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"content": "\u003cp>California State University is only partially meeting its bold plan to graduate 40% of its students who started as freshmen by the end of four years. In \u003ca href=\"https://tableau.calstate.edu/views/GraduationRatesPopulationPyramidPrototype_liveversion/SummaryDetails?iframeSizedToWindow=true&%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=no\">newly released data this week\u003c/a>, the system saw its four-year graduation rate inch to an all-time high of 36.2% this year — more than double the graduation rate it posted in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The system has one year left to make good on its Graduation Initiative 2025 goals, which it \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/why-the-csu-matters/graduation-initiative-2025/What-Is-Graduation-Initiative-2025#:~:text=In%202015%2C%20the%20California%20State,and%20meet%20California's%20workforce%20needs.\">debuted in 2015\u003c/a>. The splashy effort was buttressed by a combination of system and state funding increases that, over time, reached \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/budget/Documents/current-budget/2025-26-operating-budget.pdf#page=5\">$400 million annually\u003c/a>. That money has gone toward hiring more professors, opening more classes in courses with high waitlists that students need to graduate, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/11/cal-state-graduation-rates/\">cutting the number of students finishing classes with Ds and Fs\u003c/a> and reaching out to students who dropped out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The growth in graduation rates overlapped with a 31% spike in freshmen enrollment between 2009 and 2019, meaning the system’s graduation rate increased even as it was absorbing an additional 15,000 students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The type of students Cal State enrolled changed as well, explained Jennifer Baszile, an associate vice chancellor for the system, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/3B3FgDSKOwM?si=xlmrQ6jgAQETLZvo&t=3374\">at the board of trustees meeting on Wednesday\u003c/a>. In that same period, the university saw a 50% jump in freshmen who were the first in their families to attend college, come from low-income households or identify as Black, Latino or Native American — all groups that campuses have historically struggled to graduate at rates similar to other students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are opening up opportunities for students who traditionally have not had them,” said Diego Arambula, vice chair of the board of trustees, at Wednesday’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among transfer students, the system \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=7\">is even closer\u003c/a> to its 2025 goals, having graduated 44% of students within two years who came from community colleges — just shy of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=7\">45% target it set for itself\u003c/a>. Graduation rates are calculated separately for students who start as freshmen and those who transfer. Lately, about 40% of Cal State’s new students are transferring from other schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Gaps remain between racial and ethnic groups\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But for the system’s other core goals to eliminate the differences in graduation rates between Black, Latino, Native American and all other students, \u003ca href=\"https://public.dashboards.calstate.edu/csu-by-the-numbers/historical-grad-rates\">the gaps remain recalcitrant\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The six-year graduation rate for Latino students, the system’s largest racial or demographic group, dipped from a high of 58% in 2021 to 56% in 2024 — well short of the 2025 goal to have 70% of all students who started as freshmen graduate within six years but higher than the 52% in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White and Asian students as distinct groups \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=15\">reached or surpassed the 70% goal by 2020\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the traditional timeline for earning a bachelor’s degree is four years, the six-year graduation rate is a common metric that reflects the modern realities for many students: They work to afford their education and care for families, activities that require them to enroll in a reduced number of courses, which means they take longer to graduate.[aside postID=\"news_12012688,news_12006322\" label=\"Related Stories\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Black students, the graduation rate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2022/08/black-students-retention-csu/\">remains stubbornly low\u003c/a> — at no point has Cal State graduated \u003ca href=\"https://tableau.calstate.edu/views/GraduationRatesPopulationPyramidPrototype_liveversion/SummaryDetails?iframeSizedToWindow=true&%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=no\">more than 50% of Black students\u003c/a> at the end of six years who started as freshmen. By this year, the rate stood at 49 percent — a full 21 percentage points below the 70% goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal State is the nation’s largest public four-year university system and is home to more than 400,000 undergraduates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another immovable gap is the one between students receiving federal Pell Grants because they come from low-income families and those who don’t. At Cal State, nearly half of students receive this benefit and they graduate at rates \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=16\">10 to 12 percentage points below\u003c/a> those of students from families with higher incomes. The gulf between students with and without Pell Grants is supposed to close completely by next year under the goals Cal State set forth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Closing equity gaps is really, really hard,” said Christopher J. Steinhauser, a trustee who was superintendent of the Long Beach public k-12 school system, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/ceflargesmalldist.asp\">among the state’s largest\u003c/a>. “Sometimes when you have initiatives and people do better, the gaps actually grow, and we actually have seen that here in our own system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>COVID-19’s impact\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One force constraining graduation rates is the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on students remaining in school. A key early measure of whether students will graduate is how many return after their first and second years of school. At Cal State, that so-called retention figure gradually \u003ca href=\"https://tableau.calstate.edu/views/GraduationRatesPopulationPyramidPrototype_liveversion/SummaryDetails?iframeSizedToWindow=true&%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=no\">grew until the pandemic struck\u003c/a>. Among students who started as freshmen in 2019, about 85% returned after their first year. However, for those who started in 2020, the year COVID-19 devastated the world’s public health systems and plunged many families into financial distress, the share of returning students dropped to 83% and the next year to 81%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once students leave, it’s difficult to persuade them to return, \u003ca href=\"https://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/CACompetes_Back-to-College-Part-One.pdf#page=8\">higher-education experts say\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Cal State has a higher overall graduation rate than \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/3B3FgDSKOwM?si=z7T6Tb-iYa_a7StL&t=1012\">most other similar universities in other states\u003c/a>. The University of California, which rejects far more applicants than Cal State, graduates about 72% of its freshmen within four years — \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/ug-outcomes\">double that of Cal State\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Cal State now graduates 36% of its freshmen within four years — its highest rate ever. On other goals, however, the system is further behind, and gaps remain between racial and ethnic groups in graduation rates.",
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"title": "Cal State Makes Progress in Graduation Rates, But Still Below 40% Goal | KQED",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/mikhailzinshteyn\">Mikhail Zinshteyn, \u003c/a>CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California State University is only partially meeting its bold plan to graduate 40% of its students who started as freshmen by the end of four years. In \u003ca href=\"https://tableau.calstate.edu/views/GraduationRatesPopulationPyramidPrototype_liveversion/SummaryDetails?iframeSizedToWindow=true&%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=no\">newly released data this week\u003c/a>, the system saw its four-year graduation rate inch to an all-time high of 36.2% this year — more than double the graduation rate it posted in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The system has one year left to make good on its Graduation Initiative 2025 goals, which it \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/why-the-csu-matters/graduation-initiative-2025/What-Is-Graduation-Initiative-2025#:~:text=In%202015%2C%20the%20California%20State,and%20meet%20California's%20workforce%20needs.\">debuted in 2015\u003c/a>. The splashy effort was buttressed by a combination of system and state funding increases that, over time, reached \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/budget/Documents/current-budget/2025-26-operating-budget.pdf#page=5\">$400 million annually\u003c/a>. That money has gone toward hiring more professors, opening more classes in courses with high waitlists that students need to graduate, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/11/cal-state-graduation-rates/\">cutting the number of students finishing classes with Ds and Fs\u003c/a> and reaching out to students who dropped out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The growth in graduation rates overlapped with a 31% spike in freshmen enrollment between 2009 and 2019, meaning the system’s graduation rate increased even as it was absorbing an additional 15,000 students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The type of students Cal State enrolled changed as well, explained Jennifer Baszile, an associate vice chancellor for the system, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/3B3FgDSKOwM?si=xlmrQ6jgAQETLZvo&t=3374\">at the board of trustees meeting on Wednesday\u003c/a>. In that same period, the university saw a 50% jump in freshmen who were the first in their families to attend college, come from low-income households or identify as Black, Latino or Native American — all groups that campuses have historically struggled to graduate at rates similar to other students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are opening up opportunities for students who traditionally have not had them,” said Diego Arambula, vice chair of the board of trustees, at Wednesday’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among transfer students, the system \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=7\">is even closer\u003c/a> to its 2025 goals, having graduated 44% of students within two years who came from community colleges — just shy of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=7\">45% target it set for itself\u003c/a>. Graduation rates are calculated separately for students who start as freshmen and those who transfer. Lately, about 40% of Cal State’s new students are transferring from other schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Gaps remain between racial and ethnic groups\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But for the system’s other core goals to eliminate the differences in graduation rates between Black, Latino, Native American and all other students, \u003ca href=\"https://public.dashboards.calstate.edu/csu-by-the-numbers/historical-grad-rates\">the gaps remain recalcitrant\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The six-year graduation rate for Latino students, the system’s largest racial or demographic group, dipped from a high of 58% in 2021 to 56% in 2024 — well short of the 2025 goal to have 70% of all students who started as freshmen graduate within six years but higher than the 52% in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White and Asian students as distinct groups \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=15\">reached or surpassed the 70% goal by 2020\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the traditional timeline for earning a bachelor’s degree is four years, the six-year graduation rate is a common metric that reflects the modern realities for many students: They work to afford their education and care for families, activities that require them to enroll in a reduced number of courses, which means they take longer to graduate.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Black students, the graduation rate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2022/08/black-students-retention-csu/\">remains stubbornly low\u003c/a> — at no point has Cal State graduated \u003ca href=\"https://tableau.calstate.edu/views/GraduationRatesPopulationPyramidPrototype_liveversion/SummaryDetails?iframeSizedToWindow=true&%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=no\">more than 50% of Black students\u003c/a> at the end of six years who started as freshmen. By this year, the rate stood at 49 percent — a full 21 percentage points below the 70% goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal State is the nation’s largest public four-year university system and is home to more than 400,000 undergraduates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another immovable gap is the one between students receiving federal Pell Grants because they come from low-income families and those who don’t. At Cal State, nearly half of students receive this benefit and they graduate at rates \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/board-of-trustees/past-meetings/2024/Documents/nov-20-21-2024-ED-POL-binder.pdf#page=16\">10 to 12 percentage points below\u003c/a> those of students from families with higher incomes. The gulf between students with and without Pell Grants is supposed to close completely by next year under the goals Cal State set forth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Closing equity gaps is really, really hard,” said Christopher J. Steinhauser, a trustee who was superintendent of the Long Beach public k-12 school system, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/ceflargesmalldist.asp\">among the state’s largest\u003c/a>. “Sometimes when you have initiatives and people do better, the gaps actually grow, and we actually have seen that here in our own system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>COVID-19’s impact\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One force constraining graduation rates is the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on students remaining in school. A key early measure of whether students will graduate is how many return after their first and second years of school. At Cal State, that so-called retention figure gradually \u003ca href=\"https://tableau.calstate.edu/views/GraduationRatesPopulationPyramidPrototype_liveversion/SummaryDetails?iframeSizedToWindow=true&%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=no\">grew until the pandemic struck\u003c/a>. Among students who started as freshmen in 2019, about 85% returned after their first year. However, for those who started in 2020, the year COVID-19 devastated the world’s public health systems and plunged many families into financial distress, the share of returning students dropped to 83% and the next year to 81%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once students leave, it’s difficult to persuade them to return, \u003ca href=\"https://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/CACompetes_Back-to-College-Part-One.pdf#page=8\">higher-education experts say\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Cal State has a higher overall graduation rate than \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/3B3FgDSKOwM?si=z7T6Tb-iYa_a7StL&t=1012\">most other similar universities in other states\u003c/a>. The University of California, which rejects far more applicants than Cal State, graduates about 72% of its freshmen within four years — \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/ug-outcomes\">double that of Cal State\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Nearly 2 Years on, Flood-Devastated California Farm Towns Are Still Waiting for State Aid",
"publishDate": 1732309220,
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"headTitle": "Nearly 2 Years on, Flood-Devastated California Farm Towns Are Still Waiting for State Aid | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After flood waters from heavy rainstorms deluged two small farmworker towns in January 2023, California \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/11/planada-flood-relief/\">set aside $20 million each\u003c/a> for the communities to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two years later, four-fifths of that aid has not yet been distributed to flood victims of Planada in Merced County, and even less has been distributed in Pajaro in Monterey County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While county officials and nonprofit workers say, the slow pace stems from a deliberative planning process and state rules requiring verification of recipients’ residency and losses, a new round of heavy California rainstorms is causing anxiety for locals who saw their neighborhoods destroyed once before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days of rain in January of 2023 caused canals and creeks to overflow in the two communities, hitting many residents with a triple whammy: displaced from their homes, their possessions destroyed, their work hours in the field cut. State lawmakers granted the relief funds in the fall of 2023. The counties divided them into various pots to cover reimbursement for belongings and wages, home repair, business losses, and infrastructure improvements to prepare for the next storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of this month, about $4 million of the $20 million in state aid designated for Planada had been spent, the bulk of that in direct payments to families, Merced County spokesperson Mike North said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Pajaro, county officials working with nonprofits have handed out about $1.3 million of its $20 million share: $450,000 in grocery gift cards to residents whose food spoiled during the flooding, plus about another $800,000 to people and businesses with larger losses not covered by federal disaster aid or private insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angela DiNovella, the executive director of Catholic Charities Diocese of Monterey — one of two organizations contracted with Monterey County to help Pajaro residents apply for the funds — said her organization’s three case workers were distributing an average of $30,000 per week to families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the main challenges, she said, was verifying eligibility for families who lacked a permanent address or lived in overcrowded conditions, such as when three families share a single apartment. Some people also struggled to document how much they had lost, so caseworkers were doing the painstaking labor of reviewing photographs and trying to estimate the dollar value of each item.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reality is this is state funding that comes with a lot of requirements,” she said. “Our work is to be creative with the families and be on their side, but even that takes time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monterey County set up an assistance center in a community park this past spring to help residents apply for the aid, DiNovella said. However, Danielle Rivera, an environmental planning professor at UC Berkeley who conducts fieldwork in the area, said many community members remain confused about where the state aid is going and how to benefit. And some, she said, may have moved away before they got any help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were displaced from the floods — they were renting and the landlord said, ‘This unit’s out of commission.’ Then that household tries to find housing somewhere else and maybe they came back to Pajaro, maybe they went to Watsonville, maybe they just left the Pajaro Valley entirely,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents in both communities who were undocumented could also qualify for a statewide Storm Assistance for Immigrants program aimed at helping California flood victims who were ineligible for federal emergency assistance. The $95 million statewide program for storm victims offered a flat stipend of $1,500 per qualifying adult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jesús Padilla, Pajaro resident\"]‘It seems like the process is working. Just slowly.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Millions in additional aid from philanthropic groups, private insurance, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has also poured into Pajaro since the floods, county officials said — though residents’ ability to access that help varied based on whether they were homeowners or legal U.S. residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Planada, North said the county had nearly completed distributing funds for replacement of lost vehicles, personal property and business assets and was moving on to help with home repair. That work “takes more time as it’s dependent upon certain detailed inspections for issues like mold, foundation damage, asbestos testing, and could require structural engineering in some cases,” he said by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Infrastructure projects are also moving forward, North said, though more slowly. The county has replaced a backup generator for the local community services district that failed during the floods and is commissioning a study on how to prevent future inundations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Half of Pajaro’s $20 million is earmarked for infrastructure and emergency preparedness projects, and Monterey County spokesperson Nick Pasculli said the county had requested bids for about half the projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DiNovella, whose organization also worked with families displaced by the 2020 fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains, said that communities often take years to recover from disasters and that the pace of aid in Pajaro, while slow, is sadly par for the course. The most recent batch of aid, while delayed, will give families a boost during the slow winter season when many farmworkers are barely scraping by, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag='weather, floods' label='More Severe Weather Coverage.']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Pajaro resident who got state help is Jesús Padilla, who’s lived in the town for 25 years, working the strawberry and blackberry harvests. When the floods hit, he and his family just had time to grab the three children’s birth certificates and run. They lost everything — furniture, clothes, kitchenware.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, he worries most about his family’s physical and mental health. Every time it rains, his children ask him, “If it keeps raining more, where will we go?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His family had already replaced many of their belongings, but the state grant that Catholic Charities helped him obtain reimbursed some of their expenses. He has friends who are still waiting for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He tells them to be patient — “It seems like the process is working. Just slowly.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Floodwaters devastated the small communities of Pajaro and Planada in early 2023. California gave each town $20 million to recover — but as residents face down another winter, much of the aid has yet to reach them.",
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"title": "Nearly 2 Years on, Flood-Devastated California Farm Towns Are Still Waiting for State Aid | KQED",
"description": "Floodwaters devastated the small communities of Pajaro and Planada in early 2023. California gave each town $20 million to recover — but as residents face down another winter, much of the aid has yet to reach them.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After flood waters from heavy rainstorms deluged two small farmworker towns in January 2023, California \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/11/planada-flood-relief/\">set aside $20 million each\u003c/a> for the communities to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two years later, four-fifths of that aid has not yet been distributed to flood victims of Planada in Merced County, and even less has been distributed in Pajaro in Monterey County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While county officials and nonprofit workers say, the slow pace stems from a deliberative planning process and state rules requiring verification of recipients’ residency and losses, a new round of heavy California rainstorms is causing anxiety for locals who saw their neighborhoods destroyed once before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days of rain in January of 2023 caused canals and creeks to overflow in the two communities, hitting many residents with a triple whammy: displaced from their homes, their possessions destroyed, their work hours in the field cut. State lawmakers granted the relief funds in the fall of 2023. The counties divided them into various pots to cover reimbursement for belongings and wages, home repair, business losses, and infrastructure improvements to prepare for the next storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of this month, about $4 million of the $20 million in state aid designated for Planada had been spent, the bulk of that in direct payments to families, Merced County spokesperson Mike North said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Pajaro, county officials working with nonprofits have handed out about $1.3 million of its $20 million share: $450,000 in grocery gift cards to residents whose food spoiled during the flooding, plus about another $800,000 to people and businesses with larger losses not covered by federal disaster aid or private insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angela DiNovella, the executive director of Catholic Charities Diocese of Monterey — one of two organizations contracted with Monterey County to help Pajaro residents apply for the funds — said her organization’s three case workers were distributing an average of $30,000 per week to families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the main challenges, she said, was verifying eligibility for families who lacked a permanent address or lived in overcrowded conditions, such as when three families share a single apartment. Some people also struggled to document how much they had lost, so caseworkers were doing the painstaking labor of reviewing photographs and trying to estimate the dollar value of each item.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reality is this is state funding that comes with a lot of requirements,” she said. “Our work is to be creative with the families and be on their side, but even that takes time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monterey County set up an assistance center in a community park this past spring to help residents apply for the aid, DiNovella said. However, Danielle Rivera, an environmental planning professor at UC Berkeley who conducts fieldwork in the area, said many community members remain confused about where the state aid is going and how to benefit. And some, she said, may have moved away before they got any help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were displaced from the floods — they were renting and the landlord said, ‘This unit’s out of commission.’ Then that household tries to find housing somewhere else and maybe they came back to Pajaro, maybe they went to Watsonville, maybe they just left the Pajaro Valley entirely,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents in both communities who were undocumented could also qualify for a statewide Storm Assistance for Immigrants program aimed at helping California flood victims who were ineligible for federal emergency assistance. The $95 million statewide program for storm victims offered a flat stipend of $1,500 per qualifying adult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Millions in additional aid from philanthropic groups, private insurance, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has also poured into Pajaro since the floods, county officials said — though residents’ ability to access that help varied based on whether they were homeowners or legal U.S. residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Planada, North said the county had nearly completed distributing funds for replacement of lost vehicles, personal property and business assets and was moving on to help with home repair. That work “takes more time as it’s dependent upon certain detailed inspections for issues like mold, foundation damage, asbestos testing, and could require structural engineering in some cases,” he said by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Infrastructure projects are also moving forward, North said, though more slowly. The county has replaced a backup generator for the local community services district that failed during the floods and is commissioning a study on how to prevent future inundations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Half of Pajaro’s $20 million is earmarked for infrastructure and emergency preparedness projects, and Monterey County spokesperson Nick Pasculli said the county had requested bids for about half the projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DiNovella, whose organization also worked with families displaced by the 2020 fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains, said that communities often take years to recover from disasters and that the pace of aid in Pajaro, while slow, is sadly par for the course. The most recent batch of aid, while delayed, will give families a boost during the slow winter season when many farmworkers are barely scraping by, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One Pajaro resident who got state help is Jesús Padilla, who’s lived in the town for 25 years, working the strawberry and blackberry harvests. When the floods hit, he and his family just had time to grab the three children’s birth certificates and run. They lost everything — furniture, clothes, kitchenware.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, he worries most about his family’s physical and mental health. Every time it rains, his children ask him, “If it keeps raining more, where will we go?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His family had already replaced many of their belongings, but the state grant that Catholic Charities helped him obtain reimbursed some of their expenses. He has friends who are still waiting for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He tells them to be patient — “It seems like the process is working. Just slowly.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s Central Valley will be left behind no more, its leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday as the region became the first in the state to meet with the governor to submit its 20-year economic development plan, which aims to boost its agricultural industry and prepare for a key role in the green economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event in West Fresno \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/11/21/regional-economic-development-plans/\">builds on the governor’s initiative\u003c/a>, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/03/08/california-jobs-first-state-launches-first-of-its-kind-council-to-create-thousands-of-more-jobs-across-all-regions/\">he introduced in March\u003c/a>, to invest in economic and workforce development with a focus on 13 regions as the state tries to help create more opportunities outside of its traditional jobs centers, such as the Bay Area and Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A thriving Sierra San Joaquin region is essential to California’s future,” said Ashley Swearengin, chief executive of the Central Valley Community Foundation, which helped bring together the counties in the region to create the 502-page plan, which was funded by the state. She handed a binder with the plan to Newsom during the press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among other things, the counties of Madera, Fresno, Kings and Tulare are asking for $58 billion in public and private investments in the region over the next couple of decades, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.s2j2initiative.org/\">a draft of the plan\u003c/a> from August. The region, which produces 25% of the nation’s food supply, has an annual output of $70 billion, the plan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite its agricultural contributions and the major role it’s expected to play in helping generate the state’s renewable energy, 1 in 5 people in the region live below the poverty line, said Swearengin, a former Fresno mayor. “The challenges that confront this region’s families must always be present in our minds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor said he \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/1859747021906903384\">expects to take the other regions’ plans\u003c/a> and release a statewide blueprint in\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>January. The state has set aside $182 million so far in grants to follow through on the plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s optimism around the state’s focus on regions. Kate Gordon, CEO of California Forward, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the California economy and a former director of the governor’s Office of Planning and Research under Newsom, said “across California, stakeholders are getting together on a thoughtful approach” to creating high-quality jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gordon added that some people “don’t feel themselves as part of the economy right now,” and that the regions working on their own strategies was “an incredibly inclusive process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom acknowledged what he called economic uneasiness among the state’s residents despite fairly low unemployment.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12014595,news_12011869,news_12005655\"]“This is about people feeling on edge,” the governor said, adding that he is “excited” to support grant applications from the region. “It’s not talking about macro conditions, but about micro lived reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A common takeaway from this year’s elections is that voters made their decisions partly because of their economic concerns, at least according to exit polls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, who is heading into his final two years as governor, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/us/newsom-california-counties-trump.html\">he’s responding to those concerns\u003c/a>. Republicans continually criticize him for being out of touch with the daily struggles of many Californians. Even as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/11/gavin-newsom-trump-president/\">his national stature has grown\u003c/a>, the state’s voters are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-election-newsom-republicans/\">split on his performance as governor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor made Thursday’s announcement in Fresno County, where 51% of residents voted for Donald Trump and 46% voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, with all but 7,100 votes counted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresno County, which has a per capita income of about $50,000 a year, among the lowest in California, has also consistently had among the highest unemployment claims in the state, according to data from the Employment Development Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s unemployment rate inched up in October, to 5.4% from 5.3% the previous month. That’s the second-highest jobless rate in the nation, behind Nevada, while the U.S. unemployment rate is 4.1%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office noted in its \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4939\">fiscal outlook for the next year\u003c/a>: “Outside of government and health care, the state has added no jobs in a year and a half.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s Central Valley will be left behind no more, its leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday as the region became the first in the state to meet with the governor to submit its 20-year economic development plan, which aims to boost its agricultural industry and prepare for a key role in the green economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event in West Fresno \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/11/21/regional-economic-development-plans/\">builds on the governor’s initiative\u003c/a>, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/03/08/california-jobs-first-state-launches-first-of-its-kind-council-to-create-thousands-of-more-jobs-across-all-regions/\">he introduced in March\u003c/a>, to invest in economic and workforce development with a focus on 13 regions as the state tries to help create more opportunities outside of its traditional jobs centers, such as the Bay Area and Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A thriving Sierra San Joaquin region is essential to California’s future,” said Ashley Swearengin, chief executive of the Central Valley Community Foundation, which helped bring together the counties in the region to create the 502-page plan, which was funded by the state. She handed a binder with the plan to Newsom during the press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among other things, the counties of Madera, Fresno, Kings and Tulare are asking for $58 billion in public and private investments in the region over the next couple of decades, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.s2j2initiative.org/\">a draft of the plan\u003c/a> from August. The region, which produces 25% of the nation’s food supply, has an annual output of $70 billion, the plan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite its agricultural contributions and the major role it’s expected to play in helping generate the state’s renewable energy, 1 in 5 people in the region live below the poverty line, said Swearengin, a former Fresno mayor. “The challenges that confront this region’s families must always be present in our minds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor said he \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/1859747021906903384\">expects to take the other regions’ plans\u003c/a> and release a statewide blueprint in\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>January. The state has set aside $182 million so far in grants to follow through on the plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s optimism around the state’s focus on regions. Kate Gordon, CEO of California Forward, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the California economy and a former director of the governor’s Office of Planning and Research under Newsom, said “across California, stakeholders are getting together on a thoughtful approach” to creating high-quality jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gordon added that some people “don’t feel themselves as part of the economy right now,” and that the regions working on their own strategies was “an incredibly inclusive process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom acknowledged what he called economic uneasiness among the state’s residents despite fairly low unemployment.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is about people feeling on edge,” the governor said, adding that he is “excited” to support grant applications from the region. “It’s not talking about macro conditions, but about micro lived reality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A common takeaway from this year’s elections is that voters made their decisions partly because of their economic concerns, at least according to exit polls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, who is heading into his final two years as governor, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/us/newsom-california-counties-trump.html\">he’s responding to those concerns\u003c/a>. Republicans continually criticize him for being out of touch with the daily struggles of many Californians. Even as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/11/gavin-newsom-trump-president/\">his national stature has grown\u003c/a>, the state’s voters are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-election-newsom-republicans/\">split on his performance as governor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor made Thursday’s announcement in Fresno County, where 51% of residents voted for Donald Trump and 46% voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, with all but 7,100 votes counted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresno County, which has a per capita income of about $50,000 a year, among the lowest in California, has also consistently had among the highest unemployment claims in the state, according to data from the Employment Development Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s unemployment rate inched up in October, to 5.4% from 5.3% the previous month. That’s the second-highest jobless rate in the nation, behind Nevada, while the U.S. unemployment rate is 4.1%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office noted in its \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4939\">fiscal outlook for the next year\u003c/a>: “Outside of government and health care, the state has added no jobs in a year and a half.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Attendance in California Schools Is Slowly Rebounding, New Data Shows",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s public school students are continuing to rebound from the pandemic, with more showing up for class, more graduating and fewer misbehaving at school, according to new data released on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California School Dashboard, a color-coded snapshot of how students and schools are faring, showed improvements in many categories during the 2023–24 school year — a relief for schools trying to help students recover academically and social-emotionally after the 2020 campus closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most notable improvement was in attendance. The percentage of students who were chronically absent, missing more than 10% of school days in a year, dropped to about 20%, a significant decline from when it peaked at 30% three years ago. Prior to the pandemic, about 12% of students were chronically absent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is good news,” said Hedy Chang, director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that advocates for school attendance. “I’m pleasantly surprised. … To benefit from all the services that schools are offering, kids have to show up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic, schools across the state have been doubling down on efforts to lure students back to school. Many used their federal and state COVID-19 relief money to hire outreach workers, add bus routes, host pizza parties and otherwise make it easier and more enticing to come to school. Some districts had\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2023/09/soaring-chronic-absenteeism-in-california-schools-is-at-pivotal-moment/\"> social workers connect directly with parents\u003c/a> to solve transportation and other obstacles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2uJPe/5/\" height=\"500\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those efforts paid off, Chang said. While the pizza parties helped, she pointed to many schools’ focus on improving campus climate overall. That includes counseling, social-emotional learning, stronger relationships between school staff and families, and health and wellness services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pandemic relief \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2024/09/pandemic-relief/\">grants expired this year\u003c/a>, so some districts will be scrambling to maintain these programs going forward. But the state’s recent investments in community schools, arts education, transitional kindergarten and other services will help, Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Recognition for long-term English learners\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Another noteworthy item in the dashboard is the inclusion of a new student group: long-term English learners or students who were not fluent in English after seven years. The reasons for these students’ delays vary, but in general, they’re not receiving adequate help learning English and, as a result, lag far behind their peers academically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 10% of students who were ever classified as English learners were considered long-term English learners last year, according to state data. Those students had some of the lowest math and English language arts scores of any of California’s 13 other student groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re celebrating this significant milestone, that long-term English learners get the spotlight they deserve and they are no longer invisible,” said Martha Hernandez, director of Californians Together, which advocates for students who are English learners. “But now the work begins to ensure their needs are met.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools need to do a better job helping families who are recent immigrants by finding translators, providing counseling to students, boosting bilingual education and bringing in tutors to help with English and academic skills, said Lindsay Tornatore, director of systems improvement and student success at California County Superintendents, which represents county office of education superintendents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be mindful this is a student group that’s in the greatest need of support,” Tornatore said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Not good enough’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere on the dashboard, the graduation rate was 86.4%, up a bit from the previous year and higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 84.2%. However, a related item on the dashboard raised alarm bells with researchers. The number of students meeting the requirements for admission to California’s public universities was up only slightly — an increase of just 3,700 students among a graduating class of 438,000. Close to half of high school graduates are ineligible for the University of California or California State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s just not good enough,” said Alix Gallagher, interim managing director at the nonpartisan think tank Policy Analysis for California Education. “It means the recovery has been anemic, and that’s a problem. We need a different approach, starting at the state level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/mHI0Y/4/\" height=\"400\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She pointed to some districts’ policies of placing students on math tracks that don’t allow them to meet the college admission requirements by their senior year. While not all students should be expected to enroll in four-year colleges, they should at least have the option available, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Education hailed a drop in the suspension rate among all student groups. Student misbehavior increased after schools reopened, and schools struggled to maintain a positive atmosphere for staff and other students. The rate dropped from 3.6% to 3.3% last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>No major changes to format\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The dashboard itself has been under fire recently. The data is too hard for parents to navigate, and the color coding can be misleading, according to a report from the Center for Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, a school might earn an orange color, the second-from-lowest designation, for showing slight improvements, but its scores might actually be lower than schools that earned a red, the lowest ranking. The state said it would consider making some changes but hadn’t made any major alterations to this year’s version.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dashboard was released a few weeks earlier than it was last year. By 2026, the dashboard’s release will coincide with the Smarter Balanced test score announcement in mid-October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters data reporter \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/ericayee/\">Erica Yee\u003c/a> contributed to this reporting.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s public school students are continuing to rebound from the pandemic, with more showing up for class, more graduating and fewer misbehaving at school, according to new data released on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California School Dashboard, a color-coded snapshot of how students and schools are faring, showed improvements in many categories during the 2023–24 school year — a relief for schools trying to help students recover academically and social-emotionally after the 2020 campus closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most notable improvement was in attendance. The percentage of students who were chronically absent, missing more than 10% of school days in a year, dropped to about 20%, a significant decline from when it peaked at 30% three years ago. Prior to the pandemic, about 12% of students were chronically absent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is good news,” said Hedy Chang, director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that advocates for school attendance. “I’m pleasantly surprised. … To benefit from all the services that schools are offering, kids have to show up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic, schools across the state have been doubling down on efforts to lure students back to school. Many used their federal and state COVID-19 relief money to hire outreach workers, add bus routes, host pizza parties and otherwise make it easier and more enticing to come to school. Some districts had\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2023/09/soaring-chronic-absenteeism-in-california-schools-is-at-pivotal-moment/\"> social workers connect directly with parents\u003c/a> to solve transportation and other obstacles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2uJPe/5/\" height=\"500\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those efforts paid off, Chang said. While the pizza parties helped, she pointed to many schools’ focus on improving campus climate overall. That includes counseling, social-emotional learning, stronger relationships between school staff and families, and health and wellness services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pandemic relief \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2024/09/pandemic-relief/\">grants expired this year\u003c/a>, so some districts will be scrambling to maintain these programs going forward. But the state’s recent investments in community schools, arts education, transitional kindergarten and other services will help, Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Recognition for long-term English learners\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Another noteworthy item in the dashboard is the inclusion of a new student group: long-term English learners or students who were not fluent in English after seven years. The reasons for these students’ delays vary, but in general, they’re not receiving adequate help learning English and, as a result, lag far behind their peers academically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 10% of students who were ever classified as English learners were considered long-term English learners last year, according to state data. Those students had some of the lowest math and English language arts scores of any of California’s 13 other student groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re celebrating this significant milestone, that long-term English learners get the spotlight they deserve and they are no longer invisible,” said Martha Hernandez, director of Californians Together, which advocates for students who are English learners. “But now the work begins to ensure their needs are met.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools need to do a better job helping families who are recent immigrants by finding translators, providing counseling to students, boosting bilingual education and bringing in tutors to help with English and academic skills, said Lindsay Tornatore, director of systems improvement and student success at California County Superintendents, which represents county office of education superintendents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be mindful this is a student group that’s in the greatest need of support,” Tornatore said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Not good enough’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere on the dashboard, the graduation rate was 86.4%, up a bit from the previous year and higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 84.2%. However, a related item on the dashboard raised alarm bells with researchers. The number of students meeting the requirements for admission to California’s public universities was up only slightly — an increase of just 3,700 students among a graduating class of 438,000. Close to half of high school graduates are ineligible for the University of California or California State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s just not good enough,” said Alix Gallagher, interim managing director at the nonpartisan think tank Policy Analysis for California Education. “It means the recovery has been anemic, and that’s a problem. We need a different approach, starting at the state level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/mHI0Y/4/\" height=\"400\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She pointed to some districts’ policies of placing students on math tracks that don’t allow them to meet the college admission requirements by their senior year. While not all students should be expected to enroll in four-year colleges, they should at least have the option available, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Education hailed a drop in the suspension rate among all student groups. Student misbehavior increased after schools reopened, and schools struggled to maintain a positive atmosphere for staff and other students. The rate dropped from 3.6% to 3.3% last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>No major changes to format\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The dashboard itself has been under fire recently. The data is too hard for parents to navigate, and the color coding can be misleading, according to a report from the Center for Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, a school might earn an orange color, the second-from-lowest designation, for showing slight improvements, but its scores might actually be lower than schools that earned a red, the lowest ranking. The state said it would consider making some changes but hadn’t made any major alterations to this year’s version.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dashboard was released a few weeks earlier than it was last year. By 2026, the dashboard’s release will coincide with the Smarter Balanced test score announcement in mid-October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters data reporter \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/ericayee/\">Erica Yee\u003c/a> contributed to this reporting.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Can a New Vote Tracker Help Dispel Fears About California's Slow Election Process?",
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"content": "\u003cp>California has a notoriously slow ballot counting process — one that Kim Alexander describes as “a pig in the python.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This giant wad of ballots that all arrive at once, that all have to move through the process, and you can’t speed it up,” said Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. “You have to do every single step, otherwise you lose the integrity of the process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help voters understand and trust that process, Alexander’s group launched a tracker this election that monitors the vote count in California’s close contests between Election Day and certification of county results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed the Close Count Transparency Project, the tracker — which debuted as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvoter.org/content/close-count-transparency-project#2022\">pilot program in 2022\u003c/a> — \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvoter.org/content/close-count-transparency-project\">provides daily updates\u003c/a> on the results of 11 competitive U.S. House races and seven state legislative races, as well as the statewide vote count status. The tool tracks candidates’ vote share, votes counted and the number of unprocessed ballots in each county the districts cover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of late Tuesday, an estimated \u003ca href=\"https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/unprocessed-ballots-status\">570,500 ballots statewide\u003c/a> were yet to be counted, according to the Secretary of State’s office. More than 126,000 ballots needed to be “cured” — they had been rejected for missing or mismatched signatures, and \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2024-primary/trusted-info-mismatched-signature.pdf\">voters had time to submit a form to verify their signatures\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A total of eight key contests remained uncalled by the Associated Press as of late Tuesday, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012387/california-will-help-decide-control-of-congress-but-multiple-seats-too-close-to-call\">two congressional races\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/11/california-election-results-november-2024/\">five legislative races\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012822/california-prop-roundup-heres-what-passed-and-what-got-rejected\">one statewide ballot measure.\u003c/a> (CalMatters and other news outlets use AP to declare winners while the vote count is ongoing.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By making the vote count more transparent, the close contest tracker aims to inoculate against unfounded conspiracy theories about election fraud in California, Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prominent conservatives, including GOP U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, are spreading unproven claims that \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/mtgreenee/status/1858001277851926844\">Democrats are “stealing” the 45th Congressional District race\u003c/a> in Southern California, where Democrat Derek Tran is leading by a razor-thin margin over Republican Rep. Michelle Steel after trailing her for days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to create a record of where the vote count stood each day so that if someone came along later and said, ‘Something hinky is going on here,’ there would be a reliable source of information people could turn to to see how the vote count evolved over time,” Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracker also comes as frustration about the lengthy process grows in California. State Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/joe-patterson-133512?_gl=1*1g0qcdr*_gcl_au*MTM4NjY4NjMyNi4xNzI4OTIxNDUy*_ga*NDc4MzA3MTIxLjE3Mjg5MjE0NTI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMjEyNDU0MC4xOS4xLjE3MzIxMjYzODUuNDcuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMjEyNDU0MC4yMC4xLjE3MzIxMjYzODQuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMjEyNDU0MC4xOS4xLjE3MzIxMjYzODQuMC4wLjA.\">Joe Patterson\u003c/a>, a Rocklin Republican, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Patterdude/status/1858253695991029779\">called the procedure “dumb”\u003c/a> on social media, arguing that winners of state legislative races will be sworn in on Dec. 2 before the results are certified by the Secretary of State. The lengthy process “sows distrust” in the state’s election system, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/californias-vote-count-secretary-of-state-2024/62912146\">he told KCRA\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state Assembly and Senate already held a joint freshman orientation last week for incoming lawmakers, while the five legislative races remain too close to call, Assembly Republicans spokesperson Jim Stanley confirmed to CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a real problem for incoming lawmakers if they miss out on that,” Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why it takes so long to count — and how to speed it up\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While voters and campaigns want to see results sooner, it is particularly challenging in California, Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is home to more than \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ror/15day-gen-2024/complete-ror.pdf\">22 million registered voters\u003c/a>, according to the state Secretary of State’s office. As of Tuesday afternoon, a total of \u003ca href=\"https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/unprocessed-ballots-status\">15 million ballots\u003c/a> had been counted — a number bigger than the populations of 46 other states, \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/popclock/\">Census data shows\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has also made it easier for voters to cast their ballots in recent years. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37\">A 2021 law\u003c/a> made universal vote-by-mail permanent in California, meaning every registered voter receives a mail-in ballot roughly a month before Election Day, and the ballots are counted as long as they arrive at county elections offices within seven days after Election Day. In the March primary, almost 90% of all voters voted by mail, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/historical-absentee\">according to the Secretary of State\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The widespread use of vote-by-mail slows down the vote count, Alexander said, because they take longer to process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to open the envelopes, we have to verify the signature, and all of those things before we can actually accept that ballot,” \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vn2uVIDC4n3CtN8rXzBx1tDj4Gc3Am3w/view\">Secretary of State Shirley Weber\u003c/a> said in a press conference last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, election officials have to first complete counting mail-in ballots before they move onto ballots cast by voters who register the same day they voted to make sure no voter votes twice, said Jesse Salinas, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials and clerk-recorder in Yolo County. The number of same-day registered voters has grown over the years, further slowing down the vote count, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12013684]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the slow vote count is also because races are closer than more than a decade ago, Alexander said. The state’s independent redistricting commission drew more competitive districts after the 2020 Census, she said, and the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/06/california-primary-top-two/\">top-two primary process\u003c/a> was designed to boost candidates who could appeal to a broader range of voters in the general election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2002 and 2010, before voters approved the independent redistricting commission, there was an average of one or two close congressional races per general election, Alexander said. But following the 2011 redistricting and the 2012 adoption of the top-two primary, there was an average of five close contests per election cycle, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would be less patient with our long vote count if we had more decisive victories, but we don’t,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, county election officials could benefit from more staffing and funding for better equipment, Alexander said. Kern County, for example, has acquired \u003ca href=\"https://www.turnto23.com/news/in-your-neighborhood/bakersfield/kern-county-prepares-for-election-day-testing-the-future-of-voting\">high-speed ballot scanners\u003c/a> to tabulate votes faster, she said. As of Tuesday, Kern had processed nearly 280,000 ballots and had only about 8,500 to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state could also benefit from spending big on voter outreach, urging voters to mail in their ballots sooner, which would help county officials pre-process more ballots and reduce the workload post-election, Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more importantly, she said, the state should allow voters to opt out of vote-by-mail if they want, although she acknowledged that \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626\">under current law\u003c/a>, voters have the option to cast the ballot they received in the mail in person instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people don’t want to vote by mail, and then you are stuck with this ballot, and that confuses voters,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters reporter \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/sameea-kamal/\">Sameea Kamal\u003c/a> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The California Voter Foundation launched a tool tracking daily vote counts in 18 close contests for Congress and the state Legislature. The tracker aims to show how counts change over time and dispel misinformation about election fraud, the group says.",
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"headline": "Can a New Vote Tracker Help Dispel Fears About California's Slow Election Process?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California has a notoriously slow ballot counting process — one that Kim Alexander describes as “a pig in the python.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This giant wad of ballots that all arrive at once, that all have to move through the process, and you can’t speed it up,” said Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. “You have to do every single step, otherwise you lose the integrity of the process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help voters understand and trust that process, Alexander’s group launched a tracker this election that monitors the vote count in California’s close contests between Election Day and certification of county results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed the Close Count Transparency Project, the tracker — which debuted as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvoter.org/content/close-count-transparency-project#2022\">pilot program in 2022\u003c/a> — \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvoter.org/content/close-count-transparency-project\">provides daily updates\u003c/a> on the results of 11 competitive U.S. House races and seven state legislative races, as well as the statewide vote count status. The tool tracks candidates’ vote share, votes counted and the number of unprocessed ballots in each county the districts cover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of late Tuesday, an estimated \u003ca href=\"https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/unprocessed-ballots-status\">570,500 ballots statewide\u003c/a> were yet to be counted, according to the Secretary of State’s office. More than 126,000 ballots needed to be “cured” — they had been rejected for missing or mismatched signatures, and \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2024-primary/trusted-info-mismatched-signature.pdf\">voters had time to submit a form to verify their signatures\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A total of eight key contests remained uncalled by the Associated Press as of late Tuesday, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012387/california-will-help-decide-control-of-congress-but-multiple-seats-too-close-to-call\">two congressional races\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/11/california-election-results-november-2024/\">five legislative races\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012822/california-prop-roundup-heres-what-passed-and-what-got-rejected\">one statewide ballot measure.\u003c/a> (CalMatters and other news outlets use AP to declare winners while the vote count is ongoing.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By making the vote count more transparent, the close contest tracker aims to inoculate against unfounded conspiracy theories about election fraud in California, Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prominent conservatives, including GOP U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, are spreading unproven claims that \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/mtgreenee/status/1858001277851926844\">Democrats are “stealing” the 45th Congressional District race\u003c/a> in Southern California, where Democrat Derek Tran is leading by a razor-thin margin over Republican Rep. Michelle Steel after trailing her for days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to create a record of where the vote count stood each day so that if someone came along later and said, ‘Something hinky is going on here,’ there would be a reliable source of information people could turn to to see how the vote count evolved over time,” Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracker also comes as frustration about the lengthy process grows in California. State Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/joe-patterson-133512?_gl=1*1g0qcdr*_gcl_au*MTM4NjY4NjMyNi4xNzI4OTIxNDUy*_ga*NDc4MzA3MTIxLjE3Mjg5MjE0NTI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMjEyNDU0MC4xOS4xLjE3MzIxMjYzODUuNDcuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMjEyNDU0MC4yMC4xLjE3MzIxMjYzODQuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMjEyNDU0MC4xOS4xLjE3MzIxMjYzODQuMC4wLjA.\">Joe Patterson\u003c/a>, a Rocklin Republican, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Patterdude/status/1858253695991029779\">called the procedure “dumb”\u003c/a> on social media, arguing that winners of state legislative races will be sworn in on Dec. 2 before the results are certified by the Secretary of State. The lengthy process “sows distrust” in the state’s election system, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/californias-vote-count-secretary-of-state-2024/62912146\">he told KCRA\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state Assembly and Senate already held a joint freshman orientation last week for incoming lawmakers, while the five legislative races remain too close to call, Assembly Republicans spokesperson Jim Stanley confirmed to CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a real problem for incoming lawmakers if they miss out on that,” Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why it takes so long to count — and how to speed it up\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While voters and campaigns want to see results sooner, it is particularly challenging in California, Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state is home to more than \u003ca href=\"https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ror/15day-gen-2024/complete-ror.pdf\">22 million registered voters\u003c/a>, according to the state Secretary of State’s office. As of Tuesday afternoon, a total of \u003ca href=\"https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/unprocessed-ballots-status\">15 million ballots\u003c/a> had been counted — a number bigger than the populations of 46 other states, \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/popclock/\">Census data shows\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has also made it easier for voters to cast their ballots in recent years. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37\">A 2021 law\u003c/a> made universal vote-by-mail permanent in California, meaning every registered voter receives a mail-in ballot roughly a month before Election Day, and the ballots are counted as long as they arrive at county elections offices within seven days after Election Day. In the March primary, almost 90% of all voters voted by mail, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/historical-absentee\">according to the Secretary of State\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The widespread use of vote-by-mail slows down the vote count, Alexander said, because they take longer to process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to open the envelopes, we have to verify the signature, and all of those things before we can actually accept that ballot,” \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vn2uVIDC4n3CtN8rXzBx1tDj4Gc3Am3w/view\">Secretary of State Shirley Weber\u003c/a> said in a press conference last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, election officials have to first complete counting mail-in ballots before they move onto ballots cast by voters who register the same day they voted to make sure no voter votes twice, said Jesse Salinas, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials and clerk-recorder in Yolo County. The number of same-day registered voters has grown over the years, further slowing down the vote count, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the slow vote count is also because races are closer than more than a decade ago, Alexander said. The state’s independent redistricting commission drew more competitive districts after the 2020 Census, she said, and the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/06/california-primary-top-two/\">top-two primary process\u003c/a> was designed to boost candidates who could appeal to a broader range of voters in the general election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2002 and 2010, before voters approved the independent redistricting commission, there was an average of one or two close congressional races per general election, Alexander said. But following the 2011 redistricting and the 2012 adoption of the top-two primary, there was an average of five close contests per election cycle, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would be less patient with our long vote count if we had more decisive victories, but we don’t,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, county election officials could benefit from more staffing and funding for better equipment, Alexander said. Kern County, for example, has acquired \u003ca href=\"https://www.turnto23.com/news/in-your-neighborhood/bakersfield/kern-county-prepares-for-election-day-testing-the-future-of-voting\">high-speed ballot scanners\u003c/a> to tabulate votes faster, she said. As of Tuesday, Kern had processed nearly 280,000 ballots and had only about 8,500 to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state could also benefit from spending big on voter outreach, urging voters to mail in their ballots sooner, which would help county officials pre-process more ballots and reduce the workload post-election, Alexander said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more importantly, she said, the state should allow voters to opt out of vote-by-mail if they want, although she acknowledged that \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626\">under current law\u003c/a>, voters have the option to cast the ballot they received in the mail in person instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people don’t want to vote by mail, and then you are stuck with this ballot, and that confuses voters,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters reporter \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/sameea-kamal/\">Sameea Kamal\u003c/a> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "it-changed-my-life-a-central-valley-program-is-helping-californians-get-6-figure-jobs",
"title": "'It Changed My Life': A Job Training Program Is Helping Central Valley Workers Get 6-Figure Jobs",
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"headTitle": "‘It Changed My Life’: A Job Training Program Is Helping Central Valley Workers Get 6-Figure Jobs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>In 2019, Alexis Rowberry was living in a Fresno County homeless shelter with her two kids, recently out of what she described as an abusive relationship. “We had nothing,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She found herself at the Fresno County Department of Social Services, staring at a flier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had something up on the wall about trades,” said Rowberry, now 40. “It wasn’t there the day before, and it wasn’t there the day after. It just happened to be there that day. And I told my [social] worker that I wanted to do this program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She tried signing up, but she was denied — against policy, she later discovered — because she was a single mother without housing. In desperation, she contacted the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, where a sympathetic secretary helped connect her with an alternative: ValleyBuild, a pre-apprenticeship program that prepares Californians for careers in the skilled trades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That six weeks — it was only six weeks, but it changed my life,” said Rowberry, who has been working as an electrician since graduating the program in late 2019. “It changed my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ValleyBuild was born out of the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board in 2011 with the goal of helping economically disadvantaged Californians, including women and people who have had contact with the criminal justice system, enter the state’s growing trades industry and potentially reach the middle class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, after a transportation-focused California senate \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_201720180sb1\">bill\u003c/a> allocated funds to workforce training programs, the state awarded ValleyBuild $1.56 million from the state, which the organization used to expand into 13 more counties across the Central Valley. The program has trained roughly 1,000 people since its founding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014599\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014599\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Student Mike Gonzalez in the ValleyBuild program cuts a piece of pipe during a lesson in a workshop at the Fresno Area Pipe Trades Training Center in Fresno on Oct. 28, 2024. ValleyBuild is a pre-apprenticeship program that helps people in the Central Valley get into the skilled trades and ride the wave of upcoming infrastructure projects. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The construction and trade industry is “a growth sector by all empirical standards” in the Central Valley, said Blake Konczal, executive director of the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board. Data from a board-commissioned study show a \u003ca href=\"https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kawodji0vgmt37zc9930r/FRWDB210703-Infrastructure-Report-Creative_PRINT-READY.pdf?rlkey=t9yr5rc9qjuu5vkgqp9bykupx&e=1&st=rxjfks1o&dl=0\">projected (PDF)\u003c/a> $24 billion in public infrastructure expenditures between 2026 and 2031, as compared to about $22 billion between 2020 and 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t always that way: Construction was historically a “hidden” industry compared to agriculture in the Central Valley, Konczal said. However, in 2010, a regional economic outlook report showed that approved public infrastructure construction would be worth about $40 billion through the next decade. High-speed rail, slated to eventually run from San Francisco to Los Angeles, would add an additional boost; state data \u003ca href=\"https://hsr.ca.gov/2024/01/18/news-release-california-high-speed-rail-sparks-billions-in-economic-benefit/\">show\u003c/a> the project has created nearly 12,000 jobs so far, mostly in the Central Valley and mostly union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Konczal’s team saw an opportunity for locals, particularly those in precarious economic positions, to ride the wave. Although the region’s poverty rates are on the lower end of California’s spectrum because of housing costs, Central Valley poverty \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/JTF_PovertyJTF.pdf\">would be (PDF)\u003c/a> about 14 points higher than it is today without safety net programs, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the worker comes from L.A. or the Bay Area, they might be renting a motel room here with four or five colleagues, and they might be going to Denny’s, but we don’t get the full benefit of keeping that money in our local economy — and the social stability that’s created when hardworking people have access to jobs that allow them to feed their children, buy a house, maybe take a vacation,” Konczal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funded by five state and regional grants totaling about $16 million, ValleyBuild’s approach is straightforward. Participants are trained in a six to 10-week multi-craft core curriculum, which introduces them to different trades and prepares them for years-long apprenticeships. The potential payoff is big, with California trades offering six-figure incomes with benefits, pensions, and union membership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program has maintained a 98% graduation rate through its expansion, partly because it tries to “knock out all the barriers in the enrollment,” said Ashley Matthews, senior project coordinator at the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board. That includes reimbursing participants for gas mileage or bus services and even expenses such as car repairs or driver’s license application fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent $1.4 million \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/DAS/Grants/ERICA.html\">grant\u003c/a> from the California Department of Industrial Relations has meanwhile allowed ValleyBuild to provide stipends for childcare support, which will “open the doors for more women to even see this as a viable option for them,” Matthews said. Organizations across the state are similarly looking to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2024/09/whats-working-tradeswomen/\">increase\u003c/a> the numbers of women in the skilled trades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014600\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Instructor Robert Topete shows students in the ValleyBuild program how to measure and cut a pipe during a lesson in a workshop at the Fresno Area Pipe Trades Training Center in Fresno on Oct. 28. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Outside Fresno, counties included in the 2020 expansion have customized the program for their own needs. In Kern, home to \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/2021-12_Petroleum_Watch_ADA.pdf\">more than a dozen (PDF)\u003c/a> active oil fields, many tradespeople work on heavy industrial sites, said Alissa Reed, executive secretary of the Kern, Inyo, Mono Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. All ValleyBuild pre-apprentices in Kern complete OSHA’s Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response or “HAZWOPER 40,” which teaches them to respond to the release of hazardous material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kern program plans to double its annual participants from about 50 to 100 in anticipation of more renewable energy-related jobs over the next decade. However, the county is also closely watching for political shifts — including a potential Trump presidency — that could affect the market for the skilled trades, particularly tax credits, government subsidies and funding for renewable technology, Reed said.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12005718,news_12005655,news_11975890\"]“If we don’t see the jobs, then we will slow down,” Reed said. Kern has maintained a 100% apprenticeship placement rate for its last two cohorts. “We are not in the business of training people to train them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Rowberry, the electrician, entering the trades out of homelessness felt like the last option. Her associate’s degree in accounting had failed to provide more than minimum-wage job opportunities. Before ValleyBuild, she wasn’t even able to attend the welding class she’d signed up for because her car died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years later, making nearly $40 an hour plus health insurance and a pension, “I don’t worry about if my car breaks down because I can afford to fix it,” Rowberry said. “I’ve got $5,000 in savings, and I’m investing. I never would have imagined being able to do that before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She helped her son’s father join ValleyBuild after he left prison, and he’s now several years into a successful sheet metal apprenticeship. The duo is not a couple, but their careers have helped them to build a strong coparenting relationship, providing their kids access to bigger necessities such as mental health care along with small luxuries like massages or drinks from Dutch Bros Coffee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did it,” Rowberry said. “My daughter stopped and looked at me the other day, and she said, ‘Mom, you know what? I am so proud of you. You have come so far.’ Oh my gosh, we cried.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 2019, Alexis Rowberry was living in a Fresno County homeless shelter with her two kids, recently out of what she described as an abusive relationship. “We had nothing,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She found herself at the Fresno County Department of Social Services, staring at a flier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had something up on the wall about trades,” said Rowberry, now 40. “It wasn’t there the day before, and it wasn’t there the day after. It just happened to be there that day. And I told my [social] worker that I wanted to do this program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She tried signing up, but she was denied — against policy, she later discovered — because she was a single mother without housing. In desperation, she contacted the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, where a sympathetic secretary helped connect her with an alternative: ValleyBuild, a pre-apprenticeship program that prepares Californians for careers in the skilled trades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That six weeks — it was only six weeks, but it changed my life,” said Rowberry, who has been working as an electrician since graduating the program in late 2019. “It changed my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ValleyBuild was born out of the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board in 2011 with the goal of helping economically disadvantaged Californians, including women and people who have had contact with the criminal justice system, enter the state’s growing trades industry and potentially reach the middle class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, after a transportation-focused California senate \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_201720180sb1\">bill\u003c/a> allocated funds to workforce training programs, the state awarded ValleyBuild $1.56 million from the state, which the organization used to expand into 13 more counties across the Central Valley. The program has trained roughly 1,000 people since its founding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014599\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014599\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_22-copy.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Student Mike Gonzalez in the ValleyBuild program cuts a piece of pipe during a lesson in a workshop at the Fresno Area Pipe Trades Training Center in Fresno on Oct. 28, 2024. ValleyBuild is a pre-apprenticeship program that helps people in the Central Valley get into the skilled trades and ride the wave of upcoming infrastructure projects. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The construction and trade industry is “a growth sector by all empirical standards” in the Central Valley, said Blake Konczal, executive director of the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board. Data from a board-commissioned study show a \u003ca href=\"https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kawodji0vgmt37zc9930r/FRWDB210703-Infrastructure-Report-Creative_PRINT-READY.pdf?rlkey=t9yr5rc9qjuu5vkgqp9bykupx&e=1&st=rxjfks1o&dl=0\">projected (PDF)\u003c/a> $24 billion in public infrastructure expenditures between 2026 and 2031, as compared to about $22 billion between 2020 and 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t always that way: Construction was historically a “hidden” industry compared to agriculture in the Central Valley, Konczal said. However, in 2010, a regional economic outlook report showed that approved public infrastructure construction would be worth about $40 billion through the next decade. High-speed rail, slated to eventually run from San Francisco to Los Angeles, would add an additional boost; state data \u003ca href=\"https://hsr.ca.gov/2024/01/18/news-release-california-high-speed-rail-sparks-billions-in-economic-benefit/\">show\u003c/a> the project has created nearly 12,000 jobs so far, mostly in the Central Valley and mostly union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Konczal’s team saw an opportunity for locals, particularly those in precarious economic positions, to ride the wave. Although the region’s poverty rates are on the lower end of California’s spectrum because of housing costs, Central Valley poverty \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/JTF_PovertyJTF.pdf\">would be (PDF)\u003c/a> about 14 points higher than it is today without safety net programs, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the worker comes from L.A. or the Bay Area, they might be renting a motel room here with four or five colleagues, and they might be going to Denny’s, but we don’t get the full benefit of keeping that money in our local economy — and the social stability that’s created when hardworking people have access to jobs that allow them to feed their children, buy a house, maybe take a vacation,” Konczal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funded by five state and regional grants totaling about $16 million, ValleyBuild’s approach is straightforward. Participants are trained in a six to 10-week multi-craft core curriculum, which introduces them to different trades and prepares them for years-long apprenticeships. The potential payoff is big, with California trades offering six-figure incomes with benefits, pensions, and union membership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program has maintained a 98% graduation rate through its expansion, partly because it tries to “knock out all the barriers in the enrollment,” said Ashley Matthews, senior project coordinator at the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board. That includes reimbursing participants for gas mileage or bus services and even expenses such as car repairs or driver’s license application fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent $1.4 million \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/DAS/Grants/ERICA.html\">grant\u003c/a> from the California Department of Industrial Relations has meanwhile allowed ValleyBuild to provide stipends for childcare support, which will “open the doors for more women to even see this as a viable option for them,” Matthews said. Organizations across the state are similarly looking to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2024/09/whats-working-tradeswomen/\">increase\u003c/a> the numbers of women in the skilled trades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014600\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/102824-ValleyBuild-Fresno-LV_19-copy.jpg 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Instructor Robert Topete shows students in the ValleyBuild program how to measure and cut a pipe during a lesson in a workshop at the Fresno Area Pipe Trades Training Center in Fresno on Oct. 28. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Outside Fresno, counties included in the 2020 expansion have customized the program for their own needs. In Kern, home to \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/2021-12_Petroleum_Watch_ADA.pdf\">more than a dozen (PDF)\u003c/a> active oil fields, many tradespeople work on heavy industrial sites, said Alissa Reed, executive secretary of the Kern, Inyo, Mono Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. All ValleyBuild pre-apprentices in Kern complete OSHA’s Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response or “HAZWOPER 40,” which teaches them to respond to the release of hazardous material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kern program plans to double its annual participants from about 50 to 100 in anticipation of more renewable energy-related jobs over the next decade. However, the county is also closely watching for political shifts — including a potential Trump presidency — that could affect the market for the skilled trades, particularly tax credits, government subsidies and funding for renewable technology, Reed said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“If we don’t see the jobs, then we will slow down,” Reed said. Kern has maintained a 100% apprenticeship placement rate for its last two cohorts. “We are not in the business of training people to train them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Rowberry, the electrician, entering the trades out of homelessness felt like the last option. Her associate’s degree in accounting had failed to provide more than minimum-wage job opportunities. Before ValleyBuild, she wasn’t even able to attend the welding class she’d signed up for because her car died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years later, making nearly $40 an hour plus health insurance and a pension, “I don’t worry about if my car breaks down because I can afford to fix it,” Rowberry said. “I’ve got $5,000 in savings, and I’m investing. I never would have imagined being able to do that before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She helped her son’s father join ValleyBuild after he left prison, and he’s now several years into a successful sheet metal apprenticeship. The duo is not a couple, but their careers have helped them to build a strong coparenting relationship, providing their kids access to bigger necessities such as mental health care along with small luxuries like massages or drinks from Dutch Bros Coffee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did it,” Rowberry said. “My daughter stopped and looked at me the other day, and she said, ‘Mom, you know what? I am so proud of you. You have come so far.’ Oh my gosh, we cried.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "fewer-kids-are-going-to-california-public-schools-is-there-a-right-way-to-close-campuses",
"title": "Fewer Kids Are Going to California Public Schools. Is There a Right Way to Close Campuses?",
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"headTitle": "Fewer Kids Are Going to California Public Schools. Is There a Right Way to Close Campuses? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>When the superintendent in San Francisco Unified proposed closing schools recently, parents launched a prolonged — and successful — protest. The uproar may have died down for now, but the issue is likely to erupt at school boards across the state — and some say that’s a good thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Declining enrollment, the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2024/09/pandemic-relief/\">end of pandemic relief grants\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/05/newsom-budget-revision-deficit-cuts/\">state budget uncertainty\u003c/a> have combined to put hundreds of California school districts in precarious financial straits. Closing schools is never a popular option, but for some districts it may be the only way to avoid the state seizing control of operations. When the state takes over a district, the school board loses power and a state-appointed administrator makes cuts until the budget is balanced. A takeover could last a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the big thing that we’re going to be dealing with in California education over the next few years. The declines in enrollment that we have seen so far pale in comparison to the declines the state is projecting,” said Carrie Hahnel, a senior fellow at Policy Analysis for California Education. “In some areas, the declines will be severe. And I don’t see how we manage those kinds of reductions without closing schools.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12014801\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1817\" height=\"1028\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268.jpg 1817w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-800x453.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-1020x577.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-1536x869.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1817px) 100vw, 1817px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of students enrolled in California’s K–12 public schools has dropped by 461,000 students — or 7% — over the past two decades. Lower birth rates, declines in immigration and an outflow of families from California have all contributed. Enrollment is expected to \u003ca href=\"https://dru-data-portal-cacensus.hub.arcgis.com/apps/a2a7efaa52b941e7878489aeafc4a1ca/explore\">drop even further over the next decade\u003c/a>, according to the state Department of Finance, to just over 5 million students — a decline of nearly 20% since the peak in the early 2000s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The declines have hit some regions harder than others. San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, San José and San Diego have all experienced steep declines in enrollment, in part due to a high cost of living that’s led families to move to less expensive areas. In San Francisco, the lure of private schools has also made a significant dent in public school enrollment: \u003ca href=\"https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/EnrEthGrd.aspx?cds=3868478&agglevel=district&year=2023-24\">Roughly 40%\u003c/a> of the children in the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ps/psastatcountsbycnty.asp\">attend private school\u003c/a>, compared to about 9% statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because California funds its schools based on attendance, fewer students equals less money. Pandemic relief grants — totaling more than $13.5 billion in California — offered a buffer for many school districts facing financial hardship, but those grants expire this year. Meanwhile, the state education budget may dip in the coming years due to a shaky economy. Gov. Gavin Newsom largely protected schools from budget cuts this year, but there’s no guarantee that will continue next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing under-enrolled, half-empty schools is an obvious way for school districts to save money. A bit of the savings comes from facilities costs, such as utility bills and maintenance, but the bulk comes from staff. By reassigning or laying off teachers, districts can consolidate programs and lower their payroll costs. Districts can also lease or sell the vacant schools to generate revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But closing schools nearly always sparks impassioned protests from families, students, teachers and the community. Schools are often the heart of a neighborhood, and a closure — especially in a neighborhood that’s already struggling — can be a significant blow. A closed school often means that students must travel further to get to their new school, and adjust to new teachers and a new campus culture. The experience can be deeply disruptive to students as well as teachers and parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impact on Black, lower-income students\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s often low-income and Black communities that are most affected by school closures, \u003ca href=\"https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/declining-enrollment-school-closures-and-equity-considerations\">research shows\u003c/a>. That’s partly because those neighborhoods have seen some of the greatest declines in enrollment, but some see it as part of a long history of disinvestment in Black students’ education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they invested in the schools they want to close, maybe the district wouldn’t have a problem with declining enrollment,” said Brandie Bowen-Bremond, policy director for Coleman Advocates, a nonprofit that promotes policies related to families of color in San Francisco. Tutoring, wellness centers, social workers and other services would make the under-enrolled schools more attractive to local families and they might be less likely to move away or enroll their children in charter schools, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coleman Advocates helped fight proposed school closures in San Francisco Unified last month, a battle that resulted in the superintendent’s resignation and a promise from the new superintendent that the district wouldn’t close schools this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014797\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014797\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A student works on a worksheet at Woodworth-Monroe K–8 Academy in Inglewood on Nov. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The California Teachers Association also opposes school closures in nearly all cases. Instead of closing schools, districts should look to lower class sizes, push for more education funding from the state, and look for creative solutions such as partnering with cities to open libraries, parks and community centers at under-used school campuses, the union said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Closing schools is the last thing we should be doing,” said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association. “Schools are a safety net in so many communities. These schools have a whole ecosystem, a whole history in a community. Disrupting that is a setback that is hard to undo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tough choices in Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But for districts that have already made steep cuts, and are facing grim enrollment projections, school closures may be inevitable. Between 2012 and 2022, California school districts closed nearly 700 schools, and more are almost certain to come. Oakland Unified went through a painful round of school closures three years ago, and the district is bracing for more as it looks to trim a $95 million budget deficit and avoid another state takeover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s enrollment has dropped from 50,000 students in the early 2000s to just 34,000 last year. Meanwhile, the district maintains 77 schools, one of the lowest students-per-school ratios in the state. Fontana Unified, for example, has 46 schools for about the same number of students. Moreno Valley Unified, also with about the same enrollment, has 40 schools.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12013686,news_12003311,news_11701044\"]“I’m a firm believer that solvency is the foundation of quality,” Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said. “It’s pretty straightforward. If we fail to make some of the necessary and difficult cuts, we’ll head toward insolvency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She expects pushback from the community, but believes that students, teachers and families will be better off in the long run. Closures will free up more money for teacher raises, workforce housing at vacant school sites and improved academic and extracurricular offerings at existing schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To think that there’s some way we can do this where everyone’s going to be happy is fantasy,” Johnson-Trammell said. “But we can be transparent, we can be honest, we can lead with respect and compassion. But we cannot lose sight of the economics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hardest part for school boards might not even be closing schools. It might come later — ensuring a smooth transition for displaced families and creating long-term financial plans so the district doesn’t go through the same upheaval next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts need to consider even the smallest details, like whether the merged school will have a new mascot, or how new families will be included in school events, Hahnel and her colleagues said. And throughout the process, districts need to include teachers and parents at every step, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Upsides of closures at Azusa Unified\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Azusa Unified, a predominantly low-income and Latino district in Los Angeles County, recently managed to close schools with relatively little tumult, thanks in part to meticulous planning. With enrollment dropping from about 12,000 to 6,000 over the last two decades, the need to close schools was inevitable, but a transparent process minimized the disruptions, Superintendent Arturo Ortega said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key, Ortega said, was a planning committee made up of parents, union representatives and district administrators, who held a series of community meetings to hear concerns and suggestions. The committee made clear the need for school closures, live-streamed meetings on YouTube and kept a regularly updated website. After months of discussions, the committee submitted recommendations to the school board, which approved the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result was a series of closures, mergers and school relocations that Ortega said has led to a slew of upsides: the high school baseball team won the division championship; teachers have more opportunities to collaborate; elementary schools have improved art programs and science labs; the middle school has a new college and career center, science lab and improved sports field; and the high school has more Advanced Placement classes, career pathways and a stronger sports program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was important for us that our community understood the ‘why’ behind the school reorganization process,” Ortega said. “Our ‘why’ was to increase and improve our programs and facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Closures, opportunities in Inglewood\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014798\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014798\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A teacher helps a student during class at Woodworth-Monroe K–8 Academy. Right: The school’s logo on a building in Inglewood on Nov. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The story of Inglewood Unified is both a cautionary tale for districts that refuse to address declining enrollment, and a success story for those who are navigating the closure process. A dozen years ago, faced with fewer students and a constricting budget, the school board opted not to close schools or make budget cuts and instead borrowed $29 million from the state to close a budget gap. As a condition of the loan, the state took over district operations, appointing its own administrator and stripping all but advisory power from the school board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Morris is the ninth state-appointed administrator in the role, taking over two years ago. He closed one school and plans to close five more next year. There was resistance, he said, but he had little choice: Two decades ago the district had 18,000 students; now, it’s down to 7,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m old and I’m tough and I’m going to stay here until the job is done,” said Morris, a former assistant superintendent at Los Angeles Unified. “The children in this district are so full of hope and promise, they deserve the best schools we can give them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12014802\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1642\" height=\"1297\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332.jpg 1642w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-800x632.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-1020x806.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-1536x1213.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1642px) 100vw, 1642px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing schools has meant laying off staff and closing schools that had expensive maintenance needs. It also stoked the wrath of the community, leading to marathon school board meetings with hundreds of anguished speakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the school closures have allowed the district to invest in the new merged schools, modernizing campuses and adding resources. For example, Woodworth-Monroe Academy, a merged TK–8 school, now has a wellness center and more clubs and activities for students. Inglewood High School now has a marching band with 100 students, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-08-13/dr-dre-jimmy-iovine-to-open-high-school-in-inglewood\">a new design, technology and entrepreneur academy\u003c/a> sponsored by Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and music recording mogul Jimmy Iovine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the community has come around, at least a little. The alumni association of Morningside High, one of the high schools slated to close, actually endorsed its closure because it means students will have more opportunities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t have a world-class city if you don’t have a world-class education system,” Morris said. “And that’s what our job has to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Declining enrollment, the end of pandemic relief funding and uncertain state funding are forcing school districts to make some difficult decisions.",
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"title": "Fewer Kids Are Going to California Public Schools. Is There a Right Way to Close Campuses? | KQED",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/carolyn-jones/\">Carolyn Jones\u003c/a>, CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When the superintendent in San Francisco Unified proposed closing schools recently, parents launched a prolonged — and successful — protest. The uproar may have died down for now, but the issue is likely to erupt at school boards across the state — and some say that’s a good thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Declining enrollment, the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2024/09/pandemic-relief/\">end of pandemic relief grants\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/05/newsom-budget-revision-deficit-cuts/\">state budget uncertainty\u003c/a> have combined to put hundreds of California school districts in precarious financial straits. Closing schools is never a popular option, but for some districts it may be the only way to avoid the state seizing control of operations. When the state takes over a district, the school board loses power and a state-appointed administrator makes cuts until the budget is balanced. A takeover could last a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the big thing that we’re going to be dealing with in California education over the next few years. The declines in enrollment that we have seen so far pale in comparison to the declines the state is projecting,” said Carrie Hahnel, a senior fellow at Policy Analysis for California Education. “In some areas, the declines will be severe. And I don’t see how we manage those kinds of reductions without closing schools.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12014801\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1817\" height=\"1028\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268.jpg 1817w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-800x453.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-1020x577.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph-scaled-e1731790671268-1536x869.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1817px) 100vw, 1817px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of students enrolled in California’s K–12 public schools has dropped by 461,000 students — or 7% — over the past two decades. Lower birth rates, declines in immigration and an outflow of families from California have all contributed. Enrollment is expected to \u003ca href=\"https://dru-data-portal-cacensus.hub.arcgis.com/apps/a2a7efaa52b941e7878489aeafc4a1ca/explore\">drop even further over the next decade\u003c/a>, according to the state Department of Finance, to just over 5 million students — a decline of nearly 20% since the peak in the early 2000s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The declines have hit some regions harder than others. San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, San José and San Diego have all experienced steep declines in enrollment, in part due to a high cost of living that’s led families to move to less expensive areas. In San Francisco, the lure of private schools has also made a significant dent in public school enrollment: \u003ca href=\"https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/EnrEthGrd.aspx?cds=3868478&agglevel=district&year=2023-24\">Roughly 40%\u003c/a> of the children in the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ps/psastatcountsbycnty.asp\">attend private school\u003c/a>, compared to about 9% statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because California funds its schools based on attendance, fewer students equals less money. Pandemic relief grants — totaling more than $13.5 billion in California — offered a buffer for many school districts facing financial hardship, but those grants expire this year. Meanwhile, the state education budget may dip in the coming years due to a shaky economy. Gov. Gavin Newsom largely protected schools from budget cuts this year, but there’s no guarantee that will continue next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing under-enrolled, half-empty schools is an obvious way for school districts to save money. A bit of the savings comes from facilities costs, such as utility bills and maintenance, but the bulk comes from staff. By reassigning or laying off teachers, districts can consolidate programs and lower their payroll costs. Districts can also lease or sell the vacant schools to generate revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But closing schools nearly always sparks impassioned protests from families, students, teachers and the community. Schools are often the heart of a neighborhood, and a closure — especially in a neighborhood that’s already struggling — can be a significant blow. A closed school often means that students must travel further to get to their new school, and adjust to new teachers and a new campus culture. The experience can be deeply disruptive to students as well as teachers and parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impact on Black, lower-income students\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s often low-income and Black communities that are most affected by school closures, \u003ca href=\"https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/declining-enrollment-school-closures-and-equity-considerations\">research shows\u003c/a>. That’s partly because those neighborhoods have seen some of the greatest declines in enrollment, but some see it as part of a long history of disinvestment in Black students’ education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they invested in the schools they want to close, maybe the district wouldn’t have a problem with declining enrollment,” said Brandie Bowen-Bremond, policy director for Coleman Advocates, a nonprofit that promotes policies related to families of color in San Francisco. Tutoring, wellness centers, social workers and other services would make the under-enrolled schools more attractive to local families and they might be less likely to move away or enroll their children in charter schools, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coleman Advocates helped fight proposed school closures in San Francisco Unified last month, a battle that resulted in the superintendent’s resignation and a promise from the new superintendent that the district wouldn’t close schools this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014797\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014797\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110824_Woodworth-Monroe_CS_CM_08-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A student works on a worksheet at Woodworth-Monroe K–8 Academy in Inglewood on Nov. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The California Teachers Association also opposes school closures in nearly all cases. Instead of closing schools, districts should look to lower class sizes, push for more education funding from the state, and look for creative solutions such as partnering with cities to open libraries, parks and community centers at under-used school campuses, the union said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Closing schools is the last thing we should be doing,” said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association. “Schools are a safety net in so many communities. These schools have a whole ecosystem, a whole history in a community. Disrupting that is a setback that is hard to undo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tough choices in Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But for districts that have already made steep cuts, and are facing grim enrollment projections, school closures may be inevitable. Between 2012 and 2022, California school districts closed nearly 700 schools, and more are almost certain to come. Oakland Unified went through a painful round of school closures three years ago, and the district is bracing for more as it looks to trim a $95 million budget deficit and avoid another state takeover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s enrollment has dropped from 50,000 students in the early 2000s to just 34,000 last year. Meanwhile, the district maintains 77 schools, one of the lowest students-per-school ratios in the state. Fontana Unified, for example, has 46 schools for about the same number of students. Moreno Valley Unified, also with about the same enrollment, has 40 schools.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I’m a firm believer that solvency is the foundation of quality,” Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said. “It’s pretty straightforward. If we fail to make some of the necessary and difficult cuts, we’ll head toward insolvency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She expects pushback from the community, but believes that students, teachers and families will be better off in the long run. Closures will free up more money for teacher raises, workforce housing at vacant school sites and improved academic and extracurricular offerings at existing schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To think that there’s some way we can do this where everyone’s going to be happy is fantasy,” Johnson-Trammell said. “But we can be transparent, we can be honest, we can lead with respect and compassion. But we cannot lose sight of the economics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hardest part for school boards might not even be closing schools. It might come later — ensuring a smooth transition for displaced families and creating long-term financial plans so the district doesn’t go through the same upheaval next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts need to consider even the smallest details, like whether the merged school will have a new mascot, or how new families will be included in school events, Hahnel and her colleagues said. And throughout the process, districts need to include teachers and parents at every step, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Upsides of closures at Azusa Unified\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Azusa Unified, a predominantly low-income and Latino district in Los Angeles County, recently managed to close schools with relatively little tumult, thanks in part to meticulous planning. With enrollment dropping from about 12,000 to 6,000 over the last two decades, the need to close schools was inevitable, but a transparent process minimized the disruptions, Superintendent Arturo Ortega said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The key, Ortega said, was a planning committee made up of parents, union representatives and district administrators, who held a series of community meetings to hear concerns and suggestions. The committee made clear the need for school closures, live-streamed meetings on YouTube and kept a regularly updated website. After months of discussions, the committee submitted recommendations to the school board, which approved the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result was a series of closures, mergers and school relocations that Ortega said has led to a slew of upsides: the high school baseball team won the division championship; teachers have more opportunities to collaborate; elementary schools have improved art programs and science labs; the middle school has a new college and career center, science lab and improved sports field; and the high school has more Advanced Placement classes, career pathways and a stronger sports program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was important for us that our community understood the ‘why’ behind the school reorganization process,” Ortega said. “Our ‘why’ was to increase and improve our programs and facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Closures, opportunities in Inglewood\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014798\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014798\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-6-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A teacher helps a student during class at Woodworth-Monroe K–8 Academy. Right: The school’s logo on a building in Inglewood on Nov. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The story of Inglewood Unified is both a cautionary tale for districts that refuse to address declining enrollment, and a success story for those who are navigating the closure process. A dozen years ago, faced with fewer students and a constricting budget, the school board opted not to close schools or make budget cuts and instead borrowed $29 million from the state to close a budget gap. As a condition of the loan, the state took over district operations, appointing its own administrator and stripping all but advisory power from the school board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>James Morris is the ninth state-appointed administrator in the role, taking over two years ago. He closed one school and plans to close five more next year. There was resistance, he said, but he had little choice: Two decades ago the district had 18,000 students; now, it’s down to 7,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m old and I’m tough and I’m going to stay here until the job is done,” said Morris, a former assistant superintendent at Los Angeles Unified. “The children in this district are so full of hope and promise, they deserve the best schools we can give them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12014802\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1642\" height=\"1297\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332.jpg 1642w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-800x632.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-1020x806.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-160x126.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/Graph2-scaled-e1731790738332-1536x1213.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1642px) 100vw, 1642px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closing schools has meant laying off staff and closing schools that had expensive maintenance needs. It also stoked the wrath of the community, leading to marathon school board meetings with hundreds of anguished speakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the school closures have allowed the district to invest in the new merged schools, modernizing campuses and adding resources. For example, Woodworth-Monroe Academy, a merged TK–8 school, now has a wellness center and more clubs and activities for students. Inglewood High School now has a marching band with 100 students, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-08-13/dr-dre-jimmy-iovine-to-open-high-school-in-inglewood\">a new design, technology and entrepreneur academy\u003c/a> sponsored by Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and music recording mogul Jimmy Iovine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the community has come around, at least a little. The alumni association of Morningside High, one of the high schools slated to close, actually endorsed its closure because it means students will have more opportunities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t have a world-class city if you don’t have a world-class education system,” Morris said. “And that’s what our job has to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "It Used to Be a Notoriously Violent Prison. Now It’s Home to a First-of-Its Kind Education Program",
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"content": "\u003cp>CRESCENT CITY, Calif. — In less than 15 minutes, Michael Mariscal validated why a team of officials at Cal Poly Humboldt has spent more than three years trying to set up the first bachelor’s degree program at a maximum-security prison in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of a class in persuasive speaking, Mariscal was tasked with giving a presentation to highlight his personal growth. His 22 classmates inside B Facility at Pelican Bay State Prison were skeptical: Just two weeks earlier, Mariscal had used his presentation time to give step-by-step directions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But today was different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve never told this to anyone before,” the 32-year-old Mariscal said, holding back tears as he explained his feelings when he learned at his trial that the state was requesting he be put to death. “I said, ‘That’s OK, that’s cool,’” showing no outward emotion at the time, he told the class. But inside, his mind was reeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not innocent; I did everything I was convicted for,” he quickly added, referring to a gang shooting that left two people dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014138\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Incarcerated college students applaud Michael Anthony Mariscal, 32, after he gave a presentation about his own journey to turn his life around during a CalPoly Humboldt class on persuasive speaking at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mariscal went on to say that his brother had received a life sentence and been murdered while in prison. Mariscal himself was given five life sentences. He declared that he did not expect ever to be released but finished by saying, “I can still live a meaningful life in here. Freedom is different for everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A shocked silence filled the room before classmate Darryl Baca spoke up. “That’s some raw stuff right here. I recognize the potential in you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not the first time I’ve cried after class,” the professor, Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth, said later, although she was teaching only her fourth session at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014139\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014139\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Incarcerated college student Michael Anthony Mariscal, 32, center, leaves the education hallway with fellow classmates after school at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, Calif, on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mariscal’s speech exemplified everything officials at Cal Poly Humboldt hoped to accomplish when they set out to create a satellite campus at one of the most notorious prisons in the country. They knew that earning a degree could help some men shorten their sentences and possibly land well-paying jobs once released. But they also hoped that the classes, and the camaraderie fostered there, would pay immediate dividends, lessening violence at the prison and improving students’ daily behaviors. Seeing Mariscal address his past while both sharing his feelings and mapping out a hopeful path forward just four weeks into the semester was validating, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has been a leader in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/college-beat/2021/10/prison-bachelors-degree-california-inside-out/\">prison education\u003c/a> programs, starting with a \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913#:~:text=In%202014%2C%20the%20state%20approved,closed%20to%20the%20general%20public).\">2014 rule\u003c/a> authorizing state funding for community colleges to set up programs for students who are incarcerated. Since then, some 25 community colleges and eight universities have established degree-granting programs that now cover every facility in the state. Humboldt’s Pelican Bay program is not only the state’s first bachelor’s initiative at a max-security prison; earlier this year, it became the first program in the country approved under new federal Department of Education rules to let incarcerated individuals access \u003ca href=\"https://now.humboldt.edu/news/prison-education-program-first-nation-receive-pell-grant-eligibility-under-new-federal-policy\">Pell Grant funds\u003c/a> to pay for college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For about 29 years, Pell money had been largely prohibited for individuals who are incarcerated, with the exception of a small federal pilot program \u003ca href=\"https://www.vera.org/publications/second-chance-pell-six-years-of-expanding-access-to-education-in-prison\">that debuted in 2015\u003c/a>. The new Pell rules made 767,000 people at state prisons nationwide eligible to pay for college with federal funds — starting with a handful of those at Pelican Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re setting an example,” said Tony Wallin-Sato, a former Humboldt official who helped create the program. “If we can be successful at Pelican Bay, it can work anywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelican Bay is one of the most infamous prisons in the country. Built in 1989 in the extreme northwest corner of California, the facility was created to isolate its occupants in two ways. Many of the men who are incarcerated there hail from the Los Angeles area, nearly 700 miles south. And nearly half of the facility’s units were \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/health/solitary-confinement-mental-illness.html\">built for solitary confinement\u003c/a>, with some occupants stuck inside these 7-by-11-foot cells for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A “60 Minutes” report in 1993 highlighted excessive force by guards, and a 1995 lawsuit exposed inadequate medical care. In 2013, people incarcerated there staged a two-month hunger strike that spread throughout the state’s prisons to protest the excessive use of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2022/09/california-solitary-confinement-bill/\">solitary confinement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But program staffers and people incarcerated at the facility say day-to-day life there now bears little resemblance to those days. About 400 of the prison’s 2,200 incarcerated men currently take classes that include GED preparation, courses from four community colleges and, now, Humboldt’s new bachelor’s program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelican Bay “used to be one of the most violent prisons in the country. Now it’s not,” said Mark Taylor, a Humboldt official who spent more than 21 years incarcerated before helping to create this program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, incarcerated students openly drop hints around Kari Telaro Rexford, the prison’s supervisor of academic instruction, telling her they hope she’ll soon bring in a master’s degree program. “I’m trying,” she tells them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Humboldt prison program ‘makes people safer’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Rebecca Silbert, the deputy superintendent of higher education for the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, has watched every program that has started in the eight years since bachelor’s degree programs began in state prisons. “Because of the involvement of senior leadership,” she said, “Cal Poly Humboldt’s was the easiest by far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet Silbert admitted she first tried to talk officials out of creating this program. “Are you sure?” she said she asked them. “It’s easy to be starry-eyed in the beginning, but it’s an endeavor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humboldt’s provost, Jenn Capps, said she agreed with that assessment but pushed on because the program “makes people safer.” Offering bachelor’s degree classes helps “disrupt the narrative” of violence in these men’s lives, making life safer for them, their families, guards at Pelican Bay, and ultimately the public, she argued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are lots of myths out there about people who are incarcerated,” Capps said. “But everybody wants community safety. Offering prison education programs is key to community safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A team of Cal Poly Humboldt officials worked for more than two years before beginning the program in January. The university’s communications department chair, Maxwell Schnurer, taught a class at the prison through the College of the Redwoods to understand why that community college’s program had been so successful. Redwoods began with one course at the prison in 2015, and its program has since mushroomed to 43 courses serving 390 students, said Tory Eagles, the college’s Pelican Bay Scholars program manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014137\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">CalPoly Humboldt communications lecturer Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth discusses a presentation assignment with inmates during her persuasive speaking class at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As of this semester, the university has ramped up to four classes, each of which are taken by all of the school’s 23 students. Each student had already earned associate degrees and all are now communications majors. Humboldt’s five-year plan is to add other majors and expand to two more of the prison’s four yards, said Steve Ladwig, the director of the university’s Transformative and Restorative Education Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being the first program the federal government authorized to use Pell Grants for incarcerated men put a spotlight on Humboldt’s work. However, actually getting those funds has proven to be hard, largely because of the federal Department of Education’s botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although all of Humboldt’s students are eligible for Pell, only about half of the 23 have had their applications reviewed by the Department of Education so far, said Ladwig. While the university waits for approval of its students’ Pell Grants, it is covering tuition for each student, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Humboldt staged a ceremony to hand incarcerated individuals their college acceptance letters, Ladwig had to venture to the prison’s solitary confinement wing to deliver Mariscal’s letter because he was being punished for getting into a fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Decades in solitary confinement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Darryl Baca — the student who praised Mariscal after his classroom speech — epitomizes the entire history of Pelican Bay. He came to the prison in 1990, only months after it opened. He spent his first 25 years in solitary confinement, where many incarcerated individuals with gang backgrounds were placed. He was part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905589/how-a-massive-california-prison-hunger-strike-overhauled-solitary-confinement\">2013 hunger strike \u003c/a>that led to changes in how the prison uses solitary. Now, he’s not only a straight-A student but someone both staff and fellow students look to for guidance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Mariscal unspooled his revelation, Baca noticed the seven-minute timer the instructor had set was about to go off and interrupt his speech. From his seat at the front of the class, Baca reached over and deftly paused the timer while handing Mariscal a tissue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baca said it took him three tries to earn his GED. Later, he used correspondence courses to secure an associate degree. He continued his education with College of the Redwood’s courses and said he recently passed up a chance to transfer to a lower-security prison because of his Humboldt classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. The college classes have erased the barriers that typically exist among prisoners of different backgrounds, he explained. While classmates support each other, many people at the prison “are making better choices now. The culture has evolved. We’re like a campus now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baca isn’t the only person incarcerated at Pelican Bay who has rejected possible transfers to other prisons. Others said they made the difficult decision to pass up the chance to be moved closer to home and earn a lower-security designation because they wanted to continue in Humboldt’s classes. “I told my family, ‘I want to see you and get closer, but I can’t transfer,’” said Davion Holman, 35, who is originally from the Los Angeles area. Holman, sentenced to 31 years in 2013, told his classmates that before being arrested, he liked school. “I knew I was smart, but I was content being stupid,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We take it serious because it is serious,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humboldt Professor Roberto Mónico, who teaches a course called multiethnic resistance in the U.S., says at times, it feels more like a graduate-level seminar than an undergraduate class. Students are well prepared, he said, with “all the readings marked up,” and they drop in references to the theories of Plato and Aristotle. Yet they can be sensitive about not knowing how to create a PowerPoint presentation or other computer skills because of their lack of formal education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I tell them to read two out of five essays, they read all five,” said Hitchcock-Tinseth. Added Ladwig: “They are phenomenally well prepared to take on a bachelor’s degree.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being in a college classroom and able to debate ideas freely is “not mirrored in a lot of other prison experiences,” said Ruth Delaney, who directs the Vera Institute of Justice’s Unlocking Potential initiative, which helps colleges develop prison programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014136\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014136\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Francisco Vallejo, an incarcerated college student with a passion for multicultural resistance courses, poses in front of a mural painted by inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Francisco Vallejo admitted he struggled when he first began taking community college classes, dropping some before trying again the next semester. But now he hopes his academic progress will bolster his case for parole in 2026. “I had to train to be a student,” he said. “Redwoods gives you the tools, but you use them at Humboldt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Student Dom Congiardo said the prison environment teaches people to guard their feelings. But taking college classes shows them “you don’t have to be afraid to open up,” he said. “You won’t be judged for it. It’s all new territory for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson Bryant is another student who declined a transfer to stay in Humboldt’s program. At 41 years old, he’s been at Pelican Bay since 2003, more than half his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryant said he was scared of the prison’s reputation when he came to Pelican Bay at age 19. “In the beginning, I would have left so fast,” he said. “But there’s too much positive stuff here. It changes you all the way around.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Contact editor Lawrie Mifflin at 212-678-4078 or mifflin@hechingerreport.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about prison education was produced by \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/highereducation/\">Hechinger higher education newsletter\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>CRESCENT CITY, Calif. — In less than 15 minutes, Michael Mariscal validated why a team of officials at Cal Poly Humboldt has spent more than three years trying to set up the first bachelor’s degree program at a maximum-security prison in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of a class in persuasive speaking, Mariscal was tasked with giving a presentation to highlight his personal growth. His 22 classmates inside B Facility at Pelican Bay State Prison were skeptical: Just two weeks earlier, Mariscal had used his presentation time to give step-by-step directions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But today was different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve never told this to anyone before,” the 32-year-old Mariscal said, holding back tears as he explained his feelings when he learned at his trial that the state was requesting he be put to death. “I said, ‘That’s OK, that’s cool,’” showing no outward emotion at the time, he told the class. But inside, his mind was reeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not innocent; I did everything I was convicted for,” he quickly added, referring to a gang shooting that left two people dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014138\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-11-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Incarcerated college students applaud Michael Anthony Mariscal, 32, after he gave a presentation about his own journey to turn his life around during a CalPoly Humboldt class on persuasive speaking at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mariscal went on to say that his brother had received a life sentence and been murdered while in prison. Mariscal himself was given five life sentences. He declared that he did not expect ever to be released but finished by saying, “I can still live a meaningful life in here. Freedom is different for everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A shocked silence filled the room before classmate Darryl Baca spoke up. “That’s some raw stuff right here. I recognize the potential in you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not the first time I’ve cried after class,” the professor, Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth, said later, although she was teaching only her fourth session at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014139\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014139\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-13-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Incarcerated college student Michael Anthony Mariscal, 32, center, leaves the education hallway with fellow classmates after school at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, Calif, on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mariscal’s speech exemplified everything officials at Cal Poly Humboldt hoped to accomplish when they set out to create a satellite campus at one of the most notorious prisons in the country. They knew that earning a degree could help some men shorten their sentences and possibly land well-paying jobs once released. But they also hoped that the classes, and the camaraderie fostered there, would pay immediate dividends, lessening violence at the prison and improving students’ daily behaviors. Seeing Mariscal address his past while both sharing his feelings and mapping out a hopeful path forward just four weeks into the semester was validating, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has been a leader in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/college-beat/2021/10/prison-bachelors-degree-california-inside-out/\">prison education\u003c/a> programs, starting with a \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4913#:~:text=In%202014%2C%20the%20state%20approved,closed%20to%20the%20general%20public).\">2014 rule\u003c/a> authorizing state funding for community colleges to set up programs for students who are incarcerated. Since then, some 25 community colleges and eight universities have established degree-granting programs that now cover every facility in the state. Humboldt’s Pelican Bay program is not only the state’s first bachelor’s initiative at a max-security prison; earlier this year, it became the first program in the country approved under new federal Department of Education rules to let incarcerated individuals access \u003ca href=\"https://now.humboldt.edu/news/prison-education-program-first-nation-receive-pell-grant-eligibility-under-new-federal-policy\">Pell Grant funds\u003c/a> to pay for college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For about 29 years, Pell money had been largely prohibited for individuals who are incarcerated, with the exception of a small federal pilot program \u003ca href=\"https://www.vera.org/publications/second-chance-pell-six-years-of-expanding-access-to-education-in-prison\">that debuted in 2015\u003c/a>. The new Pell rules made 767,000 people at state prisons nationwide eligible to pay for college with federal funds — starting with a handful of those at Pelican Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re setting an example,” said Tony Wallin-Sato, a former Humboldt official who helped create the program. “If we can be successful at Pelican Bay, it can work anywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelican Bay is one of the most infamous prisons in the country. Built in 1989 in the extreme northwest corner of California, the facility was created to isolate its occupants in two ways. Many of the men who are incarcerated there hail from the Los Angeles area, nearly 700 miles south. And nearly half of the facility’s units were \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/health/solitary-confinement-mental-illness.html\">built for solitary confinement\u003c/a>, with some occupants stuck inside these 7-by-11-foot cells for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A “60 Minutes” report in 1993 highlighted excessive force by guards, and a 1995 lawsuit exposed inadequate medical care. In 2013, people incarcerated there staged a two-month hunger strike that spread throughout the state’s prisons to protest the excessive use of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2022/09/california-solitary-confinement-bill/\">solitary confinement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But program staffers and people incarcerated at the facility say day-to-day life there now bears little resemblance to those days. About 400 of the prison’s 2,200 incarcerated men currently take classes that include GED preparation, courses from four community colleges and, now, Humboldt’s new bachelor’s program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelican Bay “used to be one of the most violent prisons in the country. Now it’s not,” said Mark Taylor, a Humboldt official who spent more than 21 years incarcerated before helping to create this program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, incarcerated students openly drop hints around Kari Telaro Rexford, the prison’s supervisor of academic instruction, telling her they hope she’ll soon bring in a master’s degree program. “I’m trying,” she tells them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Humboldt prison program ‘makes people safer’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Rebecca Silbert, the deputy superintendent of higher education for the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, has watched every program that has started in the eight years since bachelor’s degree programs began in state prisons. “Because of the involvement of senior leadership,” she said, “Cal Poly Humboldt’s was the easiest by far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet Silbert admitted she first tried to talk officials out of creating this program. “Are you sure?” she said she asked them. “It’s easy to be starry-eyed in the beginning, but it’s an endeavor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humboldt’s provost, Jenn Capps, said she agreed with that assessment but pushed on because the program “makes people safer.” Offering bachelor’s degree classes helps “disrupt the narrative” of violence in these men’s lives, making life safer for them, their families, guards at Pelican Bay, and ultimately the public, she argued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are lots of myths out there about people who are incarcerated,” Capps said. “But everybody wants community safety. Offering prison education programs is key to community safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A team of Cal Poly Humboldt officials worked for more than two years before beginning the program in January. The university’s communications department chair, Maxwell Schnurer, taught a class at the prison through the College of the Redwoods to understand why that community college’s program had been so successful. Redwoods began with one course at the prison in 2015, and its program has since mushroomed to 43 courses serving 390 students, said Tory Eagles, the college’s Pelican Bay Scholars program manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014137\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-03-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">CalPoly Humboldt communications lecturer Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth discusses a presentation assignment with inmates during her persuasive speaking class at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As of this semester, the university has ramped up to four classes, each of which are taken by all of the school’s 23 students. Each student had already earned associate degrees and all are now communications majors. Humboldt’s five-year plan is to add other majors and expand to two more of the prison’s four yards, said Steve Ladwig, the director of the university’s Transformative and Restorative Education Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being the first program the federal government authorized to use Pell Grants for incarcerated men put a spotlight on Humboldt’s work. However, actually getting those funds has proven to be hard, largely because of the federal Department of Education’s botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although all of Humboldt’s students are eligible for Pell, only about half of the 23 have had their applications reviewed by the Department of Education so far, said Ladwig. While the university waits for approval of its students’ Pell Grants, it is covering tuition for each student, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Humboldt staged a ceremony to hand incarcerated individuals their college acceptance letters, Ladwig had to venture to the prison’s solitary confinement wing to deliver Mariscal’s letter because he was being punished for getting into a fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Decades in solitary confinement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Darryl Baca — the student who praised Mariscal after his classroom speech — epitomizes the entire history of Pelican Bay. He came to the prison in 1990, only months after it opened. He spent his first 25 years in solitary confinement, where many incarcerated individuals with gang backgrounds were placed. He was part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905589/how-a-massive-california-prison-hunger-strike-overhauled-solitary-confinement\">2013 hunger strike \u003c/a>that led to changes in how the prison uses solitary. Now, he’s not only a straight-A student but someone both staff and fellow students look to for guidance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Mariscal unspooled his revelation, Baca noticed the seven-minute timer the instructor had set was about to go off and interrupt his speech. From his seat at the front of the class, Baca reached over and deftly paused the timer while handing Mariscal a tissue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baca said it took him three tries to earn his GED. Later, he used correspondence courses to secure an associate degree. He continued his education with College of the Redwood’s courses and said he recently passed up a chance to transfer to a lower-security prison because of his Humboldt classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. The college classes have erased the barriers that typically exist among prisoners of different backgrounds, he explained. While classmates support each other, many people at the prison “are making better choices now. The culture has evolved. We’re like a campus now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baca isn’t the only person incarcerated at Pelican Bay who has rejected possible transfers to other prisons. Others said they made the difficult decision to pass up the chance to be moved closer to home and earn a lower-security designation because they wanted to continue in Humboldt’s classes. “I told my family, ‘I want to see you and get closer, but I can’t transfer,’” said Davion Holman, 35, who is originally from the Los Angeles area. Holman, sentenced to 31 years in 2013, told his classmates that before being arrested, he liked school. “I knew I was smart, but I was content being stupid,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We take it serious because it is serious,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humboldt Professor Roberto Mónico, who teaches a course called multiethnic resistance in the U.S., says at times, it feels more like a graduate-level seminar than an undergraduate class. Students are well prepared, he said, with “all the readings marked up,” and they drop in references to the theories of Plato and Aristotle. Yet they can be sensitive about not knowing how to create a PowerPoint presentation or other computer skills because of their lack of formal education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I tell them to read two out of five essays, they read all five,” said Hitchcock-Tinseth. Added Ladwig: “They are phenomenally well prepared to take on a bachelor’s degree.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being in a college classroom and able to debate ideas freely is “not mirrored in a lot of other prison experiences,” said Ruth Delaney, who directs the Vera Institute of Justice’s Unlocking Potential initiative, which helps colleges develop prison programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12014136\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12014136\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/101724-HECHINGER-Pelican-MO-CM-04-copy-1229x1536.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Francisco Vallejo, an incarcerated college student with a passion for multicultural resistance courses, poses in front of a mural painted by inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City on Sept. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Manuel Orbegozo for Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Francisco Vallejo admitted he struggled when he first began taking community college classes, dropping some before trying again the next semester. But now he hopes his academic progress will bolster his case for parole in 2026. “I had to train to be a student,” he said. “Redwoods gives you the tools, but you use them at Humboldt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Student Dom Congiardo said the prison environment teaches people to guard their feelings. But taking college classes shows them “you don’t have to be afraid to open up,” he said. “You won’t be judged for it. It’s all new territory for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson Bryant is another student who declined a transfer to stay in Humboldt’s program. At 41 years old, he’s been at Pelican Bay since 2003, more than half his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryant said he was scared of the prison’s reputation when he came to Pelican Bay at age 19. “In the beginning, I would have left so fast,” he said. “But there’s too much positive stuff here. It changes you all the way around.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Contact editor Lawrie Mifflin at 212-678-4078 or mifflin@hechingerreport.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about prison education was produced by \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/highereducation/\">Hechinger higher education newsletter\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "uc-faces-500-million-budget-shortfall-increases-tuition-for-new-nonresident-students",
"title": "UC Faces $500 Million Budget Shortfall, Increases Tuition for New Nonresident Students",
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"headTitle": "UC Faces $500 Million Budget Shortfall, Increases Tuition for New Nonresident Students | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The University of California is eyeing a looming budget gap of half a billion dollars next year. To help balance the books it’s relying in part on its out-of-state undergraduates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the system is pouring tens of billions of dollars into construction projects for seismic retrofitting, new classrooms and medical centers — while also acknowledging it lacks the funding to build or renovate most of what it needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out-of-state undergraduates at the UC are charged more than three times the total tuition in-state students are expected to pay. Now system leaders have increased the supplemental tuition for new nonresident undergraduates by $3,402 next fall, an amount that’s $2,208 more than what the supplemental tuition would increase by under existing UC policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A UC regents committee approved the new hike Wednesday; the full board voted to green-light the measure today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One regent, Jose M. Hernandez, voted No. Two elected state leaders on the board, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, abstained from voting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to be on the record opposing the tuition increase, and also on the record recognizing the commitment of staff to continue to work to evaluate and understand these decisions to increase the cost of attendance for out of state students,” Kounalakis said today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/07/uc-tuition-hike/\">model passed in 2021\u003c/a>, each new cohort of undergraduates sees higher tuition and fees than the previous crop of new students but that tuition stays flat for their time at the UC. In-state students are charged tuition and a systemwide fee. Out-of-state students are charged that plus a much larger supplemental fee. The base tuition and fee would go up as planned under the 2022 model; only the supplemental fee would rise at a higher than expected amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All told, it would mean new nonresident undergraduates would pay $52,536 in total mandatory tuition next fall, excluding separate campus fees that are an \u003ca href=\"https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/tuition-financial-aid/tuition-cost-of-attendance/\">average of $1,700\u003c/a>. Current new nonresident undergraduates \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucop.edu/operating-budget/_files/fees/202425/2024-25.pdf\">pay $48,636 annually (PDF)\u003c/a>, plus campus fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move would affect the roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/fall-enrollment-glance#ugentry\">15% of UC undergraduates\u003c/a>, including transfer students, who live outside of California and will begin their studies at the university system next fall. The increase wouldn’t affect current students or future graduate students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As UC prepares for an anticipated state budget cut that could impact student services across the entire system, we are proposing an increase to support core operations without raising costs for current students and California residents,” wrote UC spokesperson Omar Rodriguez in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hike would increase revenue by about $41 million for the system annually, Rodriguez wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/3lngISvja2s?si=zdrPdTCtK5t-A0lD&t=3551\">impending half-billion shortfall next summer\u003c/a> would occur if state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom make good on a deal to delay previously promised new money for the UC and apply a cut to its state support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC’s operating revenue is estimated to be \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f10.pdf#page=3\">about $53 billion in 2024–25 (PDF)\u003c/a>. Most of that is from the system’s medical services work, including hospitals. Its core mission of educating students, \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f10.pdf#page=4\">largely faculty salary and benefits (PDF)\u003c/a> as well as financial aid, makes up about $11 billion of the system’s budget. That amount is \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f10.pdf#page=4\">almost evenly paid (PDF)\u003c/a> for with state dollars and a combination of tuition revenue and other university funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s among the numerous fiscal details that emerged at the regents’ regularly scheduled November meeting, including the revelation that the UC plans to spend $30 billion to repair or replace its increasingly aging stock of academic buildings, medical centers and dorms by decade’s end. And yet, that massive sum falls far short of the 10-campus system’s stated construction needs — \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/3lngISvja2s?si=99wyMrJDoDasG7Ug&t=1643\">a total of $53 billion in projects without a funding source\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building spree is occurring as UC trundles\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=11\"> toward a goal of adding 23,000 new California students by 2030 (PDF)\u003c/a> — fueled in part by lawmaker demands that the vaunted system make space for more California high schoolers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The tuition hike in context\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In some ways the emphasis on out-of-state students is a return to form for the UC, which both relies on these students for the much higher tuition they pay but also is under pressure by lawmakers to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/09/uc-out-of-state-tuition/\">limit how many non-Californian undergraduates the system enrolls\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eduardo Tapia Jr-Urbieta, an executive officer for the UC Student Association, which represents undergraduate students, said that the student association opposes the increase. “Opportunity to higher education should not face any more barriers. Instead of increasing the salaries of UC administrators, let’s make sure college is more affordable for all,” he told regents yesterday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those September raises came in two waves: \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept24/g2.pdf\">4.2% (PDF)\u003c/a> for senior UC officials, such as the system president and most campus chancellors, and \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept24/g4.pdf\">extra raises (PDF)\u003c/a>, including for most of the chancellors — ranging from \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept24/g3.pdf#page=3\">16% to 33% (PDF)\u003c/a>. The extra chancellor raises are paid with private donations, not tuition or state support. The updated chancellor salaries range from $785,000 to nearly $1.2 million\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonresident undergraduate students tend to have \u003ca href=\"https://accountability.universityofcalifornia.edu/2023/chapters/chapter-2.html#:~:text=the%20data%20glossary.-,2.2%20INCOME%20PROFILE,-A%20large%20proportion\">higher family incomes than resident students\u003c/a>. In 2021, 45% of nonresident undergraduates had family incomes of above $185,000. The same was true for 25% of undergraduates from California. Nearly three-quarters of nonresident undergraduates came from households exceeding $93,000; for California-based undergrads, it was 45%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, nonresident students on average pay much more to attend a UC campus, even after all financial aid \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/undergraduate-affordability#Netcostoftrend\">is factored into their costs\u003c/a>. The net price — which includes tuition, housing and other related costs minus grants and scholarships — for resident undergraduates with household incomes above $180,000 was around $37,000 a year last fall. For nonresident undergraduates, the average net price was $67,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I support it (the nonresident tuition increase). I’ll get pushback for that, but here we are,” said Josiah Beharry, a student regent who can cast a vote on the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC officials said that compared to some other major public universities, UC’s nonresident undergraduates \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/3lngISvja2s?si=wdlQCmWop4RGp5M8&t=3101\">pay lower nonresident fees\u003c/a>. For example, University of Michigan nonresident students paid $11,500 more than their nonresident UC peers in 2023-24. University of Virginia nonresident undergraduate paid $7,000 more. Even when adjusting for living costs, nonresident Californians are charged less for their education, UC officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC policy permits 20% of new nonresident tuition revenue to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucop.edu/enrollment-services/policies/universitywide-program-policies-and-guidelines/revised-administrative-guidelines-for-usap-and-select-aid-programs-final-002.pdf#page=6\">reserved for financial aid for nonresident undergraduates (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>$30 billion in planned construction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The $30 billion construction plan — and $50 billion in projects without a funding source — were spelled out in a new, \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf\">207-page report detailing (PDF)\u003c/a> construction plans that UC budget officials presented to the system’s regents yesterday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The University’s enrollment growth and continuing needs for renewal, modernization and seismic correction of existing facilities are the key drivers of capital investments,” \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f9attach1.pdf#page=17\">the report said (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cranes have been soaring above the system’s campus skylines for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2011, the UC has added beds for 42,000 students, growing from nearly 75,000 beds. The increase means the system can house 40% of its students, up from 32% a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And UC isn’t done as it’s on track to build dorm space for 14,000 new beds at all nine undergraduate-serving campuses through 2030 — at a cost of $6.9 billion. That’s nearly half-a-million-dollars per bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while student housing projects can largely pay for themselves over time through the rents campuses charge, classroom buildings have fewer sources of cash beyond system bonds and state dollars — which the UC says are hardly enough to meet campus needs.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12006322,news_11986301,news_11987878\"]Take for example all the seismic repairs UC says it must undergo to extend the life of its buildings, with structures built in the 1950s and 1960s \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=18\">representing the largest chunk of UC’s gargantuan building footprint (PDF)\u003c/a>. UC has $16 billion in seismic retrofit needs but only identified funding for 16% of that, or $2.5 billion, \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=16\">last academic year (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just finding money that’s a concern for UC. As buildings undergo remodeling, the classrooms, research and other activity core to the system’s mission has to continue. “The scope and complexity of planning required to minimize these disruptions can often necessitate the construction of temporary or replacement space,” the report read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scale of the need is vast. According to the UC, about 1,464 buildings require seismic upgrades across the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC officials disclosed yesterday that the system is debuting a new plan in which campuses will reduce its backlog of structures that need seismic upgrades by 4% annually, with the structures most in need of an overhaul receiving priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then there’s all the new construction UC needs. The system \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=21\">completed 139 projects at a cost of $1.4 billion last academic year (PDF)\u003c/a> — but has more than $20 billion in active construction\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=24\"> plans for about 400 projects (PDF)\u003c/a>. More than half of those are for UC’s extensive medical care operation, in part to satisfy state rules on \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/01/seismic-safety-hospitals-california/\">strengthening hospitals to better withstand earthquakes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through 2030, UC’s construction plans total $30 billion, with about $12 billion \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=29\">for its medical centers (PDF)\u003c/a>. Philanthropy helps pay for all those projects, but only a little. Just about $2 billion of the construction plan budget \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=31\">will come from gifts (PDF)\u003c/a>. About $300 million will come from state funds directly — a relatively tiny portion of the overall revenue picture for the system’s six-year building plan. Much of the projects will be paid for \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=31\">with external financing (PDF)\u003c/a>, such as bonds that the system sells to investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s just projects with a funding source. UC Berkeley, for example, has more than $14 billion in construction needs but has identified the funding for just about \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=39\">$2.8 billion of that (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is getting built at the system’s oldest campus? For starters, a new undergraduate academic building that’ll include 27 classrooms and a 400-seat auditorium with a rooftop terrace. \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=41\">All of that costs $137 million (PDF)\u003c/a>. It’s scheduled to open in the 2025–26 academic year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The University of California anticipates more than a $500 million budget gap next summer, so It’s increasing tuition by at least $3,402 for new nonresident students next fall. Meanwhile, the system is planning billions in construction projects.",
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"title": "UC Faces $500 Million Budget Shortfall, Increases Tuition for New Nonresident Students | KQED",
"description": "The University of California anticipates more than a $500 million budget gap next summer, so It’s increasing tuition by at least $3,402 for new nonresident students next fall. Meanwhile, the system is planning billions in construction projects.",
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"headline": "UC Faces $500 Million Budget Shortfall, Increases Tuition for New Nonresident Students",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/mikhailzinshteyn/\">Mikhail Zinshteyn\u003c/a>, CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The University of California is eyeing a looming budget gap of half a billion dollars next year. To help balance the books it’s relying in part on its out-of-state undergraduates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the system is pouring tens of billions of dollars into construction projects for seismic retrofitting, new classrooms and medical centers — while also acknowledging it lacks the funding to build or renovate most of what it needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out-of-state undergraduates at the UC are charged more than three times the total tuition in-state students are expected to pay. Now system leaders have increased the supplemental tuition for new nonresident undergraduates by $3,402 next fall, an amount that’s $2,208 more than what the supplemental tuition would increase by under existing UC policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A UC regents committee approved the new hike Wednesday; the full board voted to green-light the measure today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One regent, Jose M. Hernandez, voted No. Two elected state leaders on the board, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, abstained from voting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to be on the record opposing the tuition increase, and also on the record recognizing the commitment of staff to continue to work to evaluate and understand these decisions to increase the cost of attendance for out of state students,” Kounalakis said today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/07/uc-tuition-hike/\">model passed in 2021\u003c/a>, each new cohort of undergraduates sees higher tuition and fees than the previous crop of new students but that tuition stays flat for their time at the UC. In-state students are charged tuition and a systemwide fee. Out-of-state students are charged that plus a much larger supplemental fee. The base tuition and fee would go up as planned under the 2022 model; only the supplemental fee would rise at a higher than expected amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All told, it would mean new nonresident undergraduates would pay $52,536 in total mandatory tuition next fall, excluding separate campus fees that are an \u003ca href=\"https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/tuition-financial-aid/tuition-cost-of-attendance/\">average of $1,700\u003c/a>. Current new nonresident undergraduates \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucop.edu/operating-budget/_files/fees/202425/2024-25.pdf\">pay $48,636 annually (PDF)\u003c/a>, plus campus fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move would affect the roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/fall-enrollment-glance#ugentry\">15% of UC undergraduates\u003c/a>, including transfer students, who live outside of California and will begin their studies at the university system next fall. The increase wouldn’t affect current students or future graduate students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As UC prepares for an anticipated state budget cut that could impact student services across the entire system, we are proposing an increase to support core operations without raising costs for current students and California residents,” wrote UC spokesperson Omar Rodriguez in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hike would increase revenue by about $41 million for the system annually, Rodriguez wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/3lngISvja2s?si=zdrPdTCtK5t-A0lD&t=3551\">impending half-billion shortfall next summer\u003c/a> would occur if state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom make good on a deal to delay previously promised new money for the UC and apply a cut to its state support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC’s operating revenue is estimated to be \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f10.pdf#page=3\">about $53 billion in 2024–25 (PDF)\u003c/a>. Most of that is from the system’s medical services work, including hospitals. Its core mission of educating students, \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f10.pdf#page=4\">largely faculty salary and benefits (PDF)\u003c/a> as well as financial aid, makes up about $11 billion of the system’s budget. That amount is \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f10.pdf#page=4\">almost evenly paid (PDF)\u003c/a> for with state dollars and a combination of tuition revenue and other university funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s among the numerous fiscal details that emerged at the regents’ regularly scheduled November meeting, including the revelation that the UC plans to spend $30 billion to repair or replace its increasingly aging stock of academic buildings, medical centers and dorms by decade’s end. And yet, that massive sum falls far short of the 10-campus system’s stated construction needs — \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/3lngISvja2s?si=99wyMrJDoDasG7Ug&t=1643\">a total of $53 billion in projects without a funding source\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building spree is occurring as UC trundles\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=11\"> toward a goal of adding 23,000 new California students by 2030 (PDF)\u003c/a> — fueled in part by lawmaker demands that the vaunted system make space for more California high schoolers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The tuition hike in context\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In some ways the emphasis on out-of-state students is a return to form for the UC, which both relies on these students for the much higher tuition they pay but also is under pressure by lawmakers to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/09/uc-out-of-state-tuition/\">limit how many non-Californian undergraduates the system enrolls\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eduardo Tapia Jr-Urbieta, an executive officer for the UC Student Association, which represents undergraduate students, said that the student association opposes the increase. “Opportunity to higher education should not face any more barriers. Instead of increasing the salaries of UC administrators, let’s make sure college is more affordable for all,” he told regents yesterday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those September raises came in two waves: \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept24/g2.pdf\">4.2% (PDF)\u003c/a> for senior UC officials, such as the system president and most campus chancellors, and \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept24/g4.pdf\">extra raises (PDF)\u003c/a>, including for most of the chancellors — ranging from \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept24/g3.pdf#page=3\">16% to 33% (PDF)\u003c/a>. The extra chancellor raises are paid with private donations, not tuition or state support. The updated chancellor salaries range from $785,000 to nearly $1.2 million\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonresident undergraduate students tend to have \u003ca href=\"https://accountability.universityofcalifornia.edu/2023/chapters/chapter-2.html#:~:text=the%20data%20glossary.-,2.2%20INCOME%20PROFILE,-A%20large%20proportion\">higher family incomes than resident students\u003c/a>. In 2021, 45% of nonresident undergraduates had family incomes of above $185,000. The same was true for 25% of undergraduates from California. Nearly three-quarters of nonresident undergraduates came from households exceeding $93,000; for California-based undergrads, it was 45%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, nonresident students on average pay much more to attend a UC campus, even after all financial aid \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/undergraduate-affordability#Netcostoftrend\">is factored into their costs\u003c/a>. The net price — which includes tuition, housing and other related costs minus grants and scholarships — for resident undergraduates with household incomes above $180,000 was around $37,000 a year last fall. For nonresident undergraduates, the average net price was $67,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I support it (the nonresident tuition increase). I’ll get pushback for that, but here we are,” said Josiah Beharry, a student regent who can cast a vote on the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC officials said that compared to some other major public universities, UC’s nonresident undergraduates \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/3lngISvja2s?si=wdlQCmWop4RGp5M8&t=3101\">pay lower nonresident fees\u003c/a>. For example, University of Michigan nonresident students paid $11,500 more than their nonresident UC peers in 2023-24. University of Virginia nonresident undergraduate paid $7,000 more. Even when adjusting for living costs, nonresident Californians are charged less for their education, UC officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC policy permits 20% of new nonresident tuition revenue to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucop.edu/enrollment-services/policies/universitywide-program-policies-and-guidelines/revised-administrative-guidelines-for-usap-and-select-aid-programs-final-002.pdf#page=6\">reserved for financial aid for nonresident undergraduates (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>$30 billion in planned construction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The $30 billion construction plan — and $50 billion in projects without a funding source — were spelled out in a new, \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf\">207-page report detailing (PDF)\u003c/a> construction plans that UC budget officials presented to the system’s regents yesterday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The University’s enrollment growth and continuing needs for renewal, modernization and seismic correction of existing facilities are the key drivers of capital investments,” \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f9attach1.pdf#page=17\">the report said (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cranes have been soaring above the system’s campus skylines for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2011, the UC has added beds for 42,000 students, growing from nearly 75,000 beds. The increase means the system can house 40% of its students, up from 32% a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And UC isn’t done as it’s on track to build dorm space for 14,000 new beds at all nine undergraduate-serving campuses through 2030 — at a cost of $6.9 billion. That’s nearly half-a-million-dollars per bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while student housing projects can largely pay for themselves over time through the rents campuses charge, classroom buildings have fewer sources of cash beyond system bonds and state dollars — which the UC says are hardly enough to meet campus needs.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Take for example all the seismic repairs UC says it must undergo to extend the life of its buildings, with structures built in the 1950s and 1960s \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=18\">representing the largest chunk of UC’s gargantuan building footprint (PDF)\u003c/a>. UC has $16 billion in seismic retrofit needs but only identified funding for 16% of that, or $2.5 billion, \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=16\">last academic year (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just finding money that’s a concern for UC. As buildings undergo remodeling, the classrooms, research and other activity core to the system’s mission has to continue. “The scope and complexity of planning required to minimize these disruptions can often necessitate the construction of temporary or replacement space,” the report read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scale of the need is vast. According to the UC, about 1,464 buildings require seismic upgrades across the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC officials disclosed yesterday that the system is debuting a new plan in which campuses will reduce its backlog of structures that need seismic upgrades by 4% annually, with the structures most in need of an overhaul receiving priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then there’s all the new construction UC needs. The system \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=21\">completed 139 projects at a cost of $1.4 billion last academic year (PDF)\u003c/a> — but has more than $20 billion in active construction\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=24\"> plans for about 400 projects (PDF)\u003c/a>. More than half of those are for UC’s extensive medical care operation, in part to satisfy state rules on \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/01/seismic-safety-hospitals-california/\">strengthening hospitals to better withstand earthquakes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through 2030, UC’s construction plans total $30 billion, with about $12 billion \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=29\">for its medical centers (PDF)\u003c/a>. Philanthropy helps pay for all those projects, but only a little. Just about $2 billion of the construction plan budget \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=31\">will come from gifts (PDF)\u003c/a>. About $300 million will come from state funds directly — a relatively tiny portion of the overall revenue picture for the system’s six-year building plan. Much of the projects will be paid for \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=31\">with external financing (PDF)\u003c/a>, such as bonds that the system sells to investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s just projects with a funding source. UC Berkeley, for example, has more than $14 billion in construction needs but has identified the funding for just about \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=39\">$2.8 billion of that (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is getting built at the system’s oldest campus? For starters, a new undergraduate academic building that’ll include 27 classrooms and a 400-seat auditorium with a rooftop terrace. \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov24/f8attach4.pdf#page=41\">All of that costs $137 million (PDF)\u003c/a>. It’s scheduled to open in the 2025–26 academic year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In 30 years in America, Alejandro Gamez took any job he could as an undocumented worker — at fast food restaurants, factories and car washes and driving trucks, even when conditions were poor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had no status,” he said. “I had no options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after speaking up in 2017 about unpaid wages at an Inglewood car wash, his fortunes changed. As part of a state investigation into that employer’s labor practices, Gamez this year became eligible for four years of protection from deportation — and a temporary work permit that seemed to open doors overnight. The 51-year-old Hawthorne resident said he can apply for better, stable jobs that pay more and provide benefits. He now has a union-represented position in a college kitchen and a Social Security number to build his credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It changed my life,” he said in Spanish. “It is giving me many job opportunities, to be better financially and to give a better life to my family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His opportunities are thanks to a recent federal program that grants temporary legal status to workers involved in certain labor investigations. With some of the nation’s strictest workplace laws but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/09/workplace-retaliation-california-labor/\">widespread concerns of employer retaliation\u003c/a>, California has issued more than 200 requests to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, asking it to grant legal status to workers who report violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just months after Gamez got his reprieve, the program may be on the chopping block: President-elect Donald Trump and his advisors have\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-mass-deportations-immigration-844f3050ba99552b900ed9f3a1dec22d\"> vowed mass deportations\u003c/a>, a return to workplace immigration raids and the repeal of similar temporary protection programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gamez’s attorney, Yvonne Medrano, said she’s expecting the program to be axed soon after Trump takes office Jan. 20. Her firm, the Los Angeles-based Bet Tzedek Legal Services, is no longer pursuing new cases under the program after representing workers seeking protections in 15 different workplace investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Removing this protection will return workers to a time when they fear deportation for asking for minimum wage, their paychecks or any other protections they have,” Medrano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013975\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013975\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A person in jeans and a t-shirt stands while someone with a vest and gun ties something around them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents transfer an immigrant after an early morning raid in Duarte on June 6, 2022. \u003ccite>(Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other immigration attorneys in California had already stopped filing new applications before Election Day. They said they expect Homeland Security to honor the four-year reprieves that the department has already granted, but are uncertain what happens next.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a discretionary program,” said Jessie Hahn, senior counsel for labor and employment policy at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group. “We are not anticipating that if Trump were elected he would continue the program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Trump campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about his intentions for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has created another group of immigrants who have been granted temporary permission to be in the United States as the chances of a federal immigration overhaul have grown ever slimmer — making their prospects heavily dependent on the see-saw of each presidential administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program, one of several Biden administration efforts to boost the enforcement of labor laws, aims to give state investigators easier access to witnesses who may otherwise fear reprisal for making workplace complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s similar to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2024/05/undocumented-students-work/\">gave work permits\u003c/a> and temporary deportation protections to immigrants who had been brought to the U.S. without authorization as children. About 500,000 residents have that form of legal status, but the program has stopped granting new applications after challenges in the federal courts. Trump tried to rescind the program in his last term; Stephen Miller, a close Trump advisor, said he will do so again, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/us/politics/trump-2025-immigration-agenda.html\">\u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> has reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/01/13/dhs-announces-process-enhancements-supporting-labor-enforcement-investigations\">Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement\u003c/a> is much narrower — 7,700 workers have benefitted since January 2023. Anyone who’s not a U.S. citizen can apply if they can prove they were working for an employer under investigation. First, a state or federal labor agency must submit a letter to Homeland Security saying they need the cooperation of worker witnesses in each investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those granted deferred action are shielded from deportation and allowed to work legally for four years, but there is no path toward permanent residency. Some recipients see it as a way to earn money legally and get better-paying jobs outside the underground economy. Others said it gives them time — and a much quicker path to a work permit — as their other immigration-related cases wind their way through the federal bureaucracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigration attorneys and advocates say while some applicants are seeking reprieves from active deportation cases, most have been living and working without papers undetected, meaning they’ve come forward to federal immigration authorities for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear how many of those workers are in California. A Homeland Security spokesperson would not release state-by-state figures, citing “ongoing investigations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California is an eager participant in the program; Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration says it was the first state to file a letter supporting worker protections. The state is home to nearly 1.5 million workers who are undocumented immigrants, making up \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immigrants-living-in-the-us\">more than 7% of the workforce\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such workers are a frequent focus of the state’s labor investigations, and labor advocates say undocumented workers routinely fear both losing their jobs and being reported to immigration authorities for complaining about workplace violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This fear can prevent them from fully cooperating with labor enforcement agencies in reporting and corroborating violations of the law,” Daniel Lopez, spokesperson for the state Labor Commissioner’s Office, said in a statement. “Ultimately, fewer protections undermine workers and impact responsible employers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past two years, the office, which investigates wage theft, has sent letters supporting deportation protections in 136 workplace investigations covering potentially hundreds of workers. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health has sent at least 12 letters. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which oversees farmworkers’ rights, has sent 10, and the Civil Rights Department, which investigates workplace discrimination complaints, has sent 60, spokespersons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has even paid to help immigrants get work permits. Last year, Newsom announced \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/07/farmworker-labor-california/\">$4.5 million to pay\u003c/a> for free legal services to help farmworkers who are involved in labor investigations apply for deferred action. The money, allocated through mid-2026, has so far helped screen more than 500 workers for eligibility and 175 apply for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are as many as 800,000 seasonal and year-round farmworkers in California; at least half are believed to be undocumented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Agricultural regions have very limited access to immigration legal services,” said Jason Montiel, spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, which administers the grant to five legal aid groups statewide. “Providing farmworkers direct access to immigration legal services when their labor rights are violated increases the likelihood that they will file labor claims and collaborate with labor agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s spokespersons did not respond to an inquiry about what will happen with the state grant program if federal rules change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Gorney, a supervising attorney with VIDAS Legal Services, which is receiving a state grant, said that she has 12 farmworker clients waiting to be granted deferred action. She had hoped the state would expand the program to include workers in other industries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are still a lot of workers out there who may qualify but really don’t want to come out of the shadows,” she said the morning after the election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013974\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013974\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15.jpg\" alt=\"A person sits in a dark room\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alejandro Gamez in his home in Hawthorne on Nov. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Zaydee Sanchez/CalMatters.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gamez’ deferred action was granted in connection with retaliation claims he and his coworkers filed against Century Car Wash in 2018. That year, they had also filed wage theft claims with the state Labor Commissioner’s Office. According to state records, they told the office their managers made them show up earlier and leave later than the businesses’ opening hours, but their time-sheets didn’t match all the hours they worked. The car wash’s co-owners denied the claims, and told the state the time-sheets were accurate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After demanding payment from his managers, Gamez said he was fired, and told to leave in front of customers. According to state records, he and his coworkers won the wage claims in 2021; a state hearing officer ruled Gamez was owed more than $20,000. But the state is still investigating claims the workers were fired and questioned about their immigration status in retaliation for speaking up. Last year at Gamez’ attorney’s request, the Labor Commissioner’s Office sent a letter to Homeland Security to request deportation protection for the workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ongoing investigation … is being conducted by our Retaliation Complaint Investigation unit and requires worker cooperation and testimony,” Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reached by phone, one of Century Car Wash’s owners deferred to the co-owner, who did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gamez said his deferred action status kept him calm last week as many immigrants feared for their futures under a second Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others who received the protection remain afraid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alejandra Montoya came to the United States five years ago fleeing “problems in the family,” she said, and found work in the Central Valley’s fields. She had a degree in business administration in her native Mexico, and said she never intended to be an undocumented immigrant. But she had a son, and stayed to raise him in Bakersfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montoya said she enjoys farm work, despite the hard days on her hands and knees picking and bunching carrots for $3.05 per box. On a good day, when the field conditions are forgiving, she can take home $150 or more, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working for a contractor hired by Grimmway Farms, she said she kept her head down, until one day last September when a coworker, Rosa Sanchez, was struck by a truck and killed in the field next to hers. Montoya said workers had raised concerns about that driver and she believed the accident was preventable. Some of the workers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-03/she-was-killed-in-a-carrot-field-with-her-body-nearby-workers-say-they-were-told-to-keep-picking\">told to keep working\u003c/a> around Sanchez’ body, she said. Stunned, and now knowing what else to do, she did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was “traumatic,” she said through a translator. “Inhumane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, the state’s workplace safety agency issued more than $65,000 of citations against Grimmway, the contractor Esparza Enterprises and another contractor that employed the driver, alleging serious safety violations for allowing employees to work “in close proximity to a Commercial Truck being driven in an unsafe manner,” according to files obtained through a public records request. Federal and state records show the driver was backing up \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1699564.015\">when the truck struck Sanchez\u003c/a>.[aside tag=\"immigration\" label=\"More Related Stories.\"]The company and its contractors have contested the citations. Esparza did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Grimmway spokesperson Dana Brennan wrote the company has strict policies prohibiting retaliation against employees or contractors’ employees who report issues at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a confidential, anonymous, bilingual hotline where employees can report ethical concerns,” Brennan wrote. “As we have since we first learned of this tragic accident, we are committed to working with authorities throughout their investigation and extend our deepest sympathies to Ms. Sanchez’s family and her co-workers on this grievous loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a potential witness to the accident, Montoya applied for deferred action with the help of the United Farm Workers, and has since become more active with the organization, encouraging coworkers to apply and speaking at a union convention in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after the election, she said she’s both relieved she got her work permit this year and fearful that she’s given her information to federal immigration authorities. In the fields, most of the workers were talking about Trump’s victory, “about what will happen with us now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It protects us from deportation,” she said of the program. “Even so, the fear exists … Whenever he wants, he can take it away.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 30 years in America, Alejandro Gamez took any job he could as an undocumented worker — at fast food restaurants, factories and car washes and driving trucks, even when conditions were poor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had no status,” he said. “I had no options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after speaking up in 2017 about unpaid wages at an Inglewood car wash, his fortunes changed. As part of a state investigation into that employer’s labor practices, Gamez this year became eligible for four years of protection from deportation — and a temporary work permit that seemed to open doors overnight. The 51-year-old Hawthorne resident said he can apply for better, stable jobs that pay more and provide benefits. He now has a union-represented position in a college kitchen and a Social Security number to build his credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It changed my life,” he said in Spanish. “It is giving me many job opportunities, to be better financially and to give a better life to my family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His opportunities are thanks to a recent federal program that grants temporary legal status to workers involved in certain labor investigations. With some of the nation’s strictest workplace laws but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/09/workplace-retaliation-california-labor/\">widespread concerns of employer retaliation\u003c/a>, California has issued more than 200 requests to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, asking it to grant legal status to workers who report violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just months after Gamez got his reprieve, the program may be on the chopping block: President-elect Donald Trump and his advisors have\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-mass-deportations-immigration-844f3050ba99552b900ed9f3a1dec22d\"> vowed mass deportations\u003c/a>, a return to workplace immigration raids and the repeal of similar temporary protection programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gamez’s attorney, Yvonne Medrano, said she’s expecting the program to be axed soon after Trump takes office Jan. 20. Her firm, the Los Angeles-based Bet Tzedek Legal Services, is no longer pursuing new cases under the program after representing workers seeking protections in 15 different workplace investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Removing this protection will return workers to a time when they fear deportation for asking for minimum wage, their paychecks or any other protections they have,” Medrano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013975\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013975\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A person in jeans and a t-shirt stands while someone with a vest and gun ties something around them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/02_060622-ICE-Immigration-AP-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents transfer an immigrant after an early morning raid in Duarte on June 6, 2022. \u003ccite>(Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other immigration attorneys in California had already stopped filing new applications before Election Day. They said they expect Homeland Security to honor the four-year reprieves that the department has already granted, but are uncertain what happens next.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a discretionary program,” said Jessie Hahn, senior counsel for labor and employment policy at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group. “We are not anticipating that if Trump were elected he would continue the program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Trump campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about his intentions for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has created another group of immigrants who have been granted temporary permission to be in the United States as the chances of a federal immigration overhaul have grown ever slimmer — making their prospects heavily dependent on the see-saw of each presidential administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program, one of several Biden administration efforts to boost the enforcement of labor laws, aims to give state investigators easier access to witnesses who may otherwise fear reprisal for making workplace complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s similar to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2024/05/undocumented-students-work/\">gave work permits\u003c/a> and temporary deportation protections to immigrants who had been brought to the U.S. without authorization as children. About 500,000 residents have that form of legal status, but the program has stopped granting new applications after challenges in the federal courts. Trump tried to rescind the program in his last term; Stephen Miller, a close Trump advisor, said he will do so again, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/us/politics/trump-2025-immigration-agenda.html\">\u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> has reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/01/13/dhs-announces-process-enhancements-supporting-labor-enforcement-investigations\">Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement\u003c/a> is much narrower — 7,700 workers have benefitted since January 2023. Anyone who’s not a U.S. citizen can apply if they can prove they were working for an employer under investigation. First, a state or federal labor agency must submit a letter to Homeland Security saying they need the cooperation of worker witnesses in each investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those granted deferred action are shielded from deportation and allowed to work legally for four years, but there is no path toward permanent residency. Some recipients see it as a way to earn money legally and get better-paying jobs outside the underground economy. Others said it gives them time — and a much quicker path to a work permit — as their other immigration-related cases wind their way through the federal bureaucracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigration attorneys and advocates say while some applicants are seeking reprieves from active deportation cases, most have been living and working without papers undetected, meaning they’ve come forward to federal immigration authorities for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear how many of those workers are in California. A Homeland Security spokesperson would not release state-by-state figures, citing “ongoing investigations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California is an eager participant in the program; Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration says it was the first state to file a letter supporting worker protections. The state is home to nearly 1.5 million workers who are undocumented immigrants, making up \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immigrants-living-in-the-us\">more than 7% of the workforce\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such workers are a frequent focus of the state’s labor investigations, and labor advocates say undocumented workers routinely fear both losing their jobs and being reported to immigration authorities for complaining about workplace violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This fear can prevent them from fully cooperating with labor enforcement agencies in reporting and corroborating violations of the law,” Daniel Lopez, spokesperson for the state Labor Commissioner’s Office, said in a statement. “Ultimately, fewer protections undermine workers and impact responsible employers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past two years, the office, which investigates wage theft, has sent letters supporting deportation protections in 136 workplace investigations covering potentially hundreds of workers. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health has sent at least 12 letters. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which oversees farmworkers’ rights, has sent 10, and the Civil Rights Department, which investigates workplace discrimination complaints, has sent 60, spokespersons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has even paid to help immigrants get work permits. Last year, Newsom announced \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/07/farmworker-labor-california/\">$4.5 million to pay\u003c/a> for free legal services to help farmworkers who are involved in labor investigations apply for deferred action. The money, allocated through mid-2026, has so far helped screen more than 500 workers for eligibility and 175 apply for the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are as many as 800,000 seasonal and year-round farmworkers in California; at least half are believed to be undocumented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Agricultural regions have very limited access to immigration legal services,” said Jason Montiel, spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, which administers the grant to five legal aid groups statewide. “Providing farmworkers direct access to immigration legal services when their labor rights are violated increases the likelihood that they will file labor claims and collaborate with labor agencies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s spokespersons did not respond to an inquiry about what will happen with the state grant program if federal rules change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Gorney, a supervising attorney with VIDAS Legal Services, which is receiving a state grant, said that she has 12 farmworker clients waiting to be granted deferred action. She had hoped the state would expand the program to include workers in other industries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are still a lot of workers out there who may qualify but really don’t want to come out of the shadows,” she said the morning after the election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013974\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013974\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15.jpg\" alt=\"A person sits in a dark room\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/03_110824-Deferred-Action-ZS-CM-15-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alejandro Gamez in his home in Hawthorne on Nov. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Zaydee Sanchez/CalMatters.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gamez’ deferred action was granted in connection with retaliation claims he and his coworkers filed against Century Car Wash in 2018. That year, they had also filed wage theft claims with the state Labor Commissioner’s Office. According to state records, they told the office their managers made them show up earlier and leave later than the businesses’ opening hours, but their time-sheets didn’t match all the hours they worked. The car wash’s co-owners denied the claims, and told the state the time-sheets were accurate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After demanding payment from his managers, Gamez said he was fired, and told to leave in front of customers. According to state records, he and his coworkers won the wage claims in 2021; a state hearing officer ruled Gamez was owed more than $20,000. But the state is still investigating claims the workers were fired and questioned about their immigration status in retaliation for speaking up. Last year at Gamez’ attorney’s request, the Labor Commissioner’s Office sent a letter to Homeland Security to request deportation protection for the workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ongoing investigation … is being conducted by our Retaliation Complaint Investigation unit and requires worker cooperation and testimony,” Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reached by phone, one of Century Car Wash’s owners deferred to the co-owner, who did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gamez said his deferred action status kept him calm last week as many immigrants feared for their futures under a second Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others who received the protection remain afraid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alejandra Montoya came to the United States five years ago fleeing “problems in the family,” she said, and found work in the Central Valley’s fields. She had a degree in business administration in her native Mexico, and said she never intended to be an undocumented immigrant. But she had a son, and stayed to raise him in Bakersfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montoya said she enjoys farm work, despite the hard days on her hands and knees picking and bunching carrots for $3.05 per box. On a good day, when the field conditions are forgiving, she can take home $150 or more, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working for a contractor hired by Grimmway Farms, she said she kept her head down, until one day last September when a coworker, Rosa Sanchez, was struck by a truck and killed in the field next to hers. Montoya said workers had raised concerns about that driver and she believed the accident was preventable. Some of the workers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-03/she-was-killed-in-a-carrot-field-with-her-body-nearby-workers-say-they-were-told-to-keep-picking\">told to keep working\u003c/a> around Sanchez’ body, she said. Stunned, and now knowing what else to do, she did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was “traumatic,” she said through a translator. “Inhumane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, the state’s workplace safety agency issued more than $65,000 of citations against Grimmway, the contractor Esparza Enterprises and another contractor that employed the driver, alleging serious safety violations for allowing employees to work “in close proximity to a Commercial Truck being driven in an unsafe manner,” according to files obtained through a public records request. Federal and state records show the driver was backing up \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1699564.015\">when the truck struck Sanchez\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The company and its contractors have contested the citations. Esparza did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Grimmway spokesperson Dana Brennan wrote the company has strict policies prohibiting retaliation against employees or contractors’ employees who report issues at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a confidential, anonymous, bilingual hotline where employees can report ethical concerns,” Brennan wrote. “As we have since we first learned of this tragic accident, we are committed to working with authorities throughout their investigation and extend our deepest sympathies to Ms. Sanchez’s family and her co-workers on this grievous loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a potential witness to the accident, Montoya applied for deferred action with the help of the United Farm Workers, and has since become more active with the organization, encouraging coworkers to apply and speaking at a union convention in September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after the election, she said she’s both relieved she got her work permit this year and fearful that she’s given her information to federal immigration authorities. In the fields, most of the workers were talking about Trump’s victory, “about what will happen with us now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It protects us from deportation,” she said of the program. “Even so, the fear exists … Whenever he wants, he can take it away.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Trump and Newsom Both Support Homeless Encampment Removals. Here's Why",
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"content": "\u003cp>When President-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House in January, he will become a key figure in California’s homelessness crisis, holding the federal purse strings and setting policy at the national level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what will this change of power mean for the state as it tries to move its \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/09/pit-count-analysis-2024/\">nearly 186,000 \u003c/a>homeless residents — the most in the nation — indoors?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Housing and homeless services experts in California worry the Trump administration will cut federal funding in those areas, while also doing away with policies deemed too “progressive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But surprisingly, based on what he’s said so far about one of the key issues regarding homelessness, Trump’s agenda isn’t much different from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. Trump pledged to tackle the encampments that have made cities “unlivable” by working with states to ban urban camping and arrest those who don’t comply — something many cities in California started doing before Election Day, as Newsom encouraged them to clear camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The homeless have no right to turn every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs,” Trump said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.donaldjtrump.com/agenda47/agenda47-ending-the-nightmare-of-the-homeless-drug-addicts-and-dangerously-deranged\">campaign video\u003c/a> posted online in April, 2023. The video appears to be the last time he revealed specific homelessness policy intentions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is nothing compassionate about letting these individuals live in filth and squalor rather than getting them the help that they need,” Trump said. [aside postID=\"news_12009858,news_12008860,news_12006541\" label=\"Related Stories\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, who in most other arenas is one of Trump’s biggest foes, has said nearly the exact same thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no compassion in allowing people to suffer the indignity of living in an encampment for years and years,” Newsom said in September before \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/19/governor-newsom-signs-bipartisan-housing-package-and-launches-prop-1-homekey-initiative/\">signing\u003c/a> a package of housing bills. In July, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/07/newsom-homeless-encampments-order/\">ordered\u003c/a> state agencies to ramp up encampment sweeps, and he threatened to withhold state funding from cities that fail to do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two-dozen California cities and counties already have introduced or passed new ordinances \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/09/camping-ban-ordinances/\">cracking down on camps\u003c/a> (or updated existing ones to make them more punitive), after the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/06/california-homeless-camps-grants-pass-ruling/\">Supreme Court\u003c/a> gave them the green light to do so in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump also said he would move unhoused people to tent cities staffed with doctors and social workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That plan alarmed Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to remember that involuntary carceral approaches don’t work and just delay our efforts to end homelessness,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Trump pushes these policies at the national level, especially if he offers federal funding for sweeps and tent cities, it could spur California cities to further crack down, Visotzky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Trump administration gets to work replacing the heads of federal agencies such as the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, there’s a good chance policies California has come to rely on will get tossed out along the way, said Sharon Rapport, director of California state policy for the Corporation for Supportive Housing. The new guard likely will scrap at least some policies viewed as the gold standard in California, such as “housing first,” which says unhoused people, even those struggling with an addiction or their mental health, should be offered housing with no strings attached, and then services to help them recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a good bet California would see large cuts to funding for federal housing and homelessness programs — including the voucher program that subsidizes rents for hundreds of thousands of Californians, Rapport said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s worrying for organizations such as Abode, which provides housing and other services for homeless Californians in seven counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal funding is the brunt of what we receive either directly or through other entities, so it could be really impactful if there’s a huge reduction,” said CEO Vivian Wan. “It’s just going to hurt all of our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When President-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House in January, he will become a key figure in California’s homelessness crisis, holding the federal purse strings and setting policy at the national level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what will this change of power mean for the state as it tries to move its \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/09/pit-count-analysis-2024/\">nearly 186,000 \u003c/a>homeless residents — the most in the nation — indoors?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Housing and homeless services experts in California worry the Trump administration will cut federal funding in those areas, while also doing away with policies deemed too “progressive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But surprisingly, based on what he’s said so far about one of the key issues regarding homelessness, Trump’s agenda isn’t much different from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. Trump pledged to tackle the encampments that have made cities “unlivable” by working with states to ban urban camping and arrest those who don’t comply — something many cities in California started doing before Election Day, as Newsom encouraged them to clear camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The homeless have no right to turn every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs,” Trump said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.donaldjtrump.com/agenda47/agenda47-ending-the-nightmare-of-the-homeless-drug-addicts-and-dangerously-deranged\">campaign video\u003c/a> posted online in April, 2023. The video appears to be the last time he revealed specific homelessness policy intentions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, who in most other arenas is one of Trump’s biggest foes, has said nearly the exact same thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no compassion in allowing people to suffer the indignity of living in an encampment for years and years,” Newsom said in September before \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/19/governor-newsom-signs-bipartisan-housing-package-and-launches-prop-1-homekey-initiative/\">signing\u003c/a> a package of housing bills. In July, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/07/newsom-homeless-encampments-order/\">ordered\u003c/a> state agencies to ramp up encampment sweeps, and he threatened to withhold state funding from cities that fail to do the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two-dozen California cities and counties already have introduced or passed new ordinances \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/09/camping-ban-ordinances/\">cracking down on camps\u003c/a> (or updated existing ones to make them more punitive), after the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/06/california-homeless-camps-grants-pass-ruling/\">Supreme Court\u003c/a> gave them the green light to do so in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump also said he would move unhoused people to tent cities staffed with doctors and social workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That plan alarmed Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to remember that involuntary carceral approaches don’t work and just delay our efforts to end homelessness,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Trump pushes these policies at the national level, especially if he offers federal funding for sweeps and tent cities, it could spur California cities to further crack down, Visotzky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Trump administration gets to work replacing the heads of federal agencies such as the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, there’s a good chance policies California has come to rely on will get tossed out along the way, said Sharon Rapport, director of California state policy for the Corporation for Supportive Housing. The new guard likely will scrap at least some policies viewed as the gold standard in California, such as “housing first,” which says unhoused people, even those struggling with an addiction or their mental health, should be offered housing with no strings attached, and then services to help them recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a good bet California would see large cuts to funding for federal housing and homelessness programs — including the voucher program that subsidizes rents for hundreds of thousands of Californians, Rapport said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s worrying for organizations such as Abode, which provides housing and other services for homeless Californians in seven counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal funding is the brunt of what we receive either directly or through other entities, so it could be really impactful if there’s a huge reduction,” said CEO Vivian Wan. “It’s just going to hurt all of our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "immediate-threat-mussel-invades-californias-delta-first-time-in-north-america",
"title": "'Immediate Threat': Mussel Invades California's Delta, First Time in North America",
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"content": "\u003cp>From the glittery bling of its name, the golden mussel sounds like it could be California’s state bivalve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, the creature’s only connection to the Golden State is the fact that it is California’s most recently identified invasive species — and it’s a bad one, with the capacity to clog major water supply pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 17, the tiny freshwater mollusks, which have already laid siege to waterways of southern South America, were found at Rough and Ready Island, near Stockton. Since then, state officials said, it has been in at least one other location, O’Neill Forebay, in Merced County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its appearance in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the mussel’s first confirmed detection in North America, according to a news release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also very possibly just the beginning of a long battle ahead to slow its spread. The top concerns at the moment include potential impacts to the environment and to the Delta pumping stations that send water to 30 million people and millions of acres of farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless it is contained and eliminated immediately, said UC Davis biologist Peter Moyle, there might be no getting rid of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re lucky, and we stage a real eradication effort in the area where it’s presently found, it might not be too costly and would be worth it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if such efforts fail, it could become a major problem for native species that the mussels outcompete for food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vWtkzwFnS0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Fish and Wildlife is already considering these worst-case outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The species poses a significant immediate threat to the ecological health of the Delta and all waters of the state, water conveyance systems, infrastructure and water quality,” staff officials wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources is already conducting vessel inspections in the hopes of preventing spread of the mussels. In the San Luis State Recreation Area, officials have been inspecting watercraft exiting O’Neill Forebay, San Luis Reservoir, and Los Banos Creek Reservoir, said Tanya Veldhuizen, the department’s special projects section manager. The inspections are to “ensure all water is drained from live wells and bilges to prevent spread of invasive species to other water bodies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department, she said, is also taking heightened measures to protect the State Water Project — the system of pumps, pipes, and canals that exports water south from the Delta. This enhanced vigilance to mitigate “mussel biofouling,” she said, requires more frequent inspections, as well as cleaning and flushing. The mussels, she said, are likely to build up in screens, strainers, and trash racks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7p_w4zE3s4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A native of China and Southeast Asia, \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/golden-mussels-devastating-south-american-rivers-amazon-may-be-next\">the golden mussel\u003c/a> — taxonomically \u003cem>Limnoperna fortunei \u003c/em>— fixes itself to underwater surfaces, forming thick “reefs” built of millions of the animals. They feed by filtering nutrients and plankton from the water and, by this passive action, can have devastating impacts. Essentially, they filter the nutrition out of the native food web. In Argentina and southern Brazil, where golden mussels appeared in the 1990s, they have pushed out other species and smothered river beaches and native vegetation. Scientists have watched them spread north as rapidly as 150 miles per year, and they fear the invaders will find their way into the world’s largest river system and the hottest hotspot of biodiversity on Earth, the Amazon basin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve also wreaked mayhem with underwater infrastructure, from hydroelectric plants to water supply systems. The mussels, for example, reportedly clogged the intake pipes of an urban water supply system in Brazil’s Lake Guaíba.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one can be certain how the mussels got to California, but sources suspect they arrived the same way they are believed to have traveled to South America — in the bowels of commercial ships, where ballast water used to stabilize vessels at sea is often drained in the port of arrival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone is particularly surprised, either. Moyle, for one, said he’s been expecting the golden mussel to arrive in the state for years. The California Delta, he noted, has been described as one of the most invaded estuaries in the world. It has been colonized by \u003ca href=\"https://deltaconservancy.ca.gov/about-the-diisc/\">at least 185\u003c/a> foreign species, from Himalayan blackberries and fig trees to black bass, striped bass, and water hyacinth. According to one estimate, invasive species account for an astounding \u003ca href=\"https://www.watereducation.org/western-water/its-not-just-nutria-sacramento-san-joaquin-delta-has-185-invasive-species-tracking#:~:text=Estimates%20are%20that%20at%20least%20185%20invasive%20plants,least%2095%20percent%20of%20the%20region%E2%80%99s%20total%20biomass.\">95% or more of the estuary’s total biomass\u003c/a>. The nutria — a large water-loving rodent from South America — has spread through the estuary in recent years amid concerns that it could, among other things, damage levees with its burrows.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11786254,news_12008422,news_11918450\"]There are even some Asian bivalves already living in the Bay and Delta. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbssocal.org/redefine/the-tiny-clams-that-ate-the-bay-delta#:~:text=The%20Amur%20River%20clam%20%28Corbula%20amurensis%29%20and%20Asian,the%20Bay%20Delta%27s%20aquatic%20ecosystem%20at%20its%20base\">Eurasian overbite clam\u003c/a>, for one, spread through the waterway \u003ca href=\"https://californiawaterblog.com/2022/05/29/the-failed-recovery-plan-for-the-delta-and-delta-smelt/\">in the 1980s\u003c/a>. Biologists say the species has likely played a role in the downfall of native fishes by absorbing the tiny food particles that they depend on. The failed recovery of the Delta smelt, for example, has been linked to the spread of these clams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, scientists fear the golden mussel could add to these pressures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not necessarily. Moyle said the Delta is so heavily impacted already, and its food resources already claimed, by other species — notably the filter-feeding clams — that there may be no room for the golden mussel to move in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The invasive clams take up a lot of niche space,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Moyle said, “it could be a super-invader” — an invasive species so adaptable and persistent that it replaces other invaders that came before it. The Delta’s average range of water temperatures and salinity, he said, are just right for the golden mussel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in such an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/california-battle-invasive-species/\">ecologically ransacked\u003c/a> place as the Delta, not everyone is concerned about another bump in the road. Brett Baker, a water attorney with the Central Delta Water Agency and a sixth-generation resident on Sutter Island — and a former biology student of Moyle — isn’t fazed by the golden mussel’s appearance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve heard alarms all my life about quagga mussels, zebra mussels, mitten crabs, and nutria,” he said. “I just don’t think there’s enough slack in the system, or enough niche space, particularly for a species that isn’t evolved to live here. … I’m pretty sure we won’t be talking about the golden mussel in 20 years, but I could be wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>From the glittery bling of its name, the golden mussel sounds like it could be California’s state bivalve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, the creature’s only connection to the Golden State is the fact that it is California’s most recently identified invasive species — and it’s a bad one, with the capacity to clog major water supply pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 17, the tiny freshwater mollusks, which have already laid siege to waterways of southern South America, were found at Rough and Ready Island, near Stockton. Since then, state officials said, it has been in at least one other location, O’Neill Forebay, in Merced County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its appearance in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the mussel’s first confirmed detection in North America, according to a news release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also very possibly just the beginning of a long battle ahead to slow its spread. The top concerns at the moment include potential impacts to the environment and to the Delta pumping stations that send water to 30 million people and millions of acres of farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless it is contained and eliminated immediately, said UC Davis biologist Peter Moyle, there might be no getting rid of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re lucky, and we stage a real eradication effort in the area where it’s presently found, it might not be too costly and would be worth it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if such efforts fail, it could become a major problem for native species that the mussels outcompete for food.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/4vWtkzwFnS0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/4vWtkzwFnS0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The Department of Fish and Wildlife is already considering these worst-case outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The species poses a significant immediate threat to the ecological health of the Delta and all waters of the state, water conveyance systems, infrastructure and water quality,” staff officials wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources is already conducting vessel inspections in the hopes of preventing spread of the mussels. In the San Luis State Recreation Area, officials have been inspecting watercraft exiting O’Neill Forebay, San Luis Reservoir, and Los Banos Creek Reservoir, said Tanya Veldhuizen, the department’s special projects section manager. The inspections are to “ensure all water is drained from live wells and bilges to prevent spread of invasive species to other water bodies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department, she said, is also taking heightened measures to protect the State Water Project — the system of pumps, pipes, and canals that exports water south from the Delta. This enhanced vigilance to mitigate “mussel biofouling,” she said, requires more frequent inspections, as well as cleaning and flushing. The mussels, she said, are likely to build up in screens, strainers, and trash racks.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/m7p_w4zE3s4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/m7p_w4zE3s4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>A native of China and Southeast Asia, \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/golden-mussels-devastating-south-american-rivers-amazon-may-be-next\">the golden mussel\u003c/a> — taxonomically \u003cem>Limnoperna fortunei \u003c/em>— fixes itself to underwater surfaces, forming thick “reefs” built of millions of the animals. They feed by filtering nutrients and plankton from the water and, by this passive action, can have devastating impacts. Essentially, they filter the nutrition out of the native food web. In Argentina and southern Brazil, where golden mussels appeared in the 1990s, they have pushed out other species and smothered river beaches and native vegetation. Scientists have watched them spread north as rapidly as 150 miles per year, and they fear the invaders will find their way into the world’s largest river system and the hottest hotspot of biodiversity on Earth, the Amazon basin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve also wreaked mayhem with underwater infrastructure, from hydroelectric plants to water supply systems. The mussels, for example, reportedly clogged the intake pipes of an urban water supply system in Brazil’s Lake Guaíba.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one can be certain how the mussels got to California, but sources suspect they arrived the same way they are believed to have traveled to South America — in the bowels of commercial ships, where ballast water used to stabilize vessels at sea is often drained in the port of arrival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone is particularly surprised, either. Moyle, for one, said he’s been expecting the golden mussel to arrive in the state for years. The California Delta, he noted, has been described as one of the most invaded estuaries in the world. It has been colonized by \u003ca href=\"https://deltaconservancy.ca.gov/about-the-diisc/\">at least 185\u003c/a> foreign species, from Himalayan blackberries and fig trees to black bass, striped bass, and water hyacinth. According to one estimate, invasive species account for an astounding \u003ca href=\"https://www.watereducation.org/western-water/its-not-just-nutria-sacramento-san-joaquin-delta-has-185-invasive-species-tracking#:~:text=Estimates%20are%20that%20at%20least%20185%20invasive%20plants,least%2095%20percent%20of%20the%20region%E2%80%99s%20total%20biomass.\">95% or more of the estuary’s total biomass\u003c/a>. The nutria — a large water-loving rodent from South America — has spread through the estuary in recent years amid concerns that it could, among other things, damage levees with its burrows.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There are even some Asian bivalves already living in the Bay and Delta. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbssocal.org/redefine/the-tiny-clams-that-ate-the-bay-delta#:~:text=The%20Amur%20River%20clam%20%28Corbula%20amurensis%29%20and%20Asian,the%20Bay%20Delta%27s%20aquatic%20ecosystem%20at%20its%20base\">Eurasian overbite clam\u003c/a>, for one, spread through the waterway \u003ca href=\"https://californiawaterblog.com/2022/05/29/the-failed-recovery-plan-for-the-delta-and-delta-smelt/\">in the 1980s\u003c/a>. Biologists say the species has likely played a role in the downfall of native fishes by absorbing the tiny food particles that they depend on. The failed recovery of the Delta smelt, for example, has been linked to the spread of these clams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, scientists fear the golden mussel could add to these pressures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not necessarily. Moyle said the Delta is so heavily impacted already, and its food resources already claimed, by other species — notably the filter-feeding clams — that there may be no room for the golden mussel to move in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The invasive clams take up a lot of niche space,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Moyle said, “it could be a super-invader” — an invasive species so adaptable and persistent that it replaces other invaders that came before it. The Delta’s average range of water temperatures and salinity, he said, are just right for the golden mussel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in such an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/california-battle-invasive-species/\">ecologically ransacked\u003c/a> place as the Delta, not everyone is concerned about another bump in the road. Brett Baker, a water attorney with the Central Delta Water Agency and a sixth-generation resident on Sutter Island — and a former biology student of Moyle — isn’t fazed by the golden mussel’s appearance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve heard alarms all my life about quagga mussels, zebra mussels, mitten crabs, and nutria,” he said. “I just don’t think there’s enough slack in the system, or enough niche space, particularly for a species that isn’t evolved to live here. … I’m pretty sure we won’t be talking about the golden mussel in 20 years, but I could be wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
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