomes; they are capable participants in building a future shaped by informed civic values and active community involvement. We must foster responsible use of their civic knowledge and power for a better future.

    Introducing children to voting from an early age — as young as 5 or 6 — can instill in them a sense of civic responsibility, sparking curiosity about how individual actions influence the broader community, and shaping informed, engaged citizens for the future.

    In my work on diversity, equity and inclusion, I spend much time thinking about misinformation, access barriers and participation roadblocks.

    Voting processes are vulnerable to misinformation tactics aimed at suppressing marginalized voters, including Black, Latino, disabled, rural residents, and the elderly. Voting with children is no exception to this insidious campaign to bar access and participation for every eligible voter. Child care access issues can even act as an indirect form of voter suppression. When parents, particularly single parents or those in underserved areas, are unable to find or afford child care, voting in person may become challenging or impossible. These barriers are compounded in areas with limited polling locations, long wait times, or fewer resources for early or mail-in voting, which are essential accommodations for parents who may otherwise be prevented from casting their vote due to lack of child care. Even when voting accommodations ­— voting by mail or surrendering early ballots at polling places — are available, misinformation around these options can impact parents’ ability to participate.

    Every Californian must be well-informed about the Voter Bill of Rights. We are fortunate to reside in a state that actively implements legislation to enhance accessibility and participation for voters, including future voters. An example is the provision allowing California teens aged 16 and 17 to preregister online, with automatic registration upon turning 18.

    Recognizing the significance of civic engagement among Gen Z (the youngest of whom are 12 years old), it’s noteworthy that they exhibit higher voting rates than previous generations. In 2024, a staggering 41 million Gen Z youth are eligible to vote, with millions more set to join the electorate by 2028.

    Efforts to expand access and participation are crucial because civic engagement, including voting, is essential and has widespread impact. Ultimately, it’s a fundamental right that touches each of us deeply; it’s the sole avenue for every citizen to participate in the democratic process.

    Political socialization is how people learn about politics, form beliefs and understand their civic role. While parents typically pass political views to their children, research shows influence can also go the other way: Children’s awareness of civic issues can shape their parents’ views, a process known as “trickle-up socialization.” As children engage with topics affecting their communities — through school, social media, and peers — they may prompt discussions that lead parents to consider new perspectives. Bringing children to the voting booth reinforces this process, offering them hands-on exposure to democracy, sparking meaningful questions, and fostering family engagement, especially in marginalized communities where awareness and representation are vital.

    However, it’s concerning that American knowledge of civic engagement has declined, with significant gaps in understanding fundamental aspects of government and constitutional rights, as revealed by the Annenberg study released annually on Citizenship Day. The study noted 1 in 3 Americans cannot name the three branches of government, and less than a third can name the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment beyond freedom of speech.

    As parents, we can inspire an informed and engaged generation of citizens. If you haven’t made a family voting plan for the Nov. 5 election, there’s still time to register and participate together. Preparation is critical; here are practical considerations for voting with children in California: 

    Voting with kids in the November presidential election is not only allowed but purposeful, serving as a primer for future elections and instilling democratic values early on.

    •••

    Amira K.S. Barger, MBA, CVA, CFRE, is a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant and an adjunct professor at California State University, East Bay.

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





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