Education

‘Partial herd immunity’ emerging, but some challenge the value of that status

It was nearly a year ago when Gov. Gavin Newsom, not long into a statewide lockdown, referenced the elephant in the COVID-19 room: herd immunity. The concept was frightening to many; with no vaccine in sight, they feared the only way it could be attained was for the virus to have infected enough people to have run out of hosts. Estimates of the looming toll at the time were chilling: as many as 840,000 Californians dead and 1.4 million seriously ill. National, state and local officials, meanwhil...
Tags: Business, News, Education, California, Government, White House, US, Paul Simon, Los Angeles, Sport, Public Health, Soccer, Long Beach, Community, Columbia University, Lausd

Newsom touts new Southern California vaccine pop-ups as counties transition to Blue Shield network

Gov. Gavin Newsom visited two federally funded pop-up coronavirus vaccination sites in Southern California on Sunday, Feb. 21, part of a statewide tour of such spots aimed at immunizing the state’s hardest-hit communities. The visit coincided with the launch of the transition to a new centralized system — which will include Riverside County in its first wave — to manage the state’s thus-far bumpy rollout of the badly needed vaccine. Newsom, flanked by several local elected leaders, said the mobi...
Tags: Health, Business, News, Education, California, Government, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sport, Public Health, Soccer, Associated Press, Pfizer, Blue Shield, Orange County, Riverside County

Faith leaders encourage coronavirus vaccinations among Southern California worshippers

As hospital and health-care workers across Southern California began lining up this week for the much-anticipated coronavirus vaccines, excitement over the potential antidote to the virus’s ferocious spread this winter has been dampened by skepticism over the safety, efficacy and morality of the treatments. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll in late November and early December, as Pfizer and Moderna prepared to roll out their vaccines, about 71% of survey respondents said they would ge...
Tags: News, Supreme Court, College, Religion, Sport, Public Health, Lego, Soccer, Judaism, Healthcare, Islam, Catholic Church, Miami, Catholic, Christian, Pfizer

More Southern California kids are killing themselves during coronavirus pandemic

Melinda Robbins was driving home with her family in late August when she learned a former student had killed himself. “I cried all the way home,” the high school language arts teacher said. “His passing broke me.” In spring, the boy left her class at Lee Pollard High School in the Corona-Norco Unified School District and shifted to home schooling. “This is not the first student that I’ve lost in my career, and I hope and pray it will be the last,” Robbins said. More Southern California children ...
Tags: Health, Facebook, News, Education, California, Los Angeles, Sport, Public Health, Soccer, Goldfinger, Orange County, Riverside County, Usc, Ucla, Robbins, Southern California

Southern California leaders hope to close digital divide

A new Southern California effort aims to address an inequality spotlighted by the coronavirus pandemic — the digital divide. Inland entrepreneur Steve PonTell and San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman are bringing together leaders in business, government, technology and other fields to find ways to close the divide. The divide refers to the gap between people who have access to broadband internet service and those who do not. Former state Assemblyman Lloyd Levine estimates that nearly 25%...
Tags: News, Education, California, Government, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Sport, Soccer, Santiago, Long Beach, Riverside County, Usc, Southern California, Concord, Charter Communications, Levine

14 charged in suspected fraud scheme tied to alleged ‘sham’ schools in L.A., Riverside

Fourteen Southern California residents have been charged by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in three cases of suspected workers’ compensation fraud related to two alleged “sham” schools that caused a loss to insurance carriers in excess of $22 million. The investigation involved two for-profit vocational schools, Ryon College in Riverside and Sutech School in Los Angeles. The investigation was initiated by the DA’s office in January 2019 regarding supplemental job displacement be...
Tags: News, Education, California, Theft, Office, Los Angeles, Sport, Soccer, Higher Education, San Diego, Riverside County, Southern California, Pomona, Norwalk, Riverside, Lakewood

Attendance falling for LAUSD’s first graders

The overall attendance rate for first graders in Los Angeles Unified is down 3.7% compared to a year ago — and down by two or three times that rate for some of the highest-needs students — according to the latest data from the district. Cumulative attendance rates since the start of the school year show a 7.5% drop in attendance among Black students and a 4.1% decrease among Latino students in the first grade. The rates also went down by 4.2% for English learners, 4% for students with disabiliti...
Tags: Health, News, Education, California, Los Angeles, Sport, Soccer, Long Beach, Lausd, Pasadena, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, LA County, Los Angeles Unified, United Teachers Los Angeles, Austin Beutner

Parents sue Gov. Newsom, other state officials demanding in-person instruction

More than a dozen Southern California parents, from the Inland Empire to the Los Angeles County coast, have joined forces in a lawsuit against several California officials — arguing that barring in-person classes this fall will hurt students, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A telephone hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Aug. 17. Schools, meanwhile, will begin opening this month while the suit is argued. The lawsuit, filed last month in the Central District of California Western Di...
Tags: News, Education, California, La, San Francisco, Sport, Soccer, New Hampshire, Associated Press, Riverside County, Anthony Fauci, Melgar, Southern California, Los Angeles County, South Bay, Riverside

LAUSD board to vote on emergency declaration amid coronavirus spread

The Los Angeles Unified School District board will vote today on whether to declare a state of emergency that would grant Superintendent Austin Beutner additional freedoms to respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak, including actions like closing the school system that would otherwise require board approval. A district statement described the administrative action as being taken in an abundance of caution to allow a streamlining of preparations for possible further steps to prevent the spread ...
Tags: News, Education, California, Sport, Soccer, Lausd, Local News, Riverside County, Northern California, Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles Unified, Austin Beutner, San Francisco State, Buena Park, Top Stories LADN, Top Stories Breeze

Housing costs, migration expected to crimp Southern California’s economy

Southern California’s economy remains strong, but it’s expected to lag slightly behind the state through 2021, according to a new report. As with other regions, housing affordability and a net migration inland pose challenges to growth and the efficient movement of people and goods, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. forecast said. On the plus side, per capita income growth is expected to continue to outpace the nation and state, buoyed by strong employment in the construction, lo...
Tags: Business, News, Education, California, Housing, Sport, Economy, Soccer, Tourism, Healthcare, Trade, Construction, Disneyland, Local News, Riverside County, Southern California

Delta sued again over jet fuel dumped on LA-area schools

LOS ANGELES — Delta Air Lines is facing a lawsuit from three students at Pioneer High School in Whittier who claim they experienced symptoms such as emotional distress, skin irritation, dizziness, and nausea from jet fuel dumped on their school by a Delta airplane. The lawsuit was filed on Friday at the Spring Street Courthouse. It is the second lawsuit filed against the airline after Delta Flight 89 released thousands of gallons of jet fuel over parts of Los Angeles County, prompting hazardous-...
Tags: Lawsuit, News, Education, La, China, Los Angeles, Sport, Fbi, Public Health, Soccer, Airplanes, Shanghai, Delta, San Diego, Riverside County, Boeing

These three suicide-prevention bills are now law in California

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed all three bills passed by the California legislature this year aimed at reducing bullying and teen suicide. “As responsible adults, we must be sensitive to the difficulties young people face and provide assistance as they navigate adolescence,” Assemblyman James Ramos, D-Highland, is quoted as saying in a news release issued Thursday, Oct. 10, after Newsom signed Ramos’ Assembly Bill 1767. “Offering age appropriate suicide prevention education is one of the ways we c...
Tags: Health, Politics, News, Education, California, Sport, Soccer, Jerry Brown, Local News, Orange County, Riverside County, Gavin Newsom, Southern California, Los Angeles County, AB, Corona

Parents opposed to comprehensive sex education pull children out of schools, stage rallies across Southern California

Hundreds of parents opposed to California’s comprehensive sex education curriculum staged so-called “SeXXX Ed” rallies outside county education department offices across Southern California, Friday, May 17, demanding the state stop exposing their children to sexual content including conversations about homosexuality and gender fluidity. According to organizers of the statewide protest, parents in 46 out of 58 counties participated and thousands of children were kept out schools across California...
Tags: Health, News, Education, California, Sport, Chicago, Soccer, Lausd, Orange County, Riverside County, Thompson, Southern California, American Medical Association, Berry, Liu, Costa Mesa

Boat races will test nautical notions of Southern California Solar Cup teams

Students from Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga hope to take a voyage to victory when they compete in the 2019 Solar Cup this weekend at Lake Skinner in Winchester. More than three dozen high school teams have spent seven months preparing for the solar-powered boating contest, which is sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. In addition to building a boat and racing it, students must create a public service announcement promoting conservation.​ Junior Roni...
Tags: Education, Sport, Soccer, Local News, Riverside County, Winchester, Southern California, Kathy, San Dimas, Hemet, RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Dominguez, Anaheim High School, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Osos, Los Angeles Orange Riverside San Bernardino

Vietnam vet to be awarded high school diploma after county office does what a district won’t

A Vietnam veteran will finally get a high school diploma from an unexpected source after battling the school district where he attended 50 years ago. Ken Weiner, who was awarded the Purple Heart after being shot twice in Vietnam, will accept a diploma from the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools on Tuesday, Nov. 13 in a ceremony called “Operation Recognition.” Weiner, who lives in Murrieta, had requested his diploma from Long Beach Unified School District; he attended Lakewood High in the...
Tags: News, Education, Sport, Soccer, Veterans, Army, Vietnam, Riverside County, Weiner, Riverside, Lakewood, Murrieta, Long Beach Unified, Southern California News Group, Ken Weiner, Top Stories LADN

Both sides lobbying California governor on bill to delay school start time for teens

By Theresa Harrington, EdSource California teens may get to sleep a bit later before heading to school, if the governor signs a bill requiring middle and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. But not everyone agrees that allowing the legislature to dictate the starting times of local schools is good policy. Middle and high school students in California start their school day on average at 8:07 a.m. according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a time that rese...
Tags: News, Education, California, Sport, Soccer, Lausd, Riverside County, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, Usc, San Pedro, Brown, Kern County, Legislature, Assembly, California Teachers Association, CSUN

California student leaders focus on college affordability

The three students who vote on the governing boards of California’s three gigantic systems of higher education say they want to focus attention this year on the costs of housing and textbooks. While tuition will not increase for the 2018-19 school year, those other costs of living and study are increasingly major burdens to many students, according to the students who will be able to vote on such issues at the California Community Colleges’ Board of Governors, the California State University’s B...
Tags: News, Education, California, Uncategorized, California News, San Francisco, Sport, Soccer, Modesto, Graves, Riverside County, UC, University Of California, Griffin, Ucla, CSU

If child abuse is so rampant, why are prosecutions so rare for those who fail to report it?

If you work with children in your job, California law requires you to report suspected child abuse. But few people are ever prosecuted for failing to alert authorities about their suspicions. From 2012 to 2017, fewer than a dozen workers in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties were charged by county prosecutors with violating the so-called mandated reporter law. And because violations are only a misdemeanor, those who are prosecuted and convicted virtually always receive li...
Tags: Education, California, Office, Sport, Soccer, Long Beach, Local News, Orange County, Riverside County, Lyon, Hall, Los Angeles County, Gabriel, Martinez, Riverside, Burbank

School threat reports pour in and are being taken seriously, Southern California experts say

In the week since police say Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people at a Florida high school, reports of threats of violence against schools in Southern California and around the nation have poured in to police departments and schools. Such threats are not new, police say, and whether the actual number has increased in Southern California since the Feb. 14 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High is debatable, experts say. But it’s clear that the threats on social media and in conversations are getting m...
Tags: Florida, Crime, News, Education, California, Office, Sport, Soccer, Santiago, Local News, Riverside County, Southern California, San Bernardino, John Hall, Anaheim, Torrance

New science standards a boon for the littlest learners

By Carolyn Jones, EdSource Science education has long been a weak spot at some elementary schools, but educators are hoping California’s new science standards — if implemented well — will entice teachers to expand and improve science lessons for the youngest students. “Science education has been severely lacking, especially in K-2,” said Rena Dorph, interim director of the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley. “I hope it will change, but it will depend on a lot of factors — policy, resources,...
Tags: Business, Science, News, Education, California, Kentucky, Sport, Soccer, Glendale, Local News, Riverside County, UC Berkeley, California Science Teachers Association, Longwood, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, San Jacinto College

Laws call for no oversight of private schools like Perris home where 13 were shackled

The Perris home where 12 people — including children — were found chained and padlocked to their beds Sunday, Jan. 14, is listed in state records as Sandcastle Day School, a private school with just six students. But no law appears to require inspections or oversight of such schools, education officials said. “When they become a private school, they’re out of the school realm,” said David Long, a former state education secretary and Riverside County Superintendent of Schools. Sandcastle’s princi...
Tags: Crime, Education, California, Sport, Soccer, Local News, Riverside County, David Long, Turpin, California Department of Education, Perris, Romoland School District, David Turpin, Top Stories LADN, Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE

Compare Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino County school test scores with this database

Southern California students showed modest improvements or held steady in standardized tests scores in the third year of state math and English tests, but scores remained more or less flat statewide, according to data released Wednesday, Sept. 27, by the California Department of Education. Statewide, 48.56 percent of all students met or exceeded English standards on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, while 37.56 percent did the same in math. Use the following database...
Tags: Education, California, Sport, Data, Soccer, Local News, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, California Assessment of Student Performance, Los Angeles Orange Riverside, Top Stories LADN, Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories Sun

The California missions school project is becoming a thing of the past. Here’s why

For decades, fourth-grade students in California have had one project that has taken over dining room tables, required piles of popsicle sticks and kept parents and kids up at night completing it: building a model of one of the 18th- and 19th-century Spanish missions in the state. But under a new educational framework the state Department of Education is rolling out, the annual project may  become history. Why? Two reasons: it doesn’t effectively teach students about the mission period and, wors...
Tags: Education, California, Los Angeles, Sport, Soccer, Lausd, Local News, Riverside County, San Francisco Bay, Mediterranean, Southern California, Department Of Education, Sean, Mission San Francisco, Ortega, Los Angeles Unified School District

In some Inland classrooms, it’s goodbye desks, hello bean bags and yoga mats

A visit to Christine Richens’ classroom at Corona Ranch Elementary School feels like a trip to Starbucks. Neat rows of desks, plastic chairs and fluorescent lights have been replaced by couches, coffee tables, faux leather chairs, bar stools, rugs and lamps. Students put their belongings in lockers and storage compartments near the wallpaper that looks like wood paneling. “It’s warm and inviting,” Richens said. “It’s like you’re in your own living room.” Richens transformed her fifth-grade class...
Tags: Education, Microsoft, Sport, Soccer, New Orleans, Starbucks, Local News, Smith, Riverside County, Decor, Luke Miller, Moreno Valley, Singh, Thomas Smith, UC Riverside, Roosevelt High School