Sponsored by the Randall W. Lewis Family Foundation
CalMatters, Education – Current Articles on Education in a COVID-19 World
Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation’s California Bridging the Digital Divide Fund
As of July 1, we have raised $12.3 million in funding as well as in-kind contributions valued in the tens of millions of dollars of over 37,000 devices, over 120,000 hotspots, internet service, and digital collaboration tools.
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces Task Force to Close Digital Divide – 2020
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today the creation of a new task force to close the digital divide for California students who lack access to resources such as internet connectivity and devices.
Can COVID Catalyze an Educational Transformation? Competency-Based Advancement in a Crisis
Covid-19 has become the singular priority of our health care delivery system — disrupting patient care processes, halting many research activities, and profoundly affecting medical education.
Let’s emerge from the pandemic lockdown into a fairer academic world
Some academics suggested that they were looking forward to increased productivity in grant and paper writing under lockdown. They cited the fact that Isaac Newton came up with his theory of gravity whilst quarantined during the bubonic plague. Globally, the reaction from many was to inwardly – or publicly – scream.
Nearly all California schools ordered to shut down. Online classes mandatory
Education for at least 90% of the state will have to be held online. Schools cannot reopen unless their county’s coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are stable.
Will California’s schools reopen their doors?
Will California’s public schools, with 6 million students, reopen after shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Or will stay-at-home classes continue?
Coronavirus spike jeopardizes opening of schools, L.A. County’s top health official warns
The pending reopening of K-12 campuses is suddenly at risk because of the ongoing surge of coronavirus cases, and all public and private schools must prepare for students to continue learning entirely from home, Los Angeles County’s top public health official has told local education leaders.
UC system picks first Black president
Michael V. Drake, a former leader at Ohio State University and UC Irvine, will have fewer tools than past presidents to deal with the UC’s imminent fiscal woes.
UC picked a successor to Napolitano to run the university system. Can the new chief pull off the impossible?
The University of California regents will name a new president on Tuesday to take on the $37 billion system at perhaps the most challenging moment in its 150-year history.
California parents weigh risks, benefits of sending kids back to school
As schools plan to reopen, California parents are asking themselves if it is better to send their children back to school and risk them getting the coronavirus or keeping them at home to do distance learning.
Pandemic’s impact on California children highlights need for comprehensive data system
California needs an educational data system that follows students from preschool through college and puts the highest priority on equity of student opportunity.
Props to you, Californians: A preview of what’s on your November ballot
After a bit of last-minute legislative maneuvering, the list of propositions that California voters will be asked to weigh in on has been — more or less — finalized.
Here are options and proposals that would fund California schools
The governor’s proposal to temporarily raise funds from some businesses would generate $4.4 billion, but it remains woefully inadequate. More can be done.
Bay Area charter schools tap tens of millions in federal small business loans
Charter schools in the Bay Area received tens of millions of dollars from a federal coronavirus relief program intended for small businesses, money they say is necessary to stay afloat amid the pandemic.
Napolitano says farewell to UC, advocates for affirmative action and Covid-19 research
UC's first woman president helped expand enrollment and successfully pushed to end testing as admissions requirement.
For some California teens, school closures led to work in the fields
When the coronavirus pandemic interrupted education across the state, and classes shifted online, many teenage students went to work picking strawberries or other crops. Advocates worry they’re falling behind.
UC students must ready for an online, socially distanced fall
The majority of UC campuses have released guidelines and policies for the next school year. UC guidelines call for the vast majority of classes to be taught online, sparsely populated dorms and regular symptom surveys of students and employees.
‘Learning hubs’ opening across SF to help 6,000 kids in need with distance education
San Francisco officials are readying an unprecedented educational assistance program for the fall meant to help up to 6,000 children with their distance-learning needs, as parents and students confront the reality of starting the school year without classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
California gears up for blockbuster year of ballot measures
Expect fireworks throughout the fall as powerful interest groups compete for airtime and attention during an unprecedented presidential election in a pandemic year.
California’s online community college still has much to prove
Calbright College, California’s online community college, may have survived elimination in the state’s budget, but the pressure is on to prove its value to the state.
Financial aid appeals surge as students cope with pandemic hardships
UCLA student Dulce Jimenez didn’t file a federal student aid application for the 2020-21 school year; she was set to graduate in spring, and thought the days of worrying about paying for school would be behind her. But then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Jimenez found herself dropping a class, then needing to make it up during the summer — just when her parents’ work hours had been reduced.
Colleges are walking back reopening plans — but can they keep campus employees safe?
As California colleges rethink their back-to-school plans amid a statewide spike in coronavirus cases, it’s not just their students they need to worry about protecting. Many campus employees are decades older than the students they teach and support, putting them at higher risk of complications if they contract the virus.
Willie Brown: We’re creating separate and very unequal school systems
Distance teaching is turning into what could be a giant step back to the days of de facto segregation in American education.
Orange County Board of Education Decides To Sue Gov. Gavin Newsom Over School Closures
The Orange County Board of Education in a closed session Tuesday night decided to sue Gov. Gavin Newsom to let schools in high-risk California counties reopen for the 2020-21 school year.
Udacity and Coursera See Strong Growth
Online learning platforms recalibrated their strategies and now, during the pandemic, they’re seeing huge surges in usage.
Education Equity in Crisis: The Digital Divide
The digital and technology resource divide is not a new phenomenon facing school-aged children of color and children experiencing poverty. A recent study found that, nationally, around 17% of children are unable to complete their homework due to limited internet access.
Should I quit my job? California parents grapple with education in a pandemic
As the majority of schools across the state prepare to start the school year teaching remotely, parents have started investigating their options for how they can maintain their child’s education while still holding down a job.
Schools scramble to teach teachers how to educate virtually
School systems across the state at every level have either created their own training for teachers or paid someone else to do it. They hope it makes this fall’s distance learning more effective than the spring’s.
Schools, unions leave parents in dark
A week before some California districts start school, many parents remain in the dark about what online learning will look like as teachers unions and districts negotiate instruction plans — in some cases behind closed doors.
COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Learning Elementary Education Waiver Process
California schools have been closed for in-person instruction since mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) developed the COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Learning Framework (PDF) to support school communities as they decide when and how to implement in-person instruction for the 2020-21 school year.
Some California elementary schools could reopen if they meet state waiver rules
Some California elementary schools may be able to reopen for in-person classes this fall under a strict waiver system announced Monday by state officials.
Youth Sports Questions and Answers
To help slow the spread of COVID-19, California's stay-at-home order issued on March 19, 2020, effectively suspended youth sports, including school-based, club, and recreational youth sports.
Beginning July 30, the California Department of Public Health is allowing youth sports training, conditioning, and physical education under specific circumstances.
School is about to start, but Bay Area teachers’ unions and districts still can’t agree on key details for online learning
Frustrated Bay Area families already know classes will be online when school starts in the coming weeks, but many still have no idea when their K-12 students will have to log on for lessons or how many hours of live instruction they would get.
New draft ethnic studies curriculum for California students issued after a year of study
The California Department of Education released a more readable and tempered draft of an “ethnic studies model curriculum” on Friday, 11 months after intense criticism of the first draft forced state officials to order a rewrite.
Rural California schools prepare for possible in-person teaching
While many school districts in the state’s more populous areas have been essentially forced to start the school year teaching remotely, more sparsely populated have options.
California releases guidance for reopening colleges and universities
Given the statewide levels of Covid-19 infections, most California colleges and universities must offer classes virtually except for limited hands-on courses that will require physical distancing and other protocols to limit contact between students.
COVID-19 INDUSTRY GUIDANCE: Institutions of Higher Education
The following guidelines and considerations are intended to help institutions of higher education (IHE) and their communities plan and prepare to resume in-person instruction.
SF teachers, district reach tentative deal for distance learning: At least 2 hours of live instruction
San Francisco school district officials and teachers union representatives reached a tentative agreement Thursday for distance learning instruction for the upcoming school year. The deal comes scarcely more than a week before the start of classes on Aug. 17.