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Hundreds of California teachers are waiting to see if they will still have a job when schools reopen next year. Declining enrollment, expiring federal funds, and a proposed state budget with no new money for education have led to a surge in teacher layoffs. The layoff notices, which are required by state law, have caused insecurity and stress for teachers and disrupted school systems. They are also discouraging people from entering teacher preparation programs and are expected to make it harder for districts to hire and retain teachers. Many of the notices are withdrawn, but the practice has been criticized for its demoralizing effect. 

 

Napa Valley Register

The Biden administration has unveiled a final set of sweeping changes to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at government-funded schools. The changes, which reinstitute protections for student survivors of sexual assault and harassment rolled back under former President Donald Trump, will take effect on August 1. The new regulations expand the definition of sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and aim to equip schools with clear-cut instructions to promptly and effectively respond to all forms of sex discrimination. The final update also establishes a lower burden of proof for survivors and students alleging sex discrimination. However, the administration has maintained several major provisions from the previous regulations to ensure consistency while schools update their procedures. The changes are expected to draw swift criticism from those who view the transgender student protections as an attack on protections for cisgender women and girls. The administration has yet to finalize a separate rule governing athletics eligibility.

 

The Hill

US News

Huntington Beach Union High School District has announced that Carolee Ogata will be the next superintendent, taking over from Clint Harwick who is retiring after seven years in the role. Ogata, who has been the deputy superintendent of human resources for the district since 2012, will likely be appointed at the May 14 school board meeting, pending contract negotiations. She will begin her new role on September 1. Ogata has 32 years of experience in education and has been recognized as the Region 17 Administrator of the Year in human resources.

 

Los Angeles Times

San Francisco USD has taken a step closer to its goal of building 550 affordable housing units for its employees by 2030. The district has identified two potential sites for teacher housing and has voted to submit a waiver request to the State Board of Education to skip the competitive bidding process. San Francisco already has five educator housing sites in development, with the first set to welcome tenants this fall. The demand for housing is high among SFUSD staff, with several hundred applications already received for the first housing project.

 

San Francisco Examiner

Students at Cerritos Elementary School in Los Angeles County had an exciting career day with first responders. The school's annual career day, which usually focuses on various professions, this year highlighted the important work of first responders. The event brought together the Los Angeles County Fire Station 35, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and the Long Beach Police Department. Students had the opportunity to see fire trucks, police cars, K9 units, and even a helicopter flyover. The aim was to celebrate and educate the students about the first responders who serve their community.

 

Press-Telegram

NCAA athletes will be immediately eligible to play no matter how many times they transfer — as long as they meet academic requirements — after the association fast-tracked legislation. The change still needs to be ratified by the DI Board next week. The decision comes after a recent court order. "This new rule will provide more opportunities for student-athletes to find the right fit academically and athletically," said Division I Council chair M. Grace Calhoun. The NCAA's decision aims to support student-athletes and their pursuit of education and athletic goals.

 

The Bakersfield

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has sanctioned Bay Area coding school BloomTech and its CEO Austen Allred for deceiving students about loan costs and job placement rates.  BloomTech falsely claimed that its income-share agreements were not loans and carried no finance charge, when in fact they were loans with an average finance charge of $4,000. The school also made false claims about graduates' hiring rates. The CFPB banned Allred from student-loan activities for 10 years and permanently banned the for-profit vocational institute. BloomTech must stop collecting payments from graduates without qualifying jobs and amend the terms of the loans for certain graduates. Allred will pay $100,000 into a victims relief fund.

 

East Bay

More federal and state policymakers are focusing on addressing data privacy, especially for children, because of increasing concerns about how companies collect and sell user information and how that affects users' mental health. Congressional lawmakers have introduced several data-privacy bills, some of which deal directly with children's online privacy. At least 15 states have enacted comprehensive data-privacy laws since 2020, while other states either have narrower laws or have at least introduced data-privacy laws during the current legislative session, according to Bloomberg Law. The problem with some of those policies, according to school data-privacy experts, is they don't always consider how day-to-day school operations would be affected. Schools use student data to support decisionmaking, to personalize learning, and for better reporting as required under federal and state laws. The Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, would require certain online platforms to provide children with options to protect their information, disable addictive features, and opt out of personalized recommendations. Those platforms would also be required to design and operate their products in ways that prevent or mitigate negative effects on children, such as mental health disorders, bullying, and sexual exploitation. The Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA 2.0, would amend the original Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. The bill would build on the 1998 law and would prohibit online platforms from collecting personal information from users who are 13 to 16 years old without their consent. The current law only applies to children under 13. COPPA 2.0 would also ban targeted advertising to children, and require companies to allow parents and children to erase their personal information from the platforms. 

 

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