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All across California, charter schools are implementing admissions policies that exclude students from enrolling. Like other public schools, charters must admit all students who wish to attend. By law, they may not discourage certain students from enrolling based on income, national origin, academic performance or other factors. These admission policies threaten to turn public schooling into a …

UNEQUAL ACCESS – How Some California Charter Schools Illegally Restrict Enrollment Read More »

In 2019, youth leaders at Gente Organizada discovered that their school district was illegally spending funds reserved for foster youth, English learners, and low-income students (“high-need students”) on school police and security. Outraged, the students organized and ran a campaign to stop it. After months of advocacy, they ultimately convinced their district to stop spending …

OUR RIGHT TO RESOURCES: SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE CHEATING HIGH NEED STUDENTS BY FUNDING LAW ENFORCEMENT Read More »

The U.S. Department of Education recently required every public school to report the number of social workers, nurses, and psychologists employed for the first time in history. Data about school counselors had been required previously, but this report provides the first state-level student-to-staff ratio comparison for these other school-based mental health personnel, along with school …

COPS AND NO COUNSELORS – How the Lack of School Mental Health Staff is Harming Students Read More »

A disturbing trend has emerged in California — police officers are stationed in schools and are replacing educators as disciplinarians for minor offenses and student behavior issues. Further, on-campus policing often results in over-criminalizing students—mostly low-income students of color — and pushes affected students out of the educational environment and into the school-to-prison pipeline. This …

THE RIGHT TO REMAIN A STUDENT: HOW CAlifornia SCHOOL POLICIES FAIL TO PROTECT AND SERVE Read More »

“Here to Learn” provides a full analysis of LAUSD’s mandatory metal detector search policy. This analysis is based on a comprehensive review of LAUSD metal detection search logs produced in response to a Public Records Act (PRA) request for any entries containing weapons in the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years by researchers at UCLA’s Civil …

here to learn Read More »

Schools in California and across the country continue to limit student expression and the punishments for speaking up are often applied discriminately. Particularly concerning are incidents of schools restricting the speech of Black students who express support for Black lives and the Black Lives Matter movement. The good news is that the U.S. and California …

Racial Equity & Student Expression in Schools Read More »

This report examines student wellness and access to school-based mental health support throughout multiple years of the pandemic. Student mental health is highly connected to student success and well-being. Findings from the surveys indicate students are experiencing a host of mental health issues, including but not limited to an increase in social anxiety, panic attacks, …

State of Student Mental Wellness Report – California 2022 Read More »

Schools need to expand arts education to more students now more than ever. This is particularly important in California, as they are behind other states in the percentage of students enrolled in arts programs – just 39%, shockingly low compared with 70% in Arizona, Wisconsin and Ohio. The California Education Code requires complete Visual and Performing Art (VAPA) …

For Students in California, Arts Education is a Civil Rights Issue Read More »