"Public funding requires public money," said union president Cassondra Curiel to Mission Local during the February strike. "As long as we're not violating the law, I don't see what the problem is."
"This was never just about numbers in a budget. It was about maintaining opportunities for our children, supporting the people who dedicate their lives to educating them, and preserving the strength and pride of our schools," Tracie Kennedy stated, highlighting the emotional and social implications of the budget cuts on the community.
Michelle Medintz spent at least $5,000 in 2022 alone, largely on books. She created a 'cozy corner' in her classroom with shelves filled with books, cushions on the floor, and stuffed animals. 'That doesn't make me a better teacher than my colleagues,' Medintz said.
The district promised to spend its money on 'neighborhood schools.' Now, the district is preparing to close five elementary schools, displace one and break neighborhoods apart through rezoning.
During this Black History Month, let us attend for a moment to the reading achievement gap, as it affects all of us regardless of race. Here's why. Lack of literacy is linked to some of the biggest and costliest problems in society: spiralling special education spending, school dropouts, juvenile delinquency, incarceration, poverty, and mental health (NSBA, 2019; Vacca, 2008; Vacca, 2004; Nelson & Gregg, 2012). We all pay for these problems, at the very least in taxes.
Parents of students at the TIDE Academy magnet school are asking a judge to stop the Sequoia Union High School District from closing the school at 150 Jefferson Drive in Menlo Park. Parents allege in the federal court suit that the district is discriminating against children with disabilities by closing TIDE. The district's school board voted unanimously Feb. 4 to close TIDE due to a tight budget. "Closing TIDE disproportionately burdens the disabled community," the suit states.
But as schoolage audiences of Matilda the Musical or the Harry Potter films can testify, UK classrooms usually have more children in them than fictional ones. What these young people probably do not know is that their classrooms are also fuller than many real ones abroad. A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that the UK has some of the largest primary groups in the industrialised world.
Three Tri-Valley school districts are facing significant financial dilemmas heading into next year, with budget cuts and potential layoffs threatening to hit classrooms. Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore schools are all grappling with multi-million dollar budget deficits in the 2026-27 school year, with the districts citing declining enrollment and decreased state and federal funding as having created budget holes that will likely lead to difficult decisions.
The move is in accordance with Assembly Bill 1390, which allows for increases between $600 and $4,500 per month, based on the average daily attendance in the prior school year. Previously, the rate was $60 to $1,500 per month. Four of the five members of Antioch's board of trustees voted to increase their pay, which will impact the district's general fund $96,000 more annually.
Berkeley teachers, staff and supporters gathered outside Malcolm X Elementary Friday afternoon in a solidarity protest with people in Minneapolis, urging more funding for public schools instead of immigration enforcement. Another protest, in the Southside neighborhood, took aim at a hotel owned by Hilton, which has provided lodging for ICE agents in Minnesota. Congregations in Berkeley and across the Bay Area are participating in a national day of action sparked by Trump's immigration enforcement and Renee Good's killing.
These accounts are intended to operate as long-term, tax-advantaged investment vehicles or savings accounts, in which the federal government will put $1,000 per child (born during Trump's second term) to work. Via the power of compounding, the hope is that this $1,000 the government invests in our youth of today will turn out to be a much more meaningful sum 18 years (or longer) down the line,
A group of public school students' parents and taxpayers has filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee's new statewide school voucher program, saying that allocating nearly $150 million in state funding to help parents send their kids to private schools is unconstitutional. In their lawsuit filed Thursday in Davidson County Chancery Court, the plaintiffs requested injunctions to block the Republican-backed law while the case proceeds.
The Department of Education notified the state and 16 others in March that the Trump administration had rescinded access to millions in federal money earmarked to combat the pandemic's impact on students across the nation. The recovery funds had been previously approved and awarded to the states from the department and were supposed to be available until March 2026, but the Department of Education abruptly changed course, a lawsuit from the 17 impacted states alleged.
Berkeley Rep used AI art to market its its January production of The Thing About Jellyfish, part of what the theater describes as an experiment to complement not replace the work of our internal creative design team. Its part of a trend of performing arts spaces turning to to AI to save money that is dividing the Bay Area theater community. (SF Chronicle)
