Self-proclaimed academic opponents of DEI say they scored a semi-victory recently even though a federal judge dismissed their lawsuit challenging rules they say would have required them to teach and endorse anti-racism and diversity, equity, and inclusion principles.

The lawsuit was brought in August 2023 by FIRE, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and now called the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, on behalf of six State Center Community College District professors: James Druley, David Richardson, Linda de Morales, and Loren Palsgaard of Madera Community College, Bill Blanken of Reedley College, and Michael Stannard of Clovis Community College. Stannard and Druley withdrew from the case last year when they retired from teaching.

The professors had contended that their free speech rights were violated when the California Community Colleges system amended its tenure and employee review guidelines to include diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility standards, and require faculty members to “employ teaching, learning, and professional practices that reflect DEIA and anti-racist principles.”

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DEI policies and regulations in the federal government are one of the early targets of President Donald Trump’s administration, which is terminating DEI in the federal government and threatening funding to other agencies maintaining DEI policies.

FIRE said in a news release that U.S. District Judge Kirk Sherriff dismissed the case on Jan. 28 after attorneys for State Center and the California Community Colleges system promised that faculty members would not be punished for what they teach, or don’t teach, in the classroom.

But the judge’s decision did not alter DEI language that remains in the state recommendations and State Center’s faculty contract.

FIRE attorney David Ortner said in the news release: “FIRE filed suit to prevent California’s community colleges from evaluating our faculty clients on the basis of their classroom commitment to a political ideology, and that’s exactly the result we’ve achieved. As a result of our suit, the state and the district promised a federal judge they won’t interfere with our clients’ academic freedom and free speech rights. The classroom is for discussion and exploration, not a top-down mandate about what ideas must take priority. We’ll make sure it stays that way.”

School Zone took a look at Sherriff’s ruling and found a couple other factors were at play:

— The plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction was kind of a cart before the horse, since no one had yet suffered injury.

— In addition, the state guidelines were only “recommendations” for local districts and not mandates.

— Thus, if the professors were holding back from using certain materials in the classroom such as assigning Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” or Victor Davis Hanson’s “Mexifornia,” or showing the film “Hidden Figures” out of fear of repercussions, “to the extent that Plaintiffs have self-censored, such ‘injury’ is self-inflicted and does not constitute an injury in fact that can support standing,” the judge ruled.

No standing means no basis for a preliminary injunction.

The faculty lawsuit is not FIRE’s first free speech case involving State Center. The nonprofit filed a freedom of speech lawsuit several years ago on behalf of a handful of conservative Clovis Community College students who said their constitutional rights were violated when the college took down their political posters from bulletin boards inside campus buildings.

Related Story: Fed Judge Says Clovis Community College Violated Students’ Free Speech, ...

They Earned High School Credit — Fast

Between Christmas and New Year’s when most of us (School Zone included) were busy opening presents, stuffing ourselves with tamales, gingerbread, and other holiday goodies, or just sleeping in, thousands of Fresno Unified students were catching up on their classwork.

Fresno Unified reported last month that over the winter break 3,385 students earned 11,119 high school credits toward graduation and college eligibility requirements (i.e, the A-G courses required to enter a state university like UC Merced or Fresno State).

The Winter Credit Recovery program was offered at Fresno, Hoover, McLane, Sunnyside, and DeWolf high schools, Farber Educational Campus, and Phoenix Secondary.

It’s unclear from the district’s report whether the students were passing those classes as a result of actual  classroom instruction with a real live teacher or by using the computer-based Edgenuity program that has allowed some students to pass Edgenuity quizzes and tests and complete a semester’s course in just a few days, thereby calling into question: Just what did they actually learn, and how much will they retain?

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Another Milestone for UC Merced

California’s newest and smallest UC recently announced that it had earned R1 status from Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. It’s a pretty big deal — less than 10% of the nation’s eligible public and private colleges and universities have the designation.

What does it mean? It’s a sign of UC Merced’s maturity into a solid research institution with very high research spending and doctorate production, and the designation means UC Merced will have access to expanded funding opportunities.

UC Merced joins the other nine UCs with the R1 designation: Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.

UC President Dr. Michael V. Drake expressed his kudos in a news release: ““I’m extremely proud of all that UC Merced has achieved in just 20 years. Attaining R1 classification is a tremendous accomplishment and a resounding affirmation of the dedication and excellence of the campus’ leadership and esteemed faculty. Scientific discoveries and cures powered by University of California researchers have global impact, from mitigating wildfire risk and developing solutions for a climate-resilient California to saving lives through vital cancer research and treatment.”

The university noted in the news release that it’s the only R1 university in the Central Valley.

Fresno State, which is part of the California State University system, also is claiming some research cred. Fresno State announced that its R2 research designation, first bestowed by Carnegie in 2022, was renewed.

Institutions are eligible for R2 if they awarded at least 20 research doctorates and had at least $5 million in total research spending. Fresno State’s totals? It awarded 25 research doctoral degrees and spent $11.4 million on research in the 2022-23 academic year.

Only eight of the 23 CSUs are R2 institutions, so Fresno State can claim elite status.

Clovis Principals on the Move

On Wednesday night Clovis Unified School Board named four new principals for Lincoln, Garfield, Fugman, and Garfield elementary schools. Mid-year appointments seemed a bit unusual to School Zone, but district spokeswoman Kelly Avants explained in an email:

“We are actually right on time for appointing elementary principals because of the lengthy process to backfill jobs that are created as people are promoted (we start about January with the highest administrative role that we know is open — usually through retirements, and then work through the backfills and it usually takes until about March to get down to the classroom teacher level). These four are all effective for next school year (July 1, 2025) because of two retirements (Lincoln and Garfield) and promotions (Fugman’s principal is going to TBEC as their Deputy Principal and Dry Creek’s principal is moving to become our Administrator of Program Evaluation which is a districtwide position). All four of the departing principals are working through the end of the year.”

School Zone wishes Lincoln Principal Matt Verhalen and Garfield Principal Jennifer Bump well in their upcoming retirements and congratulates Dry Creek Principal Aaron Cook and Fugman Principal Jeremy Pierro on their promotions (TBEC is the new Terry Bradley Education Center under construction in southeast Fresno, a bit of a hike from Fugman in north Fresno.)

Their replacements are four high school learning directors: Simi Gill and Methinee Bozeman are leaving Buchanan High for Dry Creek and Garfield, Katie Aiello will head from Clovis North to Fugman, and Anisha Mayberry will depart Clovis West for Lincoln.

These Valley Schools Are State Models

The state Department of Education has put a spotlight on 10 Valley schools as models in the categories of community day and continuation high schools.

The schools serve at-risk youth or those who have been expelled or have attendance or behavior problems.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said the schools selected are doing a better than average job in providing educational options for their students and can serve as resources for other districts.

Of the nine community day schools named to the 2025 list, five are from the Valley: Clovis Community Day School (Elementary), Clovis Community Day School (Secondary), both in Clovis Unified; Phoenix Elementary Academy Community Day School, Fresno Unified; Creekside Community Day School, Visalia Unified; and Woodlake Community Day School, Woodlake Unified.

The state Education Department also named 74 schools as Model Continuation High Schools, including five from the Valley: Fowler Academy, Fowler Unified; San Joaquin Valley High School, Parlier Unified; Kings River High School, Sanger Unified; Sequoia High School, Visalia Unified; and Bravo Lake High School, Woodlake Unified.