A month into the school year, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are still adapting to the district鈥檚 new policy that bans screen time for its youngest kids and will soon place significant restrictions on older students.听

One first grade teacher has switched to jigsaw puzzles instead of having her students complete activities on a learning app. A middle school science teacher is considering how to teach Newton鈥檚 Third Law of physics with toy cars instead of a video simulation. Some teachers say they are struggling to adjust after years of technology woven into their curriculum.

鈥淥ur goals haven鈥檛 changed whether we鈥檙e on screens or not,鈥� said Armaghan Khan, an eighth grade teacher at Johnnie Cochran Jr. Middle School. 鈥淭he idea is still to provide quality standards of mind instruction. And so, what does that look like when you鈥檙e not on a screen? And for a lot of the newer teachers, myself included, we鈥檝e never really taught that way.鈥澨�

Passed in June, LAUSD鈥檚 generally prohibits use of district-issued devices for students in early education through first grade. It places caps on every other grade level 鈥� the higher the grade, the more screen time is allowed. And by the time students reach high school, they are allowed up to 90 minutes per week in each subject area.听

The new policy followed months of organizing by parents who argued that students 鈥� and teachers 鈥� had become too dependent on digital devices in classrooms. They argued that schools should prioritize teacher-led instruction, hands-on activities and interaction with peers. Some also said their children鈥檚 struggles to regulate their emotions were a direct result of using screens in the classroom.听

But the new restrictions on screen time have also meant that teachers have to rethink lessons built around laptops, tablets and digital instructional programs. Many are concerned about students with disabilities and English language learners who may disproportionately rely on technology, even though accommodations are possible.听

Corinne Hyde, a professor of education at USC, said she worries that the policy could unnecessarily restrict teachers鈥� ability to use technology when they believe it would benefit students.听

鈥淲e should trust teachers to make good instructional decisions, and that as long as we equip them with appropriate professional development and support, that they are fully capable of making the appropriate decisions about how to use technology in their classrooms, or if they should use technology in their classrooms,鈥� said Hyde.听

No screen time for LAUSD鈥檚 youngest learners听

Last year, the youngest daughter of Julie Edwards, a parent and member of the group Schools Beyond Screens, would come home obsessed with JiJi, a penguin cartoon that appears on a gamified learning platform. Now, Edwards鈥� first grader comes home eager to talk about her friends and her school鈥檚 ticket-based rewards system, she says.听

鈥淭here鈥檚 still more work to do,鈥� said Edwards. 鈥淏ut I think everything is like moving in such a great direction, and I鈥檓 just really hoping that because this is happening on an institutional level, it really starts to filter down into families鈥� personal lives.鈥�

Edwards鈥� daughter鈥檚 teacher has made a number of changes to go screenless. So has Martha Medina, a first grade teacher at Logan Academy of Global Ecology, who also lost other classroom support. This year, she no longer has instructional coaches, who help with targeted learning interventions, or teachers鈥� aides.听

Medina had planned to have students rotate among three 15-minute stations so she could provide individualized attention. One station would be with her, another in the library and a third would use a learning app on an iPad.听

Under the new policy, Medina can no longer use the app as planned. Instead, students at the third station work on jigsaw puzzles or art-related activities designed to reinforce uppercase and lowercase letters.

She said the changes have made it much more difficult to run the three groups, limit constant disruptions and keep children on task.听

鈥淧arents are worried that the kids are going to be on the iPad all day,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just not the case in primary. There鈥檚 no way we can have the kids on iPads all day. There鈥檚 too much to teach.鈥澨�

Teachers prepare for changes ahead

Khan is among the upper-grade teachers who are adjusting their lesson plans to comply with limits that will go into effect in January.听

Under the policy, middle school students will be limited to one hour of screen time each week in each subject area.听

鈥淚 feel a lot of times the district leadership comes up with these ideas, and however well intentioned they are, they leave it to the rest of us to kind of figure out how to implement them, or just what the best case looks like,鈥� Khan said.听听

He added that he has spent the past eight years building his curriculum around electronic devices. Like many schools nationwide, his school had been a 鈥渙ne-to-one,鈥� meaning each student has access to a device. Those devices had largely replaced textbooks, and, to some extent, paper and pencil.听听

鈥淲e were using a lot of digital resources, and some of them have been really amazing,鈥� he said.听

One of Khan鈥檚 favorite tools is Gizmos, a program that allows him to show students simulations to explore science concepts that can be difficult to demonstrate in a classroom. For example, students visualize the heart pumping blood through veins and arteries throughout the body. Or, they can explore Newton鈥檚 Third Law 鈥� the concept that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction 鈥斕齮hrough a simulated car crash.听

鈥淚 can always get two toy cars and have them crash together so they can see the law and effect,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淏ut with the simulation, it lets me just get much more granular and just deeper into just how it applies to their everyday lives.鈥�

He also said technology has been particularly important for students with disabilities and English language learners, who may rely on digital tools for accommodations and language support.听听

The district told EdSource that it has made professional learning opportunities available to school administrators and teachers, both in-person and virtually, to help with the transition.听听

鈥淥ur goal is to ensure that all school sites are well-prepared with the tools, understanding, and support needed to effectively implement these guidelines in a way that supports student learning and well-being,鈥� LAUSD said in a statement.听听

Khan said he has not had access to that support yet. Still, despite what he described as 鈥済rowing pains,鈥� he remains optimistic about the changes.听

鈥淚 do think there is merit in the idea. I don鈥檛 just want to be doom and gloom about having to switch,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to the challenge.鈥�

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What鈥檚 left unsaid in this bill is what any Mainer has experienced recently: The weather is changing drastically. 鈥淢y daughter鈥檚 classroom was 96 degrees鈥� a few years ago, said Jeremy Ray, the superintendent of both the Biddeford and Dayton school departments in Maine. 鈥淭hirty-five years ago, no one had heard of a heat day,鈥� he added. 

Maine is far from alone. A quick glance at a map of weather-related school closures from shows that since the 2020-21 school year, all but two states have faced school closures due to extreme weather. In fact, the nonprofit organization estimates that weather disrupted school for 9 million students in 10,000 schools during the 2024-25 school year. In California alone, students lost about a half-million hours of instructional time in the last school year, says Jonathan Klein, the organization鈥檚 co-founder and CEO. 

And these issues aren鈥檛 stopping. As of Sept. 2, before school even opened for some districts, there have already been at least 30 school closures or disruptions in 14 states, ranging from floods in Indiana to wildfire smoke in California to power outages caused by severe storms in Tennessee.

鈥淭his is happening all over the country,鈥� said Klein, adding that the nonprofit鈥檚 site likely undercounts the extent of the problem. 鈥淭his phenomenon is happening everyday.鈥� 

Add these closures to the stubborn chronic absenteeism trend that hasn鈥檛 faded much since the pandemic, and it becomes obvious that school has become more disrupted for more students. Today, will miss 18 school days each year, hitting the mark to be classified as chronically absent. 

Even though weather-related school closures don鈥檛 count as absences and can be rescheduled, they represent missed time in the classroom. And missing a week of school can compound student learning loss for up to three weeks, according to a from NWEA. The effects don鈥檛 stop only when schools are closed; a report shows that for schools without air conditioning, a one degree rise in temperature can decrease student learning by 1%.

That data backs up a study in New York state that linked academic achievement increases to schools which improved their building鈥檚 heating, ventilation and air conditioning, said Lucy Sorensen, an associate research professor at the University of Albany. Sorensen and two other researchers examined 3,000 schools over 14 years and found that schools making HVAC improvements saw attendance gains, fewer suspensions and 鈥渕odest鈥� increases in student math and reading scores. 

That鈥檚 the good news. The bad news is that at a time when education funding is tight, schools are older than ever, and fixes can be expensive. The average age of public schools is 49 years old, with more than half of those buildings needing, at a minimum, significant repairs. 

Nationwide, the American Society of Civil Engineers has given school infrastructure a D+ for three consecutive years, while noting that the country鈥檚 infrastructure had improved during that period. A 2021 report estimated that 13,700 schools still need air conditioning at a cost of $40 billion. 

Take Ann Arbor, Michigan, for example. In a district with more than 16,000 students and 32 schools, the average building age is 70, with five of its historic buildings more than 100 years old. While those buildings 鈥渁re well loved by the neighborhood,鈥� making improvements to keep up with weather challenges are difficult, said Jason Bing, the director of capital programs for Ann Arbor Public Schools. 

The classroom temperature inside the top floors of schools has topped 90 degrees, he said, while schools also closed during last January鈥檚 polar vortex when wind chill temperatures plunged to well below zero. 鈥淲e鈥檝e definitely seen greater extremes,鈥� Bing added. 

Work in Philadelphia shows how expensive it can be to update old school buildings. Pre-pandemic more than half the city鈥檚 218 schools didn鈥檛 have air conditioning; the city used COVID relief funds and a $200,000 donation from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to address the problem. But four years into the work, still lack air conditioning, and 52 schools closed early last week because of hot classrooms. 

In California, nearly 20% of a $1 billion account created to fund school HVAC and plumbing repairs went and will be returned to the utility companies that originally funded the work. More than 4,500 schools used the fund to assess HVAC systems, but only 172 schools made significant upgrades using the money. 

While Sorensen鈥檚 study showed that academic achievement can improve when building infrastructure is upgraded, it also showed that low-income students and students of color are more likely to attend schools with poor HVAC systems, a factor that she said contributes to the lagging academic achievement for those student populations. 

In New York state, not counting New York City, about 18% of Black or Hispanic students attend schools with inadequate ventilation systems compared to 13% of White or Asian students, the study reported. Digging deeper on this issue, a that Sorensen helped write shows that 鈥渟chools serving more students of color are significantly more likely to have poor overall conditions, inadequate ventilation [and] mold exposure.鈥�

Klein points out that while more than 700,000 students were affected by the Los Angeles wildfires in 2025, 75% of those students were socioeconomically disadvantaged, 60% were Latino, and 40% multilingual learners. 

Up to 5% of the racial achievement gap between test scores for Black students and their white peers can be explained by excessively hot classrooms, Klein added, citing the UCLA Luskin Center . 鈥淔or schools with air conditioning, the negative effects virtually disappear,鈥� he added.听

One of UndauntedK12鈥檚 goals is to help schools leverage federal energy tax credits to install ground-source .听

Back in Maine, Ray says two new elementaries are slated to open in 2028 and both will employ geothermal heat pumps. But until then, he鈥檒l continue to cobble together methods to keep his schools comfortable. 

Of course, extreme heat isn鈥檛 the only weather-related problem Maine schools face. Most of the state expects to close school about five times a year for snow, but lately power outages, floods and ice have been affecting when schools are in session, Ray said. 

The state is warming faster than the global average, and the estimates that in 60 years the climate of the most northeastern state in the contiguous United States could resemble current conditions in New Jersey. 

Ray leaned on OSHA guidelines to set his district鈥檚 temperature standards as requiring action if classrooms are below 40 degrees or above 99 degrees, both of which could become pretty uncomfortable for students. But his concerns don鈥檛 end when the final bell rings because 鈥渙nce these buildings heat up, they just don鈥檛 cool down,鈥� he said. The district has used industrial fans at night to try to lower building temperatures, but even that has limited effectiveness. 鈥淚n the first week, it鈥檚 very challenging for educators to do academics,鈥� he admitted. 

The urban system, just off one of Los Angeles鈥� major freeways, was headed for state takeover and had a 58% graduation rate. When the opening was posted, 鈥淚 thought, 鈥楥ompton, I don’t want to be in Compton,鈥� 鈥� Brawley said.

But Brawley saw a 鈥減ocket of success鈥� at some elementary schools that he could build on. Accepting the job in 2012, he instituted a set of routines, like in-school tutoring and frequent multiplication practice. Weekly quizzes let teachers know precisely which students need extra help.

Fourteen years later, the district, with a 91% poverty rate, is one of the nation鈥檚 .

鈥淚f you go back 15, 20 years ago, Compton was not the place where most parents would have kept their kids,鈥� he said. In fact, it was the first district in California where families tried to convert a low-performing elementary school into a charter under a . 鈥淣ow, we see a reversal.鈥�

The district is also one of only 78, out of the nation鈥檚 500 largest, that has maintained consistent leadership at the top since the pandemic, according to a from ILO Group, a consulting firm. At the state level, all but seven have changed education chiefs at least once, with more turnover coming once new governors take office next year.

As in Compton, ILO鈥檚 data shows, students are better off when district leaders stay longer.

In those with no leadership changes between 2019 and 2025, kids performed better in reading and math 鈥� showing at least a month of extra learning 鈥� than those in districts with turnover. In women-led districts, the advantage was nearly two extra months of learning in math, based on the Stanford Education Data Archive, a comparable measure of student learning across states. 

鈥淪tability really matters within a community,鈥� said Julia Rafal-Baer, the ILO Group鈥檚 CEO. In those with high turnover, the kids who were in kindergarten at the start of the pandemic have likely seen multiple reading programs 鈥渙r their parents were asked to start one more strategic planning process. It gets old.鈥�

Other districts in the top 500, sometimes embroiled in controversy, have experienced multiple leadership changes since the pandemic. , for example, is on its fourth chief since 2020. Former Superintendent Devon Horton was on charges that he assaulted his wife in front of his two children. 

The East Baton Rouge district in Louisiana is also on its fourth superintendent since 2020, with current leader Lamont Cole facing charges for bribery and money laundering stemming from his time as a . He denies the accusations, and board members say they support him. But they鈥檝e also tightened up . 

Overall, ILO鈥檚 latest review shows that churn is down for the first time since the pandemic. Last year, it appeared that districts had reached a 鈥渘ew normal,鈥� with turnover ranging from 20% to 23% for five years straight. But this year, among the top 500, it has dropped to 17%, which is closer to the typical pre-COVID levels of reported by AASA, the School Superintendents Association.

Rafal-Baer cautioned that while the 鈥渃arousel of leadership seems to have slowed down,鈥� the results are just a snapshot. 鈥淭his isn’t a return to normal so much as the system finally catching its breath.鈥�

The decline in turnover, she added, could point to the current financial constraints on districts as they adjust to the end of federal relief funds and ongoing declines in enrollment.

鈥淭hese searches are very expensive,鈥� she said. A recently spent about $48,000 to find a new leader, while the Clark County district鈥檚 search in 2024 . 鈥淭here may be less of a desire to tell your community, when you’re cutting assistant principals, that you’re now going to spend money on a search firm.鈥� 

A 鈥榝lashpoint鈥�

Rachel White, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and founder of a on school superintendents, suggested the pandemic years were an anomaly. School board fights over COVID-related closures, masks and culture war issues 鈥渨ere obviously quite volatile,鈥� she said, and in multiple districts, led to superintendents being abruptly dismissed. 

That was 鈥渉opefully a once-in-a-lifetime flashpoint,鈥� she said. 鈥淢aybe school boards 鈥� are less likely to do away with the superintendent who they disagree with ideologically on one thing.鈥� 

Her own research on superintendent turnover echoes connections ILO made between student learning and consistent leadership. While studies prior to the pandemic showed of turnover on student outcomes, 鈥渃hronic instability鈥� can hit neediest students the hardest, White said. 

According to a new , she found that students in high-poverty districts with repeated leadership turnover were about two months of learning behind in math and six weeks behind in reading compared with those in systems with the same leader since 2019.

Leaders who stay in a district longer are more likely to transfer knowledge throughout the organization, she said, and often build up trust with the public.

鈥淭he longer a superintendent stays, the more people believe they are committed to that community,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can take some risks. It鈥檚 really important to be able to say, 鈥楬ey, this might not work out, but I think there’s potentially some return on investment here.鈥� 鈥� 

Policy experts like to talk about 鈥渄urable鈥� learning and success for schools. , a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, says that not only is leadership churn 鈥渙ne of the greatest threats to durability,鈥� but that school boards need superintendents who view instruction as the chief priority, not just one of many initiatives.

Brawley, who was a science teacher and principal in other districts before moving into leadership, has such a 鈥渟trong convictions鈥� about improving math and reading, White said, that he鈥檚 been able to keep the district moving forward despite other political issues that superintendents often navigate. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 a real belief that these students are brilliant and they just need the right resources and a stable teacher workforce,鈥� she said. 

His methods aren鈥檛 popular with everyone. The Compton teachers union president has on testing. But Cecilia McDuffie, principal of Foster Elementary, said the emphasis on data, combined with practices implemented at all schools, has helped her students rise from the bottom.

On a recent morning, a week after school started, Foster students spent time responding to the writing prompt: What do you like about your teacher? Leaders increased their focus on writing 鈥� and significantly cut back on screen time 鈥�  after observing that students couldn鈥檛 recall what had been taught. 

鈥淲e know that writing elicits a connection,鈥� Brawley said. 鈥淚f you don’t write it down, you’re not really learning it.鈥� 

Foster was not a 鈥減ocket of success鈥� when Brawley arrived in Compton. In 2014, less than a quarter of students met or exceeded state standards in reading and math. Last school year, 77% of students scored that high in those subjects, and 73% reached that level in science, nearly hitting the goal of 75%.

McDuffie said that Brawley has created systems that will outlast him.

鈥淚f he were to leave tomorrow, I would know that I always need to have a plan. I need to always refine my plan based on data,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I need to start all my interventions early. You can’t wait until March.鈥�

While ILO鈥檚 data captures the pandemic period, some districts, like Bridgeport, Connecticut, have experienced frequent turnover across a much longer period. Since 2005, the district has had eight superintendents, and former leader Carmela Levy-David left in late 2024 after a near-unanimous from the teachers union. Each transition 鈥渃arries some costs,鈥� said Joseph Sokolovic, vice-chair of the board. 

鈥淣ew leaders often bring new priorities, and different approaches to implement those priorities,鈥� he said. 鈥淐ommunity and board relationships must be rebuilt. Trust must be earned again.鈥�

But he said it鈥檚 important to put the instability in context. Two turnovers occurred while the district was . The district also has one of the highest-poverty rates in the state, and spends than wealthier districts like Greenwich, which has seen even in the past 20 years. 

鈥淣o superintendent, regardless of talent, can eliminate concentrated poverty or erase decades of economic neglect,鈥� Sokolovic said. With the district currently conducting another search, he said the district needs 鈥渁 leader willing to commit for the long term, someone who understands the complexities of an urban district and is willing to confront difficult issues directly.鈥�

鈥楻oute to the superintendency鈥�

School boards should also look for instructional expertise, said Rafal-Baer.

A women-owned organization, ILO Group keeps close track of where women are becoming district chiefs and their routes to the position. shows that women are twice as likely as men to have an academic post, like curriculum specialist, on their resume. But just a handful of current superintendents came from a position leading curriculum and instruction.

“Given where student outcomes stand right now, you would expect the academics seat to be the surest route to the superintendency. It turns out to be one of the rarest,鈥� she said. 鈥淏oards keep saying instruction is the priority. Their hiring says otherwise.”

Overall, 34% of superintendents in the top 500 districts are women, a 1 percentage point increase since last year and a 6-point jump since 2019. Fifty-one of the nation鈥檚 women superintendents are also a first of some kind in their districts 鈥� first woman superintendent, first Black woman or first Latina superintendent. California has the most, with 11 leaders who fit one of those descriptions, while Texas has six.

In 2018, when the Aldine Independent School District, near Houston, was looking for a new superintendent, two of the board members wanted a Hispanic leader. With a 73% Hispanic population, Superintendent LaTonya Goffney, who is Black, understood why. 

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 take it personally,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e been intentional about building relationships and connecting with the community.鈥�

As another one of the 78 districts that has kept the same leader since the pandemic, more than neighboring districts to bounce back from academic declines. Too many inexperienced teachers was one reason, an . But the board gave Goffney more time and in 2022 through next year.

The district in state accountability rankings, but the number of F-rated schools has fallen from 21 since 2023, and the district鈥檚 overall score increased this year from .

Still, in a state where districts with low-performing schools are increasingly , Goffney feels constant pressure to show steady progress. As enrollment begins to decline in the state, the district sees competition not just from charter schools and a new private school choice program, but from neighboring districts trying to 鈥渃herry pick鈥� Aldine鈥檚 students, she said.

鈥淢y focus, she said, 鈥渋s on making sure that Aldine is the best choice.鈥�

Nearly 86,000 of California鈥檚 children ages 0 to 3 鈥� more than 5% of the state鈥檚 infants and toddlers 鈥� are estimated to have experienced homelessness in 2023-24, according to new data analysis by SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.

This is a 15% jump from about 74,000 young children in the year prior.

Only about 12,000 of those children in 2023-24 were enrolled in early learning programs. It is often in early learning programs where staff members are able to identify children experiencing homelessness and provide critical services for their development.

That just 14% of the youngest children experiencing homelessness are in these programs is potentially a troubling sign, experts say. It may indicate the state is not set up to accurately identify and reach most of these children.

鈥淲e just don鈥檛 have the full picture,鈥� said Erin Patterson, a senior director at SchoolHouse Connection. 鈥淒ata reporting infrastructure everywhere is lacking when it comes to infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness. There is no singular federal agency or program that captures everything.鈥�

This is after years of sustained efforts by child homelessness experts that have led to heightened attention and short-term funding for students experiencing homelessness and the significant barriers K-12 schools face in identifying them. That focus has not always included the youngest Californians 鈥� infants and toddlers 鈥� in part because the state鈥檚 early learning system is far more fragmented.

This data from SchoolHouse Connection, an organization that advocates for homeless students, and Poverty Solutions, a University of Michigan initiative to prevent and alleviate poverty, was shared with EdSource ahead of the Sept. 23 release of their third on the prevalence of homelessness among children 0 to 3 nationwide.

The nearly 86,000 homeless infants and toddlers were 5.19% of about 1.6 million children ages 0 to 3 in 2023-24. The number is an estimate, taken by looking at the percentage of first grade students who were identified as homeless during the 2023-24 year and applying it to the census age group percentages for children ages 0 to 3.听

To get to the number of children accessing early childhood programs, the researchers looked at enrollment data from Early Head Start, home visiting programs and local educational agencies, which are required to identify younger children experiencing homelessness if they receive federal funding.

Some children might have been identified and are simply not reflected in the estimate, in part because data access is extremely limited and fragmented across multiple public agencies, say the researchers.听

Student homelessness across the K-12 system has risen 4% in the most recent data available. In years prior, it rose by up to 15%, according to state data.听

Child homelessness experts contend the rise in student homelessness reflects several factors, including California鈥檚 skyrocketing cost of living and the end of pandemic-era housing protections.听

At the same time, they point to short-term infusions of funding that have helped schools improve data collection systems and identification practices that allowed them to begin supporting more students.听

Homeless liaisons have attributed many of those gains to of $800 million for schools nationwide, of which California received $98.76 million. The one-time pandemic-era funding was dedicated entirely to identifying and supporting students experiencing homelessness.听

Child homelessness experts say data shows the funding worked: after what appeared as a significant dip in student homelessness rates at the peak of the pandemic, there was a sharp increase once schools reopened. They attribute this dramatic shift to the identification efforts by liaisons, who by then had the funding to hire staff to make phone calls to families they knew were struggling, distribute gas cards to help families get their children to school, pay for emergency temporary housing for evicted families and more.听听

The closest California has come to matching those pandemic-era dollars is approved by the state Legislature this year. It will support identification efforts, though it remains unclear how the state will distribute the funding.

鈥淭he state鈥檚 really going to have to be targeted about where this money goes, and I think a set-aside amount for identifying our youngest learners makes a ton of sense because that $116 million is not going to reach everybody,鈥� said Joseph Bishop, executive director and co-founder of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.听

But experts warn that without long-term funding to maintain those efforts in the TK-12 system, it will be even more difficult to build similar identification capacity in the early learning space to ensure children 0-3 can also be connected to services they need as their families find permanent housing. At the same time, they foresee that more children are likely to be in need in coming years.

鈥淕iven what we know about worsening economic conditions, we can certainly surmise that families with children, in particular, have been impacted by housing instability and homelessness,鈥� said Patterson. 鈥淭he tricky part, though, is pandemic funds are gone, and that means the capacity to identify has dwindled in many places, so we might be entering a phase where we see homelessness increasing, but identification is scaling back because of limited capacity, both in early childhood programs and among local educational agencies.鈥�

Why counting homeless infants and toddlers is tough 鈥� and why it matters

Not only is the data from SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions likely an undercount, but there are other factors that affect the ability to identify students. The early childhood services system in the state is more fractured than K-12, say researchers. And, there may be limited knowledge of the responsibility of local education agencies to identify and support homeless students.

Knowledge of how the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act applies to early learning programs is also less widespread. The law requires local education agencies, such as school districts and certain preschools, to identify and support homeless students, including those younger than 4, which is the age for entering transitional kindergarten.

How does the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act help?

When McKinney-Vento was enacted decades ago, it established a broader definition of homelessness for students. For example, the law considers a student homeless if they are staying with relatives or in temporary housing due to economic hardship, loss of housing or a similar reason.听

The law can apply to preschools under specific circumstances, including when a program is funded by a local education agency, like a school district. provides some detail into whether an early learning program might be a McKinney-Vento preschool.听

And if a homeless liaison identifies a homeless student with an infant or toddler sibling, the federal act requires them to refer the young child to early learning programs.

Even when McKinney-Vento does not directly apply, many early learning programs have adopted its broader definition of homelessness and require certain exceptions be made for homeless families. This could include allowing a child to begin attending the program while providing a grace period for families to produce enrollment documentation or giving priority enrollment to homeless families.

An apparent disconnect between early learning and the TK-12 school system

Child education experts have noted a disconnect between early learning programs and the TK-12 school system, where homeless liaisons are already stretched thin.听

鈥淭here鈥檚 a major flaw in not having those systems in place, and I think it can make the work of districts potentially more effective if we had earlier identification,鈥� said Bishop of UCLA. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know or have the continuity across systems to know where kids are coming from, even sometimes within districts, let alone before TK.鈥�

Bishop鈥檚 team published a report last week finding that were enrolled in California鈥檚 TK-12 public school system in the 2024-25 school year. This is an additional nearly 30,000 more students than what they estimated prior to the pandemic in 2018-19.听

While the report did not include children experiencing homelessness who were enrolled in early learning programs 鈥� Bishop said his team wanted to include them but faced challenges obtaining the data 鈥� it found that many of the highest counts of homeless students were in elementary school districts.听

Anticipating 鈥渨here the need is coming from鈥� via better identification and data collection could help districts better support their students.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e sometimes shocked when students are struggling academically鈥� once they reach elementary school, said Bishop. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the ripple effect of not having the early warning systems.鈥�

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California鈥檚 mandate requiring later start times for middle and high schools is already yielding results, with students sleeping more, reporting better mental health and scoring higher math and English scores, according to a new study.

The new working from the National Bureau of Economic Research examines the effects of Senate Bill 328, California鈥檚 statewide mandate for later school start times. The law, which went into effect in 2022, requires most middle schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

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The study found that the new law increased the share of students sleeping at least eight hours per night by 13%, meeting the minimum recommended for adolescents by . The largest jump was among boys.

The study shows that 鈥渞est and sleep are incredibly important in the function of schools,鈥� said Osea Giuntella, an author of the report. Although the short-term increase in sleep is moderate, it has led to significant improvements in mental health and academic outcomes, he said.

Giuntella, a University of Pittsburgh researcher who studies sleep and economics, said the study鈥檚 first-year results are consistent with previous research linking better sleep to improved听student well-being and academic performance. The study used changes in teachers鈥� commute arrival times from the American Community Survey as a proxy for later school start times, comparing sleep and mental health data before and after SB 328 took effect in the 2022-2023 school year and tracking academic gains from 2022 through 2025.

Gains in sleep, mental health, English and math

Students reported experiencing better mental health since schools shifted to later start times, with boys reporting the largest reductions in sadness, hopelessness and suicidal ideation, and Hispanic students reporting the biggest drop in difficulties concentrating.

Terra Ziporyn, executive director at nonprofit Start Schools Later and longtime advocate of later school start times, said SB 328 was a key part of California鈥檚 response to what schools have described as a student mental health crisis.

鈥淭he first step in addressing student mental health problems is to not create them in the first place,鈥� Ziporyn said. 鈥淵ou can get a lot of counselors, but systematically depriving an entire adolescent population of adequate sleep is a surefire way to hurt their mental health.鈥�

The study also found significant improvements in academic achievement, with eighth grade students making measurable gains in math and English, particularly among Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students.

Giuntella, the study鈥檚 author, said the improvement in scores was likely 鈥渓argely driven by the change in sleep鈥� based on comparable where increased sleep led to higher GPAs. That鈥檚 also why Hispanic students, who are already less likely to get adequate sleep than white students due to lower family income and family and work responsibilities, improved their math and English scores the most, Giuntella said.

Parents struggle with new schedules

The state mandate is the only one in the nation.

鈥淐alifornia set a huge precedent for the whole nation by saying, 鈥榃e cannot leave what is essentially a public health decision in the hands of local districts,鈥� 鈥� Ziproyn said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a negotiable school budget item that you trade off against anything else.鈥�

But some parents have said later start times complicate work commutes, push back sports and extracurricular activities and lead to some students simply pushing back the time they go to bed.

The study found that sports and extracurricular activities did start later after the change to later start times, but the changes were 鈥渕arginal and not statistically significant,鈥� Giuntella said.

鈥淎nd it鈥檚 true that, yes, students may even go to bed a little later than they were, but they are definitely sleeping in more in the morning,鈥� she said.

Guintella described later start times as just 鈥渙ne institutional factor鈥� that may help address a complex sleep-deprivation problem, pointing to issues like the rise in nighttime screen use.

鈥楾oo hard and too expensive鈥� for some districts

Some school districts found the transition to later school start times 鈥渢oo hard and too expensive,鈥� Ziporyn said. Ziporyn said district administrators could have received more guidance from the state Department of Education to explain the benefits of later start times, and involve families in finding solutions to logistical problems.

鈥�(Schools) have to fully understand why this is being done and communicate it with confidence to the community that they鈥檙e doing the right thing for kids,鈥� Ziporyn said.

San Francisco Unified, for example, worked with operations experts at the Yale School of Management, Georgia Tech University and Northwestern University to redesign their bus routes in response to the change. With more than 120 schools and 18 different start times, the district generated about 1,000 new feasible bus schedules, which ended up saving the district about $5 million and with a majority of families and staff members satisfied with the transition to later start times, according to a report by

But most schools in California did not have access to dedicated consultants to ease the transition, Ziporyn said.

鈥淐alifornia could have improved making these resources more readily available to the districts,鈥� Ziporyn said. 鈥淏uilt into the law was that there was supposed to be help from the state Department of Education about getting this done, and building that community buy-in is part of it.鈥�

Giuntella said the state can improve its implementation of SB 328 by collecting statewide data on later school start times to 鈥渁ssess the impact of the reform.鈥� In the meantime, schools can take from the study that later start times are 鈥渆ffective and powerful tools鈥� for student outcomes.

鈥淭his happens often with some shock to individual and families鈥� habits, and so it also requires the ability to navigate this transition in a way that doesn鈥檛 backfire,鈥� Giuntella said.

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California lawmakers agreed to a deal that will allow many survivors of to continue to sue the public bodies they say are responsible for their trauma.

The compromise released Thursday is a partial win for some victims鈥� advocates, who opposed capping the amount of damages a survivor could seek from cities, counties and school districts that employ the alleged abusers and oversee the facilities where the abuse took place.

Cities, counties and school districts had implored lawmakers to cap damages to help stop the financial bleeding since greatly expanded who could sue over childhood sexual assault in California. 

The agreement amends , a deal to address the rising costs authored last year by Sen. that fell apart at the last minute and was shelved.

The legislative deal jettisoned any caps on damages, which survivor groups argued were akin to putting a price tag on someone鈥檚 assault. Local governments and school districts were adamant that caps, while politically unappealing, were the only solution to substantially improve their financial health.

But in a win for the public entities, the deal brokered by Senate and Assembly Democratic leadership requires older survivors to present stronger evidence of their assaults. The new requirements apply to survivors over age 40 and those with cases prior to 2024 鈥� when lawmakers abolished the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases 鈥� in which records were destroyed. 

Senate President Pro Tem , a Santa Barbara Democrat, said in a statement that 鈥減rotection and prevention鈥� were at the center of the conversations and she was grateful lawmakers could come together to 鈥減rotect justice, prioritize prevention for the millions in our care, and acknowledge the impacts to our communities.鈥�

Chantel Johnson, a spokesperson for the Youth Law Center, which represents survivors, in a statement thanked lawmakers for rejecting 鈥渟ome of the most harmful proposals under consideration鈥� and cheered the addition of preventive measures. 

鈥淭he fiscal pressures facing counties and other public entities are real, but the harm that created those costs is even more consequential,鈥� Johnson said.

But while the Youth Law Center and its allies embraced the deal, other survivor advocate groups excoriated the agreement 鈥� especially the higher evidence threshold for plaintiffs over 40 鈥� as a tragedy that will undermine some victims鈥� cases. 

They argue that since many victims don鈥檛 come forward until later in adulthood, a more stringent evidence standard denies justice for those who bring their cases later. 

鈥淚f the Legislature passes this immoral bill, we call upon Gov. Newsom to protect survivors and hold abusers accountable by vetoing SB 577,鈥� said Caroline Heldman, founder of the group Stand With Survivors, in a joint statement with four other victim advocacy groups.

Representatives for the school districts and local governments had argued that current funding should benefit children and communities today, not line the pockets of plaintiffs鈥� attorney firms that profit from taxpayer-funded settlements and damages. 

On top of any damages they must pay to victims, schools and local governments have had to set aside more and more of their budgets to cover . That has resulted in cuts to staff and programs and delayed maintenance and facilities upgrades.

鈥淐alifornians are paying a lawsuit tax on nearly everything they buy and every public service they use,鈥� said Jaime Huff, leader of the nonprofit Civil Justice Association of California, in a statement Friday. She said SB 577 鈥減uts some common sense back into a system where questionable claims and runaway litigation costs have drained billions鈥� from local governments and school districts.

The amendments also remove a controversial statute-of-limitations cutoff for claims against juvenile detention centers operated by Los Angeles County, which last year reached a with survivors of the now-shuttered MacLaren Children鈥檚 Center.

The bill also lays out a host of preventive measures to curb child sex abuse in public institutions. Counties, cities and school districts would be required to develop and submit codes of conduct and sexual assault prevention plans to the California attorney general鈥檚 office by Jan. 1, 2028 and that office would brief the Legislature on which agencies failed to comply. It also expands the list of employers considered 鈥渕andatory reporters鈥� of child sexual assault or grooming to include peace officers, probation officers, social workers and others. 

There are also provisions to crack down on fraudulent claims. Attorneys who are found to have brought a child sexual abuse claim 鈥渋n bad faith鈥� would be subject to a $25,000 fine.

Lawmakers have until Monday to consider the legislation in both chambers of the state Legislature. Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 office on Thursday declined to comment, however sources familiar with the negotiations said he indicated he would sign any deal the Legislature sent to him.

For the record: This story was updated to add a response from some victims’ rights groups that are critical of the agreement.

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The program, which comes at no cost to families, added a new, pre-kindergarten grade level to public school districts throughout the state. The 2026-27 school year marks the second full year that all 4-year-olds in California are eligible for TK. 

It is, in many respects, a boon for families and the state. But for early care and education providers 鈥� many of whom have long depended on the lower cost of serving preschoolers to help offset the more expensive work of caring for infants and toddlers 鈥� the siphoning of 4-year-olds from their enrollment represents an existential threat to their businesses and, they say, the health of the sector and variety of options available to families statewide. 

Already, some private preschools have closed their doors permanently; others are trying 鈥� and often struggling 鈥� to pivot to serve younger children. 

鈥淧arents will likely have fewer choices for pre-K in the long run,鈥� said Anna Powell, associate director of research and policy at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley. 鈥淚f we sort of accept that the 4s and 5s will move into TK, many providers will not be able to serve 3s and younger. If that happens, we could see fewer options for younger children as well.鈥�

Details of the challenges that TK has created for California providers are captured in her organization鈥檚 , which used data collected from a survey of 10,000 early childhood educators and focus groups with center directors and family childcare providers. 

TK expansion is just one piece of California鈥檚 鈥� it鈥檚 even just one element in the Master Plan to achieve universal pre-K for all 4-year-olds 鈥� but it is the one that has received the most attention and investment by far, said Powell, lead author of the report. 

鈥淭K has reached critical mass,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat started as a trickle is now a tidal wave of movement. We have to reckon with that as a state.鈥�

In the 2025-26 school year, when all California children who turned 4 years old by Sept. 1 became eligible, about 52% of the eligible TK population had 鈥� more than 200,000 children, according to the California Budget and Policy Center. 

鈥淭his might seem like not a big deal,鈥� Powell added, noting that many people wonder why early care and education programs who have lost 4- and 5-year-olds can鈥檛 just pivot to care for more infants and toddlers. 鈥淭he business model has been calibrated where 4s and 5s are the biggest and most stable group. When you start to tinker with that, it can really raise problems for providers.鈥�

California is to roll out free, universal preschool for 4-year-olds, although no program ends up looking the same, given the fragmented system of early care and education in the United States, noted Powell. California鈥檚 approach of adding a new grade level to schools and making that the 鈥渙ne free choice鈥� for families inevitably pits the public option versus the private ones. 

An alternative, such as one , supports the mixed-delivery system of early care and education; the state pays licensed providers across a range of settings 鈥� such as centers, homes and schools 鈥� to serve 4-year-olds and lets families choose which setting best fits their needs. 

So when the public option is free, it becomes hard for private providers to find a winning argument with the families of 4-year-olds. 

That was true for Heather Posner. 

Posner is the former director of the , which closed permanently on June 12 after losing too much of its enrollment to the public TK program, she said. In the three years leading up to its full implementation in fall 2025, 鈥淚 lost a preschool classroom every year,鈥� Posner said. Her enrollment went from 30 kids one year, to 20 the next, and finally to 10 children last school year, she said. When the spring term ended, the school shut down. 

The garden school was licensed to serve children from age 2 to 6. Posner鈥檚 plan had been to 鈥減ick up extra 2s,鈥� creating classrooms for younger 2-year-olds and older ones. But between a low birth rate, hiring extra staff and all of the changes she would have had to make to the space to comply with licensing requirements for serving younger children, it just didn鈥檛 seem feasible. 

鈥淚t was kind of a double whammy,鈥� Posner said of losing older kids and being unable to adapt easily to serve the younger ones. 

In early care and education, staffing makes up the vast majority of a program鈥檚 costs. States set requirements for adult-to-child ratios based on age, since younger children typically need more attention and care. At a center-based program in California, three adults are required to care for 12 infants, while only one adult is needed to care for 12 4-year-olds. While childcare costs for infants tend to be higher than for preschoolers, it is not three times as high. As a result, older children help subsidize the cost of caring for younger children in many programs. 

Because of the challenges inherent in caring for infants and toddlers (defined as children under age 3), only one quarter of childcare centers in California are licensed to serve that age group, CSCCE found. The majority of programs, including the now-closed Carquinez Garden School, focus on serving older kids. 

Programs cannot pivot to serving infants and toddlers overnight, providers told CSCCE. Not only does it require more staff, it requires staff with different expertise and experience. 

鈥淥ur past research shows becoming an infant/toddler teacher is not a priority for preschool teachers,鈥� said Powell. 鈥淧reschool teaching is an identity.鈥�

Even for center-based administrators who want to make the switch, it鈥檚 not as simple as saying yes. Programs designed for older children typically have playground equipment higher off the ground that is not safe for children crawling or new to walking. They have fewer changing areas than would be needed for younger children. Prices would also need to be raised on parents to help afford the additional teachers. 鈥淎ll of those things would be necessary along the way,鈥� Powell explained. Several program leaders who have applied for a license to serve younger children told CSCCE they鈥檙e still in a queue with the state licensing division, waiting to get approved.

Family child care providers, who work out of their homes, face another set of constraints.

Rachel Bymun is the owner and director of Luv Muffins Preschool & Childcare, which she has run with her husband for the past 17 years. It is licensed as a large family childcare, meaning they can serve up to 14 kids. Only four of those children, however, can be under age 2, according to state licensing requirements. 

So even if Bymun wanted to transition to serving more infants and toddlers, she and other home-based providers are strictly limited in how many they can take. 

鈥淩eally everyone is struggling, maybe for slightly different reasons,鈥� Powell said of providers. 鈥淣one of them can beat the trend and keep their 4-year-olds.鈥�

Many are trying anyway, though. Bymun is one of the California providers who has been dabbling in marketing and education with families, she said. 

鈥淲e are trying to be more diligent about how we explain our program and what we do,鈥� she said, adding that she feels strongly that her program has several advantages over TK, even if the public program is free. 

For one, most traditional early care and education programs have smaller class sizes than TK. That means each child gets more attention and engagement from teachers, Bymun said. Another is that many children start in Bymun鈥檚 program and have 鈥渃ontinuity of care from 0 to 5,鈥� which she finds meaningful. Then there鈥檚 the fact that most TK programs are half-day, which is not a childcare solution for working parents; they still need to find another arrangement for their child for the second part of the day. 

TK is also more structured and academic. Some families now believe that, by age 4, that鈥檚 what their child needs to be 鈥渒indergarten ready,鈥� Bymun said. But she rejects the idea that 鈥渁 kid needs to be able to do a worksheet, sit at a desk and be quiet. We all know that鈥檚 not how kids learn, and it鈥檚 not best practice.鈥� 

Bymun鈥檚 program is nature-based and takes place primarily outdoors. Everything from reading, to dramatic play, to math instruction is held outside. That creates a stark contrast between her program setting and a school-based one, she said. 

Still, what Bymun and countless other California providers have found is that, even with their upsides, it鈥檚 hard to compete with free. Bymun鈥檚 preschool program is $360 per week for a 4-year-old, or about $18,000 a year. That鈥檚 a hard pill to swallow for a family who could otherwise choose the no-cost public TK option. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be a lot more of us closing down, as it gets harder and harder to compete with 鈥榝ree鈥� and compete with the marketing of, 鈥榊our kids should go to TK,鈥欌�� Bymun said. 

Bymun was able to make inroads with her current families this year. She has 13 kids enrolled and is considered 鈥渇ull.鈥� One is school-aged, four are under age 2, and the rest are in that 2- to 5-year range, she said. This is the first year that she鈥檇 been able to convince her families with 4-year-olds to stay in her program instead of leaving for TK, she said. Next year, she said, could be a different story. 

鈥淧eople are ultimately price sensitive,鈥� said Powell of CSCCE. 鈥淓ven if they had a wonderful experience when their child was 3, it ends up not being much of a choice after all.鈥�

It鈥檚 not too late for the state and counties to step in to support providers during this period of upheaval and transition, Powell said. They could provide grants so teachers can get trained on working with children from birth to age 3 and programs can convert their facilities and equipment to better serve younger children. The state could focus on reducing turnaround times for centers that need to update their licensing to serve younger children. The state could increase reimbursement rates for providers who accept children whose families pay with subsidies. And the state could give more attention to the other pillars of its universal preschool strategy 鈥� not just TK. 

The impact on providers throughout the state is already being felt, Powell said, but 鈥淐alifornia doesn鈥檛 have to sit back and let this happen.鈥�

In a step toward giving math the attention early literacy has gotten, the Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would require schools to assess the math capabilities of all students in kindergarten through second grade each year, beginning in 2028-29. 

The bill would also require districts to provide math support, such as additional coaching for elementary teachers or group tutoring for students, to help children avoid falling behind and head off potentially irreversible achievement gaps emerging by third grade.  

The Assembly voted unanimously for , which now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 desk, despite opposition from the California Mathematics Council and school lobbies including the Association of California School Administrators and the California County Superintendents, along with the California Teachers Association.

In an Aug. 12 letter, the groups argued that requiring the assessments before the state has adequately invested in teacher training and extra help for students would be premature. 鈥淎 mandated assessment is only as effective as the system that supports it,鈥� they wrote.

But the bill鈥檚 author, Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, D-San Diego, said California should not delay dealing with 鈥渁 real and urgent math achievement crisis.鈥�

鈥淲e also know that students who miss foundational math skills in grades K through 2 rarely catch up,鈥� she said.

California fourth graders have scored lower than their peers in most states on a national test. On California鈥檚 2025 state tests, only 37% of students were proficient in math, compared with 49% on the language arts test. The disparities among students are wide, with 26% of low-income students and 20% of Black students scoring proficient.

鈥淥ur state has not focused on math achievement,鈥� said Marshall Tuck, CEO of the nonprofit advocacy group EdVoice, one of the bill鈥檚 sponsors. 鈥淭he bill鈥檚 passage is a strong recognition by the Legislature that we must focus on students early with more support.鈥�

Newsom has not indicated whether he will sign the bill. Tuck said the State Board of Education and administration advisers offered suggestions that were incorporated into a major revision of the bill.

All screeners are not alike

The new math assessment would come three years after Newsom pushed for an early literacy screener, which went into effect in 2025. But the early literacy screener and AB 1067 version are different. In fact, SB 1067 does not use the word 鈥渟creener.鈥� Weber and the sponsors swapped all references to 鈥渄iagnostic assessment鈥� to distinguish them.

The literacy screener is designed to identify students with potential reading difficulties, including dyslexia. The math counterpart, dyscalculia, is less prevalent and more difficult to diagnose. The diagnostic assessment鈥檚 purpose is 鈥渢o assess pupils鈥� mathematics knowledge and learning needs and identify pupils in need of additional support,鈥� not to diagnose a disability, SB 1067 states.

Under the bill, the State Board of Education would establish criteria and guidelines for the assessments by July 31, 2027, and the Department of Education would publish a list of approved assessments by Jan. 31, 2028, for districts to choose from and use the following school year.  Opponents have objected that the bill doesn鈥檛 spell out what the criteria will be. But many districts already use 鈥渇ormative鈥� or diagnostic assessments to measure skills such as fluency, placeholder values and two-step problem-solving. As long as an assessment aligns with the California Math Framework and meets the criteria, a district can certify its own assessment, according to the bill. The assessments must be available in multiple languages.

The bill also seeks to prevent the assessments from being used to evaluate teachers, rate schools or identify students as gifted or having a disability. The assessment鈥檚 primary audience would be parents; they鈥檇 receive an explanation of the findings and support their child would receive. The bill does not call for reporting results to the state.

A funding imbalance

Over the past five years, when state funding through Proposition 98 was flush, Newsom and the Legislature appropriated $1 billion to hire and train reading coaches in the state鈥檚 lowest-income schools as part of a broader effort to improve how TK-3 reading is taught.

Math has received far less attention. In 2023, the State Board adopted a new math framework that emphasizes engaging students in classroom activities to build an understanding of math concepts, but most teachers have not undergone intensive training to teach it well. A in the 2026 research project found that only one-quarter of district leaders say the framework drives their math lessons, and 30% say it is not at all a factor.

The Legislature has appropriated $100 million to develop a network of math trainers across all 58 counties. But Cole Sampson, the project director and assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, questions whether the state will commit to training teachers once the initial funding runs out. That鈥檚 one reason he continues to oppose the new assessment mandate while acknowledging the improvements made to SB 1067.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 just put something in place and say teachers will magically know how to do X without the proper training and support,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat supports can we start putting in place right now so that school districts are ready for it when it gets here?鈥�

Advocates of an early diagnostic assessment point to Alabama, the first state to adopt an early math screening, in 2022. According to the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 2024, it was the only state in which math scores exceeded pre-Covid pandemic results.

鈥淎labama is getting the results they鈥檙e getting, I would argue, because they put a math coach on every K-5 campus,鈥� Sampson said.

Tuck points out that districts do have immediate funding in the 2026-27 state budget. They could use their share of $737 million, the last installment of the $6.8 billion Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, which is the state鈥檚 version of the federal Covid relief funding. There is also an unrestricted, multiyear, $5 billion block grant 鈥� $937 per student.

Two scholars, two views

Two authors of the math analysis for Getting Down to Facts, H. Alix Gallagher and Elizabeth Huffaker, disagree on the value of early-grade math screening. 

Gallagher, director of educational policy and outcomes for the research center Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), said the 40% student math proficiency rate underscores the need to integrate professional learning into elementary teachers鈥� workweek and 鈥渕ake major changes in teacher preparation as well.鈥�

Few California elementary schools provide the intensive support for students struggling with math that they have created for literacy, and those schools that already administer diagnostic assessments, like iReady or STAR, 鈥渄on鈥檛 seem to use these data effectively鈥� to monitor overall instruction, she said.

An additional screening measure 鈥�- 鈥渆specially if it isn鈥檛 valid鈥� 鈥� probably won鈥檛 help and 鈥渃ould actually do harm,鈥� she said.

But Huffaker, the lead author of the math study and an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Florida, said that a diagnostic test for young students 鈥渋s a good idea.鈥�

Supports like high-impact tutoring to develop foundational numeracy skills in K-2 are important, she said, and 鈥渢he universality helps ensure no students fall through the cracks.鈥�  

While acknowledging adding further to the testing burden 鈥渋s always a concern,鈥� she said that, subject to the state鈥檚 adoption list, a new screener may not add a new test for schools that already administer them.

Compared with Alabama鈥檚 more prescriptive and better-funded approach, Huffaker said, California districts 鈥渨ill have more flexibility in implementing and responding to the screener but also less capacity support from the state.鈥�

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As schools reopen amid a national surge in measles cases, California students will continue to follow the state鈥檚 existing vaccination requirements, despite President Donald Trump鈥檚 latest effort to change the country鈥檚 childhood vaccine schedule. 

to determine which immunizations are required for students to attend school. The state will continue to follow guidelines created by the and other experts, said Dr. Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the state鈥檚 public health officer. 

The , issued Aug. 10, calls for spreading childhood vaccinations across multiple medical visits. It also recommends administering the combined measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine as three separate shots, and reduces the number of recommended vaccinations for all children from 18 to 11. 

Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced during a press conference in which they repeated claims that immunizations cause autism, a theory that has been debunked by extensive research.

Pan and of Pediatrics President Andrew D. Racine said there is no evidence to justify making changes to the childhood immunization schedule. 

鈥淭he only purpose of this announcement is to sow confusion so that more people doubt the importance of vaccines,鈥� said Racine in a statement. 鈥淒elaying or skipping shots is risky, especially as measles continues to spread and children go back to school.鈥�

Although the order only advises states to consider updating their vaccination policies, it also calls for the U.S. attorney general to launch legal challenges against states that do not allow religious or medical exemptions. California only allows medical exemptions.

California rules won鈥檛 change

California was among a coalition of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February for attempting to remove the recommended status for seven vaccines. The lawsuit also challenged the replacement of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an expert panel that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades, calling it 鈥渦nlawful.鈥�

In March, a f that the advisory committee had been replaced improperly and halted the plan to make changes to the vaccination schedule.

requires students to be vaccinated against 10 serious communicable diseases. Proof of in kindergarten and seventh grade, as well as upon entering childcare, transitional kindergarten, or when transferring schools from out of state. 

鈥淭his executive order will not change anything in California,鈥� Pan said. 鈥淲e are really committed to protecting access to vaccines for our communities.鈥�

Measles cases are increasing

The president鈥檚 executive order comes as measles cases in the U.S. hit a 35-year high. There have been 2,566 confirmed cases in the U.S. so far this year, compared to 2,289 confirmed cases during the entire year of 2025.

California has reported 58 cases of measles so far this year, up from 25 in 2025, according to the CDPH. All but 14 of the cases were people younger than 20, and all but four were either unvaccinated or their status was unknown, according to California Department of Public Health.

Catherine Flores Martin, executive director of the California Immunization Coalition, worries that the number of cases nationwide could be higher.

鈥淪ome parents have gotten comfortable with not reporting their cases,鈥� Flores Martin said. 鈥淪o that is a big concern.鈥�

Measles is highly contagious. About 90% of unvaccinated people who are exposed to someone with measles will contract the disease. 

Flores Martin said requiring children to receive vaccinations over multiple visits could make it more difficult for lower-income parents. 

鈥淚t will be way more onerous for parents and terrible for children,鈥� Flores Martin said. 鈥淵ou know, the stress. I would say every time I went to the doctor as a child I was always stressed because I was worried about getting the shots.鈥�

Is the order causing confusion?

and are continuously monitored and studied in the United States and California, Pan said. Still, she and other health experts worry that the White House announcement could create confusion about vaccinations just as students return to school.

Top health officials at San Diego Unified and Sacramento City Unified school districts told EdSource they have not noticed increased vaccine hesitancy this school year and have not received questions from parents about the president鈥檚 recommendations. That doesn鈥檛 mean parents have stopped raising concerns about vaccinations.

Sacramento City Unified lead nurse Susan Sivils reassures hesitant parents it is safe for their children to receive multiple vaccines in one visit.

鈥淚 just make sure they understand that, until they are up to date with all of those vaccines, they won鈥檛 be allowed to start school,鈥� she said.

Sivils said she knows of only one family this year that chose to bring their child in for multiple visits to receive their vaccinations.

More parents are opting to wait to immunize their children until they are older, said Flores Martin.

鈥淭hey say they are not hesitant, they just want to wait,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hose are informed, educated people, but what they鈥檙e deciding is very wrong from a scientific standpoint and a health standpoint for their children. So, we鈥檙e in uncharted territory because parents used to trust their doctor so much, but they鈥檙e not trusting them on this.鈥�

State immunization rates high

California鈥檚 kindergarten remain above the national average of 92.4%. But the , from 95.6% during the 2016-17 school year to 93.7% in 2024-25. Measles vaccination rates are a little better with 96.1% of kindergartners vaccinated in 2024-25, compared to 97% in 2018-19. 

Even relatively small declines can make a big difference in a state that had kindergartners and 213,313 transitional kindergarten students last school year. A 1% drop in measles vaccinations, for example, means that there would be approximately 5,600 fewer students in those two grades who received the MMR vaccine.

The share of students with medical exemptions remains low, at about 0.1%. But state health experts say the number of students enrolled in home-based private schools or independent study programs without classroom-based instruction is increasing. 

Although students in these schools don鈥檛 have to be vaccinated, their schools are required to maintain immunization records or risk .

Vaccination rates also are uneven across the state, with rural, charter and schools in low-income communities more likely to have under vaccinated students, according to the. 

If the immunization rate falls below 95% in a school or community, that opens up the possibility of an outbreak, Pan said. 

鈥淪o, yes, we want people to be up-to-date on their measles vaccine and make sure they have their two doses. That is part of the school vaccine requirements,鈥� Pan said.

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Three years after voters passed an ambitious arts education funding measure, California鈥檚 K-12 schools were supposed to be awash in dance, music, theater and fine arts. But some schools are returning their arts money to the state, saying the rules on how to spend it are too vague and they can鈥檛 find enough arts teachers.

鈥淭he sad thing is, this means that thousands of kids aren鈥檛 getting art,鈥� said Austin Beutner, the former superintendent of Los Angeles Unified who wrote . 鈥淲e thought Prop. 28 was clear.鈥�

Prop. 28, which voters overwhelmingly approved in 2022, sets aside about $1 billion a year for the arts in California public schools. Schools with more low-income students get more money, but otherwise funding is based on enrollment. Los Angeles Unified, with about 400,000 students, got about $72 million last year, while Death Valley Unified, with 21 students, got about $2,000.

Schools must spend at least 80% of their money on additional arts staff, with the rest going to art supplies and other arts expenses. Whatever they don鈥檛 spend, they鈥檙e required to return to the state after three years. The first three-year period just ended, and the California Department of Education hasn鈥檛 yet announced how much money schools returned. The state redistributes the unspent money to individual schools that are using their Prop. 28 money correctly, based on their annual spending reports.

State data , an arts nonprofit that supported Prop. 28, shows dozens, if not hundreds of schools that spent no money. Among them are charter schools, small schools, and mid-sized schools in every corner of the state.

At the other end of the spectrum, many districts have gone on spending sprees, hiring teachers and expanding programs at all schools. Bakersfield City Schools, for example, doubled the size of its folklorico and mariachi dance programs, bought thousands of musical instruments and paired local artists with classroom teachers.

Long Beach Unified has also doubled down on the arts. Its high school course catalog offers dozens of arts classes, including classics like marching band and painting as well as more obscure classes like improvisational dance, steel drums, stage technology, chamber orchestra and photography.

Too few teachers, too much confusion

But other districts, particularly smaller and rural districts, . Even though the state allows districts to pool their Prop. 28 money to share a teacher, the law doesn’t provide explicit language about it. Regardless, schools say there are not enough art teachers to hire. According to a , California needs at least 5,000 new arts teachers to meet the demand. Rural areas in general hiring teachers, particularly those with specialized training.

Another obstacle is what some school officials describe as vague directions in the law. Prop. 28 broadly defines what constitutes an arts class, but it doesn鈥檛 require those classes to align with the state鈥檚 existing . And schools already get arts funding from the state, leaving some school officials wondering if they can mix their funds and still comply with the law.

鈥淲e need clarity and confidence that we鈥檙e doing this the right way,鈥� said El Dorado County Superintendent of Schools Ed Manansala, saying schools are afraid of misusing the funds 鈥� for example, sharing a music teacher with another district but not dividing their time lawfully. 鈥淲e have a long history of supporting the arts and we really want to make sure we do this right.鈥�

Manansala and other school officials also say they鈥檙e afraid of getting sued if they don鈥檛 use the money correctly. That鈥檚 what happened to Los Angeles Unified. Beutner sued his former district last year, claiming it cut existing arts funding and backfilled it with Prop. 28 money, which is prohibited.

The lawsuit is pending in Los Angeles Superior Court. The district said that its use of Prop. 28 money was legal.

鈥榃e should not be fighting over this鈥�

Nonetheless, the confusion led Assemblymember to that would clarify some of the Prop. 28 language 鈥� for example, defining what constitutes supplemental arts funding. The legislation so far has had nearly unanimous bipartisan support, but one very vocal opponent: Beutner.

Beutner said that Muratsuchi鈥檚 bill, , essentially guts Prop. 28 by giving schools too much leeway to spend their money. Among his concerns is that districts will not increase arts education at all school sites, but instead cluster it at certain schools or try to pawn off a physical education class, for example, as an arts class.

鈥淚 believe in the arts, and what it can do for students. Some kids only come to school because of the arts,鈥� Beutner said. 鈥淲e should not be fighting over this. Prop. 28 is very clear鈥� in that it requires schools to add extra arts programs, not replace existing programs.

Beutner also described the bill as a 鈥済et-out-of-jail-free card鈥� for Los Angeles Unified, because he said it would give the district more freedom in how it spends its Prop. 28 money. District spokesperson Christy Hagen said in an email that the district had nothing to do with the bill and hasn鈥檛 taken a position on it.

Beutner said he鈥檇 like to see Muratsuchi鈥檚 legislation tabled until a judge rules on his lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified. Otherwise, spending the funding could become even more confusing.

The bill is currently in the suspense file in the Senate appropriations committee, awaiting approval Thursday. If the committee doesn鈥檛 agree to hear it, it鈥檒l likely die. 

Muratsuchi said he鈥檚 open to a last-minute compromise.  

鈥�(Beutner) and I share the same goal of Prop. 28 providing arts and music to every child in California regardless of zip code,鈥� said Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance. 鈥淲e want to make sure the law鈥檚 language reflects that. Hopefully I convinced him that I mean well and we have the same objective.鈥�

Urgent need for clarity

Clarifying the languageis crucial if the law is going to be successful, said Veronica Alvarez, executive director of Create CA, a nonprofit that promotes arts education in California schools.

Too many school districts are not spending their Prop. 28 money because they鈥檙e confused about the guidelines or can鈥檛 comply with what they view as overly narrow requirements, Alvarez said.

鈥淲e want clearer statewide rules, so all kids from Shasta to Bakersfield get high-quality arts education,鈥� Alvarez said. 鈥淗opefully we can move forward on this.鈥�

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In other sectors, opportunity is booming. Homes, roads, bridges, vehicles, energy grids, water systems and data centers all depend on skilled workers to build and maintain them. Yet demand far outstrips supply: McKinsey & Company that for every new hire in skilled trades like carpentry, electrical work and welding, roughly 20 positions remain unfilled.

This raises a simple question: If the economy urgently needs more skilled trades workers, why aren’t we making a greater investment in our public high schools to help prepare students for these in-demand, well-paying careers?

Unfortunately, the role high schools once played in preparing students for careers has diminished greatly. Traditional shop classes in auto repair, electrical, construction and other hands-on fields have disappeared from many public high schools over the past several decades. Though modern career and technical education programs , they don鈥檛 yet have the reach or capacity to meet demand. Too many high students still don鈥檛 have meaningful exposure to career pathways in the skilled trades.

New conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago and commissioned by Harbor Freight Tools for Schools shows overwhelming support for expanding skilled trades education in public high schools. Students want it. Parents want it. Voters across party lines want it.

The survey of more than 6,000 U.S. voters, parents and public high school students found that 95% of voters and 81% of parents believe more opportunities to study skilled trades in high school would better prepare students for careers; 84% of voters and 73% of parents support increased government funding.

That kind of agreement is rare in American politics, and the strong support among parents reflects their fears about the future labor market. Nearly half of parents surveyed said they are extremely or very concerned that AI will reduce job opportunities for their child.

The AI era only makes modern skilled trades education more urgent. This research shows broad consensus that high school should prepare students not only for college admission but also for careers with stability and purpose..

All high school students should have the opportunity to explore a skilled trade. Some will discover a lifelong career. Many will gain practical skills and confidence. And others will go on to college with a clearer sense of purpose.

The NORC survey found high school students who have taken skilled trades classes report stronger connections to school and greater confidence about their future, even if they don鈥檛 enter the trades. Those students felt more confident collaborating and problem-solving than their peers.

Voters see it clearly, too. They ranked skilled trades as the top elective funding priority for high schools, ahead of STEM, business, healthcare, arts and physical education. That does not mean those subjects are unimportant. It means the public sees a skilled trades gap that has been ignored for too long.

With students, parents and voters all wanting stronger pathways into the skilled trades, public policy should reflect that consensus.

That requires real investment in modern school facilities, up-to-date equipment, trained instructors, career counseling and schedules that allow students to take skilled trades classes that are aligned with core academics. It also requires expanding partnerships with employers and community organizations to provide apprenticeships and opportunities for students to earn industry credentials, accelerating their upon graduation.

Strengthening and expanding skilled trades pathways in public high schools is one of the most forward-looking steps we can take in an economy being reshaped by artificial intelligence, infrastructure needs, and uncertainty about the future of work.

The high school students who will build, repair, power, and maintain the country鈥檚 future are sitting in classrooms right now. They should not have to wait until after graduation to discover what they are capable of doing with their hands, their minds and their ambition.

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In school lunchrooms around Lake Tahoe, students line up for a red, hairy fruit called a rambutan. On pozole day, they shout, 鈥淲e want more!鈥� And when the salad bar runs dry, they ask the staff to refill it 鈥� over and over.

This brings joy to the cafeteria crew, but Gage Gautheier recently bestowed the highest possible praise from a middle-schooler: 鈥淚 have literally never heard anyone complain about the food.鈥�

Tahoe-Truckee Unified is among 500 California school districts that get their food through the state鈥檚 Farm to School program, which pairs local farmers, ranchers and other food producers with school districts to provide fresh meals to students. The program has been since it started in 2021 that this month the state and made it a permanent part of the Department of Food and Agriculture.

鈥淚鈥檓 so relieved the state decided to step it up and make this program permanent,鈥� said Christina Lawson, director of nutrition services at Western Placer Unified in Lincoln, a Sacramento suburb. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been my abiding fear 鈥� that our funding would dry up after all this work we鈥檝e done.鈥�

The Farm to School program is part of a broader state effort to improve school meals, which for decades consisted mostly of soggy hot dogs and frozen pizzas. Through the program, schools get grant money to obtain fresh, local food; send students on field trips to farms; and send cafeteria workers to culinary academies so they can learn to cook things like braised short ribs and roasted root vegetables.

Another grant program helps schools upgrade their kitchens. And during the pandemic, the state started offering universal school meals to all students. In all, the state has invested well over $1 billion in healthy school meals since 2021.

鈥淥ur goal is not only to ensure every California child has access to nutritious, locally grown, regenerative organic meals that fuel their full potential, but to continue setting the national standard for what school food can and should be,鈥� said First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a longtime champion of the state鈥檚 overhaul of school meals. 鈥淲hen we invest in healthy, thriving kids, everyone benefits.鈥�

One of the most helpful parts of the Farm to School Program, according to school nutrition directors, is that it pays for food hubs to act as intermediaries between schools and farms. The food hubs place orders with farmers, deliver produce to schools and handle much of the logistical paperwork 鈥� tasks that can be overwhelming for harried cafeteria workers.

Spork is a food hub based in Davis that works with more than 100 small farms and 40 school districts from Crescent City to Los Angeles Unified. Crews deliver up to 120 tons 鈥� or 720 truckloads 鈥� of produce a week to school kitchens. 

Deliveries include items like vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, purple daikon radishes, Hakurei turnips, and something called a painted serpent cucumber 鈥� a snake-like, striped vegetable with a thin skin and a sweet, mild flavor.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is change kids鈥� eating habits at a young age by showing them how great fruits and vegetables can be,鈥� said Jacob Weiss, general manager of Spork. 鈥淧eople think kids don鈥檛 like vegetables, but we found that if you give them fresh, delicious vegetables, they love it.鈥�

A boost to local farms

Another goal of Farm to School is to give a boost to small farmers, who often struggle with fluctuating markets and customers鈥� fickle tastes. A farmer might plant a field of a specialty item like heirloom tomatoes, for example, but only sell half of them. Contracting with schools can provide a stable, predictable market, allowing farmers to plan crops more efficiently. Overall, the program works with nearly 600 small farmers in California.

Patrick Bollinger co-owns Foothill Roots Farm in Meadow Vista in Placer County. On 20 rolling acres in the Sierra foothills, he and his crew grow 50 different crops, much of it for the Tahoe Food Hub, which distributes to Tahoe-Truckee Unified and other sources. 

鈥淚f we get an order for watermelon radishes, I know we鈥檒l be able to sell them before we even get the seeds in the ground,鈥� Bollinger said. 鈥淎nd when we sell to the food hub, we don鈥檛 have to do the deliveries or marketing. 鈥� It鈥檚 been incredibly advantageous for us.鈥�

The state that every dollar spent through Farm to School results in $2.10 in local economic growth. Bollinger said he鈥檚 saved enough money to retain more employees year-round and lease an additional 8 acres since he started working with the Farm to School program. It鈥檚 also allowed him to plan more strategically, growing more salad greens, carrots and winter squash while still saving room for things like beets, herbs and chard.

At Tahoe-Truckee Unified, Kat Soltanmorad has never been happier in her 25 years as a school nutrition worker. 

鈥淲e now have access to the richness of California agriculture,鈥� said Soltanmorad, director of the district鈥檚 food services department. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for the economy, it鈥檚 good for the environment, it鈥檚 good for student wellness.鈥�

She and her crew come up with menu items like barbecue ribs with whole grain garlic bread, organic mashed potatoes and kale caesar salad; mango lassis; and potstickers with oven-baked pancit and cilantro lime brown rice.

They taste-test new menu items with students and offer a wide variety of options at the salad bar so everyone can find something they like.

鈥淚 have become a radish expert,鈥� Soltanmorad said, noting that the district offers radish varieties such as baby French breakfast and Easter egg from small farms near her district. 鈥淲e dress them up with Tajin and lime juice or cilantro, and the students love it.鈥�

Gauthier, who just finished eighth grade, transferred to Tahoe-Truckee two years ago from Reno, where he said the school food was unimpressive. 

鈥淚n Reno they鈥檇 give us little sandwiches in plastic bags. Not cooked or anything, just a cold sandwich,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ere, they actually make an effort. They try.鈥� 

Back in Lincoln, Lawson choked up when describing the changes to her district鈥檚 lunch program thanks to Farm to School. The 8,200-student district now offers things like homemade muffins made from locally milled flour, low-sugar Greek yogurt from Sierra Nevada Creamery, local homemade tortillas and pupusas, and fresh produce ranging from kumquats to canary melons to finger limes. 

The staff, too, has benefitted. Because there’s more work for them, they’re getting more hours and bigger paychecks, plus greater job satisfaction, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the best thing that鈥檚 ever happened to school food service,鈥� Lawson said. 鈥淭he staff is happier, the farmers are benefitting. And the kids are actually eating the food.鈥�

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Screen time limits for Los Angeles Unified School District鈥檚 youngest students begin in August.

鈥淢y hope and expectation is that most families will see a dramatic reduction in screen time during the school day, but also in the evenings, as mandated by school,鈥� said Nick Melvoin, who represents the Westside鈥檚 Board District 4.

While LAUSD was the , the policy, along with , is part of a nationwide trend toward limiting young people鈥檚 exposure to tech during the school day.

Many parents have embraced 鈥� and advocated for鈥� less technology in the classroom, but questions remain about how LAUSD will enforce the screen time limits and the potential for unintended consequences for students who have less access to devices outside of school.

What part of the screen time limits start in August?

The  eliminates digital device usage for students in early education (preschool), transitional kindergarten (TK), kindergarten and first grade.

There are several exceptions, including:

Students will not be automatically issued devices to take home. However, there is still a process for families to request one.

The policy also requires the district to block all students from accessing YouTube, social media and streaming platforms without teacher approval.

The type of work students bring home may change, too. The policy encourages educators to provide off-screen assignments.

鈥淗omework should prioritize reading, writing, problem-solving, hands-on activities, observation, and other learning experiences that can be completed without the use of a device,鈥� .

Andr茅s Chait, the district鈥檚 superintendent, said at a July 21 news conference that implementing the new policy will take time.

鈥淥n Aug. 12, you may not necessarily see in the immediate all of the changes that the policy calls for, but they will be implemented methodically and transparently,鈥� Chait said.

Where did the screen time policy come from?

A group of Los Angeles parents organized a group called  in 2025 and started , collecting petition signatures and .

Melvoin brought forward the resolution that ultimately led to the new policy .

鈥淲e had not recalibrated or reset our relationship with technology post-COVID,鈥� said Melvoin, at the time. 鈥淪ix years ago, we sent every kid in L.A. home with a device, which was a lifeline. 鈥� But when they came back, I’m still seeing kids as young as preschool on devices all day.鈥�

The board adopted the policy  after staff conducted research and outreach to parents, educators and community members.

How much does it cost to limit screen time?

District staff  up to $4 million in one-time funds to purchase carts to store laptops in elementary school classrooms and an annual $1 million to pay for software to track screen time and block content.

The district has yet to spend this money, according to a statement from a Los Angeles Unified spokesperson.

鈥淐onversations with schools will take place in the early part of the upcoming school year to assess needs on a school-by-school basis,鈥� the statement read.

Was there any pushback to the new policy?

The board voted unanimously to adopt the screen time policy with the exception of Board President Scott Schmerelson, who recused himself from the vote.

However, there was some discussion about whether the limitations would have unintended consequences for teachers and students.

Board Vice President Roc铆o Rivas cautioned that the minute limits may discourage teachers from assigning multimedia projects, and adds the burden of monitoring student technology use.

鈥淪chools may end up focusing on counting minutes, documenting usage, auditing classrooms instead of evaluating learning outcomes,鈥� Rivas said.

LAUSD staff鈥檚  noted a 鈥渞isk of slowing access to technology and its advancement for students to compete with the world.鈥�

During public comment in June, Mireya Garcia, a mother and grandmother, told the board that her family shares a single computer at home.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want them to lose access to tools that can help them read, to learn and to be successful,鈥� Garcia said.

How are teachers preparing for the changes?

LAUSD adopted the screen time policy when most teachers and students were off-campus for the summer.

A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson wrote in a statement that training has started with 鈥渄edicated sessions鈥� for principals and administrators and that more resources will be available to educators before Aug.12 and throughout the school year.

鈥淭his approach allows us to be respectful of educators鈥� time while ensuring schools are prepared and supported for a successful rollout,鈥� the spokesperson wrote.

The first opportunity for most teachers to return to their classroom is on Monday, Aug. 10, two days before school starts.

Stephanie Levinson, who鈥檚 taught at San Fernando Elementary for 28 years, said she has not received any additional guidance from the district since the policy was passed this summer.

This year, she鈥檒l teach a combined first- and second-grade class. Under the new policy, first graders do not have access to digital devices and second graders can use them for up to 20 minutes per day this year.

鈥淚t’s stressful because we don’t know,鈥� Levinson said. 鈥淚t’s hard to plan a school day when we’re not sure what’s gonna be mandated, how things are gonna work.鈥�

Levinson said that, in the past, she鈥檇 assign students to use interactive learning programs like ABCmouse while she worked with their peers in small groups. She also fundraised to bring laptops and tablets to her classroom, where most students come from low-income families, before the devices were widespread in the district.

鈥淚f a kid hasn’t learned how to even use a computer or type, how are they going to鈥ot be disadvantaged against kids that have computers?鈥� Levinson said.

How can families get access to a digital device?

Parents and guardians can request a take-home device  or through the district鈥檚 .

The Los Angeles Public Library has a for adults.

What鈥檚 next for screen time in LAUSD?

The policy requires the board to review the screen time rules at least once a year during a public meeting.

鈥淥ne of the reasons we crafted this policy is because we didn’t see a policy that we could just adopt nationally,鈥� Melvoin said. 鈥淏ut that also means that it’ll be iterative and that we’re working out the kinks.鈥�

The district has also created an ad hoc committee to provide recommendations on how the district is using AI.

• District- and state-mandated assessments.听
• Students enrolled in the LAUSD Virtual Academy program.听
• To help students with disabilities learn, as mandated by their Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan.听

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California teachers had some big wins in this year鈥檚 state budget, including about $700 million for stipends and training, and $218 million to support paid pregnancy leave.

for teacher recruitment and retention builds on the more than $1 billion California has spent since 2018 to end a persistent school staffing shortage that has left many classrooms without a fully credentialed teacher.

The investments appear to be paying off. New preliminary teaching credentials increased 40% between 2022-23 and 2024-25, while the pool of teacher candidates became more racially diverse, according to the , though advocates say more work needs to be done.

Here鈥檚 what California teachers won in the state budget.

Paid pregnancy leave

The new requirement that school districts pay up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy disability leave marks a for teachers. Until now, teachers had to rely on accumulated sick leave or other paid time off during pregnancy. 

Members of the California Teachers Association spent at least three years lobbying for the benefit, said California Teachers Association Secretary-Treasurer Erika Jones.

About 22,000 teachers wrote personal testimonies about how the lack of paid pregnancy leave negatively impacted their lives and sent them to state legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 office, Jones said. 

鈥淲e had a lot of mothers going back too soon, and who were literally in labor waiting until they were dilated more before they took time off,鈥� Jones said.

The lack of paid maternity leave has impacted teachers at the end of their careers as well. They often have to work longer than their male counterparts, to make up for time lost during pregnancy, to earn enough service credits to qualify for retirement, Jones said.

Both Gov. Jerry Brown andbills to provide paid maternity leave, citing the cost to districts. This year, the Newsom administration changed course, saying the benefit was a way to improve recruitment and retention of employees while prioritizing the health and well-being of school employees.

permanently increases the cost-of-living adjustment given to schools and community colleges by 1.44%, in part, to help pay some of the cost of pregnancy leave. The larger COLA is estimated to cost the state roughly $218 million each year, according to the budget.

The new benefit will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, with no required contribution from teachers.

Golden State Teacher Grant

The Golden State Teacher Grant program, which had been at risk of running out of money, had an infusion of funding from three sources 鈥� $16.2 million in ongoing federal special education funding, $1.6 million in one-time federal Title II funds and $10 million in state general fund money.

The federal funding in the grant provides one-time payments of up to $20,000 to teacher candidates working toward a special education credential. Prospective teachers in other high-needs fields of study can get a grant of $10,000.

Recipients of the $20,000 grant must work at a priority school or in a California preschool program for four years and complete that service within eight years of finishing a teacher preparation program. Recipients of the $10,000 grant must complete 2 years of service within four years of completing teacher preparation, according to the , which administers the program. 

The program, which started with $500 million of state funding, has paid stipends to 28,000 teacher candidates since 2020-21. More than 90% of grantees who completed their commitment plan to continue teaching at a priority school, according to the commission.

It was a challenge for state leaders to find the money for the grant because it is considered a higher education item and can鈥檛 be funded with Prop. 98 funding, said Marshall Tuck, CEO of EdVoice, a nonprofit education advocacy organization.

Prop. 98 is the 1988 formula that guarantees schools and community colleges receive about 40% of the revenue from the state鈥檚 general fund.

鈥淚n the initial budget in January, there were no new dollars for the Golden State Teacher Grant program,鈥� Tuck said. 鈥淎nd I think they did a good job of creatively finding some funding.鈥�

The state should create a new iteration of the Golden State Teacher Grant that can be funded with Prop. 98 dollars, said Tuck, who has lobbied with other education advocates for continued funding for the program.

Student teacher stipend

The budget allocates $408 million for the Student Teacher Stipend Program, which was created last year with $300 million after teacher candidates said they couldn鈥檛 afford to complete California鈥檚 required student teaching while working full time without pay. 

The program provides eligible student teachers $10,000 a year while they are completing the 600 hours of required student teaching. Beginning in the 2027-28 school year, the amount will increase to $15,000 for student teachers who work in a priority school or in a subject area where there is a shortage of teachers.

Student teachers being paid as interns or on emergency-style permits are not eligible for the stipend, according to the state budget.

Educator residency programs

The and counselor residency grant programs fund partnerships between school districts and preparation programs that residents a stipend of at least $20,000 while they learn alongside veteran classroom teachers and school counselors. 

California is adding another $250 million to the it has already spent on the programs since 2018.

The new budget extends the time residents are allowed to complete the training from five to eight years. It also waives grant repayment for participants who are unable to complete a program because of hardship. Previously, residents were responsible for repaying the grant, adjusted to reflect the service provided.

The 2026-27 budget authorizes the commission to award grants of between $100,000 and $300,000 to institutions that are beginning or expanding residency programs. Before this year, residency grants had been limited to $250,000.

The new money is expected to fund the program through 2029-30.

The state also has set aside $30 million to fund California鈥檚 through 2034. The center operates through five county offices of education.

Classified staff credential program

The budget includes $10 million for the  Credentialing Program, which helps school districts recruit and prepare classroom aides, food service workers, bus drivers and other classified staff to become teachers. 

Participants in the program receive financial assistance for tuition, books, exams and other fees. They are also given academic guidance and individualized support to complete teacher preparation and earn a credential.

Bilingual teacher recruitment

The budget also includes $10 million to recruit future bilingual teachers.

The funding allows school districts to partner with community colleges and universities to help students begin the process of earning a teaching credential and the bilingual authorization required to teach English learners.

California Teachers Association President David Goldberg called the state investments in teacher grants 鈥渇antastic,鈥� but agreed that more should be done to ensure teachers earn a good living and stay in the profession.

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 a good step in the right direction,鈥� he said.

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California schools now have two screening instruments that use playful games and stories to test 4-year-olds鈥� language skills without making them cry.

The California Department of Education this spring approved two language screeners for use in transitional kindergarten to replace the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC), which lawmakers barred schools from administering to TK students two years ago.

All K-12 students who speak languages other than English at home are required to take the ELPAC within 30 days of enrollment to determine their English proficiency. But teachers and advocates reported some TK students fluent in English were identified as English learners simply because they were too young to be tested. Some teachers said the experience caused some 4-year-olds to down on their desks or simply refuse to answer questions. 

The ELPAC measures reading and writing skills that most 4-year-olds have not yet developed, advocates and researchers said. Researchers said screening instruments for this age group should instead measure speaking and understanding and use games, stories and conversation designed for young children.

A by New America and the American Institutes for Research found that 22 states and Washington, D.C. screen students to identify English learners before kindergarten. The two screeners selected for use in California are among the most common, with each used in nine other states. 

Alesha Moreno-Ramirez, director of the state education department鈥檚 Multilingual Support Division, said the two approved screening tests are developmentally appropriate for 4-year-olds, can test in more than one language and can be administered across the state. 

The screeners 鈥減rovide an educator insights so that perhaps they鈥檒l use a different kind of scaffolding, or perhaps they鈥檒l bring in additional resources, or maybe they鈥檒l bring in literature in different languages and introduce them into their TK classroom,鈥� said Moreno-Ramirez.

One of the screeners, Early Childhood, uses a story board and pieces, including characters and objects, to assess a child鈥檚 understanding and speaking through storytelling. In a demonstration video, an examiner reads a story little by little and asks the student questions.

鈥淪arah鈥檚 mother calls the children to come to the picnic table. So what do you think Jack and Sarah are going to do?鈥� she asks.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to eat at the picnic table,鈥� answers the child.

The other screener, , uses colorful pictures to assess proficiency. In one of its four sections, the examiner shows the student pictures of eyes and ears and asks them to point to their own eye or ear. In another section, labeled 鈥淎rt Show,鈥� the examiner shows the student a drawing of children looking at paintings of a dog and cat and asks them to describe what is happening. Students are also asked to repeat phrases as well as listen to a story and retell it as the examiner points to the pictures.

鈥淚 feel very pleased that we鈥檙e no longer using an assessment that鈥檚 developmentally inappropriate for younger children,鈥� said Carolyne Crolotte, director of policy at Early Edge California, a nonprofit that advocated to exempt TK students from taking the ELPAC.

Texas has used preLAS to measure English language proficiency for pre-K and kindergarten students since 2019. Henry Castellanos, principal of Delco Elementary School in Austin, said he administered it many times as a bilingual reading interventionist.

鈥淚 definitely feel like it was a good read and measure on where students were,鈥� Castellanos said. 鈥淎ll the components are very age appropriate.鈥�

Castellanos spent his elementary school years in the early 2000s in West Covina. He spoke Spanish at home with his parents, but said he gradually lost much of the language as he became proficient in English and could not keep up with peers or cousins when he would visit Mexico.

At the time, California had severely restricted bilingual education, while Texas its bilingual programs.

鈥淜nowing what I know now, I鈥檓 like, dang, I missed out on so many opportunities, because it was literally all English the whole time,鈥� he said.

Both California screening exams can also be used to measure Spanish language skills, which advocates said is important for children who speak Spanish at home, so teachers can understand their vocabulary and expression in their home language. However, they cannot be used in other languages.

The two screeners will be piloted this school year in some California school districts, and then rolled out to all school districts in 2027-28. Moreno-Ramirez said the field testing is not intended to check whether the test is reliable or useful, but rather to inform guidance, training and access.

鈥淚t will help us identify any sticking points related to rollout,鈥� said Moreno-Ramirez.

Under state law, the new screeners cannot be used to officially identify transitional kindergarten students as English learners, which means schools will not be able to get federal funding for those children until they enter kindergarten. To make up for the state funding that schools would have received for English learners through the Local Control Funding Formula, the Legislature made a temporary fix to allow schools to use the percentage of English learners in kindergarten to approximate the percentage of English learners in transitional kindergarten and receive similar funding, but only until 2027. In order to receive funding for these students after 2027, the Legislature would have to pass another law.

In addition, schools are not required by law to provide students who are not officially identified as English learners with language services. Nor are they required to report their academic or language progress on the California School Dashboard.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping educators feel compelled to support their students based on their understanding of their multilingual experience,鈥� Moreno-Ramirez said. 鈥淲e want to make sure that we鈥檙e not just thinking about providing supports and services for those students for whom it鈥檚 required by federal law, but also thinking about the opportunity for kids in the earliest years that we recognize their linguistic assets.鈥�

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But on that day in March, he swapped out a reading on the Delano Grape Strike for , including a testimony by Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, who revealed that Ch谩vez raped her on two separate occasions. The Times investigation also revealed a pattern of Ch谩vez sexually abusing women and girls who were a part of the UFW.听

鈥淪ome students used words like 鈥榮hock,鈥� 鈥榙evastating,鈥� 鈥榞ut wrenching,鈥� 鈥榮oul shaking,鈥欌�� Rosales said. 鈥淚 was glad that it’d be in that moment with students at that time. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world, if you will, when that story broke.鈥�

As a historian who has studied and taught about the farmworker movement for years, Rosales, along with many other scholars, was just as shocked. Now, college faculty across California are evaluating the research and teaching approaches they will take when it comes to California鈥檚 farmworker movements. 

鈥淚 was in a text chain with different professors from across the country, and we were just in shock, because no historian knew about this,鈥� Rosales said. 鈥淭his definitely feels like a second, social death.鈥�

Ch谩vez died at the age of 66 in 1993, leaving a legacy that has grown in California history. Over 130 public spaces and monuments have been named after Ch谩vez nationally. In California, over 65 streets, schools and parks carried his name. Since 2000, the state recognized his birthday as a state holiday. 

Higher education institutions immediately responded to the allegations against Ch谩vez by renaming and removing public markers. Now California faculty are navigating what it means to teach and research figures like Ch谩vez and finding ways to broaden farmworker history beyond one leader. 

How schools initially reacted 

State lawmakers swiftly renamed C茅sar Ch谩vez Day to Farmworkers Day in March. California universities also quickly renamed or removed monuments and buildings commemorating Ch谩vez. 

At both Fresno State and Cal State San Marcos, statues of Ch谩vez were covered and removed within two days of The Times story publishing.

At San Joaquin Delta College, a ceramic relief and plaque memorializing Ch谩vez was replaced with a mural honoring farmworkers painted by Delta College students. UC Berkeley removed Ch谩vez鈥檚 name from a student center. UCLA鈥檚 department of Chicano Studies removed Ch谩vez from its name. 

While some suggested replacing Ch谩vez鈥檚 name with Huerta鈥檚, faculty are instead advocating for an approach that is more deliberate, and can commemorate the collective rather than one leader.

鈥淚f Dolores Huerta鈥檚 name comes up, I want it to go up based on her own achievements and merits, not based on reaction to allegations against C茅sar Ch谩vez,鈥� said Lorena Oropeza, professor of Chicanx Latinx Studies at UC Berkeley.

Campuses are also grappling with changes to curriculum involving Ch谩vez. At Bakersfield College, some faculty advocated for the immediate elimination of the C茅sar Ch谩vez Leadership Certificate, a program that teaches students about community organizing through the history of Ch谩vez鈥檚 legacy in the farmworker movement in the southern San Joaquin Valley.

Rosales, who created the certificate program, said that any changes to curriculum should be deliberated and thought through, rather than just removed. While no faculty has yet made a motion to the Academic Senate for changes, he said he and department colleagues support any name change going through the senate process. 

鈥淚f you actually look at the curriculum, it’s exactly the curriculum that we need, because it basically broadens the history beyond the UFW,鈥� Rosales said.

A historical critique in ethnic studies

In history books, a key moment in Ch谩vez鈥檚 legacy is the 1965 Delano Grape Strike, when workers went on a five-year-long strike demanding fair pay and better working conditions. What is often left untold is that Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz, who were Filipino-American labor leaders, initiated the strike. The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, led by Itliong, and the National Farm Workers Association, led by Ch谩vez, merged to form the United Farm Workers. Their organizing resulted in a national grape boycott and victory.  

Disciplines like ethnic studies have long explored the complex and often contradictory nature of labor movement leaders. Scholars have examined Ch谩vez鈥檚 anti-immigrant stance and studied the farmworkers鈥� movement through oral histories from workers and families.

At UC Berkeley, Oropeza researches antiwar and racial justice movements of the 1960s. In this decade, the farmworker movement was a part of the growing Chicano movement, which also encompassed college campus protests advocating for ethnic studies, land reclamation, and civil rights. Leaders like Ch谩vez became major figures in the Chicano movement. 

One of the leaders Oropeza has researched is Reies L贸pez Tijerina, a Chicano leader from Texas who led a major land grant movement in the American South in the 1960s to reclaim ancestral lands given away after the Mexican-American War. However, Oropeza鈥檚 research also revealed how he subjected his family to abuse.

As the leader of the Alianza Federal de Mercedes, or Federal Alliance of Land Grants, Tijerina led peaceful protests in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and occupied the Echo Amphitheater, renaming it the 鈥淩epublic of San Joaquin del Rio Chama.鈥� That act resulted in the arrests of La Alianza members.

Most notably, Tijerina and La Alianza members led an armed raid of a courthouse in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, to perform a citizen’s arrest of the local district attorney, accusing him of denying the activists their civil rights. Tijerina was arrested following the raid, leading to national attention for the civil rights and Chicano movements. 

Oropeza鈥檚 book, 鈥淭he King of Adobe: Reies L贸pez Tijerina, Lost Prophet of the Chicano Movement,鈥� was published in 2019. She traces Tijerina鈥檚 legacy in revitalizing the land grant movement, but also how he exerted patriarchal control in his leadership. Her research relies on archival records and oral histories, including interviews with Tijerina鈥檚 first wife and eldest daughter, who described patterns of physical and sexual abuse. Tijerina died at the age of 88 in 2015.

鈥淗ow do you hold together this person who was absolutely brilliant when it came to criticizing U.S. expansion and what it meant for Spanish speakers on the ground in the new American Southwest, but was absolutely reprehensible in how he treated his family?鈥� Oropeza said. In her book, she examines 鈥渂oth of those truths鈥� and used gender to analyze the style of his leadership.

Oropeza has researched Ch谩vez鈥檚 leadership in the farmworker movement extensively. She recalls 鈥減owerful images鈥� of him, such as how he fasted to call attention to the struggle of farmworkers and how he turned culture into a political resource, like when he went on a pilgrimage from Delano to Sacramento during lent with the farmworkers. Many have referred to Ch谩vez as 鈥淓l Santo鈥� or 鈥渢he Saint of the Movement,鈥� Oropeza said.

Now, to process the news of the allegations against Ch谩vez, Oropeza is leaning on both her own research and ongoing critiques of Ch谩vez in the field. Miriam Pawel鈥檚 biography of Ch谩vez, 鈥淭he Crusades of C茅sar Ch谩vez,鈥� published in 2014, narrates a critical history of the man, including his anti-immigrant stance, autocratic power over the union, and how he undermined other labor movements.  

鈥淚 have already spent 12 years thinking about 鈥楬ow do you write about people who are complex, people who can act in reprehensible ways who can also do great things?鈥欌�� Oropeza said. 

Looking toward the future of studying the Chicano and farmworker movements, Oropeza believes that any study must reconcile various realities in an attempt to get as close as possible to the truth, no matter how complicated.

鈥淭o me, this is just a reminder that this endeavor we are engaged in as academics 鈥� it is imperfect,鈥� Oropeza said. 鈥淭hey’re always going to approximate 鈥榃hat is the truth?鈥� Is there a singular truth? It gets closer and closer and closer, but never quite gets there.鈥�

New and continued approaches in teaching 

Alina Mendez, a professor of Chicano and Latin American studies at Fresno State, has experienced what it means for the personal and political to be connected as her parents were farmworkers. When she talked about the allegations against Ch谩vez with her students during a lecture about the farmworker movement, she asked them whether they should continue talking about Ch谩vez and, if so, how. 

鈥淎s a scholar, obviously, I learned and teach this history,鈥� Mendez said. 鈥淏ut as a daughter of farmworkers, I grew up honoring the memory, the legacy of C茅sar Ch谩vez.鈥�

Her classroom came to a consensus that they should continue learning about Ch谩vez while holding him accountable, 鈥渨ith the hopes that this (abuse of power) doesn’t happen (again),鈥� she recalled.

鈥淚 can very much see that there’s this collective grief, collective disappointment, a kind of questioning of 鈥業f C茅sar Ch谩vez is no longer our hero, then who do we look up to?鈥欌�� Mendez said. 鈥淭hat’s why I’ve been insisting that (we) look at our local communities. Let’s look around us and see other people who very much sacrificed a lot of time, a lot of resources, a lot of sweat, to make those successes possible.鈥�

Mendez is changing her approach to teaching farmworker movements to focus on local leaders and histories. She has been in conversation with Arte Am茅ricas, a Fresno-based Latinx art and cultural center, to continue collecting archives and interviews with workers across the Central Valley. 

鈥淚n many ways, obviously, my teaching is changing,鈥� Mendez said. 鈥淎s historians, I think we’re understanding more and more the importance of focusing on the collective rather than the individual leader.鈥� 

Faculty say the disciplines of ethnic studies and history will be essential to the future of teaching about farmworker history. They say scholars should focus now on collecting oral histories narrated by workers themselves, rather than letting dominant voices narrate their stories for the movement.

鈥淚f anyone can help us figure out how to deal with complexities around race in the United States, it’s ethnic studies,鈥� Oropeza said. 鈥淭his is a place where ethnic studies scholars will shine.鈥�

Rosales said he hopes this moment can pave the way for research that highlights the contributions of more communities in the farm labor movement, including Arab Americans and Southeast Asian Americans. 

鈥淚 think that the farmworker movement’s legacy is intact, but it’s going to take, you know, careful work by teachers, scholars, historians, to ensure that the curriculum is diversified beyond Ch谩vez,鈥� Rosales said.

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Short of dropping a dead weight copy of the state Education Code on your foot, a State Board of Education agenda item on the normally wouldn鈥檛 evoke tears.

But Jessica Sawko鈥檚 tears earlier this month were spontaneous and heartfelt during her one-minute testimony before the State Board of Education. They expressed joy and relief over a win for science education a long time coming.

Beginning with the release of scores this fall, science scores will be a full-fledged metric on the state school dashboard. Science joins English language arts, math, suspension rates, chronic absences and other measures given equal weight on the state鈥檚 school accountability site. This will end a decade long campaign by science educators to give the subject equal standing in the School Dashboard. 

Sawko, director of education for the advocacy organization and the California STEM Network, wore a pair of earrings 鈥� a favorite among science teachers when standards were adopted a decade ago. As she thanked the State Board and Cindy Kazanis, who directs the school accountability division of the Department of Education, for 鈥渢heir commitment to science,鈥�  her voice cracked, 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry, I鈥檓 emotional. It鈥檚 been like a decade.鈥�

In 2013, along with two dozen states, the State Board of Education adopted the new science standards, known by its acronym NGSS. Six years later, California began giving a new science test to students in fifth and eighth grades and one year during high school.

Sawko and her colleagues have felt the sting of neglect. Science didn鈥檛 receive the funding for teacher training that math and English language arts received after the adoption of the Common Core standards.

Persuading districts to take the standards seriously has proven a tough sell.

鈥淚n 2016, it was a high priority for the that science remain a part of the accountability system, recognizing a clear tie between accountability and investment,鈥� Sawko, who was executive director of the organization at the time, told EdSource. 鈥淐hildren Now also championed that same idea.鈥�

The State Board adopted the science curriculum framework, providing advice to teachers on how to teach NGSS, in 2016, and approved a list of textbooks and teaching materials in 2018. It also put a bookmark for including science on the dashboard in the future. Students took the first CAST assessment in 2019.

Post-pandemic struggle to regain momentum

But any early momentum stalled when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Hands-on science instruction, fundamental to NGSS, especially in elementary and middle school grades, faltered during remote learning, and California suspended statewide testing for two years. 

When students returned to the classroom, many districts focused on raising fallen math and reading test scores. Meanwhile, the State Board focused on adopting a new math framework and materials, and Gov. Newsom made early literacy reform a major initiative of his second term.

鈥淵ou know the saying, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 tested gets taught,鈥� 鈥� said Peter A鈥橦earn, a past president of the state science educators association. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always run up against sort of administrative indifference to science and to putting investment into science and professional learning in science because it hasn鈥檛 been one of the tested metrics.鈥�

For the past two years, scores have appeared on the California School Dashboard 鈥渇or informational purposes鈥� only while the state Department of Education collected the three years of data required to elevate science to the state鈥檚 accountability system. In 2029, the state board will decide how to integrate science test scores and a new method of measuring student academic growth into a revised Statewide System of Support for determining which schools and districts need guidance and more intensive assistance.

Science education advocates hope the higher profile for science will make it a higher priority in districts鈥� budgets and in their chief academic planning document, the Local Control Accountability Plan. But they鈥檙e also betting NGSS, given the chance, will prove to be the secret sauce of learning 鈥� that elementary teachers will view science not as a competitor with math and reading for instructional time, but as a partner to their success.

鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to see science on the dashboard,鈥� State Board member Haydee Rodriguez, a multi-subject teacher at Central Union High School District in Imperial County, said at the State Board鈥檚 meeting on July 8. 鈥淭he skills that young people learn from science, the habits of mind, are so powerful, whether (or not) they become scientists,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o see the world of wonder and awe fills me with joy.鈥�

Unlike traditional science instruction, NGSS incorporates hands-on learning that encourages students to apply scientific reasoning and the skills of inquiry and observation to the everyday world. Along with content knowledge, it stresses common patterns, relationships and cause and effect among the sciences 鈥� what it calls cross-cutting concepts. Students learning about El Ni帽o, for example, might study the physics of ocean currents, the chemical changes in the ocean and the effect on plants and animals.

The two-hour computer-based California Science Test reflects that approach and includes several performance tasks that require analyzing data and applying scientific reasoning to real-world scenarios. An example of a performance task for third graders might involve creating models for the phases of the moon, said Megan Smith, STEM coordinator for the San Joaquin County Office of Education. Students, perhaps with younger siblings, would sketch the moon over the course of a month, then replicate what they observed in the classroom using a ball and a flashlight, and explain the moon鈥檚 orbit.

Because elementary schools often devote limited instructional time to science,  鈥淣GSS authors were careful to focus scientific practices with overlapping literacy and math practices,鈥� said Megan Taylor, chief teaching and learning officer for the Exploratorium in San Francisco, which runs a summer institute and year-round professional development programs for California teachers.

The disruptions precipitated by Covid also have created an opening, Taylor said, 鈥渁 recognition that science practices and ways of thinking are through lines to helping learning happen 鈥� and way more fun.鈥�

Advancing NGSS will require intensive teacher training, with a different mindset for classroom instruction. But there must also be dedicated instructional time and access to high-quality instruction, the science teachers association wrote in a 2025 paper,

Data are scarce, but a 2022 survey by the association found that only 55% of school districts had purchased NGSS curricula and materials.

Low test scores out of the block

underscore the inattention to NGSS. In 2024-25, 32.7% of students were proficient on the test, compared with 37.3% proficiency in math and 48.8% in English language arts.

In 2018-19, the first year of the science test, 29.9% of students were proficient.

The disparities among student groups by race, income and parent education in science also repeated the vast inequalities found in the math and English language arts scores:

• 18.6% of children whose parents had a high school degree were proficient in science compared with 43.9% of children whose parents graduated from college.
•  51.3% of non socioeconomically disadvantaged students were proficient compared with 22.3% of socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
•  60.8% of Asian students were proficient compared with 17.1% of Black students.

Low test results notwithstanding, behind the scenes, science advocates and educators have laid the foundation for the next stage.

Backed by state funding and foundation support, a partnership of the California Department of Education and the Los Angeles County Office of Education created an extensive online library of teacher-generated performance tasks for science teachers to adopt in all grades and subjects.

Using $50 million in state funding 鈥� the first major state investment in science education 鈥� the California Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science Partnership has created networks of professional development and teacher collaboration that have reached all 58 counties, said Smith of the San Joaquin County Office of Education, which is managing the project.

The and in Berkeley are national leaders in supporting science teachers with training and resources. The nonprofit in the Bay Area is advancing climate literacy with high school students and organizing them to create climate-resilient environments.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a great deal of professional learning support available to educators,鈥� Sawko said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really a matter of whether or not school districts are supporting their education.鈥�  

Sawko and other advocates will seek further funding when the $50 million grant runs out in June 2027.

New way to measure growth on test scores stirs criticism 

Along with science, the State Board voted last month to add another dashboard indicator that the California Department of Education has studied on and off for a decade 鈥� a measure of students鈥� growth on test scores.

But the version that the board introduced last year and reapproved again for releasing this fall 鈥�  not for accountability purposes 鈥� is facing sharp criticism for overstating improvement. The presentation on the dashboard 鈥渕ay cause confusion or even give a misleading understanding of student progress,鈥� the nonprofit student advocacy organization GO Public Schools wrote in a (see pages 30-34).

Growth data measure how assessment scores have increased between the current and previous years and how that growth compares with students鈥� average growth statewide (see ). It can be used only for math and English language arts in grades four through eight in California, because students aren鈥檛 tested annually in science, and only once in high school.

California has been one of only two states without a growth measure for standardized tests, according to an analysis for by USC education professor Morgan Polikoff and Arizona State University researcher Shira Haderlein.

California has relied on a different method to measure yearly increases or declines on the dashboard. It compares the Smarter Balanced scores of the current year鈥檚 fourth graders with the students in last year鈥檚 fourth grade. This method is limited because it compares two different sets of children, and in some schools, the yearly student transfer rate is high.

Student growth data are useful because they can reveal whether students are falling behind or catching up over time  in which schools, demographic groups and grades. Starting this year, for example, California charter schools that argue students enter school grade levels behind but make big gains over time, even if they haven鈥檛 reached proficiency, will be able to use growth data to support their case for school renewal.  

Calculating growth can be complex, and states have chosen different models. One method, pioneered by Louisiana, lets parents see how many points on the test scale their fourth grader is from the proficiency level in math in sixth grade. That often can be a better indicator than grades of what it will take to reach proficiency over two grades.

California has chosen a method called the residual gain model. It begins by looking at each student鈥檚 individual point score last year on a Smarter Balanced test and calculates the average yearly gain for all students who had that same score. The same process is then repeated for students by points on the test scale, and finally calculating a statewide average gain.

The state then compares average scores of every school, district and student group with the statewide average and rates them on how many points they fall below or above average. Level 3 is in the middle range of five ratings; Level 5 is at the top, for 20 or more points above average and Level 1, minimal, for 20 or more points below average.

The state has collected the data for three years, but the results won鈥檛 appear on the dashboard this fall; those who are interested have to .

鈥淲e are just frustrated that the state isn鈥檛 reporting the data from the growth model that they painstakingly designed on the dashboard, and instead requires districts, schools and parents/community groups interested in growth to download the data file (and then extract from that file growth data for their school or district,鈥� said Rob Manwaring, senior policy adviser for Children Now.

Instead, it is displaying a puzzling alternative. It is comparing schools, districts and student groups by the percentage of students whose scores increased from the previous year 鈥� with an increase defined as a single scale point. Then it rates those percentages with a color rating, using different colors than assigned to other dashboard measures. Schools with a 75% increase were rated average, while a 62% increase was rated 鈥渕oderate鈥� or Level 2.

鈥淢any schools and districts appear to have very high percentages of students making progress, even when other indicators show little or no improvement,鈥� wrote GO Public Schools. 鈥淭his overly rosy picture could reduce a sense of urgency to make necessary changes to better serve students.鈥�

David Wakelyn, a partner at , which researches efforts to improve literacy achievement, and a former middle school English teacher in Inglewood, elaborated on that point in an email: 鈥淎 1-scale-score point gain between 3rd and 4th grade represents 4 days of learning. Would any normal human celebrate that if it鈥檚 what was accomplished in a school year???鈥�

鈥淐elebrating 1 point of scale score growth when kids need 25-50 scale points damages the Board鈥檚 credibility and misses the opportunity to be honest about what struggling kids need to succeed,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淣o one is well-served by it.鈥�

鈥淣o other states use a metric of students who made a one-point scale score gain as their indicator,鈥� said Manwaring.

Asked about the criticism, the Department of Education responded in an email. 鈥淲e have heard the concerns raised and the SBE has asked CDE to revisit the design of the Dashboard Growth Data Cards to include this scale score point metric (average scale score above/below predicted) for the 2027 Dashboard, following public feedback received.鈥�

The department will issue a memo, probably in August, summarizing its plans.  

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He does not ride atop a gallant steed; he toils alongside them after school at the local race track. Fluviano grooms and tends to the racehorses to make money to help his family. Before school most days, he sweeps the streets in order to save a little more.

Fluviano is from Guatemala. He is short in stature, but built with taut, bulging shoulders Each day, he plows his way through class with the grit and perseverance of someone who knows he has no safety net. 

After all, the Trump administration has both increased the intensity of immigration enforcement and the uncertainty about how reliably federal enforcement agents will follow the rules. This, along with many other federal education and immigration changes, is creating an untenable situation for Fluviano and other students. There is the pressure to self-deport. The threat of deportation casts a far-reaching shadow that obscures vision and thwarts dreams. 

This is a mistake 鈥� it鈥檚 bad for children, schools, communities, and the United States.

A few years ago, Fluviano fled his country with his mother to escape the gangs that were pressuring him to join them. His country is rife with corruption and danger from the drug cartels that intimidate young men to join their ranks.

Fluviano is quick and smart and funny. He is just as hardworking in the classroom as he is out of it. The monsters he fights are no fairy tale: the drug cartels, the poverty, and, above all, the ignorance that threatens his and his family鈥檚 future, sometimes even in the name of the law. These days, he keeps on having to step away from learning to take mysterious calls from 鈥渉is lawyer.鈥�

Kids shouldn鈥檛 need a lawyer 鈥� let alone one they have to talk to during school. Our classroom should be a place where heroes like Fluviano sharpen their sword. Our four walls should shelter him to learn a new language, embrace differences, gain an education and experience kindness.

Right now, however, thousands of children are having their academic and social development interrupted by threats from chaotic, amplified and violent immigration enforcement efforts. They鈥檙e also having their linguistic development harmed by changes at the federal level 鈥� efforts to stop funding and the closure of the office that supports those services.

For the past 30 years, I have been privileged to spend each day with students like these. My classroom is always a mix of cultures and languages. Students all greet each other warmly and try to help the newest students. Halaa from Kuwait guides William from China through our daily routine. Jose from Venezuela is learning Japanese from Nobu. Isabel from Cuba shares her love of K-dramas with HeeJin from Korea. Daisy from Mexico, who was crowned queen of her village before coming to the U.S., brings that same sense of community service to California, where she volunteers her time at the local library. 

These students are here to build a better life for themselves. They simply want a safe place to work, succeed and contribute. In 2023, first- and second-generation immigrants comprised of total higher education enrollment. Heightened immigration enforcement 鈥� including near public school campuses 鈥� and other threats to immigrant families put all of this at risk.

The classroom is a place of stability and routine that is often absent in a newcomer鈥檚 home life. I know this story all too well: The classroom was my solace when my parents were deported during the 1980s. I have never really left it as I enter my 31st year as a public school teacher. The classroom is a village where we help one another navigate through the difficulties of life and assimilation. It is a lifeline, a place of healing, where one can become equipped to save oneself, to learn  skills, traditions, history and belonging.

Right now, however, many children are afraid of going to school. More than 145,000 U.S. children have a parent being detained by immigration authorities during the second Trump administration. An estimated 650 California students are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This coincides with rapid declines in student enrollment, especially in California K鈥�12 schools, as birth rates and immigration rates fall.

that at least 10% of immigrant families have kept kids home from school. All of this is bad for kids 鈥� and for our economy. We need students like mine to get the best education they can so that they can contribute as much as possible as workers, consumers, and taxpayers. Our country is stronger when it鈥檚 growing. 

Fluviano wants to contribute to the village, to join a community whose power comes from their voices and whose strength comes from their kindness. He wants that not only for himself, but also his two younger sisters who have been stuck behind in Guatemala. Each day he fears for their safety. He wants them to join him here to be part of a community that builds instead of divides. 

The United States is blessed with tens of thousands of students just like Fluviano: hardworking individuals who simply want a good life, to live in a safe neighborhood, to work to support their families and to be a part of building a thriving community. All they want is the American dream. 

These students will grow up to be the building blocks of our society: engineers, lawyers, construction workers, firefighters, gardeners, homemakers and maybe even teachers, like myself. Helping students like Fluviano is helping ourselves.Their quest is not to save but to give them the opportunity.

But unlike other states with millions of eligible students, like Texas, Florida and New York, California hasn鈥檛 opted into the new Treasury Department program, and so far, there鈥檚 no sign it will. 

That鈥檚 one takeaway from by advocates showing the number of students in each state who would qualify for the funding under the Education Freedom Tax Credit. Overall, 51.7 million children in public, private and charter schools could potentially receive a taxpayer-funded scholarship, according to the analysis from the American Federation for Children, the leading advocacy group behind the legislation. Past estimates have shown how much scholarship granting organizations, or SGOs, might each year and what the tax credit might cost the federal government in . But author Patrick Graff, a senior fellow at the organization, said it was important to look at the program from another angle. 

鈥淲ho are the kids that would actually benefit from these programs, and who are the families that would receive services that they otherwise wouldn’t receive?鈥� he asked. Founded by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the federation has historically championed private school choice. 

But with public school students able to receive funds for tutoring and other supplemental programs, Graff expects district superintendents 鈥渆specially in states where there are going to be budget crunches to strongly call on leaders鈥� to participate, if not next year, then in 2028.

To calculate the number of eligible students, Graff used Census Bureau estimates and survey data. K-12 students qualify if their household income doesn鈥檛 exceed 300% of the area median income. In Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, that鈥檚 almost $500,000. In Perry County, Alabama, one of the poorest counties in the nation, the family income limit would be $125,500. 

The report also notes that close to 800,000 homeschooled students would be left out of the program even though they meet family income requirements. Under current guidance, those children would only be eligible if their states classify homeschoolers as private school students. Unless the Treasury Department provides further clarification on the issue, that means some homeschoolers who use microschools would also be excluded. 

鈥楥omplete mystery鈥�

So far, 31 states have opted in by submitting paperwork with the IRS or indicating that they will. New York and Colorado are the only two Democratic-led states that plan to participate.

In California, school choice advocates are frustrated. 

鈥淚t’s a complete mystery why Gov. Gavin Newsom hasn’t made the easiest no-brainer decision and opted into the program already,鈥� said Lance Christensen, vice president of the conservative California Policy Center and a former Republican candidate for state superintendent.

But the governor, who President Donald Trump and criticizes his policies, has been silent on the issue. A spokeswoman for the governor declined to comment about the program. 

Congressman Kevin Kiley, an independent from the Sacramento area, Newsom to opt in before he leaves office in January. A state legislator, Republican Assemblyman Josh Hoover has also introduced encouraging the governor to participate. 

Democrat Xavier Becerra, the former Health and Human Services secretary in the Biden administration, is leading in to succeed Newsom, but his focuses on early-childhood education and lowering class sizes. Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate, and would be more likely to opt into the tax credit.

鈥楤enefits for public schools鈥�

Starting next year, the program, also known as the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, allows taxpayers who donate up to $1,700 annually to a nonprofit SGO to deduct that same amount from what they owe in taxes. States will have to submit a list of approved SGOs, and according to , won鈥檛 be able to set additional requirements on those organizations, like only approving nonprofits that intend to serve students in public or private schools.

To help prepare district leaders, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, and Education Resource Strategies launched a last week. Josh Cowen, a Michigan State University professor and outspoken critic of publicly funded vouchers, said the guidance will help districts and nonprofits that intend to serve public school students catch up with what has traditionally been a private sector model.

鈥淭here’s nothing like this with respect to the benefits for public schools,鈥� said Cowen, who doesn鈥檛 want districts to miss out on new funding. His views on the program changed when the final version of the law, part of Trump鈥檚 One Big Beautiful Bill, made participation optional and limited what donors could contribute. 鈥淚 think public school students are going to be by far the biggest beneficiaries.鈥� 

By early next year, he expects the number of states opting in to reach 40, but he doesn鈥檛 think the American Federation for Children鈥檚 analysis will prompt any action from undecided governors. 

In fact, he thinks Democrats are turned off by Tommy Schultz, CEO of the federation, for opting in over from the teachers unions and Education Secretary Linda McMahon promoting the program. In June, she participated in aimed at getting Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to sign up.

On one hand, governors 鈥渦nderstand there’s substantial revenue for public schools involved in this,鈥� Cowen said. But the same Trump administration, he added, in Minnesota earlier this year and is from California and Minnesota as it conducts a review. 鈥淚t’s really hard for them to look at the program and say 鈥榃ell, this is a good faith effort.鈥� 鈥�

In court documents, the administration has also clean energy grants to states that didn鈥檛 vote for Trump in 2024. Those larger political issues are getting in the way, Cowen said. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said she won鈥檛 opt into the tax credit program because she the administration, and recently called it a 鈥渢ax scheme鈥� that would benefit private schools.

Critics, like the left-leaning Century Foundation, argue that the new source of funds will support private and religious schools that LGBTQ students and those with disabilities. As the number of private schools increases in anticipation of the new program, students will likely be able to use the scholarships at schools that receive . 

In a , Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and journalist Jennifer Berkshire called the program 鈥渁 Trojan horse designed to bring the chaos of privatization into Democratic strongholds like Massachusetts,鈥� and warned Gov. Maura Healey against it.

Taking the opposite view, Charles Barone, senior director of the National Parents Union鈥檚 Center for Innovation, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill to opt in, calling the policy 鈥渁 potential tool for expanding opportunity within the public system.鈥�

Because taxpayers can donate to SGOs in any state, Graff, with the American Federation for Children, predicts that it will be especially hard for states in the northeast to resist.

鈥淭hey’re pretty quickly being surrounded by states that are signaling their intent to opt in,鈥� he said. In addition to New York, New Hampshire will participate. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 giving a few of those other governors a little more permission to step out on this issue.鈥� 

Parents, early educators, childcare providers, labor leaders, business leaders, advocates and community organizations came together around a shared belief: Our youngest children deserved better than a fragmented system that asked families to shoulder impossible burdens while treating early childhood as an afterthought instead of the essential public infrastructure it has always been.

Together, they built , also known as the Children’s Health & Child Care Initiative for Alameda County. It鈥檚 a community-led, voter-approved half-cent sales tax dedicated to early care and education expected to generate $150 million annually. Measure C wasn’t created simply to fund more childcare. It was created to build the early childhood infrastructure that allows families to work, children to thrive, providers to succeed and communities to prosper.

In its first year of implementation, Measure C more than $135 million across Alameda County, reaching nearly 20,000 children, supporting more than 6,400 educators and caregivers, improving early learning facilities buildings and programming, helping childcare providers keep their doors open, connecting more families with the care they need, and building a stronger, more connected early childhood system.

Those investments matter because the need has always been profound. In Alameda County, which lies across the bay from San Francisco, who qualify for subsidized childcare are not receiving it. Nearly half of families live in what researchers call a licensed childcare desert, and two out of every three children are not fully prepared for kindergarten.

These aren’t individual failures. They are the predictable outcome of decades of underinvestment in one of the most important public systems we have.

Decades of have shown that a child’s earliest years shape lifelong health, educational success and economic opportunity. Yet historically, we have invested far less in those years than the evidence, and our families, have demanded.

I grew up between working-class New Hampshire and San Francisco’s Mission District, shaped by both the strength and the fragility of public systems. That’s the lens I’ve carried through nearly 30 years in public service, social services, economic development, federal regulatory work and now as CEO of First 5 Alameda County, the agency responsible for implementing Measure C. I’ve learned the difference between policies that make a splash and systems that actually change lives.

Funding matters. Implementation determines whether funding changes lives.

Public dollars become real opportunities for families only when communities have the capacity to put those investments to work. That means building partnerships, strong fiscal stewardship, workforce development, facilities, transparent accountability, modern data systems and public institutions capable of responding to what families actually need.

Because what families need is often more nuanced than the legislation, the art of interpretation for implementation is critical. In Alameda County, more than searching for childcare are looking for providers who speak a language other than English. 

More than one-quarter of working parents need care outside traditional business hours. Families raising children with disabilities continue to face significant barriers finding inclusive programs. These aren’t exceptions, they’re everyday realities that should shape how public systems are designed.

Responding effectively to those realities requires more than funding announcements or good intentions. It requires public institutions willing to partner with communities, listen to families, invest strategically and continually improve operations and program design based on lived experience.

This kind of stewardship rarely attracts headlines. It happens in community centers, church halls, classrooms, neighborhood meetings and around kitchen tables. It’s technical, collaborative and often invisible. Yet it’s the work that determines whether public investment succeeds or stalls.

Alameda County isn’t alone. Across the country, communities are reaching the same conclusion: Early childhood isn’t private family responsibility. It is essential public infrastructure.

That’s the same shift happening elsewhere. New Mexico has built one of the most ambitious early childhood systems in the country through sustained public investment. New York City has made universal childcare central to its economic future. San Francisco keeps expanding what it invests locally to close gaps in access. Different paths, same realization: Where a lack of national childcare policy and funding has left a hole, communities are stepping up to build the system themselves.

No single county can do that alone. But a system built well and built to be shared becomes something bigger than the place that built it. What we’re working toward isn’t just about helping the kids down the block. It’s an example to inform national policy and practice, to set a regulatory framework and funding to help the kids down the block 鈥� and the kids growing up on the Eastern Seaboard, too.

Measure C began as a promise to the children in our own neighborhoods. The question now isn’t whether that kind of promise can work, Alameda County is proof that it does. It’s how we can use local examples to demonstrate we can achieve national promise to all families and children, making the local implementation that much easier to achieve lasting results for kids and families.

Head Start, the federal program providing free early education for low-income children, has benefited from strong bipartisan support since its 1965 inception, withstanding funding cuts and political turbulence across 11 presidencies.

But more recent threats from the second Trump administration have thrust Head Start into the spotlight. Last year, its programs faced disruptions and threats of closure following funding freezes, a federal shutdown, staff layoffs across the agencies that oversee Head Start and attempts to exclude immigrant children. Now, the federal government could attempt to deregulate standards that Head Start programs are required to maintain, according to a program official.

At each turn, supporters 鈥� alumni, teachers, families, child development experts, community members 鈥� have rallied behind the program.  were filed and   halted some of the federal actions.  to block immigrant children from social benefit programs drew .

鈥淥n the positive front, Head Start is still funded. Head Start is still here,鈥� said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California. 鈥淚 think Head Start is one of those terms that people often know and have positive associations with without necessarily really understanding the depth of it.鈥�

The program provides a wide range of services to the  enrolled in California. These include health and behavioral screenings, dental services, parent engagement opportunities, meals, transportation and more.

While these services are still in place, Head Start staff say it remains challenging to keep up with costs. A recent $85 million increase, to be shared nationwide, won鈥檛 cover rising expenses amid high inflation, supporters say.

Here鈥檚 what we know about the state of Head Start in California and at the federal level.

The origins of Head Start

Head Start is often referred to as a single program, but there are a few branches under the Head Start umbrella that serve vulnerable populations.

When the program was first established in 1965, it was designed by a panel of child development experts as an eight-week project to help disrupt generational poverty. The programs were created to be comprehensive, meaning they would aim to meet children鈥檚 emotional, educational, social and health needs while also engaging the child鈥檚 family. Congress soon made Head Start permanent, and it was developed into a full-day program.

Head Start is administered by the Administration for Children and Families, which is in the Department of Health and Human Services.

But it also includes other programs such as: American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start and Early Head Start.

Each Head Start program enrolls children ages 3 to 5. The exception is Early Head Start, which enrolls pregnant women and children from birth through age 3. Some of these programs are available in early learning centers. while others are home based. More information on each type of setting can be found .

Head Start programs are for families living below the federal poverty line. Eligibility can be met by verifying income or enrollment in other benefit programs, such as Cal-Fresh, CalWORKS or Supplemental Security Income. Children experiencing homelessness or in the foster system are also eligible.

How are recent disruptions affecting families?

As long funding remains relatively stable, children enrolled in Head Start will continue to receive services, said Cottrill.

鈥淭he experience for a family enrolled in Head Start will be the same as it always has been,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e still going to get all of the comprehensive services. They鈥檙e still going to have qualified teachers. Their kids are going to come out of that program way better prepared to succeed in school and beyond.鈥�

If there are cuts, the question is how many children will be able to stay enrolled. Cuts have happened before, and have had an effect, Cottrill said. Cuts proposed in recent years, including , would have led to about 80,000 fewer Head Start spaces available for children nationwide.

鈥淭his is already a lean program. There鈥檚 not a lot to cut,鈥� Cottrill said. 鈥淪o, ultimately, what we often see is it means we have to close classrooms and serve fewer kids.鈥�

If Head Start classrooms begin to enroll fewer children, California does have other early-learning options for low-income families. But the state鈥檚 options will not cover Head Start cuts, say experts.

鈥淚f Head Start funding is cut or eliminated, those families essentially enter the waiting list for our state systems, which are already oversubscribed and under-resourced,鈥� said Laura Pryor, research director at the California Budget & Policy Center, a Sacramento-based nonpartisan think tank. 鈥淚t really just exacerbates the existing challenges we have with state investment in childcare.鈥�

Sometimes, a family with a 4-year-old might find it easier to enroll in transitional kindergarten, also known as TK, because it requires less paperwork and there are no strict income eligibility requirements.

But certain aspects of Head Start 鈥� including the medical screenings and strong emphasis on parental engagement 鈥� are not available to the same degree in the public school system.

鈥淭K doesn鈥檛 do all of the wonderful wraparound services that Head Start provides,鈥� Pryor said.

How would federal proposals impact quality?

Built into Head Start are  for parent engagement, developmental screenings and nutritional guidelines. This level of support was deemed critical in the that outlined what Head Start would eventually become.  was released in 1975.

In May, the federal agencies overseeing Head Start  to remove wage and benefits requirements in part to 鈥渞estore needed flexibility and autonomy to local programs鈥� while reducing paperwork. Cottrill, of Head Start California, said she and other supporters of the program are also expecting proposed changes to the regulations.

Alex Adams, who leads the federal Administration for Children and Families that controls billions in childcare and preschool funding, has allegedly  he wants federal childcare regulations to 鈥渇it on an index card,鈥� according to the New York Times.

Why is Head Start vulnerable to instability?

Head Start鈥檚 funding structure is unique in the early childhood field.

Funding for these programs flows directly from the federal government to the programs administering Head Start. Other programs that offer childcare and basic necessities tend to be structured differently: federal dollars will typically be sent to the state or county, which will then distribute the money to local programs.

The direct line of funding allows programs to be more responsive to the needs of the families they serve, but also makes them vulnerable to instability within the federal government.

It鈥檚 part of what happened late last year, during the nation鈥檚 longest shutdown. The longer the shutdown went on, the longer Head Start programs went unfunded. Some programs were forced to temporarily shut down because furloughed federal staff were not able to process grants.

This story was originally by EdSource

This story was originally published by听.听听for their newsletters.

It鈥檚 not quite the 鈥淢ississippi Miracle,鈥� but California鈥檚 reading scores have been inching upwards since the state poured billions into changing the way students learn to read. A shortage of literacy coaches, however, may be preventing students from improving even more.

In 2013, before California  in K-12 schools, the state ranked  for fourth grade reading skills on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation鈥檚 Report Card. Only 27% of students scored 鈥減roficient鈥� or 鈥渁dvanced鈥� on the reading test, given every two years to students across the country.

The following year California released a new English language arts framework that encourages schools to focus on phonics, vocabulary and other nuts-and-bolts methods when teaching children to read. Phonics-based instruction won鈥檛  until next year, but most schools have been gradually adopting the method.

Next came new curriculum materials,  and updates to teacher credential programs. The state also expanded  and implemented new guidelines for English learners.

But perhaps the biggest literacy investment came in 2023 with $500 million in grants set aside for schools to hire literacy coaches and take other steps to boost reading skills. The coaches 鈥� typically, former classroom teachers with extra training in reading 鈥� work directly with teachers to help them effectively teach children to read. Last year the state added $215 million, and the most recent budget includes an  for literacy coaches.

Mississippi, whose reading scores went from 49th in the country in 2013 to 9th in 2024, partially credits the turnaround to literacy coaches and other teacher training tactics. Mississippi鈥檚 reading framework is similar to California鈥檚, but Mississippi invested heavily in training teachers to implement it, while California rolled out its training program over several years.

Reading scores inch up

California鈥檚 reading scores have improved gradually 鈥� but significantly 鈥� since 2013. Last year, California ranked  nationwide, with 13 states scoring higher and the rest scoring the same or lower. This happened at the same time that national scores began falling.

On statewide tests, the number of fourth graders reading at grade level jumped from  in 2014 to  last year. Before the pandemic, the percentage was close to 50%, dropped a few points when schools switched to remote learning, but has been inching back up since then.

Fourth grade is a key benchmark for literacy because by fifth grade, students need reading skills sufficient to understand other subjects such as history and science. Students who aren鈥檛 proficient readers by fourth grade are more likely to lag academically in other subjects.  have found that adults with low literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed, incarcerated or face other challenges.

Sarah Novicoff, a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California, that found that California鈥檚 literacy investments have paid off 鈥� with a caveat.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e absolutely had a positive impact,鈥� Novicoff said. 鈥淏ut we have an opportunity to do an even better job.鈥�

Novicoff found that nearly 60% of school districts used their grant money to hire literacy coaches to work with teachers, reading specialists to work directly with students, or otherwise arranged for teacher training related to literacy.

School districts that made those investments saw significant improvements in reading scores, including among English learners, she found. Results varied by district, but in general students scored 6 points higher on state tests within two years of the investments, she found. She expects the scores to rise further over time.

Some districts struggle to hire literacy coaches

But plenty of school districts hired no literacy coaches. Not because they didn鈥檛 want to, but because there were none to hire. In fact, 42% of districts said they had trouble hiring coaches.

鈥淚鈥檇 love to hire a literacy coach,鈥� said Patricia Gunderson, superintendent of the Lassen County Office of Education. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great the state is offering the money, but we just can鈥檛 do it. We don鈥檛 have the capacity.鈥�

In remote and rural parts of the state, finding literacy coaches has proved to be nearly impossible 鈥� and has hindered improvement, Novicoff found. For example, Lassen County, along the northern Nevada border, can barely find enough credentialed teachers, let alone education professionals with advanced specialty degrees. And even if schools could hire literacy coaches, they couldn鈥檛 find enough substitutes to fill in for teachers undergoing training.

But Lassen has been creative in finding ways to boost literacy. In 2023, for example, it held a weeklong summer training course for teachers, where teachers were paid to learn the new curriculum and the course didn鈥檛 interrupt the school year. Gunderson said it was a big success; state reading test scores jumped more than 7 percentage points, although still lag behind the state average.

In Siskiyou County, along the Oregon border, county superintendent Allan Carver said he welcomes the state鈥檚 investment in literacy coaches, but it鈥檚 created another problem: Teachers are opting to become literacy coaches, possibly because it鈥檚 less stressful or pays a bit more, leaving vacancies in the classroom.

鈥淲e work to solve one issue and further exacerbate the teacher shortage,鈥� Carver said. 鈥淲e have to develop the literacy coach pipeline before we simply allocate funds and expectations for training.鈥�

In Baldwin Park, in the San Gabriel Valley, principal Laura Rodriguez said literacy coaches have been instrumental in turning around her school鈥檚 reading scores. Using state grant money, Tracy Elementary has added a literacy coach who works closely with the school鈥檚 teachers, aides and reading specialist.

The literacy coach, Claudia Barba, holds workshops for teachers and parents, trains the aides, assesses the students, analyzes data, and gives feedback to teachers. She鈥檚 also devised a literacy plan that looks closely at the causes for the low scores and specifically addresses the reasons.

鈥淪he is amazing,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen such a difference since we started this. It has changed our campus.鈥�

Tracy Elementary, a Spanish-English dual immersion school, is mostly low-income. More than 30% of students are English learners. The literacy plan teaches children to read in Spanish first, then English, by focusing on vocabulary and phonics in both languages. By third grade, when the state first tests students鈥� reading skills, students are fairly fluent readers in both languages.

In just two years, after hiring the literacy coach, Tracy鈥檚 reading scores jumped more than 10 percentage points. Even English learners saw their scores significantly increase. Other metrics also improved: Chronic absenteeism dropped from 44% just after the pandemic to 11% last year. Math scores are increasing, too.

鈥淟iteracy is the key to everything. If a child can read, they can access knowledge. They start to enjoy school,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淭hey can get a better education.鈥�

This article was  and was republished under the  license.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has detained more than 650 children in California under President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term, an EdSource analysis of federal data has found. Most arrests happened in California communities, rather than at the border, and involved minors who resided and attended school in the state.

The number of children detained in the state鈥檚 interior rose 90% during the first year of Trump鈥檚 second term compared to the prior year under the Biden administration, our analysis shows. More than 100 of the children detained under Trump were age 5 or under. 

The rise in child detainments in the state鈥檚 interior began soon after Trump took office in January 2025. Trump won office on a promise to carry out mass deportations, 鈥渋llegal immigrant killers, rapists, and drug dealers from our streets and sending them back where they belong.鈥�

Starting immediately and escalating over the summer of 2025, ICE agents have conducted large-scale operations in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. Some children have been detained while accompanying parents to routine ICE check-ins. The practices reflect an escalation in enforcement activity that .

The children detained, so far, include a from Los Angeles County who was detained in June 2025 and deported to Guatemala; a who, along with his father, was detained at an immigration hearing that same month and deported to Honduras; and who, in March, was detained without his hearing aids and deported to Colombia along with his mother and younger brother.

Medical professionals and advocates contend that no period of time in detention is safe for children. In 2016, a Department of Homeland Security Advisory Committee 鈥� the practice of detaining children with their parents as they await the outcome of their case 鈥� writing 鈥渄etention is never in the best interest of children.鈥�

鈥淭he kids that are in detention in these facilities, they鈥檙e losing their childhoods every single day that they鈥檙e in there,鈥� said Wendy Cervantes, who oversees research and advocacy of immigrant families at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Law and Social Policy. 

A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to EdSource that this data is 鈥渂eing cherry-picked鈥� to 鈥減eddle a false narrative.鈥� ICE, the spokesperson said, is 鈥渘ot targeting children.鈥�

鈥淚CE does not separate families,鈥� the unidentified DHS spokesperson said. 鈥淧arents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.鈥� 

What the data shows

EdSource analyzed federal detainment data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley and UCLA capturing federal detainments between October 2022 and March 2026. The analysis found: 

• There were 666 Californian children detained during the Trump administration. Of those, 408 children 鈥� or 61% 鈥� were deported. Under the Biden administration, 8% were ultimately deported.听
• Nationally, children have been held longer in detention under Trump than under Biden. The median length of detention jumped from one day under Biden to eight days under Trump. This does not include 335 children who had not yet been released from detention as of March 11, the last day for which data was available.
• Nationally, the average number of children in detention jumped nearly 10-fold under Trump, due in part to these longer detention stays. Under the last year of the Biden administration, there were, on average, 23 children held in detention each day. During Trump鈥檚 first year of his second term, that figure rose to 219.

The Trump administration is going after 鈥渢he worst of the worst,鈥� including pedophiles and rapists, a DHS spokesperson said. 

鈥淢any of the individuals that are counted as 鈥榥on-criminals鈥� are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don鈥檛 have a rap sheet in the U.S.,鈥� the DHS spokesperson said. 鈥淔urther, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally.鈥�

According to EdSource鈥檚 analysis of ICE鈥檚 data, none of the 666 detained children in California under Trump had any felonies or previous convictions listed. Twelve minors were listed as having pending criminal charges, including three girls between ages 6 and 9. The nature of those pending charges is not disclosed. The ICE data does not include information about any connected family members or their cases.

During his second term, Trump reopened family detention facilities, including the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley and the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center in Texas. In California, 250 detained children were ultimately sent to these family facilities.

A 12-year-old from Los Angeles, identified by the initials G.S., gave describing their experience living inside the South Texas Family Residential Center during a 64-day detainment with their parents and younger sister.

The child said ICE agents detained the family during a routine ICE check-in in Los Angeles. The family lost their apartment and belongings, according to the May 22 declaration. The status of the child and their family is unclear.

鈥淚t makes me feel hopeless to be here for so long, because now it鈥檒l take me and my whole family a long time to get back to normal because of how much money and education we have lost,鈥� the child said in their declaration. 鈥淚f I could change one thing here, it would be to shut down the whole facility.鈥�

Trump vs. Biden

One major difference between the Trump and Biden presidencies has been the number of children who arrived at the border. Of the 5,676 children detained in California between October 2022 and when Trump started his second term, 94% were apprehended at the border.

Biden prioritized placing some of the unaccompanied minors who arrived at the border with sponsors, Cervantes said, and ended the practice of family detention that resumed under Trump. Cervantes said the Biden administration largely followed . 

The 1997 agreement provided rights for immigrant children in U.S. custody and prohibited most detentions from lasting more than 20 days. The declaration from the detained Los Angeles minor is one of several included from children and parents in a lawsuit claiming their rights under the Flores agreement have been violated.

Attorneys representing the Trump administration in this case in June 2025 that conditions at detention centers for children have 鈥渄rastically improved鈥� since the original agreement. Referencing the high number of immigrants at the border, the administration said the Flores Settlement Agreement 鈥渉amstrung the government in addressing this catastrophic illegal migration.鈥�

Apprehension in California

During the first year of Trump鈥檚 second term, adults were detained in California鈥檚 interior at more than four times the rate they were held during the last year of Biden鈥檚 administration, while the rate of child detainments rose by 90%.

California has passed laws and issued guidance with the aim of shielding schools from federal immigration enforcement. For instance, under California law, school officials .

In , parents, teachers and neighbors have formed rapid-response networks to report sightings of ICE agents for students and their families to avoid while commuting to and from school.

The sites of some immigration enforcement operations, such as job sites, may be more likely to target adults than children. However, Cervantes notes that some teens working at restaurants or as lifeguards at pools have been apprehended in ICE raids while they鈥檙e on the job. She also disputes the Trump administration鈥檚 claim that children have not been targets of immigration enforcement. 

Children may not be detained at the same rates that adults are, but medical experts warn that any time spent in detention is too long for their well-being.

Shortly after Trump began his second term, medical professionals to the president and then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warning that 鈥渄etention itself poses a threat to child health.鈥� 

鈥淲e have endless amounts of research and expert testimony on how harmful detention is to children,鈥� said Michelle Bran茅, who was the immigration detention ombudsman under the Biden administration, and now leads the nonprofit Together and Free, which supports asylum-seeking families. 鈥淵ou see kids with extreme depression. You see kids really regressing, kids going back to wetting the bed after they鈥檝e been trained for years.鈥�

Going Deeper

The Deportation Data Project collects U.S. government immigration enforcement datasets obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. EdSource analyzed this data with a focus on how immigration enforcement is affecting children in California.

The participants in the project are academics and attorneys, including co-founders Graeme Blair, a professor of political science at UCLA; David Hausman, a professor of law at UC Berkeley and attorney Amber Quereshi.

This dataset from the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement contains anonymized individual level data. It contains data about arrests, detention stays and detention rates in individual facilities, largely from Oct. 1, 2022, during Biden鈥檚 term until March 11, 2026 during Trump鈥檚 second term. 

A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security said that neither they nor ICE have verified the accuracy, methodology or analysis of the Deportation Data Project and its results. 

Hausman noted that it has posted the original data obtained directly from ICE.

鈥淭hese are ICE鈥檚 own records of who is arrested, detained, and deported,鈥� Hausman wrote in a statement to EdSource. 鈥淲e have posted the data and code underlying the analysis. We welcome any specific feedback.鈥�

This ICE data from the Deportation Data Project does not include the city or state of residence for those individuals who were arrested or detained. This makes it difficult to determine with precision how many Californians are being affected directly by enforcement operations. Additionally, many of the over 700,000 arrests nationally in the data set have blanks where there should be information about the state or area where an apprehension took place.

EdSource鈥檚 analysis relied primarily on a set of more than 1 million detention stays nationally. Every recorded individual stay in the ICE detention system has a list of codes corresponding to detention facilities. Our data analysis counts those who were first detained in a California detention facility as being detained in California.

California is a border state. A hallmark of the Trump administration鈥檚 immigration policy has been a shift from the border to deporting immigrants who are living in the interior of the country. So it was important to determine whether someone had been detained as a part of border enforcement. We used the same methodology as the Deportation Data Project to distinguish between an arrest at the border or one that occurred in the interior. We counted an arrest as happening at the border if it involved U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including Border Patrol or the Coast Guard.

Determining the age of those Californians who were detained was more straightforward. We have the birth year of those who were detained, as well as the date that an individual was booked into a facility. If the difference between those years was less than 18, this analysis counts them as a child. Because we do not know the exact birth dates of each individual, 666 children may be an undercount.

None of the data connects family members to one another.

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EdSource Reporter Zaidee Stavely and Data Journalist Daniel J. Willis contributed to this story.

California鈥檚 latest budget includes $116 million over three years to help schools identify and support students experiencing homelessness 鈥� the first time the state has dedicated funding specifically for this purpose.

Homeless student advocates welcomed the investment after years of lobbying lawmakers to supplement the federal dollars California gets annually to address student homelessness. However, advocates cautioned that one-time funding will only go so far to address the long-term problem of student homelessness.

Nearly 300,000 students in California were identified as experiencing homelessness in 2024-25, according to state data. However, homeless student advocates say that number is likely an undercount because it鈥檚 challenging to identify homeless students. With dedicated funding, schools can hire specialized staff trained to identify students facing housing instability and develop longer-term support programs.

鈥淭here is a great need, but the hard part with this population is you have to find them and identify them, and we have never funded that,鈥� said Margaret Olmos, senior director at the National Center for Youth Law.

For years, Olmos and other advocates urged California lawmakers to provide state funding dedicated to homeless students, arguing that the federal McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act 鈥� about $15 million annually to California 鈥� was insufficient to meet districts鈥� needs.

This year鈥檚 2026-27 budget includes a one-time, three-year competitive grant program totaling $116 million. Although advocates had hoped for an ongoing funding stream, they called the allocation a significant step forward.

鈥淪hort-term money is very, very difficult for schools to utilize,鈥� Olmos said.

Why dedicated funding?

California schools already can use several funding buckets to support students experiencing homelessness, including funding for community schools, Title 1 for schools to support low-income students, and supplemental dollars via the Local Control Funding Formula.

But those funding sources can help students only after they have been identified as experiencing homelessness. The state鈥檚 $116 million investment is intended primarily to help schools find eligible students and connect them with services, according to the .

鈥淲hether it鈥檚 community school funding or other funding that California鈥檚 providing for its students, if homeless students aren鈥檛 identified, if they don鈥檛 have regular transportation, a way to get to school, has somebody who鈥檚 attending to all those other needs 鈥� they鈥檙e not going to be able to benefit from those other investments,鈥� said Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, an organization that advocates for homeless students.

Identifying students can be difficult if families are reluctant to disclose housing instability or do not realize they are considered homeless under federal law and thus qualify for services.

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, student homelessness is defined more broadly than it is for the general population under the more commonly used definition from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Under McKinney-Vento, students are considered homeless if they lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence 鈥� including many who are temporarily living with relatives or friends because of economic hardship.

This definition includes students living 鈥�,鈥� meaning families who share housing due to economic hardship. The HUD definition doesn鈥檛 include families who are doubling up. live 鈥渄oubled-up,鈥� but they could go uncounted if they or people offering support are not aware of the different definitions of homelessness.

In recent years, California has taken steps to improve identification and access to resources.

, for example, requires schools to administer an annual housing questionnaire and report the results to the California Department of Education. Schools are also required under federal law to designate homeless liaisons responsible for identifying students and connecting them with services.

During Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 administration, billions have been allocated to address homelessness statewide, with a small percentage set aside for youth. have applied for and received grants via that program, but funds are exclusively for housing, and not for services such as transportation, food assistance, clothing, school supplies and more that students need.

Olmos and other advocates say that this is where schools come in. School staff work to identify homeless students, though often with little to no dedicated funding.

A teacher or classroom aide might notice a student whose grades have slipped, or another鈥檚 who has an unkempt appearance. An attendance team might note sudden increased absences and might know they should flag a homeless liaison.

In many cases, that a family recently lost housing, cannot afford basic necessities or lacks reliable transportation to school.

California received in McKinney Vento dollars during the 2025-26 school year, distributed among 151 of the state鈥檚 more than 900 school districts and 58 county offices of education. An additional was allocated to support the , jointly managed by the Los Angeles, Contra Costa and San Diego county offices of education. The homeless liaisons for each of these three large counties answer questions submitted by liaisons or school staff from other districts, help train new liaisons and offer webinars on McKinney Vento requirements, among other things.

Because federal funding for student homelessness nationally has remained flat nationwide for at least three years 鈥� about $129 million annually 鈥� advocates say California cannot rely on significant increases from Washington. 

The state鈥檚 $116 million will 鈥渟ignal to other states that there鈥檚 a way forward, but also that, within California, this is one-time funding that will help really show policymakers and educators that this needs to be the new normal in California,鈥� said Duffield. 鈥淏ecause there鈥檚 no indication that homelessness is going to be down significantly in the next couple years.鈥�

A proof of concept

Supporters of the new funding point to the federal American Rescue Plan-Homeless Children and Youth, known as ARP-HCY, as an example of the difference dedicated funding can make.

, through the ARP-HCY program, school districts nationwide received $800 million in one-time Covid-19 relief funding, including $98.76 million for California. Districts used the money to hire homeless liaisons and support staff, provide emergency housing assistance, expand after-school programs and connect families with basic services. 

But when the federal government announced in 2024 the would not be replenished, some of those programs began ending as well.

Homeless student advocates say California鈥檚 new $116 million allocation creates a new opportunity to demonstrate the value of dedicated funding, while also highlighting the challenges of relying on one-time grants.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of lessons to be learned from ARP-HCY,鈥� said Duffield. 鈥淗ow the funds go out, what they can be used for, how the actual disbursement is being tracked. All of that from the get-go.鈥�

If districts can demonstrate measurable results, the hope is lawmakers will make the funding permanent, said Olmos.

鈥淥ur North Star has not changed. There has to be dedicated funding to this group that is safe in California moving forward,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o we have a window to prove that this is a wise investment, and we are really hoping that we don鈥檛 lose it.鈥�

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I respond in our native tongue, 鈥淢uy bien, 驴y t煤?鈥�听

We chat briefly about students from our class, and I ask about Camila 鈥� a silly ninth grader who always brightened our days. 

鈥淗ay 鈥� la deportaron, miss,鈥� he whispers. In that moment, I鈥檓 astonished but not surprised. This has become a familiar reality for many newcomer students.

These days, as an English language development teacher to newcomers in Santa Maria, California, I often hear my high school students speaking casually about going back to their native countries. Voluntary and forceful deportations have become commonplace over the last year and a half. The has doubled since President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term began, and the number of immigrants in detention facilities is at an all-time high. 

But families being broken apart and people being uprooted from the homes they鈥檝e built 鈥� in many cases, the only homes they know 鈥� is not OK or normal. We as a society cannot accept this. It鈥檚 an outrage. It鈥檚 also painful and traumatizing for the families experiencing it. And I know that because I鈥檝e experienced it myself. 

Ten years ago, on a Monday morning, I received a text from my older sister. 鈥淢om is going back to Mexico,鈥� it read. I was at Starbucks, reading my book, when I stared at my phone in disbelief. But something in her text made me believe that this news was real. As I headed home that day, 鈥淭e Vas Amor鈥� by El Coyote y Su Banda Tierra Santa played in my white Honda Accord. El Coyote sang, 鈥淭e vas amor, tal vez mis ojos no te vuelvan a mirar.鈥� You are leaving love, perhaps my eyes will never see you again. 

I cried at the prospect of losing my mother to the border. Given that she was undocumented, I knew Mami would not be able to come back.

The hours and days after were a blur. When I got home, Mami revealed she鈥檇 be going back to Mexico to care for my grandfather before he passed. Because she needed to leave so urgently, Papi would have to join her later. My parents owned an agricultural business that he needed to tend to. When they鈥檇 first immigrated to the U.S., they鈥檇 picked strawberries; eventually they鈥檇 begun cultivating fruit and hiring workers of their own. My parents had found the American dream they鈥檇 longed for: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness here.

Mami began getting her affairs in order that same day. I don鈥檛 remember asking her to stay. I was 23 years old, a recent graduate from UCLA and technically an adult at the time. I was also a U.S. citizen. I felt it selfish to ask my mother to choose between her dying father and her grown daughter, so I just processed the news and supported her decision. 

The days after involved buying flights, speaking to a lawyer, putting the house 鈥� which they had just purchased and paid off 鈥� in my name, and changing bank accounts to include me as their fiduciary representative. I did all this while my heart ached at the thought of losing my mother to a border that would not welcome her back. 

By Friday night, just four days after Mami had made the decision to go back to Mexico, we were on our way to Los Angeles International Airport, where she said goodbye to her husband and boarded a plane to Oaxaca. 

Ten months later, once strawberry season had concluded, Papi was on his way to join her. Before he went through airport security, I gave my father a hug. This time, both my parents were leaving this country, leaving home.

It鈥檚 2026 now, almost 10 years since I lost my parents to self-deportation. It鈥檚 a shame that things have only gotten worse for immigrant families like mine. It seems like every day we see social media posts about families getting separated from their loved ones and GoFundMe pages asking for help with legal expenses for family members who were deported. Each day, another family is broken by a border and laws that don鈥檛 allow them to stay together. 

And yet we, as a society, have accepted this new norm. Why? Why have we tolerated the idea that a father or mother can just be ripped apart from their child? Each day I walk into my classroom, overjoyed by the presence of my students, and think of the ache they must feel with this current administration. I lost my parents to the border at the age of 23; here they are, experiencing it as 15-year-olds. I understand that my students carry not only their backpacks, pencils and notebooks, but also the weight of potentially losing their loved ones. 

They also carry something else: resilience. Strength comes from trials and tribulations. Despite what they鈥檙e experiencing, my students are brilliant and thriving. I remind them of this each day. 

I offer a space of love and learning, a space where they know they are accepted and valued, no matter what else is going on in our country. In my classroom, they know they belong, and they know that while we鈥檙e working together to learn English, their native tongues are still welcome.

Despite what I can offer my students in my classroom, we as a society need to do better for them. What is going on in our country is not normal and should not be reduced to normalcy just because it鈥檚 happening. It should not happen at all. My students deserve to live and learn in a place where their only worry might be whether they studied enough for the science test or whether they made the baseball team, not whether their life will be uprooted by the presence of ICE at the local grocery store. 

For now, I cheer for them when they say, 鈥淗ello, Ms. Gonzalez, how are you?,鈥� demonstrating they are capable of learning a new language. I celebrate them when they get a perfect score on a test they were worried about. For now, I do my best to put a smile on my face and assure them that no matter what, they are always welcome here.