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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 10:25 p.m. Monday:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland City Council unanimously voted to pass a \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6426870&GUID=0B829E4E-DACD-4245-B5FA-3365F4E66CEB&Options=&Search=\">resolution\u003c/a> late Monday night to call on Congress to demand a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all hostages on both sides of the conflict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want Jewish children to live as much as I want Palestinian children to live, but we’ve got to acknowledge the imbalance and disproportionate death on one side,” said District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, who introduced the resolution. “I reject the fact that Oakland is not united. We stand together on what counts when it counts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife credited Muslim and Jewish leaders with helping write the resolution. The resolution cited the city’s official motto, “Love Life” and vowed council support of \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hres786\">U.S. House Resolution 786\u003c/a>, which calls for “an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Kalb, District 1 Councilmember, asked for amendments, but his motion failed. His amendments would have included condemning Hamas for the attack on Oct. 7, murdering more than 1,200 people and holding over 200 people hostage. He also wanted the resolution to address his view that the people on both sides of the conflict are victims of Hamas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not even clearly mentioning the Hamas mass murder on Oct. 7 is sending the wrong message, and an embarrassing message,” he said when introducing the amendments. He ultimately voted to pass the cease-fire resolution as is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do believe that these amendments do not take away from the cease-fire; they broaden the support for this measure,” he said to represent the views of all Oakland residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 7 Councilmember Treva Reid voted in favor of the resolution but was the lone supporter of Kalb in his amendments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many, many more facts that we would have to put into this resolution if we weren’t going to add anything more to it,” said Nikki Fortunato Bas, council president and District 2 Councilmember, who did not support Kalb’s amendments. “I believe this council needs to be on the record to our federal and state legislators to do everything possible to call for a cease-fire and a realistic path to peace and self-determination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 6:30 p.m. Monday: \u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nIn her opening remarks at Monday evening’s Oakland City Council meeting, Councilmember Carroll Fife framed the resolution she introduced as an even-handed response intended to give a unified voice to Oakland’s diverse communities, one that began following a dialog she initiated with the city’s Muslim and Jewish leaders on Oct. 8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to acknowledge the real pain that people were experiencing,” Fife said. “I wanted to have a conversation with organizers… to chart a path forward. I deeply believe that the resolution that is in front of us today does that work. I think it is mild in response to what is happening in the Middle East right now. It is a moderate approach to the atrocities that are occurring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During public comment, some insisted the resolution be amended to include language condemning Hamas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There will be no Palestinian-Israeli peace with [Hamas] in power and that’s why this resolution must be amended to acknowledge the atrocities of Hamas and include its removal from power,” said Tye Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, which has \u003ca href=\"https://jcrcbayarea.salsalabs.org/telloaklandnohamas/index.html\">previously called for such an amendment\u003c/a>. Gregory identified himself as a “proud gay Jewish Zionist” who believes in a two-state solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland resident Naomi Katz said she worries failing to condemn Hamas would lead to a rise in antisemitism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A resolution that does not clearly state in no uncertain terms that Hamas is a terror organization that needs to be eradicated… not only invites antisemitism into our city, it fans the flames of anti-Semitism that already exists,” Katz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many other public commenters, however, at least half a dozen of whom identified themselves as Jewish, said they fully support the resolution as it stands and pushed for its passage without amendment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a descendant of people who have survived genocide, displacement, ethnic cleansing and persecution because of who they are,” said Oakland resident Elizabeth Diamond. “I refuse to be silent. Never again means never again for anyone, including Palestinians. I ask the City Council to speak up by passing this resolution without amendment. Never again is now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m an anti-Zionist Jew and I’ve lived here 12 years… I am the granddaughter of two German Jewish Holocaust survivors and I call for a ceasefire now,” said a resident who identified themselves as Gianni. “My grandfather escaped the Nazis and then returned to Germany as an American soldier and helped liberate concentration camps. And he saw firsthand what violence you can do to other people, when you dehumanize them. The Jewish people are not safer by denying life and sovereignty to Palestinians… Pass the resolution without amendment please.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a Jewish Oakland resident I’ve been horrified day after day at the scale of murder and destruction wrought by Israel’s U.S.-funded bombs,” said Lee Goodman. “We have an important role to play in creating the political pressure at the national level to stop U.S. tax dollars from funding mass murder… This amendment to condemn Hamas is a distraction and deflection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nadal, a commenter who identified himself as Palestinian, said he worries about increasing Islamophobia and urged the Council to pass the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland’s Arab and Muslim communities have never been so vulnerable and we need you now to protect us,” he said. “We urge you to reject any amendments made by extremists and racists calling for increased violence and warfare… please stand strong and stand up for humanity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One commenter, Samira, who identified herself as a Palestinian American “with family still living in Palestine,” drew a direct line between Oakland’s history of being at the forefront of the fight for racial justice and the plight of Palestinians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of my family… asked about Oakland because they had heard about the Black Panther Party,” she said. “And they were really excited at the potential that a city who had such a historic, revolutionary force behind them … would be here today to stand in solidarity with Palestine. I know it might be hard to think about how Oakland could connect to Palestine. but it’s important to remember that all of these liberations are united… and for the ability to just be a person in a place without getting massacred by a violent police force.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe Oakland City Council will consider adopting a \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6426870&GUID=0B829E4E-DACD-4245-B5FA-3365F4E66CEB&Options=&Search=\">resolution\u003c/a> Monday night calling on Congress to demand a cease-fire in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza/\">Gaza\u003c/a> and the release of all hostages, both Jewish and Palestinian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a time for diplomatic solutions, not military might, because the only pathway to lasting peace and justice will require addressing the root causes of the crisis,” wrote Councilmember Carroll Fife, who introduced the resolution, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz66ZkLya_l/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">in an Instagram post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife, and the “Oakland-wide Muslim and Jewish leaders” she credited with writing the resolution, cite the city’s official motto, “Love Life,” and want the council to support \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hres786\">U.S. House Resolution 786\u003c/a>, which calls for “an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='gaza']The Oakland proposal comes as a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has allowed the freeing of hostages, as well as some desperately needed humanitarian aid, to flow into the Gaza Strip, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/27/1215330196/israel-and-hamas-hint-at-extending-truce-as-more-captives-are-slated-to-be-freed\">according to reporting from NPR\u003c/a>. The more than 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza have faced dire shortages of food, water, medical supplies and fuel amid Israel’s ongoing siege of the territory. Israel’s heavy bombardment and invasion of Gaza began after Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped approximately 240 others in a cross-border attack into Southern Israel on Oct. 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Israel’s attacks on Gaza have now killed more than 13,000 people, according to Gaza health officials. Among the dead are more than 5,350 children, \u003ca href=\"https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/gazas-children-running-out-time-water-shortages-spark-disease-alarm\">according to UNICEF\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protesters at numerous Oakland demonstrations in recent weeks have demanded a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, including actions at an Oakland City Council meeting, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/03/protest-port-of-oakland-gaza-ceasefire/\">at the Port of Oakland\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/14/jewish-protest-oakland-ceasefire-gaza/\">federal building in downtown Oakland\u003c/a>. On Nov. 16, hundreds of demonstrators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967536/protesters-calling-for-gaza-ceasefire-block-bay-bridges-westbound-lanes\">shut down the Bay Bridge for hours\u003c/a> during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife’s resolution also calls for the unrestricted entry of aid into Gaza, the restoration of critical supplies in Gaza and the respect for international law. If passed, the Oakland resolution would also condemn “the recent rise of Antisemitic, Islamophobic, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic attacks in our city and across the nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland is not the first Bay Area city to consider a resolution; the Richmond City Council \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2357\">approved a similar resolution last month\u003c/a>, calling Israel’s actions “ethnic cleansing” and “collective punishment.” The Oakland resolution does not mention either but does recognize the loss of life on both sides of the conflict while also noting that “over 1.5 million Palestinians” still face “displacement, homelessness, and starvation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other city councilmembers have also voiced their support for a cease-fire. On Nov. 13, council president Nikki Fortunato Bas \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/nikki4oakland/status/1724170722229289300?s=20\">issued a statement\u003c/a> addressed to President Joe Biden and congressional leaders asking them to call for a cease-fire, saying she “mourns every life lost” and that the loss of life on both sides of the conflict is “unforgivable and inhumane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Dan Kalb, on the other hand, has criticized how other local leaders and organizations have talked about the war. He \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/22/oakland-is-next-to-consider-a-gaza-ceasefire-resolution/\">told The Oaklandside\u003c/a> that anything in the resolution delegitimizing Israel’s existence or making “false accusations” would be unacceptable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/SFJCRC/status/1727064232611520795\">wrote in a social media post\u003c/a>, ”We are dismayed by the resolution’s silence. It calls for an immediate ceasefire but says nothing about the atrocities #Hamas committed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another group, Jewish Voice for Peace, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/JVPBayArea/status/1727141888233521161\">called on the City Council to approve the resolution\u003c/a> and encouraged community members to attend Monday’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated to include more voices from Monday evening’s public comment period.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Update, 10:25 p.m. Monday:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland City Council unanimously voted to pass a \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6426870&GUID=0B829E4E-DACD-4245-B5FA-3365F4E66CEB&Options=&Search=\">resolution\u003c/a> late Monday night to call on Congress to demand a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all hostages on both sides of the conflict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want Jewish children to live as much as I want Palestinian children to live, but we’ve got to acknowledge the imbalance and disproportionate death on one side,” said District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, who introduced the resolution. “I reject the fact that Oakland is not united. We stand together on what counts when it counts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife credited Muslim and Jewish leaders with helping write the resolution. The resolution cited the city’s official motto, “Love Life” and vowed council support of \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hres786\">U.S. House Resolution 786\u003c/a>, which calls for “an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Kalb, District 1 Councilmember, asked for amendments, but his motion failed. His amendments would have included condemning Hamas for the attack on Oct. 7, murdering more than 1,200 people and holding over 200 people hostage. He also wanted the resolution to address his view that the people on both sides of the conflict are victims of Hamas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not even clearly mentioning the Hamas mass murder on Oct. 7 is sending the wrong message, and an embarrassing message,” he said when introducing the amendments. He ultimately voted to pass the cease-fire resolution as is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do believe that these amendments do not take away from the cease-fire; they broaden the support for this measure,” he said to represent the views of all Oakland residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 7 Councilmember Treva Reid voted in favor of the resolution but was the lone supporter of Kalb in his amendments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many, many more facts that we would have to put into this resolution if we weren’t going to add anything more to it,” said Nikki Fortunato Bas, council president and District 2 Councilmember, who did not support Kalb’s amendments. “I believe this council needs to be on the record to our federal and state legislators to do everything possible to call for a cease-fire and a realistic path to peace and self-determination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 6:30 p.m. Monday: \u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nIn her opening remarks at Monday evening’s Oakland City Council meeting, Councilmember Carroll Fife framed the resolution she introduced as an even-handed response intended to give a unified voice to Oakland’s diverse communities, one that began following a dialog she initiated with the city’s Muslim and Jewish leaders on Oct. 8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to acknowledge the real pain that people were experiencing,” Fife said. “I wanted to have a conversation with organizers… to chart a path forward. I deeply believe that the resolution that is in front of us today does that work. I think it is mild in response to what is happening in the Middle East right now. It is a moderate approach to the atrocities that are occurring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During public comment, some insisted the resolution be amended to include language condemning Hamas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There will be no Palestinian-Israeli peace with [Hamas] in power and that’s why this resolution must be amended to acknowledge the atrocities of Hamas and include its removal from power,” said Tye Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, which has \u003ca href=\"https://jcrcbayarea.salsalabs.org/telloaklandnohamas/index.html\">previously called for such an amendment\u003c/a>. Gregory identified himself as a “proud gay Jewish Zionist” who believes in a two-state solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland resident Naomi Katz said she worries failing to condemn Hamas would lead to a rise in antisemitism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A resolution that does not clearly state in no uncertain terms that Hamas is a terror organization that needs to be eradicated… not only invites antisemitism into our city, it fans the flames of anti-Semitism that already exists,” Katz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many other public commenters, however, at least half a dozen of whom identified themselves as Jewish, said they fully support the resolution as it stands and pushed for its passage without amendment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a descendant of people who have survived genocide, displacement, ethnic cleansing and persecution because of who they are,” said Oakland resident Elizabeth Diamond. “I refuse to be silent. Never again means never again for anyone, including Palestinians. I ask the City Council to speak up by passing this resolution without amendment. Never again is now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m an anti-Zionist Jew and I’ve lived here 12 years… I am the granddaughter of two German Jewish Holocaust survivors and I call for a ceasefire now,” said a resident who identified themselves as Gianni. “My grandfather escaped the Nazis and then returned to Germany as an American soldier and helped liberate concentration camps. And he saw firsthand what violence you can do to other people, when you dehumanize them. The Jewish people are not safer by denying life and sovereignty to Palestinians… Pass the resolution without amendment please.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a Jewish Oakland resident I’ve been horrified day after day at the scale of murder and destruction wrought by Israel’s U.S.-funded bombs,” said Lee Goodman. “We have an important role to play in creating the political pressure at the national level to stop U.S. tax dollars from funding mass murder… This amendment to condemn Hamas is a distraction and deflection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nadal, a commenter who identified himself as Palestinian, said he worries about increasing Islamophobia and urged the Council to pass the resolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland’s Arab and Muslim communities have never been so vulnerable and we need you now to protect us,” he said. “We urge you to reject any amendments made by extremists and racists calling for increased violence and warfare… please stand strong and stand up for humanity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One commenter, Samira, who identified herself as a Palestinian American “with family still living in Palestine,” drew a direct line between Oakland’s history of being at the forefront of the fight for racial justice and the plight of Palestinians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of my family… asked about Oakland because they had heard about the Black Panther Party,” she said. “And they were really excited at the potential that a city who had such a historic, revolutionary force behind them … would be here today to stand in solidarity with Palestine. I know it might be hard to think about how Oakland could connect to Palestine. but it’s important to remember that all of these liberations are united… and for the ability to just be a person in a place without getting massacred by a violent police force.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe Oakland City Council will consider adopting a \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6426870&GUID=0B829E4E-DACD-4245-B5FA-3365F4E66CEB&Options=&Search=\">resolution\u003c/a> Monday night calling on Congress to demand a cease-fire in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gaza/\">Gaza\u003c/a> and the release of all hostages, both Jewish and Palestinian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a time for diplomatic solutions, not military might, because the only pathway to lasting peace and justice will require addressing the root causes of the crisis,” wrote Councilmember Carroll Fife, who introduced the resolution, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz66ZkLya_l/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">in an Instagram post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife, and the “Oakland-wide Muslim and Jewish leaders” she credited with writing the resolution, cite the city’s official motto, “Love Life,” and want the council to support \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hres786\">U.S. House Resolution 786\u003c/a>, which calls for “an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Oakland proposal comes as a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has allowed the freeing of hostages, as well as some desperately needed humanitarian aid, to flow into the Gaza Strip, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/27/1215330196/israel-and-hamas-hint-at-extending-truce-as-more-captives-are-slated-to-be-freed\">according to reporting from NPR\u003c/a>. The more than 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza have faced dire shortages of food, water, medical supplies and fuel amid Israel’s ongoing siege of the territory. Israel’s heavy bombardment and invasion of Gaza began after Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped approximately 240 others in a cross-border attack into Southern Israel on Oct. 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Israel’s attacks on Gaza have now killed more than 13,000 people, according to Gaza health officials. Among the dead are more than 5,350 children, \u003ca href=\"https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/gazas-children-running-out-time-water-shortages-spark-disease-alarm\">according to UNICEF\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protesters at numerous Oakland demonstrations in recent weeks have demanded a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, including actions at an Oakland City Council meeting, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/03/protest-port-of-oakland-gaza-ceasefire/\">at the Port of Oakland\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/14/jewish-protest-oakland-ceasefire-gaza/\">federal building in downtown Oakland\u003c/a>. On Nov. 16, hundreds of demonstrators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967536/protesters-calling-for-gaza-ceasefire-block-bay-bridges-westbound-lanes\">shut down the Bay Bridge for hours\u003c/a> during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife’s resolution also calls for the unrestricted entry of aid into Gaza, the restoration of critical supplies in Gaza and the respect for international law. If passed, the Oakland resolution would also condemn “the recent rise of Antisemitic, Islamophobic, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic attacks in our city and across the nation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland is not the first Bay Area city to consider a resolution; the Richmond City Council \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2357\">approved a similar resolution last month\u003c/a>, calling Israel’s actions “ethnic cleansing” and “collective punishment.” The Oakland resolution does not mention either but does recognize the loss of life on both sides of the conflict while also noting that “over 1.5 million Palestinians” still face “displacement, homelessness, and starvation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other city councilmembers have also voiced their support for a cease-fire. On Nov. 13, council president Nikki Fortunato Bas \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/nikki4oakland/status/1724170722229289300?s=20\">issued a statement\u003c/a> addressed to President Joe Biden and congressional leaders asking them to call for a cease-fire, saying she “mourns every life lost” and that the loss of life on both sides of the conflict is “unforgivable and inhumane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Dan Kalb, on the other hand, has criticized how other local leaders and organizations have talked about the war. He \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/22/oakland-is-next-to-consider-a-gaza-ceasefire-resolution/\">told The Oaklandside\u003c/a> that anything in the resolution delegitimizing Israel’s existence or making “false accusations” would be unacceptable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/SFJCRC/status/1727064232611520795\">wrote in a social media post\u003c/a>, ”We are dismayed by the resolution’s silence. It calls for an immediate ceasefire but says nothing about the atrocities #Hamas committed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another group, Jewish Voice for Peace, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/JVPBayArea/status/1727141888233521161\">called on the City Council to approve the resolution\u003c/a> and encouraged community members to attend Monday’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated to include more voices from Monday evening’s public comment period.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Is New State Construction Bond Measure Enough to Help Fix Scores of Dilapidated Schools in Rural California?",
"headTitle": "Is New State Construction Bond Measure Enough to Help Fix Scores of Dilapidated Schools in Rural California? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Lea este artículo en \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/calmatters-en-espanol/2023/11/muchas-comunidades-rurales-de-california-buscan-conseguir-dinero-para-construir-escuelas-podra-una-nueva-medida-de-bonos-ofrecer-suficiente-ayuda/\">español\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California’s fund to fix crumbling schools dwindles to nothing, lawmakers are negotiating behind the scenes to craft a ballot measure that would be the state’s largest school construction bond in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some beleaguered school superintendents say the money will not be nearly enough to fix all the dry rot, leaky roofs and broken air conditioners in the state’s thousands of school buildings. And it won’t change a system that they say favors wealthier, urban, left-leaning areas that can easily pass local bond measures to make needed repairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Helio Brasil, superintendent of Keyes Union School District\"]‘The big question is, why can’t our kids have school buildings that are safe and as nice as other kids’ schools just a few miles away?’[/pullquote]“The big question is, why can’t our kids have school buildings that are safe and as nice as other kids’ schools just a few miles away?” said Helio Brasil, superintendent of Keyes Union School District, a rural TK-8 district in a lower-income area south of Modesto. “This school is in such bad shape it can feel like a jail. … I’m speaking up about this because I feel the system needs to be fixed. I don’t want the next generation of students to have to experience this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two bills are currently under consideration in the state Legislature, which would bring in billions to repair school facilities. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB247\">Assembly Bill 247\u003c/a> would raise $14 billion for K-12 schools and community colleges, while \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB28\">Senate Bill 28\u003c/a>, at $15.5 billion, includes the University of California and California State University, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators will likely pick only one bill to send to Gov. Gavin Newsom for approval. AB 247 might have the advantage because it doesn’t include the state’s four-year university systems, both of which have the means to raise their own revenue. So far, it’s garnered little opposition, while SB 28 is opposed by two contractors’ associations because the bill prioritizes projects that use union labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Taxpayers Association is neutral on AB 247 but opposes SB 28 because it would increase the amount of money school districts could borrow, leading to higher property taxes. AB 247 doesn’t change the borrowing limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/SYlkv/3/\" width=\"1000\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It should also be remembered that the school districts get to write the ballot questions, and they always use wording that encourages a ‘Yes’ vote and buries the part about the tax increase,” said association spokesman David Kline.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-addressing-the-new-reality\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Addressing ‘the new reality’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, chair of the Assembly education committee and co-author of AB 247, said he’s confident the governor will approve a school bond for the November 2024 ballot despite competition from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/08/california-housing-crisis-bonds/\">a handful of other pricey bond proposals\u003c/a> addressing housing, the fentanyl crisis and flood protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance, fixing broken schools should be California’s top priority, especially as wildfires and extreme weather intensify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our classrooms are aging, but we also need to address our new reality,” he said. “Classrooms of the 21st century should not only address students’ technical needs, but the reality of climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11968327\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1588px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM.png\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11968327\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM.png\" alt=\"A collage of 4 photos showing water damage from two different schools.\" width=\"1588\" height=\"1070\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM.png 1588w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-800x539.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-1020x687.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-160x108.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-1536x1035.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1588px) 100vw, 1588px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Water damage inside a classroom at Pacific Elementary School in Santa Cruz on Nov. 14, 2023. Second: A rusted roof at Pacific Elementary School in Santa Cruz on Nov. 14, 2023. Third: A building used as a storage facility boarded up and no longer in use at the Keyes Elementary School in Keyes on Nov. 15, 2023. Fourth: Construction sites in the hallways of Keyes Elementary School in Keyes on Nov. 15, 2023. Multiple projects continue at the campus due to a lack of funds. \u003ccite>(Clara Mokri/CalMatters and arry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike most other states, California has no permanent funding stream for repairing school facilities. Money comes from state and local bonds, which generate finite amounts, usually through property taxes. Although California has lavished money on schools in the past few years, most of that money is earmarked for helping students recover from the pandemic. It can’t be spent on construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, larger, urban and more affluent districts, which also tend to be more liberal, have an easier time raising funds. Not only are voters more likely to approve new taxes — the usual way that districts repay bonds — but property values are higher, thereby bringing in more money. In addition, districts can qualify for matching funds from the state, so “the more you have, the more you get,” said Julien Lafortune, a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, for example, the Mill Valley School District in Marin County raised $194 million through a \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Mill_Valley_School_District,_California,_Measure_G,_Bond_Issue_(June_2022)\">bond\u003c/a> that taxed local property owners just 2.6 cents per $100 of a property’s assessed value — in a city where the average home price hovers around $2 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the same year, in rural San Lucas, south of King City in Monterey County, the \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/San_Lucas_Union_School_District,_California,_Measure_C,_School_Facilities_Bond_Issue_(June_2022)\">school district tried passing a bond\u003c/a> that would have taxed property owners more than twice that rate, but because the average home price is below $300,000, the bond would have raised only $3.6 million. Regardless, voters rejected it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The system is inequitable. More (school facilities) money goes to higher-income students than lower-income students,” Lafortune said. “There’s an understanding in California that we shouldn’t have these big inequities when it comes to books, supplies, resources. There’s all these efforts to correct inequities. And yet that’s not something that exists for school facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a hardship fund for school districts that can’t cover their share of the matching funds. But getting hardship money is complicated, time-consuming and it can be overly burdensome for rural superintendents who may also be teaching classes, driving the bus and serving lunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/equitable-state-funding-for-school-facilities/\">a recent report\u003c/a>, the Public Policy Institute of California recommends that California survey the condition of the state’s thousands of school buildings and adopt a system that ensures the neediest districts get more money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/IldQ4/1/\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although both bills in the Legislature include tweaks to make funding more equitable, they don’t go far enough, said Jeff Vincent, co-founder of the Center for Cities and Schools at UC Berkeley. Nearly 40% of California’s school districts can’t raise enough through local bonds — those that manage to pass them — to cover necessary repair costs. Any statewide bond should include significant aid for rural, small and lower-income districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Districts in areas with lower property values are really struggling,” Vincent said. “This means that children in more disadvantaged communities tend to have schools in a greater state of disrepair. … It’s not just a matter of aesthetics. It’s an issue of environmental health and safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-better-facilities-higher-achievement\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Better facilities, higher achievement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The stakes are high: Students whose schools are in good condition perform 5% to 17% higher on standardized tests, are less likely to be suspended, and are more likely to attend school regularly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/re/documents/learnercenter.pdf\">according to the California Department of Education\u003c/a>. The reason, according to researchers, is that students focus better and have more pride in their school when buildings are comfortable and safe, with good air ventilation and temperature control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Gross, superintendent at Pacific Elementary School District in Santa Cruz County, has noticed that firsthand. For at least two decades, the roof has leaked so badly that staff have had to put trash cans in classrooms and hallways to collect rainwater during storms. Two engineers have recommended that one classroom be condemned, but it took years before the state finally approved plans to rebuild it earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11968328\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03.jpeg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11968328\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03.jpeg\" alt=\"A view inside a classroom with a white bucket on the floor below a missing ceiling panel. \" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03.jpeg 1568w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bucket catches water due to a leak in a sixth-grade classroom at Pacific Elementary School in Santa Cruz on Nov. 14, 2023. According to Superintendent Eric Gross, the ceiling leaks even on foggy mornings. \u003ccite>(Clara Mokri/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The other day, a teacher came to me and said, ‘The siding in my room is rotting.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know.’ She said, ‘OK, just wanted to make sure you knew.’ … Our staff is great, but there’s a level of demoralization. It’s frustrating, but everyone just accepts it,” Gross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s come to rely on parent volunteers to perform basic maintenance at the 150-student school in the town of Davenport. Parents replace broken door handles, prune blackberry bushes, fix broken windows and build benches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On the first day of school, I tell the families there are no passengers on this ship. Everyone rows,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small districts like his desperately need more assistance from the state, he said. This assistance should include not only more money but also help managing large projects. Gross is too busy running the school to hire consultants, negotiate with contractors, submit the reams of required paperwork, or oversee major projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can teach your kids to read, but I am not a construction manager,” he said. “The state needs to step in to help superintendents like me because we don’t have the time or expertise to do this on our own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-dry-rot-and-gophers\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dry rot and gophers\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Keyes Union School District, where Brasil has been superintendent for seven years, is a patchwork of deferred maintenance and jerry-rigging. Any money for repairs is long gone: The last time local voters passed a school construction bond was in 2005, and the state fund is depleted, as well. The elementary school gym, for example, doubles as a cafeteria, which means staff haul dozens of folding tables in and out daily. The middle school gym was never finished, so it lacks seating and locker rooms; students change in small, stuffy portables across the playground. Some of the roofs are 40 years old. A decade ago, an electrical malfunction sparked a pre-dawn fire in the Head Start building, engulfing it in flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for the past two years, Keyes’ most pressing issue has been gophers. Lured by the adjacent almond orchards, gophers invaded the middle school soccer field — one of only two fields in the town and shared with the community. The field was so pocked with divots and holes that anyone running across it risked an ankle injury or worse. The only way to make it usable again was to dig it up, regrade it and install new sod.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brasil didn’t have many financing options. The state rejected the district’s request for repair money, so it had to borrow $700,000 to complete the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted kids to have a nice, safe place to play, to run, to blow off steam after the pandemic. I would have rather spent that money on tutoring or after-school programs, but to me, this felt like the most important thing,” Brasil said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11968330\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04.jpeg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11968330\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04.jpeg\" alt=\"A middle-aged Latino man in a multicolored sweater stands next to caution tape in a school courtyard.\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04.jpeg 1568w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Helio Brasil stands in the hallway next to construction tape where new classrooms are being built at Keyes Elementary School in Keyes on Nov. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jeff Roberts, superintendent of Plumas Lake Elementary School District in Yuba County, has a different problem. His school buildings are in good shape, but the district is growing so fast he needs to build an entire new school — or risk cutting programs and increasing class sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, the district had only 100 students. But due to a housing boom in the region, he anticipates 2,200 students by 2030. The amount of money needed to build a new school is daunting: an estimated cost of $70 million to $100 million. The district can only raise $18 million through a local bond. Developers’ fees will bring in an additional $20 million, but that still leaves the district with only half the money it needs. Roberts is relying on the state to pass a new school construction bond so he can apply for the remainder of the funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I went into education for teaching and learning. Now, what I spend most of my time on is worrying about housing students,” Roberts said. “If we can’t figure this out, we’re going to have to cut things like P.E., art, music to make room for students. It’s extremely frustrating because we know that’s not what’s best for students’ education.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Small, rural districts often struggle to pass local bond measures to pay for school construction and repairs. In some cases, leaking roofs, dry rot, and broken air conditioners have gone unfixed for years.",
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"description": "Small, rural districts often struggle to pass local bond measures to pay for school construction and repairs. In some cases, leaking roofs, dry rot, and broken air conditioners have gone unfixed for years.",
"title": "Is New State Construction Bond Measure Enough to Help Fix Scores of Dilapidated Schools in Rural California? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Lea este artículo en \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/calmatters-en-espanol/2023/11/muchas-comunidades-rurales-de-california-buscan-conseguir-dinero-para-construir-escuelas-podra-una-nueva-medida-de-bonos-ofrecer-suficiente-ayuda/\">español\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California’s fund to fix crumbling schools dwindles to nothing, lawmakers are negotiating behind the scenes to craft a ballot measure that would be the state’s largest school construction bond in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some beleaguered school superintendents say the money will not be nearly enough to fix all the dry rot, leaky roofs and broken air conditioners in the state’s thousands of school buildings. And it won’t change a system that they say favors wealthier, urban, left-leaning areas that can easily pass local bond measures to make needed repairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The big question is, why can’t our kids have school buildings that are safe and as nice as other kids’ schools just a few miles away?’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The big question is, why can’t our kids have school buildings that are safe and as nice as other kids’ schools just a few miles away?” said Helio Brasil, superintendent of Keyes Union School District, a rural TK-8 district in a lower-income area south of Modesto. “This school is in such bad shape it can feel like a jail. … I’m speaking up about this because I feel the system needs to be fixed. I don’t want the next generation of students to have to experience this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two bills are currently under consideration in the state Legislature, which would bring in billions to repair school facilities. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB247\">Assembly Bill 247\u003c/a> would raise $14 billion for K-12 schools and community colleges, while \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB28\">Senate Bill 28\u003c/a>, at $15.5 billion, includes the University of California and California State University, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators will likely pick only one bill to send to Gov. Gavin Newsom for approval. AB 247 might have the advantage because it doesn’t include the state’s four-year university systems, both of which have the means to raise their own revenue. So far, it’s garnered little opposition, while SB 28 is opposed by two contractors’ associations because the bill prioritizes projects that use union labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Taxpayers Association is neutral on AB 247 but opposes SB 28 because it would increase the amount of money school districts could borrow, leading to higher property taxes. AB 247 doesn’t change the borrowing limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/SYlkv/3/\" width=\"1000\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It should also be remembered that the school districts get to write the ballot questions, and they always use wording that encourages a ‘Yes’ vote and buries the part about the tax increase,” said association spokesman David Kline.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-addressing-the-new-reality\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Addressing ‘the new reality’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, chair of the Assembly education committee and co-author of AB 247, said he’s confident the governor will approve a school bond for the November 2024 ballot despite competition from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/08/california-housing-crisis-bonds/\">a handful of other pricey bond proposals\u003c/a> addressing housing, the fentanyl crisis and flood protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance, fixing broken schools should be California’s top priority, especially as wildfires and extreme weather intensify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our classrooms are aging, but we also need to address our new reality,” he said. “Classrooms of the 21st century should not only address students’ technical needs, but the reality of climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11968327\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1588px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM.png\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11968327\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM.png\" alt=\"A collage of 4 photos showing water damage from two different schools.\" width=\"1588\" height=\"1070\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM.png 1588w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-800x539.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-1020x687.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-160x108.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/Screen-Shot-2023-11-27-at-11.16.19-AM-1536x1035.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1588px) 100vw, 1588px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Water damage inside a classroom at Pacific Elementary School in Santa Cruz on Nov. 14, 2023. Second: A rusted roof at Pacific Elementary School in Santa Cruz on Nov. 14, 2023. Third: A building used as a storage facility boarded up and no longer in use at the Keyes Elementary School in Keyes on Nov. 15, 2023. Fourth: Construction sites in the hallways of Keyes Elementary School in Keyes on Nov. 15, 2023. Multiple projects continue at the campus due to a lack of funds. \u003ccite>(Clara Mokri/CalMatters and arry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike most other states, California has no permanent funding stream for repairing school facilities. Money comes from state and local bonds, which generate finite amounts, usually through property taxes. Although California has lavished money on schools in the past few years, most of that money is earmarked for helping students recover from the pandemic. It can’t be spent on construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, larger, urban and more affluent districts, which also tend to be more liberal, have an easier time raising funds. Not only are voters more likely to approve new taxes — the usual way that districts repay bonds — but property values are higher, thereby bringing in more money. In addition, districts can qualify for matching funds from the state, so “the more you have, the more you get,” said Julien Lafortune, a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, for example, the Mill Valley School District in Marin County raised $194 million through a \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Mill_Valley_School_District,_California,_Measure_G,_Bond_Issue_(June_2022)\">bond\u003c/a> that taxed local property owners just 2.6 cents per $100 of a property’s assessed value — in a city where the average home price hovers around $2 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the same year, in rural San Lucas, south of King City in Monterey County, the \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/San_Lucas_Union_School_District,_California,_Measure_C,_School_Facilities_Bond_Issue_(June_2022)\">school district tried passing a bond\u003c/a> that would have taxed property owners more than twice that rate, but because the average home price is below $300,000, the bond would have raised only $3.6 million. Regardless, voters rejected it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The system is inequitable. More (school facilities) money goes to higher-income students than lower-income students,” Lafortune said. “There’s an understanding in California that we shouldn’t have these big inequities when it comes to books, supplies, resources. There’s all these efforts to correct inequities. And yet that’s not something that exists for school facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a hardship fund for school districts that can’t cover their share of the matching funds. But getting hardship money is complicated, time-consuming and it can be overly burdensome for rural superintendents who may also be teaching classes, driving the bus and serving lunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/equitable-state-funding-for-school-facilities/\">a recent report\u003c/a>, the Public Policy Institute of California recommends that California survey the condition of the state’s thousands of school buildings and adopt a system that ensures the neediest districts get more money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/IldQ4/1/\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although both bills in the Legislature include tweaks to make funding more equitable, they don’t go far enough, said Jeff Vincent, co-founder of the Center for Cities and Schools at UC Berkeley. Nearly 40% of California’s school districts can’t raise enough through local bonds — those that manage to pass them — to cover necessary repair costs. Any statewide bond should include significant aid for rural, small and lower-income districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Districts in areas with lower property values are really struggling,” Vincent said. “This means that children in more disadvantaged communities tend to have schools in a greater state of disrepair. … It’s not just a matter of aesthetics. It’s an issue of environmental health and safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-better-facilities-higher-achievement\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Better facilities, higher achievement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The stakes are high: Students whose schools are in good condition perform 5% to 17% higher on standardized tests, are less likely to be suspended, and are more likely to attend school regularly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/re/documents/learnercenter.pdf\">according to the California Department of Education\u003c/a>. The reason, according to researchers, is that students focus better and have more pride in their school when buildings are comfortable and safe, with good air ventilation and temperature control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Gross, superintendent at Pacific Elementary School District in Santa Cruz County, has noticed that firsthand. For at least two decades, the roof has leaked so badly that staff have had to put trash cans in classrooms and hallways to collect rainwater during storms. Two engineers have recommended that one classroom be condemned, but it took years before the state finally approved plans to rebuild it earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11968328\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03.jpeg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11968328\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03.jpeg\" alt=\"A view inside a classroom with a white bucket on the floor below a missing ceiling panel. \" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03.jpeg 1568w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111423_Pacific-Elementary_CM_CM_03-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bucket catches water due to a leak in a sixth-grade classroom at Pacific Elementary School in Santa Cruz on Nov. 14, 2023. According to Superintendent Eric Gross, the ceiling leaks even on foggy mornings. \u003ccite>(Clara Mokri/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The other day, a teacher came to me and said, ‘The siding in my room is rotting.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know.’ She said, ‘OK, just wanted to make sure you knew.’ … Our staff is great, but there’s a level of demoralization. It’s frustrating, but everyone just accepts it,” Gross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s come to rely on parent volunteers to perform basic maintenance at the 150-student school in the town of Davenport. Parents replace broken door handles, prune blackberry bushes, fix broken windows and build benches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On the first day of school, I tell the families there are no passengers on this ship. Everyone rows,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small districts like his desperately need more assistance from the state, he said. This assistance should include not only more money but also help managing large projects. Gross is too busy running the school to hire consultants, negotiate with contractors, submit the reams of required paperwork, or oversee major projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can teach your kids to read, but I am not a construction manager,” he said. “The state needs to step in to help superintendents like me because we don’t have the time or expertise to do this on our own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-dry-rot-and-gophers\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dry rot and gophers\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Keyes Union School District, where Brasil has been superintendent for seven years, is a patchwork of deferred maintenance and jerry-rigging. Any money for repairs is long gone: The last time local voters passed a school construction bond was in 2005, and the state fund is depleted, as well. The elementary school gym, for example, doubles as a cafeteria, which means staff haul dozens of folding tables in and out daily. The middle school gym was never finished, so it lacks seating and locker rooms; students change in small, stuffy portables across the playground. Some of the roofs are 40 years old. A decade ago, an electrical malfunction sparked a pre-dawn fire in the Head Start building, engulfing it in flames.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for the past two years, Keyes’ most pressing issue has been gophers. Lured by the adjacent almond orchards, gophers invaded the middle school soccer field — one of only two fields in the town and shared with the community. The field was so pocked with divots and holes that anyone running across it risked an ankle injury or worse. The only way to make it usable again was to dig it up, regrade it and install new sod.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brasil didn’t have many financing options. The state rejected the district’s request for repair money, so it had to borrow $700,000 to complete the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted kids to have a nice, safe place to play, to run, to blow off steam after the pandemic. I would have rather spent that money on tutoring or after-school programs, but to me, this felt like the most important thing,” Brasil said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11968330\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04.jpeg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11968330\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04.jpeg\" alt=\"A middle-aged Latino man in a multicolored sweater stands next to caution tape in a school courtyard.\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04.jpeg 1568w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/111523_Keyes-School_LV_04-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Helio Brasil stands in the hallway next to construction tape where new classrooms are being built at Keyes Elementary School in Keyes on Nov. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jeff Roberts, superintendent of Plumas Lake Elementary School District in Yuba County, has a different problem. His school buildings are in good shape, but the district is growing so fast he needs to build an entire new school — or risk cutting programs and increasing class sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, the district had only 100 students. But due to a housing boom in the region, he anticipates 2,200 students by 2030. The amount of money needed to build a new school is daunting: an estimated cost of $70 million to $100 million. The district can only raise $18 million through a local bond. Developers’ fees will bring in an additional $20 million, but that still leaves the district with only half the money it needs. Roberts is relying on the state to pass a new school construction bond so he can apply for the remainder of the funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The first thing Guillermo Tejeda does when he visits a new school is hunt for the piano. At most schools, the teacher finds a dusty old instrument, out of tune, stashed away in a dark closet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cobwebs tell him all he needs to know about how little arts education those students have been getting. His go-to technique to get them more jazzed about learning is to tickle the ivories, make that piano come back to life. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Guillermo Tejeda, teacher, Wadsworth Elementary in South Central Los Angeles\"]‘I’m telling you, when I bring in song, when I bring music and performance into the classroom, the students light up in a way that really creates a meaningful experience for them.’[/pullquote]“I’ll bring it out, dust it off. I’ll bring students into the auditorium and I’ll do lessons there,” said Tejeda, a fourth-grade teacher at Wadsworth Elementary in hardscrabble South Central Los Angeles. “I’m telling you, when I bring in song, when I bring music and performance into the classroom, the students light up in a way that really creates a meaningful experience for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A schoolteacher who is also a jazz musician and a member of the \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/EU6steOWfmU?si=FTzUo5SSz51PmlGr\">Neighborhood Orchestra Collective\u003c/a>, Tejeda uses music in general and the narrative of the LA jazz scene, particularly to teach about history, race and culture, and to spark joy in the classroom. A father of three currently on parental leave with his 11-month-old daughter Maya, Tejeda started playing the guitar at the age of 6. His grandfather, a migrant farm worker with a love of mariachi and a hand gnarled from picking in the fields, taught him how to play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m from East LA, and I became a teacher because I wanted to be the teacher that I never had,” he said. “We come from a marginalized community where it’s hard to be a teacher. A lot of the adults are stressed out. People are not feeling joy. How do we bring more joy? How do we bring more meaning into our lives? I think music is that vehicle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tejeda takes an expansive view of education that integrates the arts into all the disciplines to bring learning to life for children. He said his teaching feeds his music and his music feeds his teaching. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Guillermo Tejeda, teacher, Wadsworth Elementary in South Central Los Angeles\"]‘I’m from East LA, and I became a teacher because I wanted to be the teacher that I never had.’[/pullquote]“I wish I had a teacher like Guillermo when I was in fourth grade,” said Elmo Lovano, the founder of Jammcard: The Music Professionals Network, who developed \u003ca href=\"https://schoolgig.us/\">School Gig\u003c/a>, an app that connects artists to schools. “He’s a passionate guy. He’s incredibly talented. It’s important for artists to know you can still be doing your art, but being a teacher could be an amazing opportunity for you to make a living, stay at home, support your family, give back to the kids, the next generation, and also still do you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music is the prism through which his students become immersed in the history of their city, its politics and culture. He wants his students to be in tune with their heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I teach on 41st and Central, which is a historic jazz corridor,” he said. “And when I got to that school site, it surprised me that so few teachers talked about that. The first thing I did was write a lesson plan about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tejeda, whose students call him ‘Mister’ as a nickname, makes sure his class learns about the rich legacy of jazz in Los Angeles. For example, the historic Central Avenue jazz corridor was, for decades, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/gallery/looking-back-at-historic-central-avenue-in-los-angeles\">cultural mecca\u003c/a>, the heart of the African-American community in the city. At a time when most of the country was rigidly segregated, it was also something of an oasis, a place where people of all races and classes came together over music. There, a pantheon of jazz luminaries, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Jelly Roll Morton, played to full houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The giants of Central Avenue may have gone, but their footprints still remain on all of American culture,” as basketball great \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-18/central-avenue-los-angeles-jazz\">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once put it\u003c/a>. “The jazz musicians and record promoters also gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues, hip-hop and rap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967956\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967956\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02.jpeg\" alt=\"A man poses in between two women. Everyone is smiling and having a nice time.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guillermo Tejeda and members of the band Steam Down at the Venice Jazz Festival. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Luis Hernandez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Steeping in the often overlooked history of their neighborhood, Tejeda said, can help children sharpen their sense of identity, belonging and pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These kids have no idea how special and beautiful their neighborhoods are because all they see on the news is how messed up it is,” said Tejeda, long a champion of culturally relevant pedagogy. “I want them to know this is the place, right here in your hood, this is where a lot of jazz music was born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music often resonates with children on a deeper level than other forms of instruction. Tejeda is moved to tears remembering one little boy who had trouble engaging at school because of trauma at home. He only opened up when they began to play the piano together at recess. The piano became his sanctuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m shook when I come home because a lot of these kids are dealing with very hard stuff and they’re so resilient,” said Tejeda, his voice thick with emotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, math and science is important, but the whole child is important, that’s what drives me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music also enhances both \u003ca href=\"https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1163197.pdf\">math\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/reading/\">reading\u003c/a> performance, experts say, perhaps partly because it enhances the \u003ca href=\"https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/wp-content/uploads/boxtrx/2020-108-4-Kraus-v2.pdf\">neuroplasticity of the brain\u003c/a>. Music amplifies learning across subject areas, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Music and movement, in addition to the more common modalities of written and verbal instruction, is critical for including all kinds of learners in a well-rounded education,” said Jessica Mele, interim executive director of Create CA, an advocacy group. “It’s particularly beneficial for students whose first language is not English. Using art as a window into culture, race and history can engage students in complex conversations that they might not otherwise engage in.” [aside postID=news_11962024 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Music can also be healing, \u003ca href=\"https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/healing-through-music-201511058556\">research suggests\u003c/a>. As a boy, Tejeda suffered from a stutter that only subsided when he sang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I keep it real with the kids because I see myself in them,” he said. “It’s crazy how impactful music has been for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a uniquely social experience that invites children to collaborate with their peers on projects that require and reward focus and discipline, qualities experts say fuel academic success. Children practiced in the arts become accustomed to working collectively toward ambitious long-term goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps most importantly for Tejeda, children often find their voice through music and the arts. They can gain a sense of confidence, social-emotional well-being and a passion for lifelong learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The end goals of music and education aren’t to memorize curriculums or key terms,” Tejeda said. “It’s really to find out who you are. It’s about self-determination and growing the full human being. I’m so excited to see this synergy of music and education because they are inextricable.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Guillermo Tejeda, teacher, Wadsworth Elementary in South Central Los Angeles\"]I feel a deep calling to help effect change across California classrooms. I am never going to stop teaching because teaching and education is so essential to my soul.’[/pullquote]Tejeda’s ambition is to make school so stimulating that children want to go there every day because they are deeply engaged in their studies. At a time of chronic absenteeism and plummeting test scores, he has a transformative vision of arts education as reinvigorating the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel a deep calling to help effect change across California classrooms,” he said. “I am never going to stop teaching because teaching and education is so essential to my soul. It is at the core of who I am,” but this “is a critical time for me to put my work into the next gear and figure out how I’m going to apply my passion and expertise to affect tangible change, more urgently, on a wider scale.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going forward, he hopes to pursue arts education advocacy on a broader level. He is also developing a new arts-driven curriculum to “unleash the symphony of learning” as Proposition 28, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/behind-the-scenes-californias-new-arts-education-plans/694383\">the state’s groundbreaking 2022 arts initiative\u003c/a>, ramps up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like out of my dreams and into reality,” he said. “We’re going to create a new world for students. This is a revolutionary time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I wish I had a teacher like Guillermo when I was in fourth grade,” said Elmo Lovano, the founder of Jammcard: The Music Professionals Network, who developed \u003ca href=\"https://schoolgig.us/\">School Gig\u003c/a>, an app that connects artists to schools. “He’s a passionate guy. He’s incredibly talented. It’s important for artists to know you can still be doing your art, but being a teacher could be an amazing opportunity for you to make a living, stay at home, support your family, give back to the kids, the next generation, and also still do you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music is the prism through which his students become immersed in the history of their city, its politics and culture. He wants his students to be in tune with their heritage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I teach on 41st and Central, which is a historic jazz corridor,” he said. “And when I got to that school site, it surprised me that so few teachers talked about that. The first thing I did was write a lesson plan about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tejeda, whose students call him ‘Mister’ as a nickname, makes sure his class learns about the rich legacy of jazz in Los Angeles. For example, the historic Central Avenue jazz corridor was, for decades, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/gallery/looking-back-at-historic-central-avenue-in-los-angeles\">cultural mecca\u003c/a>, the heart of the African-American community in the city. At a time when most of the country was rigidly segregated, it was also something of an oasis, a place where people of all races and classes came together over music. There, a pantheon of jazz luminaries, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Jelly Roll Morton, played to full houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The giants of Central Avenue may have gone, but their footprints still remain on all of American culture,” as basketball great \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-18/central-avenue-los-angeles-jazz\">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once put it\u003c/a>. “The jazz musicians and record promoters also gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues, hip-hop and rap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967956\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967956\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02.jpeg\" alt=\"A man poses in between two women. Everyone is smiling and having a nice time.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/EdSource02-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guillermo Tejeda and members of the band Steam Down at the Venice Jazz Festival. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Luis Hernandez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Steeping in the often overlooked history of their neighborhood, Tejeda said, can help children sharpen their sense of identity, belonging and pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These kids have no idea how special and beautiful their neighborhoods are because all they see on the news is how messed up it is,” said Tejeda, long a champion of culturally relevant pedagogy. “I want them to know this is the place, right here in your hood, this is where a lot of jazz music was born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music often resonates with children on a deeper level than other forms of instruction. Tejeda is moved to tears remembering one little boy who had trouble engaging at school because of trauma at home. He only opened up when they began to play the piano together at recess. The piano became his sanctuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m shook when I come home because a lot of these kids are dealing with very hard stuff and they’re so resilient,” said Tejeda, his voice thick with emotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, math and science is important, but the whole child is important, that’s what drives me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music also enhances both \u003ca href=\"https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1163197.pdf\">math\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/reading/\">reading\u003c/a> performance, experts say, perhaps partly because it enhances the \u003ca href=\"https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/wp-content/uploads/boxtrx/2020-108-4-Kraus-v2.pdf\">neuroplasticity of the brain\u003c/a>. Music amplifies learning across subject areas, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Music and movement, in addition to the more common modalities of written and verbal instruction, is critical for including all kinds of learners in a well-rounded education,” said Jessica Mele, interim executive director of Create CA, an advocacy group. “It’s particularly beneficial for students whose first language is not English. Using art as a window into culture, race and history can engage students in complex conversations that they might not otherwise engage in.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Music can also be healing, \u003ca href=\"https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/healing-through-music-201511058556\">research suggests\u003c/a>. As a boy, Tejeda suffered from a stutter that only subsided when he sang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I keep it real with the kids because I see myself in them,” he said. “It’s crazy how impactful music has been for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a uniquely social experience that invites children to collaborate with their peers on projects that require and reward focus and discipline, qualities experts say fuel academic success. Children practiced in the arts become accustomed to working collectively toward ambitious long-term goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps most importantly for Tejeda, children often find their voice through music and the arts. They can gain a sense of confidence, social-emotional well-being and a passion for lifelong learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The end goals of music and education aren’t to memorize curriculums or key terms,” Tejeda said. “It’s really to find out who you are. It’s about self-determination and growing the full human being. I’m so excited to see this synergy of music and education because they are inextricable.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Tejeda’s ambition is to make school so stimulating that children want to go there every day because they are deeply engaged in their studies. At a time of chronic absenteeism and plummeting test scores, he has a transformative vision of arts education as reinvigorating the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel a deep calling to help effect change across California classrooms,” he said. “I am never going to stop teaching because teaching and education is so essential to my soul. It is at the core of who I am,” but this “is a critical time for me to put my work into the next gear and figure out how I’m going to apply my passion and expertise to affect tangible change, more urgently, on a wider scale.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going forward, he hopes to pursue arts education advocacy on a broader level. He is also developing a new arts-driven curriculum to “unleash the symphony of learning” as Proposition 28, \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/behind-the-scenes-californias-new-arts-education-plans/694383\">the state’s groundbreaking 2022 arts initiative\u003c/a>, ramps up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like out of my dreams and into reality,” he said. “We’re going to create a new world for students. This is a revolutionary time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Dozens of San Francisco State University faculty members and students rallied on campus on Wednesday in opposition to widespread layoffs and class cuts anticipated this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://adminfin.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/UBC%20Presentation%20August%202023%20complete%20slideshow%20v2.1.pdf\">August presentation\u003c/a> to the university’s budget committee, administrators estimated they would need to cut the equivalent of 125 full-time positions and hundreds of classes by early 2024 to make up for a projected budget shortfall. The staff cuts would mostly impact lecturers and result in the layoff of about 325 of the university’s 1,084 largely part-time lecturers, according to the California Faculty Association, the union representing staff across the state’s CSU campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s devastating,” said Brad Erickson, a lecturer in the School of Liberal Studies and the SF State union chapter president. “It represents about 655 courses that won’t be taught. It represents slowing students’ path to graduation by not being able to get the courses they need. It also means increased workloads for the remaining faculty, who will be teaching more students in larger classes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Juliana van Olphen, chair of the Department of Public Health, said students and faculty will bear the brunt of the cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may say, ‘If I can’t take it this semester, then I’ll have to be here an extra semester… I need this to graduate,’” van Olphen said. “The university claims to be focused on student success, yet widespread cuts to classes and layoffs of our valued colleagues break our spirit and will have a devastating impact on student success.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University officials said the cuts are in response to declining enrollment, which is a main contributor to the expected budget shortfall. Fall enrollment figures have fallen every year since 2018, and this year were roughly 20% lower than those in 2018. Across the California State University system, fall enrollment rates fell roughly 5% between 2018 and 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SF State President Lynn Mahoney noted similar declining enrollment rates across the nation and specifically among educational institutions in California amid changing demographic patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at the college-going-age population across California, it has shrunk. And when you look at where it has shrunk, it has largely shrunk in Northern California,” Mahoney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But union members at SF State contend that the planned cuts are not proportional to enrollment declines and said the university should instead look toward its administrative budget, which grew by roughly a third across the CSU between 2006 and 2018, according to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s one manager for every 100 students, but only one counselor for every 1,800 students. This represents really skewed priorities,” Erickson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967486\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brad Erickson, a lecturer in the School of Liberal Arts and SF State union chapter president, condemns what he calls a two-tier system that separates tenure-line faculty from lecturers. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahoney said the university and the union continued to disagree on the financial figures and pushed back on what she called the demonization of administrators. She added that the cuts are a means of adapting to a new baseline for the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of the enrollment decline statewide and nationwide, we’ll never get to our old numbers, but we will eventually level off and then start to increase a little,” Mahoney said. “We’ve lost $36 million in tuition revenue, so we can’t keep spending money we don’t have. And the CSU has said that starting next year, they’re going to reduce our state allocation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11830384 label='SF State History']Erickson, the union chapter president, said any cuts could happen more gradually rather than the very dramatic cuts for next semester, which he said is causing chaos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not going to put up with this. This is not going to stand. There will be consequences,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ongoing budget crisis is also occurring as the union and CSU officials renegotiate their contract. Union members are pushing for 12% raises, while CSU officials have thus far only agreed to 5%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union officials declared an impasse in negotiations in August, triggering the assignment of a mediator. After that failed to produce results, a fact-finding panel was assembled, including members of both sides and an impartial third party, to assess the latest proposals and issue recommended terms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact-finding panel’s recommendations are expected to be released before the end of the month, according to union officials. They have also announced planned single-day strikes at four campuses across the state in early December if a deal is not reached before then. San Francisco State is one of the campuses planning to strike.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Dozens of San Francisco State University faculty members and students rallied on campus on Wednesday in opposition to widespread layoffs and class cuts anticipated this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://adminfin.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/UBC%20Presentation%20August%202023%20complete%20slideshow%20v2.1.pdf\">August presentation\u003c/a> to the university’s budget committee, administrators estimated they would need to cut the equivalent of 125 full-time positions and hundreds of classes by early 2024 to make up for a projected budget shortfall. The staff cuts would mostly impact lecturers and result in the layoff of about 325 of the university’s 1,084 largely part-time lecturers, according to the California Faculty Association, the union representing staff across the state’s CSU campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s devastating,” said Brad Erickson, a lecturer in the School of Liberal Studies and the SF State union chapter president. “It represents about 655 courses that won’t be taught. It represents slowing students’ path to graduation by not being able to get the courses they need. It also means increased workloads for the remaining faculty, who will be teaching more students in larger classes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Juliana van Olphen, chair of the Department of Public Health, said students and faculty will bear the brunt of the cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may say, ‘If I can’t take it this semester, then I’ll have to be here an extra semester… I need this to graduate,’” van Olphen said. “The university claims to be focused on student success, yet widespread cuts to classes and layoffs of our valued colleagues break our spirit and will have a devastating impact on student success.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University officials said the cuts are in response to declining enrollment, which is a main contributor to the expected budget shortfall. Fall enrollment figures have fallen every year since 2018, and this year were roughly 20% lower than those in 2018. Across the California State University system, fall enrollment rates fell roughly 5% between 2018 and 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SF State President Lynn Mahoney noted similar declining enrollment rates across the nation and specifically among educational institutions in California amid changing demographic patterns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at the college-going-age population across California, it has shrunk. And when you look at where it has shrunk, it has largely shrunk in Northern California,” Mahoney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But union members at SF State contend that the planned cuts are not proportional to enrollment declines and said the university should instead look toward its administrative budget, which grew by roughly a third across the CSU between 2006 and 2018, according to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s one manager for every 100 students, but only one counselor for every 1,800 students. This represents really skewed priorities,” Erickson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967486\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231115-IMG_1844-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brad Erickson, a lecturer in the School of Liberal Arts and SF State union chapter president, condemns what he calls a two-tier system that separates tenure-line faculty from lecturers. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahoney said the university and the union continued to disagree on the financial figures and pushed back on what she called the demonization of administrators. She added that the cuts are a means of adapting to a new baseline for the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of the enrollment decline statewide and nationwide, we’ll never get to our old numbers, but we will eventually level off and then start to increase a little,” Mahoney said. “We’ve lost $36 million in tuition revenue, so we can’t keep spending money we don’t have. And the CSU has said that starting next year, they’re going to reduce our state allocation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Erickson, the union chapter president, said any cuts could happen more gradually rather than the very dramatic cuts for next semester, which he said is causing chaos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not going to put up with this. This is not going to stand. There will be consequences,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ongoing budget crisis is also occurring as the union and CSU officials renegotiate their contract. Union members are pushing for 12% raises, while CSU officials have thus far only agreed to 5%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union officials declared an impasse in negotiations in August, triggering the assignment of a mediator. After that failed to produce results, a fact-finding panel was assembled, including members of both sides and an impartial third party, to assess the latest proposals and issue recommended terms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact-finding panel’s recommendations are expected to be released before the end of the month, according to union officials. They have also announced planned single-day strikes at four campuses across the state in early December if a deal is not reached before then. San Francisco State is one of the campuses planning to strike.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Sold Out: The Oakland Block That’s Ditching Natural Gas",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes and buildings — from the appliances we use to keep ourselves warm and our families fed. In this episode of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America\u003c/a>, we head to a neighborhood in Oakland that is taking a revolutionary approach to reducing their emissions: by electrifying together, all at once.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC8848715021\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A full transcript will be available 1–2 workdays after the episode’s publication.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to the Bay. Local news to Keep You Rooted. A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes and buildings, from the appliances we use to keep ourselves warm and feed our families. We know that replacing gas powered appliances with electric ones can help, but that process can take a long time and cost a lot of money. In the latest season of Sold Out Rethinking Housing in America, KQED reporters explore the intersection of climate change and our state’s housing crisis. And in this episode, KQED’s Laura Klivans takes us to one neighborhood in Oakland that’s taking a revolutionary approach to reducing carbon emissions by electrifying together all at once. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>There’s a street in Oakland, a cul de sac. As you walk toward its end. It gets quieter and quieter. You’ll find all kinds of people here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>*voices from the community*\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The tight knit community here is due in large part to a handful of people. One of them is musician, Isaac Zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Isaac’s all about community. He’s the kind of guy who reaches out. He doesn’t just give a thumbs up on a text message. He hurts it. Seven years ago, Isaac and his wife Vivian, bought a home here. One of the first things they did was kick off a block party, which has become an August tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>We went door to door and introduced ourselves and encouraged people to come. And, you know, we had no idea if it would happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But people came. Someone made a cake and they sang Happy Birthday to the Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>Which has become a ritual since then. So there were some very funny things like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But it takes real work to build those ties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>There is a sense of camaraderie on the block, but it feels tenuous sometimes. Part of that, I think, is having a group that’s so diverse racially and class wise. Like, there’s just a lot to sift through to, like, find each other and feel connected and feel like we can trust each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Isaac is the one who first heard about an interesting opportunity. A friend sent him an email that read Do you and your neighbors want to save money on your energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and survive the next power outage?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>Basically, I read it as like free solar for everybody on my block. That sounds great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But it’s not just free solar. It’s a research project called Eco BLOCK, and it’s run out of UC Berkeley. The point is to figure out how to quickly cut the carbon pollution produced by existing homes. That means replacing inefficient appliances, installing solar panels and connecting those solar powered homes to a battery that can keep the lights on when all else fails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>There was a plan to have like a shared electric vehicle on the block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>And all these perks would be free. In turn, the researchers at UC Berkeley would get to learn. Can this be replicated? What does it take legally, financially, and technically to pull it off? And super important. What does it take socially? Homeowners would need to sign on and some would need to help manage community assets like a shared backup battery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>Party application was like, draw us a map of all the houses that have signed off and said they want to participate. So I to be honest, I fudged that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>About a month after he turned in the application, Isaac heard their block was a finalist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>In their competitive juices, got flowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Again. He went door to door like he did for the block party. He signed folks up for real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>We did finally get word that we were being chosen to be the eco block, which was felt like a huge victory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Vivian Santana Pacheco is married to Isaac. This community is a huge part of her life, too. All these veggies bursting from garden boxes on the street, they’re mostly her doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vivian Santana Pacheco: \u003c/strong>I’ve been helping people use the space that they have to to grow food. And like I started a ton of tomatoes in my living room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Vivian thinks about the climate crisis all the time. She’s one of five homeowners who’s leading the neighborhood association for Eco BLOCK. And here’s one other big reason she and Isaac are so invested. Now, their four year old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>His name is Moisés. But right now he’s, you know, a cat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Now we want this world to be a habitable one for him. Being able to say like we did as much as we could to be part of that, and already I felt like we’re behind and that I’m not doing enough. This feels more tangible than showing up to a protest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Across the street and just a few doors down, I meet up with another family, Ismael Plascencia, or IS shows me around the two bedroom apartment they rent. There’s a lot of life packed in here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>It’s a leopard gecko. Sometimes he can call or.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>And up in the tall Tupperware on the mantle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>The spider was. It was like a tiny house spider. And we’ve been raising it for the past two months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Plus, there are snails. A lot of snails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Jr.: \u003c/strong>I think I have 21 of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>That’s six year old Ismael Junior. Both Ismail’s plus mom, Cheryl Kleinsmith and their daughter moved here about five years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>It’s nice. Just tons of windows. And then we realized how hot it got this place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cheryl Kleinsmith: \u003c/strong>When it’s hot, it’s hot. When it’s cold, it’s very cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>So when they heard about Eco block, they wanted in, but they would need to get their property owners to sign on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>I reached out to them and they’re like, Oh, yeah, this is some guy’s been calling us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>That guy was Isaac.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>It’s like, it’s too good to be true. We we don’t want to do any of that. And, you know, I was like, well, it does kind of sound too good to be true. I get that. But I’m like, you know, what do you have to lose? I’m like, you know, it’s it’s going to increase your property value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The owners agreed as long as is, and Cheryl went to the meetings and shared back. While they don’t own their place now, they’d like to someday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>I was super interested in the project, so I’m like, even just for educational purposes, I’d love to just sit at all these meetings or totally would do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>One of the upgrades Cheryl is and other neighbors would get is a heat pump. It’s a machine that works as both a heater and an AC. It’s electric and way more efficient than the wall heater they never turn on. They’d get to ditch their gas powered water heater, too. Right now, it sits behind a wooden door in their kitchen. When that’s gone and the new electric water heater is installed outside, Cheryl’s got a vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cheryl Kleinsmith: \u003c/strong>Maybe that’s crazy, but one of the things I’m most excited about is getting a pantry instead of a water heater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Is and Cheryl both grew up here in Oakland. They both work in Oakland. She’s a scheduler in a surgeon’s office, and he runs community programs for an art school. Even as rents have increased. They’ve made it work to stay and raise their kids here. What they saw in Eco BLOCK was a commitment to all of Oakland, not just the wealthier parts of the city where people could probably afford to upgrade their own homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>They presented this like this opportunity to transform Oakland in a way that, you know, I don’t think that that most folks would have prioritized a community like this. But projects like this are just you know, they’re inspiring to me just to know that we can transform a neighbor. That could potentially transform a whole community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>This project didn’t start with the residents, though. It started in the minds of researchers like Therese Peffer. She walks me around the block, often stopping as she goes through an invisible mental checklist. Right now she’s kicking around leaves and staring at the sidewalk beneath her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>I was told that there was a water meter seven feet away from that train and see if.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>She’s looking for a spot where she could place a charger for a shared electric vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Because it has to be so far away from the pole for the meter from a fire hose. Oh, it can’t be so close to that. Oh, here. There’s a red curb here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Most of her days are made up of details like this. This is where the electrification rubber meets the road. Therese has been fascinated with energy for decades. She spent a chunk of her toes living off the grid in Oregon in a community powered by just the sun and wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>And I just learned a ton about really living within your means, especially your energy means. I brought up a toaster oven one time and we could only use it when the sun was very plentiful that day. No clouds. And if the wind was blowing really hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>She became captivated by how to reduce carbon emissions that come from people’s homes, not the brand new ones, like at that futuristic Southern California development, but the homes that have been around for decades. Here in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Two thirds of all homes in California were built before energy codes, no insulation, single pane windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>A.k.a. a huge waste of energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>New construction is easy, right? And it’s sexy and it’s fun, but it’s not where the biggest problem is. If we’re going to try to really combat climate change, it is looking at the existing buildings in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Tackle them separately. Home by home, appliance by appliance. It would take a long time. It would be expensive and it would exclude people who can’t afford to electrify. Tackle one block together. You could buy appliances in bulk. Guarantee work for contractors. Drive down the cost. You could have neighbors talking up the benefits to their peers to make it work on eco block. Theresa needs to bring together a whole host of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>People, contractor, architect, experts on microgrid, experts on energy inside the home. We have a civil engineer. We have a mobility expert, solar contractor, urban planners, energy regulatory lawyer, cooperative lawyer. I have a real estate lawyer and they don’t have the same language attached to each other. So it takes a lot of meetings to kind of figure that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>It’s an intimidating idea, but Terrace loves being a bridge between all these people and the residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Something about tapping into a community and strengthening the real relationships with people, not the Facebook relationships or Instagram or whatever, but the door to door, the face to face, the people that pass you day to day on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Eco BLOCK draws folks in. Well, most folks. Hello. How’s it going?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>Oh, pretty good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>I meet Steve Johnson midday on a Saturday. He just came back from a coffee with his buddies. A ritual he’s followed for about 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>A little bit of iced tea right here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Oh, thank you so much. Sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>Okay. Well, this house was bought by my immigrant grandparents in 1925. So this house has been in my family for almost 100 years. Matter of fact, my mother was born in that room over there. Well, in 1930, you know, that’s the way they did it. She was born at home on some newspapers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Steve remembers coming here when he was a kid, hanging out with his grandparents, especially in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>This actually is an apple tree that my father gave me. Planted it, like 25 years ago. No way. My grandmother planted that tree maybe 1990 years ago. These two houses over here were a giant vacant lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>He points to the house next door. And. And is this place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>And those two vacant lots were a gigantic garden. It was a huge victory garden when I was a young boy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Steve bought the house from his grandmother nearly 50 years ago, and he rebuilt it himself. He’s a retired contractor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>You know, I spent maybe 30 years on and off remodeling this house, and I just finally got it completely remodeled. And for my taste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>He insulated it, added skylights and even put in his own greywater system that runs water from his drains straight to his garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>So every time I take a shower, I’m watering the apple tree or something like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The guy generally uses very little energy. So by all accounts, you’d think he’d be all in on eco block. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>You know, I’m 70 years old. I just didn’t want to go through a lot of new construction all over again because I really don’t need it. I wanted to show you this is my puny bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>His monthly electricity bill is 46 bucks. And Steve’s not the only holdout. Ten out of the 25 buildings here have not signed on to Eco block. Some people don’t want to be so tied to their neighbors. Others have done unpermitted work on their homes and despite assurances from the city, are worried they’ll get in trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>And then the other thing is that any time we have a family party, I do all the cooking for everybody. I just can’t imagine not cooking on gas. And the whole eco block wanted to take away the gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Capping off the gas line was one dream for this project. But here’s the thing. State code says that if one person on a block wants a gas appliance, the whole gas line stretching invisibly below our feet must stay. That means the utility has to maintain it and customers have to pay for it. So Steve said no, but it wasn’t so easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>There was a little bit of peer pressure in the beginning when everybody was sort of recruiting to have everybody sign up to join the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Even before Steve felt a bit of a generational divide. He’s in his seventies. The residents leaning eco block are decades younger. He says they worked hard to include him anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>Still, if you weren’t really all for it, then everybody’s trying to convince you why you should be for it. And I kind of felt that I was starting to get sort of left out of the general scene, even though I’m kind of like the senior citizen on this block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>It’s not that Steve doesn’t care about reducing carbon emissions. He just thinks we should tackle other stuff first, like airplanes or shipping. He has real concerns about the supply of energy, the cost. What would happen if there were a power outage?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>It’s just there is overwhelmingly, sweepingly changing everything in my life that I wanted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>And he’s not alone. People have all kinds of cultural and emotional ties to things like gas stoves. There is a fear of change, and not everyone wants to move so fast. When you compare Echo BLOCK to what it looked like at the start of the project, here’s what you’ll notice. Not much has changed. Why the Street was chosen for the project right at the start of 2020. You may remember the life altering events of that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>The pandemic has pushed prices beyond what anyone might have expected. For those renovating, building a home, or buying one from a developer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Tyrese says they couldn’t get the lumber to shore up roofs for solar. And this was on top of a budget based on 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Numbers, and they were just woefully inadequate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The budget they’re working with to electrify one city block is slightly more than 8 million bucks. Five of that comes from the state. The rest is from an anonymous donor. So Theresa’s constantly applying for more grants to supplement that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>The fact that the project has stretched out so long that eats away at our budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The project’s scope has shrunk. Some residents told me they’d be getting new doors and stoves. They won’t remember that micro-grid and shared battery. While I was reporting this story, the grant for it fell through. At this point, residents will mainly be getting insulation, heat pumps and solar panels and red tape from the city, and utility keeps slowing down the process. After I first talked with residents, Pegg and he decided to upgrade the electric lines on the street to support a bigger load. While the utility fast tracked the process, it will still take around six more months for the residents. The waiting can be frustrating and is most apparent in little ways, like Isaac and Vivian’s fridge. They’re pretty sure the project won’t provide one, but they’re holding out hope that some additional grant will come through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>They’re grateful. They don’t have to deal with all the details, all the behind the scenes work, but they feel some pressure that this succeeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>As I was like going door to door and trying to get people to sign a letter of intent to be part of the eco block, I think probably some of that was like, did they trust me or not? You know, I often felt like some of my credibility as a neighbor is on the line here of this project going well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>In the few months I spent reporting this story, I started rooting for Eco BLOCK. They’re trying something new. If the project works, it could inspire other neighborhoods across the Bay Area and the country. But when you look at what this group set out to do, it doesn’t seem like they’ll achieve it. And that made me feel discouraged. Time is not on our side. As we race to cut the harmful pollution our society was built on. If eco block can’t make it work, maybe this type of electrification is a nonstarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>The way I see it is the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Ram Rajagopal is an engineering professor at Stanford University. He’s not involved in this project but works on similar ones. He says as a society, we’re past the first phase of electrification when it was a niche.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>And it’s usually the super rich dude in Palo Alto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But now electrification is going mainstream. Heat pumps outsold gas furnaces for the first time last year, and the Biden administration passed a major climate law offering billions for households to electrify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>The fact that we’re all frustrated now is a good sign because we’re frustrated by the right thing. We’re really trying to replace these things and we are now seeing the roadblocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Eco BLOCK may not be the perfect model for neighborhood scale electrification. It’s more of a rough draft. It is a research project. There are lessons in its successes and in its failures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>It would be a mistake to say, okay, we’re not going to support this eco block project because of, you know, things are too slow. Actually, I would say we now need to give them money to figure out how to make it go fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>He thinks we need hundreds of projects like this one all over the country to figure out every day crucial details. A block is a place we live. We rent or buy. We come with excitement. Or just because this place was the right size at the right price at the right time. We spend our days here, we hear the same sounds as our neighbors. We watch the same colors move across the sky. But a lot of times we don’t know each other’s names. And that’s where this Oakland block is different. Tyreece, the researcher, feels that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>We’ve struck a chord here. Oh, we just need to finish it. But but I think there’s something exciting about working with your neighbors. You’re building those relationships and building that social resilience, I call it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>It’s not some utopia, but it is a place where social ties are stronger because of this shared project where people could help to shield each other from extreme heat, wildfire smoke, power outages. Here’s Vivian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel like all of this is helping us remember that we’re like, interconnected and that we can rely on each other. And I think that that’s the only way that we’re going to solve this climate crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>In early fall, construction finally began. Homes are getting new insulation. Heat pumps are going in. With luck, residents will be able to actually connect their new electric appliances to the power grid this winter. And come summer, any and all residents will celebrate together at their annual block party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was KQED reporter Laura Klivans. You can find more from the latest season of Sold Out Rethinking Housing in America wherever You Get Your Podcasts. This episode was written and reported by Laura Klivans, and it was edited by Kevin Stark and Erica Kelly and engineered by Brendan Willard. The series is hosted by Erin Baldassari. Shout out as well to the KQED Podcast team. That’s Jen Chien, our director of podcasts. Katie Sprenger, our podcast operations manager, Cesar Saldana and Maha Sanad for engagement support, and Holly Kernan, our chief Content officer. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening. Talk to you Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Sold Out: The Oakland Block That’s Ditching Natural Gas | KQED",
"description": "A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes and buildings.",
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"headline": "Sold Out: The Oakland Block That’s Ditching Natural Gas",
"datePublished": "2023-11-13T03:00:48-08:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes and buildings — from the appliances we use to keep ourselves warm and our families fed. In this episode of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America\u003c/a>, we head to a neighborhood in Oakland that is taking a revolutionary approach to reducing their emissions: by electrifying together, all at once.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC8848715021\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A full transcript will be available 1–2 workdays after the episode’s publication.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to the Bay. Local news to Keep You Rooted. A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes and buildings, from the appliances we use to keep ourselves warm and feed our families. We know that replacing gas powered appliances with electric ones can help, but that process can take a long time and cost a lot of money. In the latest season of Sold Out Rethinking Housing in America, KQED reporters explore the intersection of climate change and our state’s housing crisis. And in this episode, KQED’s Laura Klivans takes us to one neighborhood in Oakland that’s taking a revolutionary approach to reducing carbon emissions by electrifying together all at once. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>There’s a street in Oakland, a cul de sac. As you walk toward its end. It gets quieter and quieter. You’ll find all kinds of people here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>*voices from the community*\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The tight knit community here is due in large part to a handful of people. One of them is musician, Isaac Zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Isaac’s all about community. He’s the kind of guy who reaches out. He doesn’t just give a thumbs up on a text message. He hurts it. Seven years ago, Isaac and his wife Vivian, bought a home here. One of the first things they did was kick off a block party, which has become an August tradition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>We went door to door and introduced ourselves and encouraged people to come. And, you know, we had no idea if it would happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But people came. Someone made a cake and they sang Happy Birthday to the Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>Which has become a ritual since then. So there were some very funny things like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But it takes real work to build those ties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>There is a sense of camaraderie on the block, but it feels tenuous sometimes. Part of that, I think, is having a group that’s so diverse racially and class wise. Like, there’s just a lot to sift through to, like, find each other and feel connected and feel like we can trust each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Isaac is the one who first heard about an interesting opportunity. A friend sent him an email that read Do you and your neighbors want to save money on your energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and survive the next power outage?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>Basically, I read it as like free solar for everybody on my block. That sounds great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But it’s not just free solar. It’s a research project called Eco BLOCK, and it’s run out of UC Berkeley. The point is to figure out how to quickly cut the carbon pollution produced by existing homes. That means replacing inefficient appliances, installing solar panels and connecting those solar powered homes to a battery that can keep the lights on when all else fails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>There was a plan to have like a shared electric vehicle on the block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>And all these perks would be free. In turn, the researchers at UC Berkeley would get to learn. Can this be replicated? What does it take legally, financially, and technically to pull it off? And super important. What does it take socially? Homeowners would need to sign on and some would need to help manage community assets like a shared backup battery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>Party application was like, draw us a map of all the houses that have signed off and said they want to participate. So I to be honest, I fudged that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>About a month after he turned in the application, Isaac heard their block was a finalist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>In their competitive juices, got flowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Again. He went door to door like he did for the block party. He signed folks up for real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>We did finally get word that we were being chosen to be the eco block, which was felt like a huge victory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Vivian Santana Pacheco is married to Isaac. This community is a huge part of her life, too. All these veggies bursting from garden boxes on the street, they’re mostly her doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vivian Santana Pacheco: \u003c/strong>I’ve been helping people use the space that they have to to grow food. And like I started a ton of tomatoes in my living room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Vivian thinks about the climate crisis all the time. She’s one of five homeowners who’s leading the neighborhood association for Eco BLOCK. And here’s one other big reason she and Isaac are so invested. Now, their four year old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>His name is Moisés. But right now he’s, you know, a cat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Now we want this world to be a habitable one for him. Being able to say like we did as much as we could to be part of that, and already I felt like we’re behind and that I’m not doing enough. This feels more tangible than showing up to a protest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Across the street and just a few doors down, I meet up with another family, Ismael Plascencia, or IS shows me around the two bedroom apartment they rent. There’s a lot of life packed in here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>It’s a leopard gecko. Sometimes he can call or.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>And up in the tall Tupperware on the mantle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>The spider was. It was like a tiny house spider. And we’ve been raising it for the past two months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Plus, there are snails. A lot of snails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Jr.: \u003c/strong>I think I have 21 of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>That’s six year old Ismael Junior. Both Ismail’s plus mom, Cheryl Kleinsmith and their daughter moved here about five years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>It’s nice. Just tons of windows. And then we realized how hot it got this place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cheryl Kleinsmith: \u003c/strong>When it’s hot, it’s hot. When it’s cold, it’s very cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>So when they heard about Eco block, they wanted in, but they would need to get their property owners to sign on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>I reached out to them and they’re like, Oh, yeah, this is some guy’s been calling us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>That guy was Isaac.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>It’s like, it’s too good to be true. We we don’t want to do any of that. And, you know, I was like, well, it does kind of sound too good to be true. I get that. But I’m like, you know, what do you have to lose? I’m like, you know, it’s it’s going to increase your property value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The owners agreed as long as is, and Cheryl went to the meetings and shared back. While they don’t own their place now, they’d like to someday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>I was super interested in the project, so I’m like, even just for educational purposes, I’d love to just sit at all these meetings or totally would do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>One of the upgrades Cheryl is and other neighbors would get is a heat pump. It’s a machine that works as both a heater and an AC. It’s electric and way more efficient than the wall heater they never turn on. They’d get to ditch their gas powered water heater, too. Right now, it sits behind a wooden door in their kitchen. When that’s gone and the new electric water heater is installed outside, Cheryl’s got a vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cheryl Kleinsmith: \u003c/strong>Maybe that’s crazy, but one of the things I’m most excited about is getting a pantry instead of a water heater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Is and Cheryl both grew up here in Oakland. They both work in Oakland. She’s a scheduler in a surgeon’s office, and he runs community programs for an art school. Even as rents have increased. They’ve made it work to stay and raise their kids here. What they saw in Eco BLOCK was a commitment to all of Oakland, not just the wealthier parts of the city where people could probably afford to upgrade their own homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ismael Plascencia: \u003c/strong>They presented this like this opportunity to transform Oakland in a way that, you know, I don’t think that that most folks would have prioritized a community like this. But projects like this are just you know, they’re inspiring to me just to know that we can transform a neighbor. That could potentially transform a whole community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>This project didn’t start with the residents, though. It started in the minds of researchers like Therese Peffer. She walks me around the block, often stopping as she goes through an invisible mental checklist. Right now she’s kicking around leaves and staring at the sidewalk beneath her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>I was told that there was a water meter seven feet away from that train and see if.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>She’s looking for a spot where she could place a charger for a shared electric vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Because it has to be so far away from the pole for the meter from a fire hose. Oh, it can’t be so close to that. Oh, here. There’s a red curb here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Most of her days are made up of details like this. This is where the electrification rubber meets the road. Therese has been fascinated with energy for decades. She spent a chunk of her toes living off the grid in Oregon in a community powered by just the sun and wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>And I just learned a ton about really living within your means, especially your energy means. I brought up a toaster oven one time and we could only use it when the sun was very plentiful that day. No clouds. And if the wind was blowing really hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>She became captivated by how to reduce carbon emissions that come from people’s homes, not the brand new ones, like at that futuristic Southern California development, but the homes that have been around for decades. Here in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Two thirds of all homes in California were built before energy codes, no insulation, single pane windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>A.k.a. a huge waste of energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>New construction is easy, right? And it’s sexy and it’s fun, but it’s not where the biggest problem is. If we’re going to try to really combat climate change, it is looking at the existing buildings in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Tackle them separately. Home by home, appliance by appliance. It would take a long time. It would be expensive and it would exclude people who can’t afford to electrify. Tackle one block together. You could buy appliances in bulk. Guarantee work for contractors. Drive down the cost. You could have neighbors talking up the benefits to their peers to make it work on eco block. Theresa needs to bring together a whole host of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>People, contractor, architect, experts on microgrid, experts on energy inside the home. We have a civil engineer. We have a mobility expert, solar contractor, urban planners, energy regulatory lawyer, cooperative lawyer. I have a real estate lawyer and they don’t have the same language attached to each other. So it takes a lot of meetings to kind of figure that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>It’s an intimidating idea, but Terrace loves being a bridge between all these people and the residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Something about tapping into a community and strengthening the real relationships with people, not the Facebook relationships or Instagram or whatever, but the door to door, the face to face, the people that pass you day to day on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Eco BLOCK draws folks in. Well, most folks. Hello. How’s it going?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>Oh, pretty good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>I meet Steve Johnson midday on a Saturday. He just came back from a coffee with his buddies. A ritual he’s followed for about 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>A little bit of iced tea right here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Oh, thank you so much. Sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>Okay. Well, this house was bought by my immigrant grandparents in 1925. So this house has been in my family for almost 100 years. Matter of fact, my mother was born in that room over there. Well, in 1930, you know, that’s the way they did it. She was born at home on some newspapers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Steve remembers coming here when he was a kid, hanging out with his grandparents, especially in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>This actually is an apple tree that my father gave me. Planted it, like 25 years ago. No way. My grandmother planted that tree maybe 1990 years ago. These two houses over here were a giant vacant lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>He points to the house next door. And. And is this place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>And those two vacant lots were a gigantic garden. It was a huge victory garden when I was a young boy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Steve bought the house from his grandmother nearly 50 years ago, and he rebuilt it himself. He’s a retired contractor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>You know, I spent maybe 30 years on and off remodeling this house, and I just finally got it completely remodeled. And for my taste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>He insulated it, added skylights and even put in his own greywater system that runs water from his drains straight to his garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>So every time I take a shower, I’m watering the apple tree or something like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The guy generally uses very little energy. So by all accounts, you’d think he’d be all in on eco block. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>You know, I’m 70 years old. I just didn’t want to go through a lot of new construction all over again because I really don’t need it. I wanted to show you this is my puny bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>His monthly electricity bill is 46 bucks. And Steve’s not the only holdout. Ten out of the 25 buildings here have not signed on to Eco block. Some people don’t want to be so tied to their neighbors. Others have done unpermitted work on their homes and despite assurances from the city, are worried they’ll get in trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>And then the other thing is that any time we have a family party, I do all the cooking for everybody. I just can’t imagine not cooking on gas. And the whole eco block wanted to take away the gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Capping off the gas line was one dream for this project. But here’s the thing. State code says that if one person on a block wants a gas appliance, the whole gas line stretching invisibly below our feet must stay. That means the utility has to maintain it and customers have to pay for it. So Steve said no, but it wasn’t so easy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>There was a little bit of peer pressure in the beginning when everybody was sort of recruiting to have everybody sign up to join the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Even before Steve felt a bit of a generational divide. He’s in his seventies. The residents leaning eco block are decades younger. He says they worked hard to include him anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>Still, if you weren’t really all for it, then everybody’s trying to convince you why you should be for it. And I kind of felt that I was starting to get sort of left out of the general scene, even though I’m kind of like the senior citizen on this block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>It’s not that Steve doesn’t care about reducing carbon emissions. He just thinks we should tackle other stuff first, like airplanes or shipping. He has real concerns about the supply of energy, the cost. What would happen if there were a power outage?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>It’s just there is overwhelmingly, sweepingly changing everything in my life that I wanted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>And he’s not alone. People have all kinds of cultural and emotional ties to things like gas stoves. There is a fear of change, and not everyone wants to move so fast. When you compare Echo BLOCK to what it looked like at the start of the project, here’s what you’ll notice. Not much has changed. Why the Street was chosen for the project right at the start of 2020. You may remember the life altering events of that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Johnson: \u003c/strong>The pandemic has pushed prices beyond what anyone might have expected. For those renovating, building a home, or buying one from a developer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Tyrese says they couldn’t get the lumber to shore up roofs for solar. And this was on top of a budget based on 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>Numbers, and they were just woefully inadequate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The budget they’re working with to electrify one city block is slightly more than 8 million bucks. Five of that comes from the state. The rest is from an anonymous donor. So Theresa’s constantly applying for more grants to supplement that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>The fact that the project has stretched out so long that eats away at our budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>The project’s scope has shrunk. Some residents told me they’d be getting new doors and stoves. They won’t remember that micro-grid and shared battery. While I was reporting this story, the grant for it fell through. At this point, residents will mainly be getting insulation, heat pumps and solar panels and red tape from the city, and utility keeps slowing down the process. After I first talked with residents, Pegg and he decided to upgrade the electric lines on the street to support a bigger load. While the utility fast tracked the process, it will still take around six more months for the residents. The waiting can be frustrating and is most apparent in little ways, like Isaac and Vivian’s fridge. They’re pretty sure the project won’t provide one, but they’re holding out hope that some additional grant will come through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>They’re grateful. They don’t have to deal with all the details, all the behind the scenes work, but they feel some pressure that this succeeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Isaac Zones: \u003c/strong>As I was like going door to door and trying to get people to sign a letter of intent to be part of the eco block, I think probably some of that was like, did they trust me or not? You know, I often felt like some of my credibility as a neighbor is on the line here of this project going well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>In the few months I spent reporting this story, I started rooting for Eco BLOCK. They’re trying something new. If the project works, it could inspire other neighborhoods across the Bay Area and the country. But when you look at what this group set out to do, it doesn’t seem like they’ll achieve it. And that made me feel discouraged. Time is not on our side. As we race to cut the harmful pollution our society was built on. If eco block can’t make it work, maybe this type of electrification is a nonstarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>The way I see it is the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Ram Rajagopal is an engineering professor at Stanford University. He’s not involved in this project but works on similar ones. He says as a society, we’re past the first phase of electrification when it was a niche.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>And it’s usually the super rich dude in Palo Alto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>But now electrification is going mainstream. Heat pumps outsold gas furnaces for the first time last year, and the Biden administration passed a major climate law offering billions for households to electrify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>The fact that we’re all frustrated now is a good sign because we’re frustrated by the right thing. We’re really trying to replace these things and we are now seeing the roadblocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>Eco BLOCK may not be the perfect model for neighborhood scale electrification. It’s more of a rough draft. It is a research project. There are lessons in its successes and in its failures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ram Rajagopal: \u003c/strong>It would be a mistake to say, okay, we’re not going to support this eco block project because of, you know, things are too slow. Actually, I would say we now need to give them money to figure out how to make it go fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>He thinks we need hundreds of projects like this one all over the country to figure out every day crucial details. A block is a place we live. We rent or buy. We come with excitement. Or just because this place was the right size at the right price at the right time. We spend our days here, we hear the same sounds as our neighbors. We watch the same colors move across the sky. But a lot of times we don’t know each other’s names. And that’s where this Oakland block is different. Tyreece, the researcher, feels that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Therese Peffer: \u003c/strong>We’ve struck a chord here. Oh, we just need to finish it. But but I think there’s something exciting about working with your neighbors. You’re building those relationships and building that social resilience, I call it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>It’s not some utopia, but it is a place where social ties are stronger because of this shared project where people could help to shield each other from extreme heat, wildfire smoke, power outages. Here’s Vivian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel like all of this is helping us remember that we’re like, interconnected and that we can rely on each other. And I think that that’s the only way that we’re going to solve this climate crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laura Klivans: \u003c/strong>In early fall, construction finally began. Homes are getting new insulation. Heat pumps are going in. With luck, residents will be able to actually connect their new electric appliances to the power grid this winter. And come summer, any and all residents will celebrate together at their annual block party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was KQED reporter Laura Klivans. You can find more from the latest season of Sold Out Rethinking Housing in America wherever You Get Your Podcasts. This episode was written and reported by Laura Klivans, and it was edited by Kevin Stark and Erica Kelly and engineered by Brendan Willard. The series is hosted by Erin Baldassari. Shout out as well to the KQED Podcast team. That’s Jen Chien, our director of podcasts. Katie Sprenger, our podcast operations manager, Cesar Saldana and Maha Sanad for engagement support, and Holly Kernan, our chief Content officer. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening. Talk to you Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>Pushing back against the surge of misinformation online, California will now require all K-12 students to learn media literacy skills — such as recognizing fake news and thinking critically about what they encounter online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom last month signed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB873\">Assembly Bill 873\u003c/a>, which requires the state to add media literacy to curriculum frameworks for English language arts, science, math and history-social studies, rolling out gradually beginning next year. Instead of a stand-alone class, the topic will be woven into existing classes and lessons throughout the school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve seen the impact that misinformation has had in the real world — how it affects the way people vote, whether they accept the outcomes of elections, try to overthrow our democracy,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Democrat from Menlo Park. “This is about making sure our young people have the skills they need to navigate this landscape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new law comes amid rising public distrust in the media, especially among young people. \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/10/27/u-s-adults-under-30-now-trust-information-from-social-media-almost-as-much-as-from-national-news-outlets/\">A 2022 Pew Research Center survey\u003c/a> found that adults under age 30 are nearly as likely to believe information on social media as they are from national news outlets. Overall, only 7% of adults have “a great deal” of trust in the media, according \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/403166/americans-trust-media-remains-near-record-low.aspx\">to a Gallup poll conducted last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Media literacy can help change that, advocates believe, by teaching students how to recognize reliable news sources and the crucial role of media in a democracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The increase in Holocaust denial, climate change denial, conspiracy theories getting a foothold, and now AI … all this shows how important media literacy is for our democracy right now,” said Jennifer Ormsby, library services manager for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. “The 2016 election was a real eye-opener for everyone on the potential harms and dangers of fake news.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Recognizing Fake News' hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/63/2018/03/IMG_9928.jpg' link1='https://video.kqed.org/video/why-do-our-brains-love-fake-news-svp949,Why Do Our Brains Love Fake News?' link2='https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/24674/the-honest-truth-about-fake-news-with-lesson-plan,The Honest Truth About Fake News And How Not to Fall For It']AB 873 passed nearly unanimously in the Legislature, underscoring the nonpartisan nature of the topic. Nationwide, Texas, New Jersey and Delaware have also passed strong media literacy laws, and more than a dozen other states are moving in that direction, \u003ca href=\"https://medialiteracynow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MediaLiteracyPolicyReport2022.pdf\">according to Media Literacy Now (PDF)\u003c/a>, a nonprofit research organization that advocates for media literacy in K-12 schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, California’s law falls short of Media Literacy Now’s recommendations. California’s approach doesn’t include funding to train teachers, an advisory committee, input from librarians, surveys or a way to monitor the law’s effectiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeping the bill simple, though, was a way to help ensure its passage, Berman said. Those features can be implemented later, and he felt it was urgent to pass the law quickly so students can start receiving media literacy education as soon as possible. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, as the state begins updating its curriculum frameworks, although teachers are now encouraged to teach media literacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berman’s law builds on \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/Ci/cr/ml/index.asp\">a previous effort in California\u003c/a> to bring media literacy to K-12 classrooms. In 2018, Senate Bill 830 required the California Department of Education to provide media literacy resources — lesson plans, project ideas and background — to the state’s K-12 teachers. But it didn’t make media literacy mandatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new law also overlaps somewhat with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965784/california-near-the-bottom-of-us-computer-science-rankings-as-it-struggles-with-teacher-shortage\">California’s effort to bring computer science education to all students\u003c/a>. The state hopes to expand computer science, which can include aspects of media literacy, to all students and possibly even require it to graduate from high school. Newsom recently signed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1251\">Assembly Bill 1251\u003c/a>, which creates a commission to look at ways to recruit more computer science teachers to California classrooms. Berman also sponsors \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1054\">Assembly Bill 1054\u003c/a>, which requires high schools to offer computer science classes. That bill is currently stalled in the Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Understanding media and creating it\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Teachers don’t need a state law to show students how to be smart media consumers, and some have been doing it for years. Merek Chang, a high school science teacher at Hacienda La Puente Unified in the City of Industry east of Los Angeles, said the pandemic was a wake-up call for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During remote learning, he gave students two articles on the origins of the coronavirus. One was an opinion piece from the New York Post, a tabloid, and the other was from a scientific journal. He asked students which they thought was accurate. More than 90% chose the Post piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made me realize that we need to focus on the skills to understand content as much as we focus on the content itself,” Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Alvin Lee, executive director of Generation Up\"]‘Disinformation contributes to polarization, which we’re seeing happen all over the world. Media literacy can address that.’[/pullquote]He now incorporates media literacy in all aspects of his lesson plans. He relies on \u003ca href=\"https://sheg.stanford.edu/\">the Stanford History Education Group\u003c/a>, which offers free media literacy resources for teachers, and took part in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/education/media-literacy\">a KQED media literacy program\u003c/a> for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to teaching students how to evaluate online information, he shows them how to create their own media. For example, homework assignments include making TikTok-style videos on protein synthesis for mRNA vaccines. Students then present their projects at home or lunchtime events for families and the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The biggest impact, I’ve noticed, is that students feel like their voice matters,” Chang said. “The work isn’t just for a grade. They feel like they’re making a difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ormsby, the Los Angeles County librarian, has also been promoting media literacy for years. Librarians generally have been at the forefront of media literacy education, and California’s new law refers to the Modern School Library Standards for media literacy guidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ormsby teaches concepts like “lateral reading” (comparing an online article with other sources to check for accuracy) and reverse imaging (searching online to trace a photo to its source or check if it’s been altered). She also provides lesson plans, resources and book recommendations such as “True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News” and, for elementary students, “Killer Underwear Invasion! How to spot fake news, disinformation & conspiracy theories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='KQED Media Literacy Resources' link1='https://www.kqed.org/education/media-literacy,Teaching Media Literacy' link2='https://www.kqed.org/education/key-concepts-of-media-education,Key Concepts of Media Education' link3='https://www.kqed.org/education/media-literacy-framework,Media Literacy Framework' link4='https://www.kqed.org/education/media-literacy-glossary,Glossary of Media Literacy Terms']She’s happy that the law passed, but would like to see librarians included in the rollout and the curriculum implemented immediately, not waiting until the frameworks are updated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gradual implementation of the law was deliberate since schools are already grappling with so many other state mandates, said Alvin Lee, executive director of Generation Up, a student-led advocacy group among the bill’s sponsors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hopes that local school boards will prioritize the issue by funding training for teachers and moving immediately to get media literacy into classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Disinformation contributes to polarization, which we’re seeing happen all over the world,” said Lee, a junior at Stanford who said it’s a top issue among his classmates. “Media literacy can address that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco Unified, Ricardo Elizalde is a teacher on special assignment who trains elementary teachers in media literacy. His staff gave out 50 copies of “Killer Underwear!” for teachers to build activities around, and he also encourages students to make their own media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elementary school is the perfect time to introduce the topic, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We get all these media thrown at us from a young age, we have to learn to defend ourselves,” Elizalde said. “Media literacy is a basic part of being literate. If we’re just teaching kids how to read and not think critically about what they’re reading, we’re doing them a disservice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>AB 873 passed nearly unanimously in the Legislature, underscoring the nonpartisan nature of the topic. Nationwide, Texas, New Jersey and Delaware have also passed strong media literacy laws, and more than a dozen other states are moving in that direction, \u003ca href=\"https://medialiteracynow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MediaLiteracyPolicyReport2022.pdf\">according to Media Literacy Now (PDF)\u003c/a>, a nonprofit research organization that advocates for media literacy in K-12 schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, California’s law falls short of Media Literacy Now’s recommendations. California’s approach doesn’t include funding to train teachers, an advisory committee, input from librarians, surveys or a way to monitor the law’s effectiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeping the bill simple, though, was a way to help ensure its passage, Berman said. Those features can be implemented later, and he felt it was urgent to pass the law quickly so students can start receiving media literacy education as soon as possible. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, as the state begins updating its curriculum frameworks, although teachers are now encouraged to teach media literacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berman’s law builds on \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/Ci/cr/ml/index.asp\">a previous effort in California\u003c/a> to bring media literacy to K-12 classrooms. In 2018, Senate Bill 830 required the California Department of Education to provide media literacy resources — lesson plans, project ideas and background — to the state’s K-12 teachers. But it didn’t make media literacy mandatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new law also overlaps somewhat with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965784/california-near-the-bottom-of-us-computer-science-rankings-as-it-struggles-with-teacher-shortage\">California’s effort to bring computer science education to all students\u003c/a>. The state hopes to expand computer science, which can include aspects of media literacy, to all students and possibly even require it to graduate from high school. Newsom recently signed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1251\">Assembly Bill 1251\u003c/a>, which creates a commission to look at ways to recruit more computer science teachers to California classrooms. Berman also sponsors \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1054\">Assembly Bill 1054\u003c/a>, which requires high schools to offer computer science classes. That bill is currently stalled in the Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Understanding media and creating it\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Teachers don’t need a state law to show students how to be smart media consumers, and some have been doing it for years. Merek Chang, a high school science teacher at Hacienda La Puente Unified in the City of Industry east of Los Angeles, said the pandemic was a wake-up call for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During remote learning, he gave students two articles on the origins of the coronavirus. One was an opinion piece from the New York Post, a tabloid, and the other was from a scientific journal. He asked students which they thought was accurate. More than 90% chose the Post piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made me realize that we need to focus on the skills to understand content as much as we focus on the content itself,” Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He now incorporates media literacy in all aspects of his lesson plans. He relies on \u003ca href=\"https://sheg.stanford.edu/\">the Stanford History Education Group\u003c/a>, which offers free media literacy resources for teachers, and took part in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/education/media-literacy\">a KQED media literacy program\u003c/a> for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to teaching students how to evaluate online information, he shows them how to create their own media. For example, homework assignments include making TikTok-style videos on protein synthesis for mRNA vaccines. Students then present their projects at home or lunchtime events for families and the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The biggest impact, I’ve noticed, is that students feel like their voice matters,” Chang said. “The work isn’t just for a grade. They feel like they’re making a difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ormsby, the Los Angeles County librarian, has also been promoting media literacy for years. Librarians generally have been at the forefront of media literacy education, and California’s new law refers to the Modern School Library Standards for media literacy guidelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ormsby teaches concepts like “lateral reading” (comparing an online article with other sources to check for accuracy) and reverse imaging (searching online to trace a photo to its source or check if it’s been altered). She also provides lesson plans, resources and book recommendations such as “True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News” and, for elementary students, “Killer Underwear Invasion! How to spot fake news, disinformation & conspiracy theories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She’s happy that the law passed, but would like to see librarians included in the rollout and the curriculum implemented immediately, not waiting until the frameworks are updated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gradual implementation of the law was deliberate since schools are already grappling with so many other state mandates, said Alvin Lee, executive director of Generation Up, a student-led advocacy group among the bill’s sponsors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hopes that local school boards will prioritize the issue by funding training for teachers and moving immediately to get media literacy into classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Disinformation contributes to polarization, which we’re seeing happen all over the world,” said Lee, a junior at Stanford who said it’s a top issue among his classmates. “Media literacy can address that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco Unified, Ricardo Elizalde is a teacher on special assignment who trains elementary teachers in media literacy. His staff gave out 50 copies of “Killer Underwear!” for teachers to build activities around, and he also encourages students to make their own media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elementary school is the perfect time to introduce the topic, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We get all these media thrown at us from a young age, we have to learn to defend ourselves,” Elizalde said. “Media literacy is a basic part of being literate. If we’re just teaching kids how to read and not think critically about what they’re reading, we’re doing them a disservice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Bill Blanken, a chemistry professor at Reedley College, said a new diversity and equity policy in California’s community colleges amounts to a “loyalty oath” and “compelled speech” that runs afoul of free speech and academic freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blanken, along with five other tenured professors in State Center Community College District, are challenging new California Community College diversity policies that change the way employees are evaluated. A lawsuit, filed in August, describes the plaintiffs as critics of anti-racism and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) principles who are concerned that these stances could result in negative performance evaluations or even losing their jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need legal protection,” Blanken said in an interview with EdSource on Oct. 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Board of Governors for the California Community Colleges adopted new regulations requiring local districts to evaluate employees, including faculty, on their competency in working with a diverse student population. Local districts were required to be in compliance last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blanken disagrees with the DEIA policy’s premise that racism is embedded in institutions, including California’s community colleges, or in disciplines such as chemistry, math and physics. He argues that these fields should be taught in a way that is race- and gender-neutral. That is at the crux of the lawsuit by the six plaintiffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Jill Wagner, spokesperson, State Center Community College District\"]‘DEIA initiatives have sparked many important conversations spanning decades, and as this issue continues to evolve, efforts to address them will continue to be at the forefront.’[/pullquote]Filed by free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit-fire-sues-stop-california-forcing-professors-teach-dei\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit-fire-sues-stop-california-forcing-professors-teach-dei\">the suit\u003c/a> names California Community College Chancellor Sonya Christian, the board of governors of the California Community Colleges as well as the chancellor and governing board of State Center Community College District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A related suit, filed in June on behalf of Bakersfield College history professor Daymon Johnson, targets the chancellor and board of the Kern Community College District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Center Community College District, which serves Fresno and surrounding central San Joaquin Valley communities, is one of the first districts in the state to include these new diversity requirements in its \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.scccd.edu/_uploaded-files/documents/scccd-scft-agreement-ft-2022-2025-05.9.23-accessible-copy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">latest faculty contract (PDF)\u003c/a>. The district said in a statement that it will defend its implementation of the state’s DEIA regulations and its collaborative effort with the State Center Federation of Teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The District now and forever will be a welcoming place for a diverse population, with a commitment to access and inclusion,” wrote Jill Wagner, spokesperson for State Center Community College District. “DEIA initiatives have sparked many important conversations spanning decades, and as this issue continues to evolve, efforts to address them will continue to be at the forefront.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s new evaluation process requires instructional faculty to demonstrate “teaching and learning practices that reflect DEIA and anti-racist principles,” in addition to a written self-evaluation on the faculty’s “understanding” of DEIA competencies and “anti-racist principles,” with the goal of improving “equitable student outcomes and course completion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How these principles will play out in the next rounds of evaluation is still uncertain. Blanken said he has not received guidance from his department. A September memo by State Center’s human resources department noted that the district and academic senate have yet to develop uniform training guidelines for evaluations, and that meanwhile, “evaluatees should, in good faith, review the language in the contract and do their best to speak to how they have demonstrated or shown progress toward practices that embrace the DEIA principles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Ortner, the FIRE attorney representing the State Center professors said, “That’s not good enough when free speech is on the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ortner added that broad, undefined regulations could have a “chilling effect” on speech in the classroom. Plaintiffs are particularly concerned about a \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.asccc.org/sites/default/files/CCC_DEI-in-Curriculum_Model_Principles_and_Practices_June_2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">framework released by the California Community College Curriculum Committee (PDF)\u003c/a> that warns professors not to “‘weaponize’ academic freedom and academic integrity in an academic discipline or inflict curricular trauma” on historically marginalized students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the suit, plaintiffs said they have changed the way they teach their classes this semester because of the new DEIA policies. Loren Palsgaard, English professor at Madera Community College, said he will no longer assign texts that contain racial slurs, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and works by William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A response filed on Oct. 2 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, on behalf of the chancellor and the board of governors challenges the claim the DEIA policies bar professors from using these texts, adding that this framework is not binding and only provides a reference for college districts creating their own DEIA policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The guidance “expresses competencies the Chancellor’s Office endorses, but does not require,” wrote Melissa Villarin, spokesperson for the state Chancellor’s Office. “The regulations do not impose penalties on district employees. They are intended to contribute to employee professional development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, said that it is well within a college’s rights to not only prescribe the curriculum for courses but to insist that faculty be sensitive to teaching a diverse student body. He added, however, that schools cannot require that faculty espouse a particular viewpoint in their teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The question is whether this is more the former than the latter,” Chemerinsky wrote in an email to EdSource, adding that he believes the government has a strong argument that this is within its realm of prescribing a curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is hard to say on this record that the First Amendment has been violated,” Chemerisky wrote. “It would be different if a teacher was being disciplined and bringing a challenge.” None of the plaintiffs in the suits has been disciplined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Daniel Ortner, FIRE attorney representing State Center professors\"]‘A lot of colleges have anti-discrimination protections that make students feel welcome, such as tutoring, mentoring. There are a lot of things that you can do that don’t impinge on free speech.’[/pullquote]A separate \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.ifs.org/cases/johnson-v-watkin/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.ifs.org/cases/johnson-v-watkin/\">suit\u003c/a>, filed by the Institute for Free Speech on behalf of Bakersfield College professor Daymon Johnson, points to the firing of Matthew Garrett, a professor who had been critical of DEIA initiatives. Garrett was not subject to new DEIA policies affecting faculty evaluations. However, Johnson’s suit claims that he worries that he, too, could lose his job, because he shares many of the same conservative values and anti-DEIA stances as Garrett.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kern Community College District said in a statement that Garrett was not terminated because of his opinions on DEIA or other free speech issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Matthew Garrett was terminated after a lengthy and detailed examination of his disciplinary violations at Bakersfield College,” said district spokesperson Norma Rojas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs in both suits have asked the court for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the California Community Colleges’ DEIA policy — as well as State Center Community College District’s faculty contract — from going into immediate effect. The request remains pending in federal court, and no hearing date is currently set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ortner said he is not aware of any other lawsuits from California’s 116 community colleges that are targeting the new DEIA policies, but he’s keeping his eye on the issue statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of colleges have anti-discrimination protections that make students feel welcome, such as tutoring, mentoring. There are a lot of things that you can do that don’t impinge on free speech,” Ortner said. “California colleges are much more aggressive and forward in advocating for these principles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/community-college-professors-allege-new-diversity-policies-infringe-on-academic-freedom/699920\">This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Bill Blanken, a chemistry professor at Reedley College, said a new diversity and equity policy in California’s community colleges amounts to a “loyalty oath” and “compelled speech” that runs afoul of free speech and academic freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blanken, along with five other tenured professors in State Center Community College District, are challenging new California Community College diversity policies that change the way employees are evaluated. A lawsuit, filed in August, describes the plaintiffs as critics of anti-racism and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) principles who are concerned that these stances could result in negative performance evaluations or even losing their jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need legal protection,” Blanken said in an interview with EdSource on Oct. 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Board of Governors for the California Community Colleges adopted new regulations requiring local districts to evaluate employees, including faculty, on their competency in working with a diverse student population. Local districts were required to be in compliance last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blanken disagrees with the DEIA policy’s premise that racism is embedded in institutions, including California’s community colleges, or in disciplines such as chemistry, math and physics. He argues that these fields should be taught in a way that is race- and gender-neutral. That is at the crux of the lawsuit by the six plaintiffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Filed by free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit-fire-sues-stop-california-forcing-professors-teach-dei\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit-fire-sues-stop-california-forcing-professors-teach-dei\">the suit\u003c/a> names California Community College Chancellor Sonya Christian, the board of governors of the California Community Colleges as well as the chancellor and governing board of State Center Community College District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A related suit, filed in June on behalf of Bakersfield College history professor Daymon Johnson, targets the chancellor and board of the Kern Community College District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Center Community College District, which serves Fresno and surrounding central San Joaquin Valley communities, is one of the first districts in the state to include these new diversity requirements in its \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.scccd.edu/_uploaded-files/documents/scccd-scft-agreement-ft-2022-2025-05.9.23-accessible-copy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">latest faculty contract (PDF)\u003c/a>. The district said in a statement that it will defend its implementation of the state’s DEIA regulations and its collaborative effort with the State Center Federation of Teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The District now and forever will be a welcoming place for a diverse population, with a commitment to access and inclusion,” wrote Jill Wagner, spokesperson for State Center Community College District. “DEIA initiatives have sparked many important conversations spanning decades, and as this issue continues to evolve, efforts to address them will continue to be at the forefront.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s new evaluation process requires instructional faculty to demonstrate “teaching and learning practices that reflect DEIA and anti-racist principles,” in addition to a written self-evaluation on the faculty’s “understanding” of DEIA competencies and “anti-racist principles,” with the goal of improving “equitable student outcomes and course completion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How these principles will play out in the next rounds of evaluation is still uncertain. Blanken said he has not received guidance from his department. A September memo by State Center’s human resources department noted that the district and academic senate have yet to develop uniform training guidelines for evaluations, and that meanwhile, “evaluatees should, in good faith, review the language in the contract and do their best to speak to how they have demonstrated or shown progress toward practices that embrace the DEIA principles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Ortner, the FIRE attorney representing the State Center professors said, “That’s not good enough when free speech is on the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ortner added that broad, undefined regulations could have a “chilling effect” on speech in the classroom. Plaintiffs are particularly concerned about a \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.asccc.org/sites/default/files/CCC_DEI-in-Curriculum_Model_Principles_and_Practices_June_2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">framework released by the California Community College Curriculum Committee (PDF)\u003c/a> that warns professors not to “‘weaponize’ academic freedom and academic integrity in an academic discipline or inflict curricular trauma” on historically marginalized students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the suit, plaintiffs said they have changed the way they teach their classes this semester because of the new DEIA policies. Loren Palsgaard, English professor at Madera Community College, said he will no longer assign texts that contain racial slurs, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and works by William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A response filed on Oct. 2 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, on behalf of the chancellor and the board of governors challenges the claim the DEIA policies bar professors from using these texts, adding that this framework is not binding and only provides a reference for college districts creating their own DEIA policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The guidance “expresses competencies the Chancellor’s Office endorses, but does not require,” wrote Melissa Villarin, spokesperson for the state Chancellor’s Office. “The regulations do not impose penalties on district employees. They are intended to contribute to employee professional development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, said that it is well within a college’s rights to not only prescribe the curriculum for courses but to insist that faculty be sensitive to teaching a diverse student body. He added, however, that schools cannot require that faculty espouse a particular viewpoint in their teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The question is whether this is more the former than the latter,” Chemerinsky wrote in an email to EdSource, adding that he believes the government has a strong argument that this is within its realm of prescribing a curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is hard to say on this record that the First Amendment has been violated,” Chemerisky wrote. “It would be different if a teacher was being disciplined and bringing a challenge.” None of the plaintiffs in the suits has been disciplined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A separate \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.ifs.org/cases/johnson-v-watkin/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.ifs.org/cases/johnson-v-watkin/\">suit\u003c/a>, filed by the Institute for Free Speech on behalf of Bakersfield College professor Daymon Johnson, points to the firing of Matthew Garrett, a professor who had been critical of DEIA initiatives. Garrett was not subject to new DEIA policies affecting faculty evaluations. However, Johnson’s suit claims that he worries that he, too, could lose his job, because he shares many of the same conservative values and anti-DEIA stances as Garrett.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kern Community College District said in a statement that Garrett was not terminated because of his opinions on DEIA or other free speech issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Matthew Garrett was terminated after a lengthy and detailed examination of his disciplinary violations at Bakersfield College,” said district spokesperson Norma Rojas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs in both suits have asked the court for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the California Community Colleges’ DEIA policy — as well as State Center Community College District’s faculty contract — from going into immediate effect. The request remains pending in federal court, and no hearing date is currently set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ortner said he is not aware of any other lawsuits from California’s 116 community colleges that are targeting the new DEIA policies, but he’s keeping his eye on the issue statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of colleges have anti-discrimination protections that make students feel welcome, such as tutoring, mentoring. There are a lot of things that you can do that don’t impinge on free speech,” Ortner said. “California colleges are much more aggressive and forward in advocating for these principles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/community-college-professors-allege-new-diversity-policies-infringe-on-academic-freedom/699920\">This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "bay-area-flower-farms-burst-with-marigolds-for-dia-de-los-muertos",
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"content": "\u003cp>Like many California flower farmers, Lupe Rico has been in a frenzy over the last few days — cutting most of the 30,000 marigolds he grew on his Colma farm in time to sell for Día de los Muertos celebrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, we grow a lot because we always come up short,” says Rico, a second-generation farmer. “We put some more this year, and we’re going to see what happens.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Lupe Rico, second-generation farmer in Colma\"]‘You’re going to see orange everywhere.’[/pullquote]It’s impossible to imagine \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/dia-de-los-muertos\">Día de los Muertos\u003c/a>, which begins Wednesday, without marigolds. These many-petaled flowers adorn the altars made for the holiday. The flowers’ bright orange color and sweet, earthy smell are believed to help lure the souls of the dead from their graves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rico sells his flowers at the San Francisco Flower Market, a wholesale market housed in a row of cavernous warehouses in the city’s SOMA neighborhood. The market has over 4,000 registered buyers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the days before the holiday, Rico says, the warehouse will fill up with marigolds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re going to see orange everywhere,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many regional flower wholesalers say marigold sales have gone up in the past few years. One likely reason is the 2017 Disney film \u003cem>Coco\u003c/em> about Día de los Muertos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is kind of funny, but I will say after \u003cem>Coco\u003c/em>, [there’s been an] increase of people interested in the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead. It’s been so popular,” says Raul Dueñas, the account manager for Rafa’s Wholesale Flowers, which also sells at the SF Flower Market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dueñas, also a floral designer, says a spate of restaurants, schools and hotels have been asking him to install marigold displays this year, and his business expects to sell 2,000 more bunches than they did last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965704\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Bunches of marigolds in plastic wrapping.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marigolds sit on display at Rafa’s Wholesale at the San Francisco Flower Market in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lisa Filice, the owner of Regional Farms, a flower wholesaler based in Gilroy, says she’s noticed a notable uptick in marigold sales, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If Walmart has Día de los Muertos decorations, it must be big, right?” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the Bay Area’s rapidly growing Indian population, marigolds are also often used in wedding garlands and for the holiday Diwali, which falls on Nov. 12 this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it’s driven by supply or driven by demand, it’s clear that we’re selling more and more marigolds,” says Alexander Peter Bottemanne, a flower industry consultant. [aside postID=news_11930492 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/11/RS52357_037_SanFrancisco_DiadelosMuertos_11022021-qut-1020x680.jpg']According to Bottemanne, in recent years, Ecuador has emerged as a major exporter of marigolds and other flowers that used to be grown in California. He says higher land prices in California have caused many flower farmers to sell their land or switch to more profitable crops than flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the uptick, marigolds aren’t driving huge profits for most local florists, like Mauricio Vivas, owner of Tony Rossi and Sons Flower Shop in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our sales probably go up maybe about 10%,” he says. “It’s not that much of an increase in our sales just because of the price of the flower. It’s not a very expensive flower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One bunch of marigolds sells for about $10 to $15, as compared to a bunch of roses, which sells for more than twice that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Vivas contends it’s still worth having the festive orange flowers on hand. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mauricio Vivas, owner, Tony Rossi and Sons Flower Shop in Oakland\"]‘It’s like if I would have been there when my actual ancestors were doing the same rituals that we are doing now. I feel like I was there too.’[/pullquote]“It brings people, and then they buy something else that we have at the store,” he says, pointing to papel picado, candles and other items typically used to decorate community altars and private ones in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vivas, who is from Michoacán, Mexico, also has a personal connection to marigolds. When he picks up a bunch of them, he says, the hairs on the back of his arm stand up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like if I would have been there when my actual ancestors were doing the same rituals that we are doing now,” he says. “I feel like I was there too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vivas added that he just loves marigolds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965705\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965705\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person reaches for something beween bouquets of marigolds in a large indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lupe Rico helps customers with marigolds at Lupe Farms at the San Francisco Flower Market in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you see this flower from far away, it will just brighten up your eyes. It’ll just kind of make you happy,” he says. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Lupe Rico, second-generation farmer in Colma\"]‘So when I’m cutting flowers right now, I say, ‘Dad, I’m cutting the flower that you used to cut. I feel in peace.’[/pullquote]Lupe Rico, the farmer from Colma, says he’s made an altar to remember his father, who died this year and whom he worked alongside at their farm for over 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So when I’m cutting flowers right now, I say, ‘Dad, I’m cutting the flower that you used to cut,’” he says, holding back tears. “I feel in peace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "One California flower farmer said he recently cut most of the 30,000 marigolds he grew on his land in Colma just in time to sell for Día de los Muertos celebrations.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Like many California flower farmers, Lupe Rico has been in a frenzy over the last few days — cutting most of the 30,000 marigolds he grew on his Colma farm in time to sell for Día de los Muertos celebrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, we grow a lot because we always come up short,” says Rico, a second-generation farmer. “We put some more this year, and we’re going to see what happens.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s impossible to imagine \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/dia-de-los-muertos\">Día de los Muertos\u003c/a>, which begins Wednesday, without marigolds. These many-petaled flowers adorn the altars made for the holiday. The flowers’ bright orange color and sweet, earthy smell are believed to help lure the souls of the dead from their graves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rico sells his flowers at the San Francisco Flower Market, a wholesale market housed in a row of cavernous warehouses in the city’s SOMA neighborhood. The market has over 4,000 registered buyers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the days before the holiday, Rico says, the warehouse will fill up with marigolds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re going to see orange everywhere,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many regional flower wholesalers say marigold sales have gone up in the past few years. One likely reason is the 2017 Disney film \u003cem>Coco\u003c/em> about Día de los Muertos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is kind of funny, but I will say after \u003cem>Coco\u003c/em>, [there’s been an] increase of people interested in the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead. It’s been so popular,” says Raul Dueñas, the account manager for Rafa’s Wholesale Flowers, which also sells at the SF Flower Market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dueñas, also a floral designer, says a spate of restaurants, schools and hotels have been asking him to install marigold displays this year, and his business expects to sell 2,000 more bunches than they did last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965704\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Bunches of marigolds in plastic wrapping.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-04-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marigolds sit on display at Rafa’s Wholesale at the San Francisco Flower Market in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lisa Filice, the owner of Regional Farms, a flower wholesaler based in Gilroy, says she’s noticed a notable uptick in marigold sales, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If Walmart has Día de los Muertos decorations, it must be big, right?” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the Bay Area’s rapidly growing Indian population, marigolds are also often used in wedding garlands and for the holiday Diwali, which falls on Nov. 12 this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it’s driven by supply or driven by demand, it’s clear that we’re selling more and more marigolds,” says Alexander Peter Bottemanne, a flower industry consultant. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>According to Bottemanne, in recent years, Ecuador has emerged as a major exporter of marigolds and other flowers that used to be grown in California. He says higher land prices in California have caused many flower farmers to sell their land or switch to more profitable crops than flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the uptick, marigolds aren’t driving huge profits for most local florists, like Mauricio Vivas, owner of Tony Rossi and Sons Flower Shop in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our sales probably go up maybe about 10%,” he says. “It’s not that much of an increase in our sales just because of the price of the flower. It’s not a very expensive flower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One bunch of marigolds sells for about $10 to $15, as compared to a bunch of roses, which sells for more than twice that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Vivas contends it’s still worth having the festive orange flowers on hand. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It brings people, and then they buy something else that we have at the store,” he says, pointing to papel picado, candles and other items typically used to decorate community altars and private ones in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vivas, who is from Michoacán, Mexico, also has a personal connection to marigolds. When he picks up a bunch of them, he says, the hairs on the back of his arm stand up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like if I would have been there when my actual ancestors were doing the same rituals that we are doing now,” he says. “I feel like I was there too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vivas added that he just loves marigolds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965705\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965705\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person reaches for something beween bouquets of marigolds in a large indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231026-DayoftheDeadMarigolds-07-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lupe Rico helps customers with marigolds at Lupe Farms at the San Francisco Flower Market in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you see this flower from far away, it will just brighten up your eyes. It’ll just kind of make you happy,” he says. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Lupe Rico, the farmer from Colma, says he’s made an altar to remember his father, who died this year and whom he worked alongside at their farm for over 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So when I’m cutting flowers right now, I say, ‘Dad, I’m cutting the flower that you used to cut,’” he says, holding back tears. “I feel in peace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a Saturday morning in late August, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women hosted a meeting to recruit candidates for local school board races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering at Calvary Chapel on Hillsdale Avenue in San José began with a prayer from the group’s vice president, Mingi Bodine. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mingi Bodine, vice president, Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women\"]‘Father, we are asking not only for your forgiveness of our sins, but rescuing the children, who have been under the most evil public school system America has ever seen.’[/pullquote]“Father, we are asking not only for your forgiveness of our sins but rescuing the children, who have been under the most evil public school system America has ever seen,” Bodine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the next two hours, advocates implored potential candidates to pursue school board seats under the banner of “parents’ rights” — with the goal of policing textbooks and transgender expression and countering the influence of teacher unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leader of one local parents’ rights group, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, shared his plans to encourage parents to opt their children out of sex ed classes. And conservatives who had won seats on South Bay school boards offered unvarnished explanations for their leap into politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I decided I’m going to run. Why? Because they were hurting the children,” said Linda Chavez, who was elected to the board of the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District, in East San José, in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had just finished passing all of this gay stuff,” Chavez said. “And this is one of the first districts who did it, and I looked around and said, this is all going to go this way — not on my watch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, Chavez and three other candidates backed by the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women won school board seats in the South Bay. A year later — as clashes over transgender rights, Pride flags, and LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum have spread across California and the nation — conservative organizations in liberal Santa Clara County are redoubling their efforts to gain a foothold on local school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are facing growing pushback from opponents who are raising alarms about the groups’ collective aims. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"San José City Councilmember Omar Torres\"]‘Right-wing individuals and organizations have made it clear to me, to our transgender community, to our LGBTQ community that we should be retreating back into the closet to hide our true selves and to conform to a version of society that denies me to be my true authentic self.’[/pullquote]On Tuesday, members of San José’s City Council denounced Informed Parents of Silicon Valley for using anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in their campaign to remove kids from sex-ed. In response, the council unanimously passed a resolution “affirming support of the transgender and broader LGBTQ+ communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Omar Torres, the city’s first openly gay Latino councilmember, co-authored the resolution. He was overcome with emotion as he attempted to speak from the dais — twice asking for more time to collect his thoughts, as other council members walked over to embrace him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stand here crying not only as a councilmember but as a human who has been the target of hate solely because of my sexual orientation,” Torres said. “Right-wing individuals and organizations have made it clear to me, to our transgender community, to our LGBTQ community that we should be retreating back into the closet to hide our true selves and to conform to a version of society that denies me to be my true authentic self.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the council and their allies vowed to counter the influence of the conservative organizations — drawing battle lines ahead of what could be a more significant confrontation on school board ballots in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What you don’t want to have happen is that everybody stays quiet,” said Ken Yeager, a professor of political science at San José State and the first openly gay elected official in Santa Clara County. “Then, these evangelicals think, ‘Oh, OK, the political climate has changed, we can be much more bold in our actions because there isn’t going to be any type of reaction to it.” [aside postID=news_11962571 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230927-CHINO-TRANSGENDER-SCHOOL-BOARD-Getty-DM-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Informed Parents caught the attention of the council last month when their volunteers distributed literature outside of schools in the Cambrian, Franklin-McKinney and San José Unified school districts, which declared “Your children are at risk!” and accused local schools of teaching “Gender confusion and gender transitioning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Pam Foley called the literature “inappropriate and totally unnecessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fliers contain misinformation and hateful dog whistles that target our LGBTQ community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry Pegram, the founder of Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, defended his group’s outreach to parents and said their agenda is not anti-LGBTQ+.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We welcome anyone and everyone who’s interested in asserting parental rights over their children’s education,” said Pegram, a former San José councilmember, told KQED. “Whether those parents are gay, trans, cisgendered, or anything else really doesn’t matter to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A core goal of the group’s opt-out campaign, Pegram said, is to teach parents about their ability to remove their children from classes they consider inappropriate, such as comprehensive sex education (which includes LGBTQ+ inclusive language) and HIV/AIDS prevention education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2015 California law requires students to receive sex ed once in middle school and once in high school, although it can be taught earlier. School districts are required to notify parents about the instruction and inform them about their ability to excuse their child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All that we are doing is helping parents know what their rights are and make a decision as to whether or not they want to opt their children out of these various activities,” Pegram said. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Larry Pegram, founder, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley\"]‘If we can create parent organizations at the various school districts, we’ve got the army. So that when someone stands up and says, ‘Yes, I want to run,’ we’ve got an army. … and we can begin to use that army for all of the labor needs that occur in a political campaign’[/pullquote]Pegram told KQED his group is not involved in politics. But at the August church meeting for prospective school board candidates, Pegram offered extensive guidance to candidates about campaigning, fundraising and messaging, saying, “If you want to see a change in curriculum in the schools, you have to make a change in the face of the people that are running the district.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our organization, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, is dedicated to helping you candidates get elected,” Pegram said before adding, “Now, we’re a 501(c)(3) organization. We don’t — I’m doing this for the tape — we do not endorse any candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram said his group’s distribution of the “opt-out bookmarks” will encourage like-minded parents to form organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can create parent organizations at the various school districts, we’ve got the army. So that when someone stands up and says, ‘Yes, I want to run,’ we’ve got an army … and we can begin to use that army for all of the labor needs that occur in a political campaign,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of Informed Parents see the group as Pegram’s latest effort to target LGBTQ+ rights in the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeager, who detailed the history of local LGBTQ+ politics in his book \u003cem>Run!, \u003c/em>recounted Pegram’s opposition to ordinances protecting the city’s gay residents from discrimination in 1980. Later, Pegram was a local advocate for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage statewide in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The focus is always on children,” Yeager said. “But obviously, their main aim is really to sort of take over politics and to sort of deprive LGBTQ people of the same rights as everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram maintained that his own political history is “irrelevant” to the current work of Informed Parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College, said she sees a similar playbook at work in the current debates playing out over LGBTQ+ issues in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The culture wars are all about finding that new thing that divides and tries to, you know, to pull away from the opposition’s coalition. And so maybe 10, 15 years ago, it was marriage equality,” said Michelson, who studies LGBTQ+ politics and transgender rights. “And now the focus has turned to what’s going on in schools, what’s going on in school libraries, what’s going on in school curriculums.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelson said school board elections present a unique opportunity for small groups of well-organized activists. The races are often low-information contests, and candidates don’t run as a member of a political party, leaving voters without a partisan cue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a strategic move in a blue state like California, where anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is unlikely to succeed at the state level. Instead, California’s Republican Party has made a concerted effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">invest in school board candidates as a way of building political power\u003c/a> at the local level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women supported more than a dozen candidates for school board across Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four of those candidates won: Marc Cooper in the Franklin-McKinley School District; Pamela Gardiner in the Morgan Hill Unified School District; Jim Zito in the Evergreen School District; and Linda Chavez, in her bid for reelection in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their ties to conservative parents’ rights groups have created divisions at the local level. Cooper was censured last month by his board colleagues for appearing on a flier promoting his presence at an event organized by Informed Parents. The group was \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/kqed-newscast-f7e7b8f6-de8e-4fa1-b10d-7c41d2c291df\">forced to apologize to San José councilmember Bien Doan\u003c/a> for featuring his image on the same flier without his knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions were already high leading into Tuesday’s council meeting. The resolution had initially called for the explicit condemnation of Informed Parents and accused the group of harassing families in their attempts to distribute opt-out literature. But after legal threats from the group, Informed Parents’ name was removed from the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, about two dozen residents showed up to testify — many sharing personal experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sandra Rivera, a teacher and president of the teachers union in Alum Rock, told the council about raising a transgender son in local schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As my son navigated who he was, it was through educators here in San José and in safe spaces created by them that helped him feel safe exploring his gender,” Rivera said. “Groups such as Informed Parents of Silicon Valley are wolves in sheep’s clothing trying to justify hate.” [aside label='More Stories on LGBTQ+ Discrimination' tag='lgbtq-discrimination']Other parents showed up to support Informed Parents and blasted the school board for condemning the group. Ha Tran, a San José parent of two, said the resolution was full of “false claims and should be discarded.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These groups are there because schools are not doing their jobs,” Tran added. “These schools are biased and promote LGBQT+ and cause kids to be confused.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelson said that on its face, Informed Parents’ campaign to opt children out of sex ed classes is a far cry from efforts to out transgender students and ban books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think for most people, that’s where it crosses the line — versus telling people, ‘Hey, just a reminder, you can opt your kid out of this curriculum,’” Michelson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Informed Parents’ fear-mongering rhetoric and political activity, Michelson added, could undermine their stated goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re going to give it up that easy and people are going to know that that’s what you’re really doing, then you’re going to have to expect some backlash,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a Saturday morning in late August, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women hosted a meeting to recruit candidates for local school board races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gathering at Calvary Chapel on Hillsdale Avenue in San José began with a prayer from the group’s vice president, Mingi Bodine. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Father, we are asking not only for your forgiveness of our sins but rescuing the children, who have been under the most evil public school system America has ever seen,” Bodine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the next two hours, advocates implored potential candidates to pursue school board seats under the banner of “parents’ rights” — with the goal of policing textbooks and transgender expression and countering the influence of teacher unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leader of one local parents’ rights group, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, shared his plans to encourage parents to opt their children out of sex ed classes. And conservatives who had won seats on South Bay school boards offered unvarnished explanations for their leap into politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I decided I’m going to run. Why? Because they were hurting the children,” said Linda Chavez, who was elected to the board of the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District, in East San José, in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had just finished passing all of this gay stuff,” Chavez said. “And this is one of the first districts who did it, and I looked around and said, this is all going to go this way — not on my watch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, Chavez and three other candidates backed by the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women won school board seats in the South Bay. A year later — as clashes over transgender rights, Pride flags, and LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum have spread across California and the nation — conservative organizations in liberal Santa Clara County are redoubling their efforts to gain a foothold on local school boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they are facing growing pushback from opponents who are raising alarms about the groups’ collective aims. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On Tuesday, members of San José’s City Council denounced Informed Parents of Silicon Valley for using anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in their campaign to remove kids from sex-ed. In response, the council unanimously passed a resolution “affirming support of the transgender and broader LGBTQ+ communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Omar Torres, the city’s first openly gay Latino councilmember, co-authored the resolution. He was overcome with emotion as he attempted to speak from the dais — twice asking for more time to collect his thoughts, as other council members walked over to embrace him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stand here crying not only as a councilmember but as a human who has been the target of hate solely because of my sexual orientation,” Torres said. “Right-wing individuals and organizations have made it clear to me, to our transgender community, to our LGBTQ community that we should be retreating back into the closet to hide our true selves and to conform to a version of society that denies me to be my true authentic self.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the council and their allies vowed to counter the influence of the conservative organizations — drawing battle lines ahead of what could be a more significant confrontation on school board ballots in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What you don’t want to have happen is that everybody stays quiet,” said Ken Yeager, a professor of political science at San José State and the first openly gay elected official in Santa Clara County. “Then, these evangelicals think, ‘Oh, OK, the political climate has changed, we can be much more bold in our actions because there isn’t going to be any type of reaction to it.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Informed Parents caught the attention of the council last month when their volunteers distributed literature outside of schools in the Cambrian, Franklin-McKinney and San José Unified school districts, which declared “Your children are at risk!” and accused local schools of teaching “Gender confusion and gender transitioning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Pam Foley called the literature “inappropriate and totally unnecessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These fliers contain misinformation and hateful dog whistles that target our LGBTQ community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry Pegram, the founder of Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, defended his group’s outreach to parents and said their agenda is not anti-LGBTQ+.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We welcome anyone and everyone who’s interested in asserting parental rights over their children’s education,” said Pegram, a former San José councilmember, told KQED. “Whether those parents are gay, trans, cisgendered, or anything else really doesn’t matter to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A core goal of the group’s opt-out campaign, Pegram said, is to teach parents about their ability to remove their children from classes they consider inappropriate, such as comprehensive sex education (which includes LGBTQ+ inclusive language) and HIV/AIDS prevention education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2015 California law requires students to receive sex ed once in middle school and once in high school, although it can be taught earlier. School districts are required to notify parents about the instruction and inform them about their ability to excuse their child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All that we are doing is helping parents know what their rights are and make a decision as to whether or not they want to opt their children out of these various activities,” Pegram said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Pegram told KQED his group is not involved in politics. But at the August church meeting for prospective school board candidates, Pegram offered extensive guidance to candidates about campaigning, fundraising and messaging, saying, “If you want to see a change in curriculum in the schools, you have to make a change in the face of the people that are running the district.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our organization, Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, is dedicated to helping you candidates get elected,” Pegram said before adding, “Now, we’re a 501(c)(3) organization. We don’t — I’m doing this for the tape — we do not endorse any candidates.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram said his group’s distribution of the “opt-out bookmarks” will encourage like-minded parents to form organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can create parent organizations at the various school districts, we’ve got the army. So that when someone stands up and says, ‘Yes, I want to run,’ we’ve got an army … and we can begin to use that army for all of the labor needs that occur in a political campaign,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of Informed Parents see the group as Pegram’s latest effort to target LGBTQ+ rights in the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeager, who detailed the history of local LGBTQ+ politics in his book \u003cem>Run!, \u003c/em>recounted Pegram’s opposition to ordinances protecting the city’s gay residents from discrimination in 1980. Later, Pegram was a local advocate for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage statewide in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The focus is always on children,” Yeager said. “But obviously, their main aim is really to sort of take over politics and to sort of deprive LGBTQ people of the same rights as everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pegram maintained that his own political history is “irrelevant” to the current work of Informed Parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College, said she sees a similar playbook at work in the current debates playing out over LGBTQ+ issues in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The culture wars are all about finding that new thing that divides and tries to, you know, to pull away from the opposition’s coalition. And so maybe 10, 15 years ago, it was marriage equality,” said Michelson, who studies LGBTQ+ politics and transgender rights. “And now the focus has turned to what’s going on in schools, what’s going on in school libraries, what’s going on in school curriculums.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelson said school board elections present a unique opportunity for small groups of well-organized activists. The races are often low-information contests, and candidates don’t run as a member of a political party, leaving voters without a partisan cue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a strategic move in a blue state like California, where anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is unlikely to succeed at the state level. Instead, California’s Republican Party has made a concerted effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922860/california-republicans-are-betting-big-on-local-school-board-races\">invest in school board candidates as a way of building political power\u003c/a> at the local level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women supported more than a dozen candidates for school board across Santa Clara County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four of those candidates won: Marc Cooper in the Franklin-McKinley School District; Pamela Gardiner in the Morgan Hill Unified School District; Jim Zito in the Evergreen School District; and Linda Chavez, in her bid for reelection in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their ties to conservative parents’ rights groups have created divisions at the local level. Cooper was censured last month by his board colleagues for appearing on a flier promoting his presence at an event organized by Informed Parents. The group was \u003ca href=\"https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/kqed-newscast-f7e7b8f6-de8e-4fa1-b10d-7c41d2c291df\">forced to apologize to San José councilmember Bien Doan\u003c/a> for featuring his image on the same flier without his knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions were already high leading into Tuesday’s council meeting. The resolution had initially called for the explicit condemnation of Informed Parents and accused the group of harassing families in their attempts to distribute opt-out literature. But after legal threats from the group, Informed Parents’ name was removed from the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, about two dozen residents showed up to testify — many sharing personal experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sandra Rivera, a teacher and president of the teachers union in Alum Rock, told the council about raising a transgender son in local schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As my son navigated who he was, it was through educators here in San José and in safe spaces created by them that helped him feel safe exploring his gender,” Rivera said. “Groups such as Informed Parents of Silicon Valley are wolves in sheep’s clothing trying to justify hate.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Kids across California are getting a lot more time to play outside. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://sd29.senate.ca.gov/news/press-release/new-legislation-would-guarantee-daily-recess-all-california-students-k-8\">Senate Bill 291\u003c/a> into law last week, making a half-hour of recess mandatory for all elementary school students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new law will also prohibit educators from withholding recess as a form of punishment. Laura Medina Quintanar, executive director of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.playworks.org/northern-california/\">Playworks, Northern California\u003c/a>, which encourages kids to stay active while building valuable social and emotional skills through play, sat down with KQED’s Brian Watt to discuss the impacts quality outdoor recess can have on growing minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also discussed what parents and educators can expect once the law goes into effect next school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Watt: This law guarantees kids half an hour of playtime outside. Why does that matter?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965301\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965301\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-800x1100.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling woman with long brown hair and a hot pink sweatshirt is seen standing on a playground on a sunny afternoon.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1100\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-800x1100.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-1020x1402.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-160x220.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-1117x1536.jpg 1117w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks.jpg 1455w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura Medina Quintanar is the executive director at the nonprofit Playworks, Northern California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Playworks Northern California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laura Medina Quintanar: First and foremost, this legislation puts a very needed spotlight on the importance of recess time. A lot of times, we think of recess almost as a throwaway in between that really valuable academic time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But we learned, especially during the pandemic, that recess, and the way that it complements the school day, is incredibly valuable for all kinds of cognitive, social, emotional, and, of course, physical activity opportunities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you believe that outside playtime is equally important as the classroom learning the children are gaining?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh yes, absolutely. Playworks has over 25 years of experience working directly with schools, with programs helping them build a sustainable capacity for safe and healthy play. What we’ve seen time and time again, is that when there are structures for high-quality recess in place, there are positive benefits that spill over from the recess time into the classroom. So we’re talking about higher retention rates, teachers having easier transitions, greater cooperation and greater collaboration among peers. So you can imagine how that contributes to a positive school climate and, ultimately, to positive life outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You mentioned the pandemic earlier — did the social isolation resulting from distance learning significantly contribute to this change?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One-hundred percent. Students were home for months, and months, and months; a year, even beyond. They didn’t get to learn to be among their peers. Meaning, they didn’t get to play. They didn’t get to practice and learn conflict-resolution strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965300\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965300 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay03.jpg\" alt=\"Children are playing rock, paper, scissors at recess on the schoolgrounds.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay03.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay03-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 291 into law last week, making a half-hour of recess mandatory for all elementary school students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the state. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Playworks Northern California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That makes it really hard to all of a sudden be expected to go back into the classroom. In addition to isolation, the trauma that was brought on by the pandemic, that was impacted by the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a lot to be expected to suddenly perform in this academic setting. Recess is more important than ever to help continue to ease that transition and fill all those gaps that became even larger during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is it true that under SB 291, schools will no longer be allowed to deny recess as a form of punishment?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s very good news. We love to hear that. Any time that a student is denied the opportunity to participate in recess, they miss out on all that good stuff: All those social-emotional skill-building opportunities, the physical, the relational.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would also highlight that, disproportionately, it’s students who come from underrepresented communities and low-income backgrounds who most often are held back and get their resources taken away from them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the lens of equity, it’s also very promising and great news to hear that schools will no longer be able to take away recess as a form of punishment. Instead, I really want to emphasize this: This is an opportunity for schools to really adopt the value of recess, to have the adults step up and make sure that they’re implementing quality recess, so that they can use that time to improve the experience of every student. So we’re definitely glad that it’s not a punitive space anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>This law goes into effect next school year. Are California schools going to be ready to meet this requirement? Are all campuses equipped to hold recess every day?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s going to be a challenge. At Playworks, we definitely know and believe that it is possible for every school to have safe and healthy play, but it definitely takes a lot of work. Here at Playworks, we use what we call a great recess framework, which outlines some indicators of what you might see at a high-quality recess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965299 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay02.jpg\" alt=\"Children are running around at recess on the schoolgrounds. A building with painted orange butterflies is seen in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay02.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new law will also prohibit educators from withholding recess as a form of punishment. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Playworks Northern California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That looks like having caring, consistent adults who are present to play and engage with youth. It looks like kids having options of many games to play in, and the choice about what they want to do and also leadership within those games. It involves conflict-resolution strategies that are agreed upon by the school culture, but it takes time to build that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would say that it’s realistically going to be a process. It will be really important for schools and adults to take this new law seriously, not just as adopting the lens that quality matters as much as quantity. So it’s great that students are now going to get recess time. The work is going to be to make sure that they’re getting quality recess time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Outside time seems to be very important. Does Playworks Northern California offer strategies for schools when the weather doesn’t allow for kids to play outdoors? \u003c/strong>[aside postID=news_11959904 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68797_iStock-684059604-qut.jpg'] We love a sunny recess with a big yard, lots of equipment and lots of teachers. That’s the dream that doesn’t often happen. Schools might be underresourced or they might have all the resources, but surprise, it’s raining. So what happens then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Playworks, we believe in recess skills as being something that can be transformable and modified into different spaces. So many of the activities that we practice with our students can be adopted by any educator who has the opportunity to participate in our training or takes the time to look at the resources online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can easily modify a lot of those recess games in the classroom, which is what often happens when it rains. Students usually either stay in their classroom or take turns rotating to the school cafeteria. The benefits of recess, engaging students and those social-emotional practices, the relational pieces, you can do that inside, it’s just a little bit different and takes take some planning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kids across California are getting a lot more time to play outside. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://sd29.senate.ca.gov/news/press-release/new-legislation-would-guarantee-daily-recess-all-california-students-k-8\">Senate Bill 291\u003c/a> into law last week, making a half-hour of recess mandatory for all elementary school students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new law will also prohibit educators from withholding recess as a form of punishment. Laura Medina Quintanar, executive director of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.playworks.org/northern-california/\">Playworks, Northern California\u003c/a>, which encourages kids to stay active while building valuable social and emotional skills through play, sat down with KQED’s Brian Watt to discuss the impacts quality outdoor recess can have on growing minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also discussed what parents and educators can expect once the law goes into effect next school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Watt: This law guarantees kids half an hour of playtime outside. Why does that matter?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965301\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965301\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-800x1100.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling woman with long brown hair and a hot pink sweatshirt is seen standing on a playground on a sunny afternoon.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1100\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-800x1100.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-1020x1402.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-160x220.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks-1117x1536.jpg 1117w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Laura-Medina-Quintanar-Playworks.jpg 1455w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura Medina Quintanar is the executive director at the nonprofit Playworks, Northern California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Playworks Northern California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laura Medina Quintanar: First and foremost, this legislation puts a very needed spotlight on the importance of recess time. A lot of times, we think of recess almost as a throwaway in between that really valuable academic time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But we learned, especially during the pandemic, that recess, and the way that it complements the school day, is incredibly valuable for all kinds of cognitive, social, emotional, and, of course, physical activity opportunities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you believe that outside playtime is equally important as the classroom learning the children are gaining?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh yes, absolutely. Playworks has over 25 years of experience working directly with schools, with programs helping them build a sustainable capacity for safe and healthy play. What we’ve seen time and time again, is that when there are structures for high-quality recess in place, there are positive benefits that spill over from the recess time into the classroom. So we’re talking about higher retention rates, teachers having easier transitions, greater cooperation and greater collaboration among peers. So you can imagine how that contributes to a positive school climate and, ultimately, to positive life outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You mentioned the pandemic earlier — did the social isolation resulting from distance learning significantly contribute to this change?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One-hundred percent. Students were home for months, and months, and months; a year, even beyond. They didn’t get to learn to be among their peers. Meaning, they didn’t get to play. They didn’t get to practice and learn conflict-resolution strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965300\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965300 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay03.jpg\" alt=\"Children are playing rock, paper, scissors at recess on the schoolgrounds.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay03.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay03-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 291 into law last week, making a half-hour of recess mandatory for all elementary school students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the state. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Playworks Northern California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That makes it really hard to all of a sudden be expected to go back into the classroom. In addition to isolation, the trauma that was brought on by the pandemic, that was impacted by the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a lot to be expected to suddenly perform in this academic setting. Recess is more important than ever to help continue to ease that transition and fill all those gaps that became even larger during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is it true that under SB 291, schools will no longer be allowed to deny recess as a form of punishment?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s very good news. We love to hear that. Any time that a student is denied the opportunity to participate in recess, they miss out on all that good stuff: All those social-emotional skill-building opportunities, the physical, the relational.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would also highlight that, disproportionately, it’s students who come from underrepresented communities and low-income backgrounds who most often are held back and get their resources taken away from them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the lens of equity, it’s also very promising and great news to hear that schools will no longer be able to take away recess as a form of punishment. Instead, I really want to emphasize this: This is an opportunity for schools to really adopt the value of recess, to have the adults step up and make sure that they’re implementing quality recess, so that they can use that time to improve the experience of every student. So we’re definitely glad that it’s not a punitive space anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>This law goes into effect next school year. Are California schools going to be ready to meet this requirement? Are all campuses equipped to hold recess every day?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s going to be a challenge. At Playworks, we definitely know and believe that it is possible for every school to have safe and healthy play, but it definitely takes a lot of work. Here at Playworks, we use what we call a great recess framework, which outlines some indicators of what you might see at a high-quality recess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965299 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay02.jpg\" alt=\"Children are running around at recess on the schoolgrounds. A building with painted orange butterflies is seen in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay02.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/kidsatplay02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new law will also prohibit educators from withholding recess as a form of punishment. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Playworks Northern California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That looks like having caring, consistent adults who are present to play and engage with youth. It looks like kids having options of many games to play in, and the choice about what they want to do and also leadership within those games. It involves conflict-resolution strategies that are agreed upon by the school culture, but it takes time to build that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would say that it’s realistically going to be a process. It will be really important for schools and adults to take this new law seriously, not just as adopting the lens that quality matters as much as quantity. So it’s great that students are now going to get recess time. The work is going to be to make sure that they’re getting quality recess time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Outside time seems to be very important. Does Playworks Northern California offer strategies for schools when the weather doesn’t allow for kids to play outdoors? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> We love a sunny recess with a big yard, lots of equipment and lots of teachers. That’s the dream that doesn’t often happen. Schools might be underresourced or they might have all the resources, but surprise, it’s raining. So what happens then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Playworks, we believe in recess skills as being something that can be transformable and modified into different spaces. So many of the activities that we practice with our students can be adopted by any educator who has the opportunity to participate in our training or takes the time to look at the resources online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can easily modify a lot of those recess games in the classroom, which is what often happens when it rains. Students usually either stay in their classroom or take turns rotating to the school cafeteria. The benefits of recess, engaging students and those social-emotional practices, the relational pieces, you can do that inside, it’s just a little bit different and takes take some planning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-student-test-scores-still-far-behind-pre-covid-levels-of-achievement",
"title": "California Student Test Scores Still Far Behind Pre-COVID Levels of Achievement",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"dropcap\">In the second year fully back in school after remote learning, California school districts made negligible progress overall in reversing the steep declines in test scores that have lingered since COVID struck in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a slight improvement in math while English language arts declined a smidgeon, and the wide proficiency gap between Black and Latino students and whites and Asians showed little change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only 34.6% of students met or exceeded standards on the Smarter Balanced math test in 2023, which is 1.2 percentage points higher than a year ago. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, 39.8% of all students were at grade level. Only 16.9% of Black students, 22.7% of Latino students, and 9.9% of English learners were at grade level in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Year-over-year scores in English language arts dropped less than 1 percentage point to 46.7% for students meeting or exceeding standards in 2023; in 2019, it was 51.7%. The large proficiency gaps between Black and Hispanic students compared with Asian and white students showed little change. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, about four in 10 students in the state and three out of four Asian students, the highest-scoring student group, were at grade level in English language arts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the state’s nearly 1,000 districts, small districts tended to show more gains, results show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15381571/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:900px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15382313/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:900px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smarter Balanced tests are given to students in grades three to eight and grade 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>English language arts scores dropped slightly in every grade except 11th and third grades, which showed slight growth. The 0.8% percentage point increase in third grade may reflect that students had two years of face-to-face instruction, which is critical for learning how to read. It could also reflect concerted efforts to focus on and change reading instruction to phonics-focused curriculums in districts like Long Beach, up 4.1 points over 2022 for all third graders, and Palo Alto, where reading scores for lower-income Latino students increased 47 percentage points above pre-pandemic levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11964081,news_11930171,news_11953408\"]Fewer English learners met or exceeded standards in English language arts this year. In 2023, 10.9% of English learners met or exceeded the standard for English language arts, down from 12.5% in 2022. Among students who were ever English learners, including those who are now proficient, 35.7% met or exceeded the standard in English language arts, down from 36.5% in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In math, English learners were about the same as last year, with 9.9% meeting or exceeding the standard. Among those who were ever English learners, including those who are now proficient, 24.2% met or exceeded the standard, up from 23.4% in 2021-22.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slightly larger share of English learners achieved a proficient score this year on the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC): 16.5%. Students who speak a language other than English at home are required to take the ELPAC every year until they are proficient in English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelly Spiegel-Coleman, strategic adviser to Californians Together, an organization that advocates for English learners, said the fact that a higher percentage of English learners are not achieving proficiency each year shows that California needs to invest more in training teachers in how to help students improve their English language skills, especially within other classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when we see a big bump in students’ language proficiency — when they’re using language to learn about something, when their language development is taught while they’re learning science, while they’re learning social studies, while they’re doing art,” Spiegel-Coleman said. “There’s been no major funding and no major effort to do this kind of work. It’s time now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15398870/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15399353/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shifting demographics\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In its news release, the California Department of Education stressed that over the past year, the proportion of lower-income students statewide rose from 60% to 63% of all students and the increase in homeless students who took the test by 2,000 to 94,000, the equivalent of the third-largest district in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given “the relationship between student advantage and achievement, California’s statewide scores are particularly promising as the proportion of high-need students has also increased in California schools,” the department said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Nellum, executive director of The Education Trust–West, an advocacy organization, viewed the results differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing only slight improvements in already alarmingly low levels of student achievement is cause for concern, not celebration. In recent years, as in this year’s results, the state’s progress on student outcomes in English and math has been marginal at best. In fact, at no point in the past 9 years have we seen more than 1 out of 5 Black students at grade level in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This trend is an indictment not of the efforts of California’s K-12 students but of the efforts and choices of the state’s adult decision-makers,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Rosenbaum, lead attorney for the public interest law firm Public Counsel, cited the lack of improvement as further evidence of why it \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/the-case-of-cayla-j-judge-to-decide-if-california-failed-low-income-students-during-covid/696235\">sued the State Board of Education, the California Department of Education and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond\u003c/a>, charging the state mishandled remote learning and failed to remedy the harm caused to lower-income and minority students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest test results, he said, “are as unsurprising as they are disappointing. What they mean is that California’s most disadvantaged students are falling further and further behind their more affluent counterparts, in large part because the state failed to assure the delivery of remote instruction to their communities during the pandemic and compounded that failure by failing to assure meaningful remediation once schools reopened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23908009-caylaj-original-complaint-2020-publiccounsel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cayla J. v. the State of California (DOC)\u003c/a>, is set for trial in December in Alameda County Superior Court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest test statewide results will disappoint others who had hoped to appreciably reclaim some of the lost academic ground. That has not happened in California or in neighboring states that also give the Smarter Balanced assessment. In Oregon, English language arts scores also fell less than 1 percentage point to 43% proficient, and math scores increased less than point to 31.6%. In Washington, it was the same story: English language arts scores were flat at 48.8% while math scores rose 1.8 percentage points to 40.8%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A handful of states reached pre-pandemic levels on their state tests. They include Iowa and Mississippi in both reading and math, and Tennessee, which created a statewide tutoring program in reading, according to the \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/9fbw4onh0qc1/59ZMlGVC2fkTG4fBCBpneI/516d69b386a8e86858aff5714bcb277e/Press_Release__Dr._Emily_Oster_Launches_the_Most_Comprehensive_Base_of_Data_on_COVID-19_and_Schools.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COVID-19 School Data Hub\u003c/a>, an effort led by Brown University economics professor Emily Oster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before COVID struck, changes in California’s test scores occurred slowly, a percentage point or two annually, said Heather Hough, executive director of PACE, a Stanford-based education research organization. “It took years of dedicated effort, with investments in education and the workforce, with steady increases in achievement over time, and then we had this huge drop. We can’t afford another 10- to 20-year period of slow incremental change, especially when what we know we’re facing is huge inequities in student achievement,” she said. “We have to keep that intensity that we have not fixed this problem, despite investments and despite good intentions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest district with 429,000 students, is representative of where most districts are. It has seen widespread improvement in math scores across most grade levels, with 30.5% of students meeting or exceeding state standards. Its English language arts scores have been a “mixed bag,” said district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho at Tuesday’s board meeting. Forty-one percent of students in the district met or exceeded standards in English language arts — a drop of less than point from the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carvalho said he was pleased to see third- and fourth-grade English language arts scores moving in the “right direction” — but stressed the need for improvement among upper elementary grades and middle schools. The district has found small-group instruction and “high dosage tutoring” to be critical, and hopes \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/updates/carvalho-says-replacing-primary-promise-will-do-more-for-lausd-for-less-money\">changes to the district’s Primary Promise program\u003c/a> will help, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Infusion of funding\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>California school districts received record levels of one-time and ongoing funding since the start of COVID and had wide discretion on how to use it. This includes the last $12.5 billion in federal pandemic relief, which districts must spend by next September. At least 20% must be spent on learning recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some districts, mainly small ones, saw double-digit gains in 2023. Escondido Union High School District in San Diego County, with 7,000 students, saw its English language arts proficiency rise from 43.5% to 53.7%. The 800-student Wheatland Union High School District in Yuba County raised its proficiency level in English language arts by 21.5 percentage points, to 60%; its math scores rose 13.3 percentage points to nearly the state average for meeting state standards. Math scores in Healdsburg Unified in Sonoma County, with 1,200 students, rose 11.9 percentage points to 39.3% at grade level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in most districts, record student absences and staff shortages — not only among STEM and special education teachers but also vacant positions for aides and counselors and unfilled jobs for substitute teachers — undermine strategies for recovery. And the problems linger.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Stubbornly high chronic absences\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Along with test scores, the state released chronic absenteeism data on Wednesday showing nearly a quarter of all students chronically absent in 2023, double the 12.1% rate in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the 2023 chronic absenteeism rate is high, it’s a drop from 2022, which saw an unprecedented high rate of nearly a third. Students are counted as chronically absent for missing 10% or more of school days. The rates of the state’s minority groups and most vulnerable students remain disproportionately high: 34.6% for students with disabilities, 40.6% for homeless youths and 28.1% for English learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15399210/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The staffing has been a huge struggle for us, but so has absenteeism,” said Rick Miller, chief executive officer of the CORE districts, a school improvement organization that works with eight urban districts, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Fresno and Sacramento City. “There was the notion that kids go to school every day. The pandemic changed that. And there’s a mindset we’re working through that you don’t need to be in school every day. You be there when you can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That appears to be the case in kindergarten, where the chronic absenteeism rate was 40.4% in 2021–22 and 36.3% in 2022–23, compared with 15.6% in 2018–19. Unlike many states, California includes excused absences in its chronic absentee rate calculations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other factors are working against student learning, PACE’s Hough said. At the same time, teachers need to accelerate learning, they are backfilling the needs of absent students. Some students come to school with mental health issues or lack socialization. Political disputes at school board meetings are diverting attention from districts’ learning priorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The basic work of educating kids and running school districts has gotten a lot more complicated,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amy Slavensky, interim deputy superintendent of San Juan Unified, agreed. “When you’re in schools every day, or nearly every day like we are, we can see the direct impact of that on our students,” she said. “It’s just not the same as it was before. So it’s going to take time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Juan Unified, in Sacramento County, has sharply increased training for teachers, added intervention teachers and improved attendance at its schools, but its students’ test scores still have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 42% of the 49,000 students met or exceeded state standards in English language arts in 2023, down about 1 percentage point from 2022. Math scores were stagnant with 29.6% meeting or exceeding state standards, down 7.5 percentage points from 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has used multiple tactics to increase achievement, including hiring intervention teachers and expanding training for teachers in reading and math. The district is training grade-level cohorts of teachers using some of the latest research to strengthen their strategies around reading instruction, Slavensky said. The district is seeing gains in kindergarten and first grade at Dyer-Kelly Elementary School, which has been focusing intensely on early literacy, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anytime you implement a new change initiative, it takes four or five years to really see the impact of that, and especially on a summative assessment like CAASPP,” Slavensky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To increase math scores, the district is also adding math sections in middle and high school master schedules to reduce class sizes so teachers can offer deeper instruction and differentiated instruction, Slavensky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pulling dozens of teachers out of their classrooms for training isn’t always possible during a teacher shortage, said Superintendent Melissa Bassanelli. Training schedules often fall apart when there aren’t enough teachers to fill the classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garden Grove Unified in Orange County, with 79% lower-income students and 94% students of color, has scored well above state averages on Smarter Balanced tests and ranks highest among the CORE districts, but saw its math scores fall 7.5 percentage points from pre-pandemic 2019. In 2023, it clawed back half of the difference, though it wasn’t easy, Superintendent Gabriela Mafi said. Many families still struggled financially; resurgent COVID kept students at home; and a lack of subs strained schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Garden Grove, a highly centralized district, stayed true to its system of deploying teacher coaches to schools and encouraging conversations around math concepts in elementary grades. It is using extended learning time at Boys and Girls Clubs and summer programs for academic interventions and supports, Mafi said. “We haven’t quite rebounded to our pre-COVID, but we’re getting close,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps no district high-achieving in math took a bigger hit to its Smarter Balanced scores than \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.rocketshipschools.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rocketship Public Schools\u003c/a>, a network with 13 K–5 Title I charter schools in the Bay Area. In 2018-19, 60% of students were at or above standard. By 2021–22, the proficiency rate, while still above the state average, had fallen to 40%. In 2023, overall scores increased by 2 percentage points with variations among schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recovery will entail a multipronged, multiyear strategy, said Danny Echeverry, Rocketship’s Bay Area director of schools. It started with using its community schools funding to hire a Care Corps worker, akin to a social worker, at each site to help families who experienced housing and food insecurity during COVID. “We’ve seen ourselves as a hub of connecting at-risk families with social services in the community,” he said. Chronic absenteeism fell 10 percentage points, and attendance increased 7 percentage points in 2022–23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students in kindergarten, first grade or second grade during the pandemic had foundational skill gaps that had to be filled before students could handle grade-level content and move to proficiency on state tests, Etcheverry said. The Rocketship model builds in flex time so that teachers can provide one-on-one interventions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scores increased 2 percentage points overall on the 2023 math test, with variations among schools from a decline of 7.4 percentage points to a gain of 15.8 percentage points. Rocketship Los Sueños in San Jose, which piloted the Eureka Math curriculum, gained 5.4 percentage points in 2023, leading to a decision to adopt it in all Bay Area schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re building traction, and we have no reason to believe that we’re not going to continue that momentum and see greater gains this year,” Etcheverry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twin Rivers Unified, in Sacramento, made incremental gains this year but still has a long way to go before catching up to 2019 scores. More than 80% of the students are from low-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our scores might be below the state average, but our growth is ahead in both English and math,” said Lori Grace, associate superintendent of school leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, 31.9% of its students met or exceeded state standards in English language arts, up 0.5 points from 2022. In math, 22.7% of the district’s students met or exceeded state standards, an increase of 2.7 points. In 2019, 37% of students were proficient in English language arts and 29% in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To combat pandemic-related learning loss, the district added a multitiered system of support at schools, a framework that gives targeted support to struggling students, Grace said. To improve literacy skills, the district began a reading intervention program focusing on the science of reading for kindergarten through third grade. The district also tapped its best teachers to offer coaching on the subject to fourth through sixth grade teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Central Valley strategies\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most students in Fresno Unified, the state’s third-largest school district with over 70,000 students, are not meeting standards. Last year, 33.2% of Fresno Unified students met or exceeded English language arts standards, a 1 percentage point gain from a year ago. In math, 23.3% met or exceeded state standards, a 2.5 point increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are definitely not satisfied with our results,” said Zerina Hargrove, the Fresno Unified assistant superintendent of research, evaluation and assessment. “While we had many students grow in their achievement, we had just as many who slid backward, contributing to very little change overall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresno Unified plans to focus on ensuring that every child shows growth, specifically targeting the needs of historically underserved student groups, Hargrove said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that is by evaluating the “shining stars,” the schools that made significant progress. For example, at Jefferson Elementary, 6.9% more students met or exceeded standards in English, and 15.6% more students met or exceeded math standards. At Bullard High School, 17.6% more students met or exceeded English standards; at Patiño School of Entrepreneurship, 27.5% more students met or exceeded math standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We desire to learn from the schools that have made significant gains and dig deeper into the why of those who didn’t,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresno Unified’s neighbor, Clovis Unified, has some of the highest student achievement scores in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With more than 40,000 students, 72.7% were at or above state standards for English language arts in 2019. By 2022, that percentage dropped to 66.2% and remained flat in 2023. In 2019, 58.7% of Clovis Unified’s students met or exceeded math standards, and in 2022, 49.3% did so. The nearly 2 percentage-point growth in math in 2023 puts the proficiency level at more than 51%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the numbers haven’t returned to their pre-pandemic proficiency levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of our schools saw student achievement grow by anywhere from 15 to 22% at certain grade levels. We must now work together to replicate that level of achievement across every grade level and school in our district,” said Superintendent Corrine Folmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic’s impact persists, district spokesperson Kelly Avants said, citing continuing challenges to learning. They include, she said, “restoring classroom behavior expectations; re-developing the interpersonal relationships between students and between students and their teachers that equates to success in the classroom and facing the impact of decreases in attendance rates has on learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>EdSource reporters also contributed to this report: Diana Lambert, Lasherica Thornton, Mallika Seshadri and Zaidee Stavely.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/flat-test-scores-leave-california-far-behind-pre-covid-levels-of-achievement/698895\">\u003cem>This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"dropcap\">In the second year fully back in school after remote learning, California school districts made negligible progress overall in reversing the steep declines in test scores that have lingered since COVID struck in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a slight improvement in math while English language arts declined a smidgeon, and the wide proficiency gap between Black and Latino students and whites and Asians showed little change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only 34.6% of students met or exceeded standards on the Smarter Balanced math test in 2023, which is 1.2 percentage points higher than a year ago. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, 39.8% of all students were at grade level. Only 16.9% of Black students, 22.7% of Latino students, and 9.9% of English learners were at grade level in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Year-over-year scores in English language arts dropped less than 1 percentage point to 46.7% for students meeting or exceeding standards in 2023; in 2019, it was 51.7%. The large proficiency gaps between Black and Hispanic students compared with Asian and white students showed little change. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, about four in 10 students in the state and three out of four Asian students, the highest-scoring student group, were at grade level in English language arts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the state’s nearly 1,000 districts, small districts tended to show more gains, results show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15381571/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:900px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15382313/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:900px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smarter Balanced tests are given to students in grades three to eight and grade 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>English language arts scores dropped slightly in every grade except 11th and third grades, which showed slight growth. The 0.8% percentage point increase in third grade may reflect that students had two years of face-to-face instruction, which is critical for learning how to read. It could also reflect concerted efforts to focus on and change reading instruction to phonics-focused curriculums in districts like Long Beach, up 4.1 points over 2022 for all third graders, and Palo Alto, where reading scores for lower-income Latino students increased 47 percentage points above pre-pandemic levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fewer English learners met or exceeded standards in English language arts this year. In 2023, 10.9% of English learners met or exceeded the standard for English language arts, down from 12.5% in 2022. Among students who were ever English learners, including those who are now proficient, 35.7% met or exceeded the standard in English language arts, down from 36.5% in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In math, English learners were about the same as last year, with 9.9% meeting or exceeding the standard. Among those who were ever English learners, including those who are now proficient, 24.2% met or exceeded the standard, up from 23.4% in 2021-22.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slightly larger share of English learners achieved a proficient score this year on the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC): 16.5%. Students who speak a language other than English at home are required to take the ELPAC every year until they are proficient in English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelly Spiegel-Coleman, strategic adviser to Californians Together, an organization that advocates for English learners, said the fact that a higher percentage of English learners are not achieving proficiency each year shows that California needs to invest more in training teachers in how to help students improve their English language skills, especially within other classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when we see a big bump in students’ language proficiency — when they’re using language to learn about something, when their language development is taught while they’re learning science, while they’re learning social studies, while they’re doing art,” Spiegel-Coleman said. “There’s been no major funding and no major effort to do this kind of work. It’s time now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15398870/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15399353/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shifting demographics\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In its news release, the California Department of Education stressed that over the past year, the proportion of lower-income students statewide rose from 60% to 63% of all students and the increase in homeless students who took the test by 2,000 to 94,000, the equivalent of the third-largest district in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given “the relationship between student advantage and achievement, California’s statewide scores are particularly promising as the proportion of high-need students has also increased in California schools,” the department said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Nellum, executive director of The Education Trust–West, an advocacy organization, viewed the results differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing only slight improvements in already alarmingly low levels of student achievement is cause for concern, not celebration. In recent years, as in this year’s results, the state’s progress on student outcomes in English and math has been marginal at best. In fact, at no point in the past 9 years have we seen more than 1 out of 5 Black students at grade level in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This trend is an indictment not of the efforts of California’s K-12 students but of the efforts and choices of the state’s adult decision-makers,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Rosenbaum, lead attorney for the public interest law firm Public Counsel, cited the lack of improvement as further evidence of why it \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/the-case-of-cayla-j-judge-to-decide-if-california-failed-low-income-students-during-covid/696235\">sued the State Board of Education, the California Department of Education and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond\u003c/a>, charging the state mishandled remote learning and failed to remedy the harm caused to lower-income and minority students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest test results, he said, “are as unsurprising as they are disappointing. What they mean is that California’s most disadvantaged students are falling further and further behind their more affluent counterparts, in large part because the state failed to assure the delivery of remote instruction to their communities during the pandemic and compounded that failure by failing to assure meaningful remediation once schools reopened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23908009-caylaj-original-complaint-2020-publiccounsel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cayla J. v. the State of California (DOC)\u003c/a>, is set for trial in December in Alameda County Superior Court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest test statewide results will disappoint others who had hoped to appreciably reclaim some of the lost academic ground. That has not happened in California or in neighboring states that also give the Smarter Balanced assessment. In Oregon, English language arts scores also fell less than 1 percentage point to 43% proficient, and math scores increased less than point to 31.6%. In Washington, it was the same story: English language arts scores were flat at 48.8% while math scores rose 1.8 percentage points to 40.8%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A handful of states reached pre-pandemic levels on their state tests. They include Iowa and Mississippi in both reading and math, and Tennessee, which created a statewide tutoring program in reading, according to the \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/9fbw4onh0qc1/59ZMlGVC2fkTG4fBCBpneI/516d69b386a8e86858aff5714bcb277e/Press_Release__Dr._Emily_Oster_Launches_the_Most_Comprehensive_Base_of_Data_on_COVID-19_and_Schools.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COVID-19 School Data Hub\u003c/a>, an effort led by Brown University economics professor Emily Oster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before COVID struck, changes in California’s test scores occurred slowly, a percentage point or two annually, said Heather Hough, executive director of PACE, a Stanford-based education research organization. “It took years of dedicated effort, with investments in education and the workforce, with steady increases in achievement over time, and then we had this huge drop. We can’t afford another 10- to 20-year period of slow incremental change, especially when what we know we’re facing is huge inequities in student achievement,” she said. “We have to keep that intensity that we have not fixed this problem, despite investments and despite good intentions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest district with 429,000 students, is representative of where most districts are. It has seen widespread improvement in math scores across most grade levels, with 30.5% of students meeting or exceeding state standards. Its English language arts scores have been a “mixed bag,” said district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho at Tuesday’s board meeting. Forty-one percent of students in the district met or exceeded standards in English language arts — a drop of less than point from the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carvalho said he was pleased to see third- and fourth-grade English language arts scores moving in the “right direction” — but stressed the need for improvement among upper elementary grades and middle schools. The district has found small-group instruction and “high dosage tutoring” to be critical, and hopes \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/updates/carvalho-says-replacing-primary-promise-will-do-more-for-lausd-for-less-money\">changes to the district’s Primary Promise program\u003c/a> will help, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Infusion of funding\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>California school districts received record levels of one-time and ongoing funding since the start of COVID and had wide discretion on how to use it. This includes the last $12.5 billion in federal pandemic relief, which districts must spend by next September. At least 20% must be spent on learning recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some districts, mainly small ones, saw double-digit gains in 2023. Escondido Union High School District in San Diego County, with 7,000 students, saw its English language arts proficiency rise from 43.5% to 53.7%. The 800-student Wheatland Union High School District in Yuba County raised its proficiency level in English language arts by 21.5 percentage points, to 60%; its math scores rose 13.3 percentage points to nearly the state average for meeting state standards. Math scores in Healdsburg Unified in Sonoma County, with 1,200 students, rose 11.9 percentage points to 39.3% at grade level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in most districts, record student absences and staff shortages — not only among STEM and special education teachers but also vacant positions for aides and counselors and unfilled jobs for substitute teachers — undermine strategies for recovery. And the problems linger.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Stubbornly high chronic absences\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Along with test scores, the state released chronic absenteeism data on Wednesday showing nearly a quarter of all students chronically absent in 2023, double the 12.1% rate in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the 2023 chronic absenteeism rate is high, it’s a drop from 2022, which saw an unprecedented high rate of nearly a third. Students are counted as chronically absent for missing 10% or more of school days. The rates of the state’s minority groups and most vulnerable students remain disproportionately high: 34.6% for students with disabilities, 40.6% for homeless youths and 28.1% for English learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15399210/embed\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px;\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The staffing has been a huge struggle for us, but so has absenteeism,” said Rick Miller, chief executive officer of the CORE districts, a school improvement organization that works with eight urban districts, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Fresno and Sacramento City. “There was the notion that kids go to school every day. The pandemic changed that. And there’s a mindset we’re working through that you don’t need to be in school every day. You be there when you can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That appears to be the case in kindergarten, where the chronic absenteeism rate was 40.4% in 2021–22 and 36.3% in 2022–23, compared with 15.6% in 2018–19. Unlike many states, California includes excused absences in its chronic absentee rate calculations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other factors are working against student learning, PACE’s Hough said. At the same time, teachers need to accelerate learning, they are backfilling the needs of absent students. Some students come to school with mental health issues or lack socialization. Political disputes at school board meetings are diverting attention from districts’ learning priorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The basic work of educating kids and running school districts has gotten a lot more complicated,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amy Slavensky, interim deputy superintendent of San Juan Unified, agreed. “When you’re in schools every day, or nearly every day like we are, we can see the direct impact of that on our students,” she said. “It’s just not the same as it was before. So it’s going to take time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Juan Unified, in Sacramento County, has sharply increased training for teachers, added intervention teachers and improved attendance at its schools, but its students’ test scores still have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 42% of the 49,000 students met or exceeded state standards in English language arts in 2023, down about 1 percentage point from 2022. Math scores were stagnant with 29.6% meeting or exceeding state standards, down 7.5 percentage points from 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has used multiple tactics to increase achievement, including hiring intervention teachers and expanding training for teachers in reading and math. The district is training grade-level cohorts of teachers using some of the latest research to strengthen their strategies around reading instruction, Slavensky said. The district is seeing gains in kindergarten and first grade at Dyer-Kelly Elementary School, which has been focusing intensely on early literacy, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anytime you implement a new change initiative, it takes four or five years to really see the impact of that, and especially on a summative assessment like CAASPP,” Slavensky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To increase math scores, the district is also adding math sections in middle and high school master schedules to reduce class sizes so teachers can offer deeper instruction and differentiated instruction, Slavensky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pulling dozens of teachers out of their classrooms for training isn’t always possible during a teacher shortage, said Superintendent Melissa Bassanelli. Training schedules often fall apart when there aren’t enough teachers to fill the classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garden Grove Unified in Orange County, with 79% lower-income students and 94% students of color, has scored well above state averages on Smarter Balanced tests and ranks highest among the CORE districts, but saw its math scores fall 7.5 percentage points from pre-pandemic 2019. In 2023, it clawed back half of the difference, though it wasn’t easy, Superintendent Gabriela Mafi said. Many families still struggled financially; resurgent COVID kept students at home; and a lack of subs strained schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Garden Grove, a highly centralized district, stayed true to its system of deploying teacher coaches to schools and encouraging conversations around math concepts in elementary grades. It is using extended learning time at Boys and Girls Clubs and summer programs for academic interventions and supports, Mafi said. “We haven’t quite rebounded to our pre-COVID, but we’re getting close,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps no district high-achieving in math took a bigger hit to its Smarter Balanced scores than \u003ca class=\"external\" href=\"https://www.rocketshipschools.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rocketship Public Schools\u003c/a>, a network with 13 K–5 Title I charter schools in the Bay Area. In 2018-19, 60% of students were at or above standard. By 2021–22, the proficiency rate, while still above the state average, had fallen to 40%. In 2023, overall scores increased by 2 percentage points with variations among schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recovery will entail a multipronged, multiyear strategy, said Danny Echeverry, Rocketship’s Bay Area director of schools. It started with using its community schools funding to hire a Care Corps worker, akin to a social worker, at each site to help families who experienced housing and food insecurity during COVID. “We’ve seen ourselves as a hub of connecting at-risk families with social services in the community,” he said. Chronic absenteeism fell 10 percentage points, and attendance increased 7 percentage points in 2022–23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students in kindergarten, first grade or second grade during the pandemic had foundational skill gaps that had to be filled before students could handle grade-level content and move to proficiency on state tests, Etcheverry said. The Rocketship model builds in flex time so that teachers can provide one-on-one interventions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scores increased 2 percentage points overall on the 2023 math test, with variations among schools from a decline of 7.4 percentage points to a gain of 15.8 percentage points. Rocketship Los Sueños in San Jose, which piloted the Eureka Math curriculum, gained 5.4 percentage points in 2023, leading to a decision to adopt it in all Bay Area schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re building traction, and we have no reason to believe that we’re not going to continue that momentum and see greater gains this year,” Etcheverry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twin Rivers Unified, in Sacramento, made incremental gains this year but still has a long way to go before catching up to 2019 scores. More than 80% of the students are from low-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our scores might be below the state average, but our growth is ahead in both English and math,” said Lori Grace, associate superintendent of school leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, 31.9% of its students met or exceeded state standards in English language arts, up 0.5 points from 2022. In math, 22.7% of the district’s students met or exceeded state standards, an increase of 2.7 points. In 2019, 37% of students were proficient in English language arts and 29% in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To combat pandemic-related learning loss, the district added a multitiered system of support at schools, a framework that gives targeted support to struggling students, Grace said. To improve literacy skills, the district began a reading intervention program focusing on the science of reading for kindergarten through third grade. The district also tapped its best teachers to offer coaching on the subject to fourth through sixth grade teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Central Valley strategies\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most students in Fresno Unified, the state’s third-largest school district with over 70,000 students, are not meeting standards. Last year, 33.2% of Fresno Unified students met or exceeded English language arts standards, a 1 percentage point gain from a year ago. In math, 23.3% met or exceeded state standards, a 2.5 point increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are definitely not satisfied with our results,” said Zerina Hargrove, the Fresno Unified assistant superintendent of research, evaluation and assessment. “While we had many students grow in their achievement, we had just as many who slid backward, contributing to very little change overall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresno Unified plans to focus on ensuring that every child shows growth, specifically targeting the needs of historically underserved student groups, Hargrove said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to do that is by evaluating the “shining stars,” the schools that made significant progress. For example, at Jefferson Elementary, 6.9% more students met or exceeded standards in English, and 15.6% more students met or exceeded math standards. At Bullard High School, 17.6% more students met or exceeded English standards; at Patiño School of Entrepreneurship, 27.5% more students met or exceeded math standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We desire to learn from the schools that have made significant gains and dig deeper into the why of those who didn’t,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresno Unified’s neighbor, Clovis Unified, has some of the highest student achievement scores in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With more than 40,000 students, 72.7% were at or above state standards for English language arts in 2019. By 2022, that percentage dropped to 66.2% and remained flat in 2023. In 2019, 58.7% of Clovis Unified’s students met or exceeded math standards, and in 2022, 49.3% did so. The nearly 2 percentage-point growth in math in 2023 puts the proficiency level at more than 51%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the numbers haven’t returned to their pre-pandemic proficiency levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of our schools saw student achievement grow by anywhere from 15 to 22% at certain grade levels. We must now work together to replicate that level of achievement across every grade level and school in our district,” said Superintendent Corrine Folmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic’s impact persists, district spokesperson Kelly Avants said, citing continuing challenges to learning. They include, she said, “restoring classroom behavior expectations; re-developing the interpersonal relationships between students and between students and their teachers that equates to success in the classroom and facing the impact of decreases in attendance rates has on learning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>EdSource reporters also contributed to this report: Diana Lambert, Lasherica Thornton, Mallika Seshadri and Zaidee Stavely.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/flat-test-scores-leave-california-far-behind-pre-covid-levels-of-achievement/698895\">\u003cem>This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Nationwide ACT Test Scores Drop to 30-Year Low",
"headTitle": "Nationwide ACT Test Scores Drop to 30-Year Low | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>High school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/college-math-test-help-6cca6a5e873d5aeb5e75b4f94125d48c\">preparedness for college-level coursework\u003c/a>, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the graduating class of 2023, whose scores were reported Wednesday, were in their first year of high school when \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/health-education-covid-46cb725e08110f8ad3c1b303ec9eefad\">the virus reached the U.S.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career,” said Janet Godwin, CEO for the nonprofit ACT, which stands for American College Testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leadershipblog.act.org/2023/10/act-scores-decline.html\">average ACT composite score\u003c/a> for U.S. students was 19.5 out of 36. Last year, the average score was 19.8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among \u003ca href=\"https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/2023-Average-ACT-Scores-by-State.pdf\">California’s 2023 high school graduates (PDF)\u003c/a>, the average composite score — of 25.7 — was significantly higher than the national average. But that’s in large part because only an estimated 4% of high school graduates in the state actually took the exam, among the lowest rates in the nation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average scores in reading, science and math were all below benchmarks the ACT says students must reach to have a high probability of success in first-year college courses. The average score in English was just above the benchmark but still declined compared to last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many universities have made \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/sat-test-going-digital-4887adbfba984e0943de0a0262e9349e\">standardized admissions tests optional\u003c/a> amid criticism that they favor the wealthy and disadvantage students with lower-income. Some, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/15/us/SAT-scores-uc-university-of-california.html\">including the University of California system\u003c/a>, have stopped considering the ACT or SAT scores even if submitted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"standardized-testing\"]But Godwin said the scores are still helpful for placing students in the right college courses and preparing academic advisors to better support them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In terms of college readiness, even in a test-optional environment, these kinds of objective test scores about academic readiness are incredibly important,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Denise Cabrera’s high school in Oahu, Hawaii, all students are required to take the ACT as juniors. She said she would have taken it anyway to improve her chances of getting into college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I’m unsure why the test was ever required because colleges can look at different qualities of the students who are applying outside of just a one-time test score,” said Cabrera, a 17-year-old senior at Waianae High School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 1.4 million students in the U.S. took the ACT this year, an increase from last year. However, the numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Godwin said she doesn’t believe those numbers will ever fully recover, partly because of test-optional admission policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of students who were tested, only 21% met benchmarks for success in college-level classes in all subjects. Research from Godwin’s group shows students who meet those benchmarks have a 50% chance of earning a B or better and nearly a 75% chance of earning a C or better in corresponding courses.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>High school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/college-math-test-help-6cca6a5e873d5aeb5e75b4f94125d48c\">preparedness for college-level coursework\u003c/a>, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the graduating class of 2023, whose scores were reported Wednesday, were in their first year of high school when \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/health-education-covid-46cb725e08110f8ad3c1b303ec9eefad\">the virus reached the U.S.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career,” said Janet Godwin, CEO for the nonprofit ACT, which stands for American College Testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leadershipblog.act.org/2023/10/act-scores-decline.html\">average ACT composite score\u003c/a> for U.S. students was 19.5 out of 36. Last year, the average score was 19.8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among \u003ca href=\"https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/2023-Average-ACT-Scores-by-State.pdf\">California’s 2023 high school graduates (PDF)\u003c/a>, the average composite score — of 25.7 — was significantly higher than the national average. But that’s in large part because only an estimated 4% of high school graduates in the state actually took the exam, among the lowest rates in the nation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average scores in reading, science and math were all below benchmarks the ACT says students must reach to have a high probability of success in first-year college courses. The average score in English was just above the benchmark but still declined compared to last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many universities have made \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/sat-test-going-digital-4887adbfba984e0943de0a0262e9349e\">standardized admissions tests optional\u003c/a> amid criticism that they favor the wealthy and disadvantage students with lower-income. Some, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/15/us/SAT-scores-uc-university-of-california.html\">including the University of California system\u003c/a>, have stopped considering the ACT or SAT scores even if submitted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But Godwin said the scores are still helpful for placing students in the right college courses and preparing academic advisors to better support them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In terms of college readiness, even in a test-optional environment, these kinds of objective test scores about academic readiness are incredibly important,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Denise Cabrera’s high school in Oahu, Hawaii, all students are required to take the ACT as juniors. She said she would have taken it anyway to improve her chances of getting into college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, I’m unsure why the test was ever required because colleges can look at different qualities of the students who are applying outside of just a one-time test score,” said Cabrera, a 17-year-old senior at Waianae High School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 1.4 million students in the U.S. took the ACT this year, an increase from last year. However, the numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Godwin said she doesn’t believe those numbers will ever fully recover, partly because of test-optional admission policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of students who were tested, only 21% met benchmarks for success in college-level classes in all subjects. Research from Godwin’s group shows students who meet those benchmarks have a 50% chance of earning a B or better and nearly a 75% chance of earning a C or better in corresponding courses.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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. ",
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"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. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"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.",
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"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>",
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"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?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"radiolab": {
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"reveal": {
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},
"rightnowish": {
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"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
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"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
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