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Thursday, February 25, 2021

LOS ANGELES TIMES

L.A. Unified will get 40% of school staff vaccine doses in effort to target neediest areas
Forty percent of coronavirus vaccines available for school staff in Los Angeles County will go to the L.A. Unified School District through a new distribution formula.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-25/teacher-covid-vaccines-target-lausd-needy-areas

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

San Diego school board adds 46 people to superintendent search committee
Several dozen groups and community leaders — including a school music organization, County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and the Black Student Union Coalition — will help choose San Diego Unified’s next superintendent.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2021-02-25/san-diego-school-board-adds-46-people-to-superintendent-search-committee

North County parents sue state to overturn school reopening rules
A group of parents sued Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders, saying the state’s reopening rules are unfairly preventing their districts from bringing students back for in-person learning.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2021-02-24/north-county-parents-sue-state-to-overturn-school-reopening-rules

USA TODAY

Standardized tests are back. They'll feel different and many students won't take them.
When the world of K-12 education spiraled into confusion last spring, many teachers and students quietly delighted in the disappearance of high-stakes tests. The multiple-choice questions and hours spent monitoring exams were suddenly gone. Schools pivoted to finding students and connecting everyone digitally. The Department of Education dropped the requirement for states to administer annual achievement exams in reading and math, which usually happens in spring.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/02/25/standardized-tests-virtual-students-school-funding/4553471001/

INLAND VALLEY DAILY BULLETIN

LA County unveils plan to vaccinate teachers, other essential workers, starting March 1
Teachers in Los Angeles County can begin receiving the coronavirus vaccine on Monday, March 1 — but just how many doses will be available for educators will depend on supply, which is still just an estimate. Among the slightly more than 200,000 vaccine doses that officials expect, 25% to 29% will go toward teachers and administrators, with 9% of those doses going to private school teachers and staff.
https://www.dailybulletin.com/2021/02/24/la-county-unveils-plan-to-vaccinate-teachers-other-essential-workers-starting-march-1/

New report IDs top priorities for Black students in Riverside, San Bernardino counties
Academic success, Black history and college access are the top three priorities for Black students and their parents in the Inland Empire, according to a first-of-its-kind report focused on local communities and their perspectives on education.
https://www.dailybulletin.com/2021/02/24/new-report-ids-top-priorities-for-black-students-in-riverside-san-bernardino-counties/

EDSOURCE

Why some school districts are open for in-person instruction but in some cases, neighboring ones aren’t
A growing number of school districts in California are moving toward reopening campuses, but the process has been complicated, in some cases resulting in districts near each other operating on vastly different reopening schedules. Most schools in Los Angeles Unified are closed for in-person instruction, but many in nearby Orange County are open.
https://edsource.org/2021/why-some-california-school-districts-are-open-but-in-some-cases-the-neighboring-districts-arent/649892

California moves ahead to pursue flexibility waivers for standardized tests this year
The State Board of Education in California voted unanimously to prepare to apply for more flexible standardized testing options this year as nearly 80% of students across the state continue with distance learning.
https://edsource.org/2021/california-moves-ahead-to-pursue-flexibility-waivers-for-standardized-tests-this-year/649974

California educators pay a wage penalty for working with younger children, report shows
Even before the pandemic pushed the early childhood sector into crisis, California educators were paying a wage penalty for working with younger children, according to a new report from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at the University of California at Berkeley.
https://edsource.org/2021/california-educators-pay-a-wage-penalty-for-working-with-younger-children-report-shows/649952

New cases of Covid-19 fall dramatically in California, enabling more schools to reopen
New daily cases of Covid-19 infection rates in California have fallen to levels enabling elementary schools in all but three rural counties to begin the process of reopening elementary schools, according to updated data that the California Department of Public Health released on Tuesday.
https://edsource.org/2021/new-cases-of-covid-19-fall-dramatically-in-california-enabling-more-schools-to-reopen/649886

DAILY BREEZE

LAUSD parents want special ed teachers – especially those eligible for vaccines – back on campus
In the ongoing debate over how soon educators should return to in-person work, some Los Angeles Unified parents are fuming over the revelation that certain employees who work with special education students have been eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations since January but have yet to provide in-person services to some of the district’s most vulnerable students.
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2021/02/24/lausd-parents-want-special-ed-teachers-especially-those-eligible-for-vaccines-back-on-campus/

VENTURA COUNTY STAR

County opens vaccinations early for teachers
Ventura County teachers began receiving their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday as part of the county's increasing vaccine rollout. The county had initially intended to begin vaccinating teachers next Monday, but a surplus in vaccine appointments allowed the county to begin administering vaccines early, according to County Executive Officer Mike Powers.
https://eu.vcstar.com/story/news/2021/02/24/covid-19-updates-ventura-county-vaccinations-doses-cases-hospitalizations-deaths/6805031002/

KPCC

Isolation, Impostor Syndrome, Snail Mail: Why Fewer High School Seniors Are Applying For College Financial Aid
Lynda McGee, the college counselor at Downtown Magnets High School, keeps a list of names under the headline, in a spooky font, "FAFSA Wall of Shame." It's a list of the school's seniors who haven't yet completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the 106-question form that can unlock tens of thousands of dollars in loans, grants and scholarships for college. Students must file their FAFSA application by March 2 to be eligible for California state aid as well as federal financial aid for the 2021-22 school year. Applications for the California Dream Act for those without legal status are also due March 2.
https://laist.com/2021/02/25/california-college-financial-aid-application-decline-pandemic.php

Teaching Students A New Black History
When you think of the history of Black education in the United States, you might think of Brown vs. Board of Education and the fight to integrate public schools. But there's a parallel history too, of Black people pooling their resources to educate and empower themselves independently. Enslaved people learned to read and write whenever and wherever they could, often in secret and against the law. "In accomplishingthis, I was compelled to resort tovarious stratagems," like convincing white children to help him, wrote Frederick Douglass. "I hadno regular teacher.”
https://scpr.org/news/2021/02/25/96798/teaching-students-a-new-black-history/

NPR

Millions Of Kids Learn English At School. Teaching Them Remotely Hasn't Been Easy
A year ago, the kindergartners learning English in Tanya Gan Lim's class were thriving. Back then, she'd bring in props and pictures to help her students learn the language and sound out words. Then she'd lavish them with praise, even if they stumbled, to build their confidence.
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/24/964420443/millions-of-kids-learn-english-at-school-teaching-them-remotely-hasnt-been-easy


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