SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday proposed a $297 billion budget, prioritizing money to address homelessness and education while cutting some climate spending amid a projected $22.5 billion budget deficit. The proposed budget, which would take effect July 1, is about $9 billion less than the current fiscal...
Not Enough Subs: CA Schools Face Severe Teacher Shortage
Kelly Rhoden, the principal at Nevada Union High School, spent her morning Monday scrambling to find substitutes for her absent teachers. The school, about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, has 86 teachers. Thirteen were out on Monday. “We have quite a few teachers out either because they’ve tested positive, they’re...
Trustee Calls on DA to Investigate Fresno Schools Chief, Board Members
Fresno Unified Trustee Terry Slatic is accusing Superintendent Bob Nelson and fellow School Board members of multiple violations of the state Education Code that he says requires districts to notify school staff when a student with a history of violence is transferred to a new school. In a news release...
Walters: California Still Mistreating Its School Kids
The traditional school year will soon end, but the maltreatment of California’s 6 million public school students —especially those from poor non-white families —shamefully continues. Although on paper California’s schools have reopened their classrooms after being closed to battle the spread of COVID-19 infection, most pupils will close out the...
Newsom’s Plan Opens Kindergarten to 4-Year-Olds
SACRAMENTO — All 4-year-olds in California could go to kindergarten for free under a new proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration, part of a broad new education spending package made possible by the state's surprise budget surplus. $17.7 Billion Surplus to Spend on Public Education That surplus means that California...
Fresno Area Schools Hold Steady Amid California’s ‘Sharp Decline’ in Enrollment
SAN FRANCISCO — California public schools have experienced a sharp decline in enrollment this year as the pandemic forced millions into online school, according to data made public Thursday. The drop came as the state's school districts dawdled in bringing children back to the classroom, making California one of the...
Gov. Newsom Pushes School Reopenings as Many Districts Resist
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday urged all California schools to reopen, emphasizing that there are no state or health barriers to getting children back into classrooms and ending distance learning. His frustration was evident: “Money is not an object now. It’s an excuse," he said. “I want...
Walters : Pandemic has Damaged California’s School Children
A comprehensive history of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on California would surely conclude that the state’s school children have been treated shamefully. The incessant political squabbling over closing and reopening schools, and the sporadic efforts at in-home learning, have once again demonstrated that the supposed adults who manage and operate...
California Sees No Link From School Openings to Virus Spread
SACRAMENTO — California has not seen a link between the reopening of K-12 schools for in-person learning and increased coronavirus transmission, the state's top public health official said Tuesday. Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's Health and Human Services secretary, told reporters that officials have been closely watching the return to...
Want a Real Education, California Students? Go on Strike!
Dear California Kids, Don’t let us adults destroy your futures! This moment gives you unprecedented power to fix what’s wrong with how California treats kids. I am begging you to use it. Before COVID-19, California was shortchanging its 9.1 million children in education and health. Now in crisis, the state’s...