If you are among the legion of parents that have taken on the role of teacher during distance learning, you have undoubtedly experienced the challenging merge of parent and educator. Seems natural, right? Heck, we are the parent, we understand our kids better than anyone — we got this. But if you are fortunate to […]
education
Posted inNews
Newsom Moves to Slash School, Health Spending — But Asks Feds for a Rescue
How does a liberal, blue-state governor take on the unappealing task of slashing the budget? By shifting a lot of the pressure to the federal government. In revising California’s budget down to $203 billion Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom charted a plan to fill a huge deficit by tying many cuts to additional federal aid. If […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Invisible Protections
How about we all just exhale deep and collectively recognize that week six of shelter in place was rough. Maybe we can just agree to be OK with letting that one roll on past. Of course this may just be my view because in the educator circles I run in this seems to be the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Grief When the Losses Mount
It has been a month and a half since my 9-year-old daughter has been in the physical presence of another child. To fully interact, to imagine, to run and play. She is not unique in this scenario that is being experienced by many children worldwide. She said kindly on a walk a few days ago, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Interpreting Equity During a Pandemic
One of my first memories interacting with other children in our community is of having my older brother, Mauro, interpret for me as we were playing — he was attending school and picking up English much faster than I was. We would migrate back and forth from Mexico where my abuelita y abuelo (grandma and […]
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Confusion Reigns as Families Tackle COVID-19 Homeschool
Mornings this week have started as always for Ray Ortega and his second-grade daughter: They wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and prepare for their day at school and work. Except, this week, the classroom is their Sacramento home office, and the teacher is Ortega, who, with his wife, is juggling his job with homeschooling […]
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Hundreds Attend ACEs Town Hall Featuring California Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris (with Video)
The Sequoia Conference Center on Humboldt County Office of Education’s campus was at capacity, 448 people had landed a seat — while at least another 100 watched from a live stream in a separate room. The draw was a conversation among California’s first Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris and a panel of locals spearheading Humboldt […]
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Journalism at Three Arcata High Schools
The journalism adviser hands skinny reporter notebooks to students filing into her Arcata High School classroom. Today is a favorite day for English teacher Danielle Witten and her 30-person journalism class. “It’s the first day of our news cycle,” Witten tells students, reminding reporters and editors of the importance of getting all student voices heard. […]
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Coming Full Circle
Jose Pacheco was a cherubic 12 year old with a troubled past and an uncertain future when he arrived at Blue Ox Community School’s doorstep eight years ago. Not even a teenager, he was already at a crossroads in life. “I remember how scared I was because the old building had barbed wire around it,” […]
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‘A Family to Be With’
Tiffany Strango’s philosophy is to love all children who enter her home as if they are her own. In her Eureka house, children are not pieces of paper and beds are not numbers. They are people and sanctuaries, respectively. Tiffany Strango never had the overwhelming urge to birth children but she and her husband George […]
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Charter Schools, Unions Call a Truce in an Epic Battle as Newsom Brokers a Deal
Gov. Gavin Newsom brokered an agreement Wednesday on a high-profile charter-school regulation proposal at the center of this year’s contentious battle between teachers unions and charter advocates, removing a key hurdle for its passage this session. The compromise on Assembly Bill 1505 comes after months of lobbying by the state’s two most influential education interest […]
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Late HSU Professor Honored for LGBTQ Work
Humboldt State University professor of education Eric Rofes, who died of a heart attack in 2006, was honored at the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 27. “Eric was a whirlwind of energy and brilliance at HSU and in the world, and I miss him […]