Education

Commentary: Inglewood Unified School District: the Canary in the Coal Mine

Published

5 years ago

December 5, 2019

Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

All California school districts will have to submit an interim report in their financial health by December 15.This report compares the school district’s ongoing fiscal condition to what was projected in the budget they submitted in July.

Most schools districts will certify that they will meet their financial obligations for the current and two subsequent fiscal years, but there are a growing number of districts that will assign themselves ‘qualified’ or ‘negative’ certifications. (Districts in good standing give themselves a ‘positive; certification.)

Large school districts, based on their July budgets, that may be on the list of qualified and negative include Los Angeles Unified, Sacramento City Unified, Sweetwater Union, and Oakland Unified.

Districts with negative and qualified certifications must come to terms with the fact that unless they find new revenue sources or better control their expenditures they will have to request a state loan to avoid fiscal insolvency.

According to Assembly Bill 1200, called the Eastin Act, the state of California is required to maintain the financial soundness of public school districts.

Under AB 1200, a district secures a state loan through Legislative action. A state-appointed administrator takes over, the superintendent is fired, and the board of education becomes an advisory body. All decisions about the district’s operational priorities are taken away from the local level until the state loan is paid in full.

State intervention has not been a guarantee that the school district in receivership will be better managed. This has to concern school districts facing this prospect.
Inglewood Unified is currently the only school district in state receivership. Its experience is “the canary in the coal mine” that districts on the verge of accepting a state loan need to look at closely.

Between 2012 and 2017, the state superintendent appointed three administrators, two interim administrators and one trustee. During this period of unstable leadership, the district’s finances and operations did not significantly improve and little progress was made toward being able to return to local control.

In 2015, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved an audit concerning the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s oversight of the Inglewood Unified School District.
A key recommendation the State Auditor made to the Legislature was “any future state emergency funding for a school district appropriated by the Legislature should specifically require the state superintendent to document the selection and appointment process of a state administrator, including the rationales for progressing certain candidates once screened or reasons that particular individuals were ultimately selected to serve as state administrator.”

So far, the Legislature has failed to implement the recommendation put forth by the audit. It’s clear that Inglewood’s progress has suffered because of a lack of stable leadership provided by the State.

A similar experience happening to any other school district in the future is unacceptable.
In 2018, Assembly Bill (AB) 1840 provided financial relief to Inglewood Unified and Oakland Unified as both school districts struggled to balance their budgets and pay off state loans. In that legislation, responsibility for managing a school district under state receivership was removed from CDE and given to the County Office of Education.

The last State Administrator appointed by CDE to lead Inglewood Unified, Dr. Thelma Melendez, recently retired. Under the guidelines of AB 1840, a new County Administrator, Dr. Erika Torres, was announced by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE).
Before her appointment, Torres was acting interim County Administrator and, for about a year, she was the LACOE Deputy Superintendent charged with working with Melendez. So she takes the job already knowing what needs to be prioritized and what resources she will need to succeed in turning around the school district.

This may be the model that should be adopted for future state takeovers. Instead of firing the superintendent of the school district, a reasonable transition period should be observed. Prior to the appointment of Torres, each state administrator had to figure out on their own how they would lead. That process failed to produce satisfactory progress.
It is time for the Legislature — hopefully, during the upcoming session — to craft legislation that will provide better direction on how school districts under state receivership are managed. The future of the students in those districts will be the beneficiaries of the legislation they approve

Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

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Five Years After COVID-19 Began, a Struggling Child Care Workforce Faces New Threats

Five years ago, as COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures began, most early educators continued to work in person, risking their own health and that of their families. “Early educators were called essential, but they weren’t provided with the personal protective equipment they needed to stay safe,” said CSCCE Executive Director Lea Austin. “There were no special shopping hours or ways for them to access safety materials in those early and scary months of the pandemic, leaving them to compete with other shoppers. One state even advised them to wear trash bags if they couldn’t find PPE.”

Published

4 weeks ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

UC Berkeley photo.

UC Berkeley News

In the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic alone, 166,000 childcare jobs were lost across the nation. Significant recovery didn’t begin until the advent of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Child Care Stabilization funds in April 2021.

Today, child care employment is back to slightly above pre-pandemic levels, but job growth has remained sluggish at 1.4% since ARPA funding allocations ended in October 2023, according to analysis by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at UC Berkeley. In the last six months, childcare employment has hovered around 1.1 million.

Yet more than two million American parents report job changes due to problems accessing child care. Why does the childcare sector continue to face a workforce crisis that has predated the pandemic? Inadequate compensation drives high turnover rates and workforce shortages that predate the pandemic. Early childhood educators are skilled professionals; many have more than 15 years of experience and a college degree, but their compensation does not reflect their expertise. The national median hourly wage is $13.07, and only a small proportion of early educators receive benefits.

And now a new round of challenges is about to hit childcare. The low wages paid in early care and education result in 43% of early educator families depending on at least one public support program, such as Medicaid or food stamps, both of which are threatened by potential federal funding cuts. Job numbers will likely fall as many early childhood educators need to find jobs with healthcare benefits or better pay.

In addition, one in five child care workers are immigrants, and executive orders driving deportation and ICE raids will further devastate the entire early care and education system. These stresses are part of the historical lack of respect the workforce faces, despite all they contribute to children, families, and the economy.

The economic impact was equally dire. Even as many providers tried to remain open to ensure their financial security, the combination of higher costs to meet safety protocols and lower revenue from fewer children enrolled led to job losses, increased debt, and program closures.

Eventually, the federal government responded with historic short-term investments through ARPA, which stabilized childcare programs. These funds provided money to increase pay or provide financial relief to early educators to improve their income and well-being. The childcare sector began to slowly recover. Larger job gains were made in 2022 and 2023, and as of November 2023, national job numbers had slightly surpassed pre-pandemic levels, though state and metro areas continued to fluctuate.

Many states have continued to support the workforce after ARPA funding expired in late 2024. In Maine, a salary supplement initiative has provided monthly stipends of $240-$540 to educators working in licensed home- or center-based care, based on education and experience, making it one of the nation’s leaders in its support of early educators. Early educators say the program has enabled them to raise wages, which has improved staff retention. Yet now, Governor Janet Mills is considering cutting the stipend program in half.

“History shows that once an emergency is perceived to have passed, public funding that supports the early care and education workforce is pulled,” says Austin. “You can’t build a stable childcare workforce and system without consistent public investment and respect for all that early educators contribute.”

The Center for the Study of Childcare Employment is the source of this story.

Oakland Post

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Activism

District Delegates to State Democratic Party Central Committee Meeting Celebrate Election Victory

Delegates and elected officials were excited for the future of the Democratic Party and making its focus on 1) creating more affordable housing, 2) supporting education, 3) helping working families, and 4) protecting the environment and addressing climate change, with a focus on practical and realistic policy efforts that could have a meaningful impact.

Published

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Front row: Megan Imperial, Genice Jacobs, Bobbi Lopez, Courtney Welch, Janani Ramachandran, Hercules Councilmember Dilli Bhattarai, Sarah Bell, Laura Babitt, Ashlee Jemmott, and Shawn Danino. Rear row: Ben Gould, Sam Davis, Victor Flores, Zac Bowling, Nate Hanson, Teddy Gray King, Cathy Adams, Neil Tsutsui, Sam Gould, Lauren Wilson, and Nick Pilch. Courtesy photo.

By Ben Gould
Special to The Post

Winners of the February 2025 Assembly District Election Meetings (ADEM) for Assembly Districts 14 and 18 met on Sunday, March 16 to discuss priorities for the California Democratic Party convention in Anaheim coming up in May.

The winners for Assembly District 18 are Genice Jacobs, Bobbi Lopez, Shawn Danino, Ben Gould, Zac Bowling, Nate Hanson, Cathy Adams, Sam Gould, Lauren Wilson, Ashlee Jemmott, and former Oakland School Board Director Sam Davis.

The winners for Assembly District 14 are: Sarah Bell, Neil Tsutsui, Hercules Councilmember Dilli Bhattarai, former Berkeley School Board Director Laura Babitt, former Piedmont Mayor Teddy Gray King, and former Albany Mayor Nick Pilch.

They were joined by Oakland Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, Emeryville Councilmember Courtney Welch, and BART Director Victor Flores to help celebrate their victory.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Golden State Warriors Program Is Inspiring Next Generation of Female Engineers

Breaking down barriers and biases that deter young girls from pursuing STEAM subjects is essential for creating a level playing field and ensuring equal opportunities for all. By challenging stereotypes and promoting a culture of inclusivity and diversity in STEAM fields, experts believe young girls can be empowered to pursue their interests and aspirations without limitations confidently. Encouraging mentorship, providing access to resources, and celebrating girls’ achievements in STEAM are all crucial steps in creating a supportive environment that fosters success.

Published

4 weeks ago

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Oakland Post

Front Row: UC Berkeley Steel Bridge Team Back Row: Girls, Inc. Participants. Photo courtesy of the Golden State Warriors.

By Y’Anad Burrell

The Golden State Warriors and e-commerce giant Rakuten are joining forces to inspire the next generation of female engineers through Building STEAM Futures, part of The City Calls campaign.

Organizers say the initiative is founded on the idea that science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are crucial fields for innovation and progress, and empowering young girls to pursue careers in these areas is more important than ever. Studies consistently show that girls are underrepresented in STEAM fields, resulting in a gender disparity that limits potential and hinders diversity.

On Saturday, March 8, International Women’s Day, the Warriors and Rakuten hosted 20 middle school girls from Girls Inc. of Alameda County at Chase Center’s Above the Rim for a hands-on bridge-building experience. The young girls from Girls, Inc. of Alameda County had an opportunity to design, build and test their own bridge prototypes and learn the fundamentals of bridge construction from the Engineering Alliance and the UC Berkeley Steel Bridge Team.

This STEAM experience for the girls followed the first session in January, where they took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Golden Gate Bridge, learning about its design and construction from industry experts. The City Calls campaign, tipped off with the unveiling the Warriors’ new bridge-themed City Edition jerseys and court design earlier this year.