Education and advocacy leaders convene to discuss supports for immigrant youth and families

Californians Together hosted its annual Statewide Convening for the Support of Immigrant and Refugee Students virtually on Feb. 28 with leaders from school, professional and community organizations discussing resources and state-funded programs that address the needs of immigrant and refugee populations. Ruth Barajas, Californians Together […]

Struggling to live in the communities they serve: How housing affordability impacts school employees in California

By Shazia Manji The combination of stagnant incomes and California’s continually rising housing costs weighs heavily on public school employees across the state. Numerous recent headlines (see Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR, among others) highlight stories of teachers who are struggling to afford […]

Teacher Residency Program hitting goals; needs long-term financial support

The 2018–19 state budget included one-time funding of $75 million for the Teacher Residency Program intended to address teacher shortages, especially in the areas of special education and STEM, and for teachers who are bilingual. This program pairs local educational agencies with institutes of higher […]

Study looks at impacts of gendered racist stereotypes on Black teen girls

Schools can play a major role in promoting the positive identity development of Black teenage girls and supporting the questioning of negative messages they’re exposed to, according to a new research article from Yale’s School of Public Health and its School of Medicine. Feeling Invisible […]

LAO reports college and career budget proposals need more detail

The Legislative Analyst’s Office on Feb. 23 released an assessment of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed $2 billion in funding across three programs to increase college and career readiness among high school students. The Governor’s proposals include $1.5 billion to create a new competitive Golden State […]

Parents, educators share experiences with pod learning during pandemic

Families who created education pods for their students during the COVID-19 pandemic preferred them to what was being offered in schools prior to the public health crisis, according to Center on Reinventing Public Education report “Crisis Breeds Innovation: Pandemic Pods and the Future of Education.” […]

New series of reports detail the need to address ACEs, barriers and best practices

On June 16, 2020, $14.3 million in ACEs Aware grants was awarded to 100 organizations across California to augment the work of the state’s ACEs Aware initiative. A Dec. 9, 2020 report, Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic […]

State Board Report: SBE moves forward on accountability, waivers approved

On Feb. 28, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the following appointments to the State Board of Education: Gabriela Gonzalez, an elementary school teacher for the Montebello Unified School District since 2001; Brenda Lewis, former associate superintendent of instruction at the Kern High School District from 2014 […]

Webinar offers advice on recruiting staff for summer programs

After local educational agencies struggled to staff programs last summer, even with additional funding, “Innovative Staff Recruitment Strategies,” a Feb. 22 webinar hosted by the Partnership for Children & Youth examined recruitment strategies for education leaders to consider while planning for this year. The fourth […]

CALL TO ACTION: Urge Congress to support extending waiver authority to USDA for school nutrition programs

Please contact U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla and your local Congressional representative to urge their support to extend school meal wavier authority to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through Sept. 30, 2023, within the pending consolidated appropriations bill that Congress is working […]