Girl making some exercises on the blackboardOPINION – About 20% of our students are emergent bilinguals, with their language diversity on the rise –Spanish is most common, followed by Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, and Persian. While future teachers who receive their teaching credential in California are required to take specific courses on how to support language learners, the actual content varies widely.
US visa, Visa in passport, fee for US visa, tour of the USA, airport, customs, checkpoint, illegal immigrants, closed borders, nationality H-1B visa. Macro photo. High quality photoOPINION – We need a modern system that aligns legal pathways with workforce needs and provides an earned path to legal status for long-term contributors. Without it, we are placing California’s economic stability at risk.
Neighborhood crime watch sign on a fenceOPINION – California has the opportunity to follow Richmond’s model, potentially leading to huge reductions in gun violence across the entire state. A bill called AB 2378 would create a statewide Office of Community Violence Intervention, installing a director to provide unprecedented support for violence intervention infrastructure and field needs.
California Capitol Building in Sacramento. Image by bbourdagesOPINION – California stares down an $18 billion budget problem for 2026–27, $5 billion larger than the Newsom administration admitted last June. Revenue gains from the AI boom? Almost entirely erased by Proposition 98 education mandates and Proposition 2 debt payments.
Businessman hand using digital tablet working with laptop computer and smartphone in coworking space. Urban lifestyle with modern electronic devices. Internet of things and online app conceptsOPINION – For small businesses like mine, success often depends on reaching the right customers at the right time with the right deals. That makes data-informed promotions – like coupons for products left in customers’ online shopping carts, or special deals for customers we’d like to reengage – a critical part of our marketing strategy.
Microphones in focus at business conference, corporate presentation, workshop, coaching training, news conference, company meeting, public or political event. Public speaking concept.OPINION – SB 707 is the most significant update to California’s Brown Act since 1953. Taking effect July 1, 2026, it guarantees the right to participate remotely in city council and county board meetings, a right that briefly flourished during the pandemic before being quietly rolled back.
Upset problem child with head in hands sitting on staircase concept for childhood bullying, depression stress or frustrationOPINION – In Sacramento, I recently had the opportunity to exchange learnings from my work on youth mental health issues in Montana with advocates leading the charge in California. At a half day summit hosted by the Coalition the Empower our Future, an organization I help lead, advocates, organizations, policymakers and students came together to help answer the question, “what is driving this complex challenge, and how do we solve it together?”
A female scientist wearing face mask and gloves examining the cannabis plant at the indoor farm.OPINION – Jim Keddy, executive director of Youth Forward, wants to protect California’s children from cannabis. So does every licensed cannabis operator in this state. That shared goal is real. Which is why the policy prescription embedded in his recent Capitol Weekly op-ed deserves serious scrutiny, because if implemented, it would make children less safe, not more.
Silhouette Of FirefightersOPINION – For decades, firefighters could count on retiring at an age that reflected the dangers of the job. That’s no longer the case. This is an outcome that is becoming less attainable for the younger generations joining the fire service.
Electric truck batteries are charged from the charging station.OPINION – The Legislature should pass AB 1777, the California Clean Skies Act, to strengthen the state’s authority to cut diesel pollution at freight hotspots and accelerate the shift to clean, electric goods movement.