Posts Tagged: education

Opinion

Equity in education funding is a right for all students

Students studying in a California classroom. (Photo: GagliardiPhotography, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: One of the charges I hold seriously is to ensure every child in California has the resources they need to succeed. As a product of California’s K-12 public schools in the Central Valley, I can still recall the deficiency in resources as well as the knowledge of those that were appointed to secure that my future endeavors were aligned for excellence.

Opinion

For education, adults should have financial aid opportunities, too

An older student online, reviewing tests and instructional materials. (Photo: Milan Ilic, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: It’s been my dream to earn my MBA and this year, I did it. During my journey, I learned there are millions of people who don’t follow a traditional path to college after high school and want to return to school as an adult, but face too many barriers such as high costs, limited availability, and scheduling restrictions at brick-and-mortar schools.

News

Governor’s budget good for higher education — mostly

UCLA students at graduation ceremonies.(Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)

Times are flush in the Golden State, fiscally speaking. With a total budget surplus of $97.5 billion, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget revision prioritizes the funding of higher education. Just ask Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who helms the California Community Colleges.

News

Historic state budget blueprint faces crucial hurdles

Gov. Gavin Newsom at a San Francisco event. (Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova, via Shutterstock)

Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a multi-billion-dollar package of monetary goodies for Californians, but how much of it will become reality is now up to legislators. The clock ticks: Lawmakers have less than a month to approve the 2022-23 budget, an unprecedented, nearly $300 billion document, and send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

News

CIRM: Is it really targeting cures or just boiling the ocean?

A major facility of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine at UC Merced. (Photo: CIRM)

A multibillion-dollar matter was on the table when the 35-members of the governing board of the California stem cell agency huddled electronically to put together a strategy for the next five years. “Real Life” popped up during last week’s meeting along with diversity, legacies, voters, ballot measures. transformative medicine and cures.

Opinion

Now, more than ever, affordable broadband access is crucial

A computer user searches for housing using bro0adband. (Photo: Tada Images. via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Even as the internet has kept us connected – there is more work to do to close the digital divide – especially for rural and low-income families. During this time of great disruption to our daily lives and dramatic shifts in behavior, our state’s broadband networks rose to the challenge despite unprecedented demand and network traffic.

Opinion

Lawmakers must give high priority to Alzheimer’s care

An elderly patient is comforted by a young caregiver. (Photo: Ocskay Mark, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Every year, the Alzheimer’s Association releases a report providing national and state-level statistics on Alzheimer’s prevalence, mortality, cost of care and impact on caregivers. As a son caring for my father who is living with Alzheimer’s, these statistics simply cannot do justice to the huge emotional, physical and financial toll that this disease takes on families and society at large.

Opinion

Digital divide hinders fair recovery from the pandemic

An illustration of cloud computer linkages over L.A. at night. (Photo: TierneyCJ, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: COVID-19 has tested our mettle and shined a light on long-held systematic deficiencies, forcing a re-prioritization of our “policy to-do list. “While the lack of equitable broadband accesshas served as a barrier to innovation, opportunity and connection among Californians for more than two decades, this inequity has caused more harm in one year of a pandemic than in the previous 25.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly Podcast: CTA President E. Toby Boyd

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented heretofore-unseen challenges to students and teachers who have suddenly found themselves the “guinea pigs” in a massive distance learning experiment. California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd joins Capitol Weekly’s Tim Foster and John Howard to give an update on expectations for the upcoming school year and discusses another big CTA priority: passing Prop. 15, the “Split Roll” initiative that would decouple large commercial properties from Prop. 13.

News

New push to expand ‘transitional kindergarten’ in California

A teacher and his students in a kindergarten class. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

After a couple of failed attempts, a move to expand transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds in California is under way. Assembly members Kevin McCarty, Phil Ting and Eloise Gomez Reyes and state Sens. Susan Rubio, Lena Gonzalez, and Bill Dodd have introduced Assembly Bill 2500 to approve universal transitional kindergarten.

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