Headlines

​Find that perfect holiday gift that carries a union label and is made in America. Shipping gifts this year? Make sure to ship using a union carrier like the U.S. Postal Service or UPS.

Twin Rivers Unified School District plans to build workforce housing for its employees who are struggling to find affordable, well-maintained rental units within the community they work, district leaders said Tuesday.

Twin Rivers Unified, which employs roughly 3,300 people, had purchased the site with plans to build an elementary school, Martinez said, but it no longer needed it for that purpose. A housing project, he said, would bring less traffic to the neighborhood.

The San Diego Unified School District is considering building 1,000 units of income-restricted housing — which could house up to 10% of its employees in the next 10 years, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. 

​​Researchers have found bilingual education helps students learn English faster and can boost their standardized test scores, increase graduation rates, better prepare them for college and much more. California has removed the official barriers to offering this type of instruction since 2016, and the state now champions bilingualism and biliteracy, encouraging all students to strive for both. But eight years after repeal, California schools have yet to recover. A decades-long enrollment slump in bilingual-teacher prep programs has led to a decimated teacher pipeline. And underinvestment by the Legislature, paired with a hamstrung state Education Department, has limited the pace of bilingual education’s comeback.​ 

​​There isn't a lot of research into how often special educators are hurt at work, but a Pennsylvania study published in 2014 found special educators were nearly three times as likely as general educators to be physically assaulted by students. That can make it harder for school districts to hire special education staff, at a time when schools across the country are struggling to fill these positions. A recent federal survey found, nationwide, special education vacancies are the most difficult for schools to fill.​

California high school students are now required to learn about their rights as workers with materials created by labor organizations. The passage of AB 800 last year requires juniors and seniors to be taught about their workplace rights, the achievements of organized labor and students’ right to join a union. 

Amid fear of mass deportations under the incoming Trump administration, a state lawmaker wants to make all California schools and child care centers safe havens for immigrant children by passing legislation that would limit immigration officers’ access to school grounds.

High-poverty schools are nurturing a homegrown workforce of mental health support in Tulare County.