OCDE Education in the News

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Newport-Mesa Unified students excited to be back for learning

School is back in session in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Campuses welcomed back students on Monday, Aug. 22, for a new year of learning. School is back in session in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Campuses welcomed back students on Monday, Aug. 22, for a new year of learning. As parents dropped their young learners off the first day of school, many stopped for photos marking the milestone, offering extra hugs and goodbyes, and then students were off to their classrooms to get down to business.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/08/22/newport-mesa-unified-students-excited-to-be-back-for-learning/

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

SFUSD is spending nearly $100 million to build a new school despite families fleeing the district. Here’s why

Despite an enrollment decline that is leaving thousands of seats empty in San Francisco schools, the city’s school board is forging ahead with a plan to build a $95 million elementary school to open in three years.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/SFUSD-schools-17390821.php

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SUN

After student attacked in restroom, Riverside parents call for more security

Parents of students at a school in Riverside, concerned about the assault by an intruder on a girl in a school restroom, on Monday, called for new security measures as officials grappled with the realities of a school built 35 years ago that leaves the campus vulnerable in today’s world.

https://www.sbsun.com/2022/08/22/after-student-attacked-in-restroom-riverside-parents-call-for-more-security/

EDSOURCE

Charter schools favored by many parents who switched their children during pandemic, survey finds

Over a quarter of California parents moved their children to a new school during the pandemic, with most saying they wanted a different experience for their child, were dissatisfied with Covid protocols and learning and mental health supports. Charter schools got the biggest increase in students, with 23% of parents reporting their children in such schools after the switch, compared to only 15% before the switch.

https://edsource.org/2022/charter-schools-favored-by-many-parents-who-switched-their-children-during-pandemic-survey-finds/677129

Education Secretary Cardona calls lowering standards for teachers ‘unfortunate’

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the way to address teacher shortages is competitive pay, not lower standards. “Unless we’re serious about providing competitive salaries for our educators, better working conditions, so that they can continue to grow … we’re going to constantly deal with shortage issues, especially in our areas that are harder to teach or where there are less candidates,” Cardona said Sunday on “Face the Nation.”

https://edsource.org/news-updates#education-secretary-cardona-calls-lowering-standards-for-teachers-8216-unfortunate-8217-

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE

Montebello Unified can shed its fiscal adviser – but grave concerns remain

Los Angeles County Office of Education has revoked a 2017 order assigning a fiscal adviser to oversee district finances of the Montebello Unified School District, despite looming serious concerns about the district’s business operations.

https://www.sgvtribune.com/2022/08/22/montebello-unified-can-shed-its-fiscal-adviser-but-grave-concerns-remain/

KQED

SF's Noncitizen Voting Law for School Board Was Struck Down. What's Next?

Noncitizen voting isn’t a brand-new idea. White, landowning, noncitizen men were once allowed to vote in 22 states. Today, a handful of cities have granted noncitizen residents the right to vote in various local elections. Until recently, San Francisco was one of them: in 2016, voters approved Proposition N, which granted the vote to noncitizen parents of SF Unified students in school board races.

https://www.kqed.org/news/11923048/a-fight-is-brewing-over-local-noncitizen-voting

NPR

Why teachers from one of Ohio's largest school districts are on strike

Children in the Columbus, Ohio, school system will likely begin their first day online because 4,500 teachers are striking after negotiations over a new contract with the district went nowhere.

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/22/1118789575/columbus-ohio-teachers-strike

OTHER NEWS OUTLETS

Four things Carvalho learned from following chronically absent students

After half of Los Angeles Unified students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year, superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted in April he would personally take on 30 chronically absent students to better understand the issue. In an interview earlier this month with LA School Report, Carvalho said he was able to have “regular contact” with 10 of the students he set out to follow, having meetings and lunches with them, and visiting their homes.

https://www.laschoolreport.com/four-things-carvalho-learned-from-following-chronically-absent-students/

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