Blog

By Linda Darling-Hammond, EdSource, October 4, 2021 O n Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom made California the first state in the nation to announce a Covid-19 vaccination requirement for all schoolchildren and staff participating in in-person instruction, adding the Covid-19 vaccine to the list of required school vaccinations that prevent such infectious diseases as polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella. The new requirement will be effective at the start of the school semester following full...

PC Reacts is a new series by PACEs Connection in which we look at current events through a trauma-informed and PACEs science lens. In the next episode in this series, we will respectfully and mindfully discuss issues related to the recent national fascination with the missing person and murder case of Gabby Petito, who was found at Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming on September 19th. While this case has seen hundreds, maybe thousands of pieces of media coverage over the past weeks, it...

Through the news media, Americans are served an almost-daily dose of violence caused by guns. This year to date, more than 33,929 people in the United States have been killed and another 30,000+ have been injured by guns. The U.S. homicide rate for firearms is 22 times greater than that of the European Union, even though the European population is 35% larger. But to Dr. Garen Wintemute , the statistics on injuries and deaths are only one part of the story. To reverse those appalling numbers,...

Dropping October 11th! Listen to Dr. B and her Co-host Seth Creekmore in conversation with Jane Stevens, Founder and Publisher of PACEs Connection. [ Please click here to access the podcast .]

Community schools have been an effective school improvement strategy for over a century, implemented in both urban and rural areas across the country — yet many people have never heard of this dynamic approach to school design. Whole districts have invested in this model over the past several decades, from Oakland to New York City, from Duluth, Minnesota to Tulsa, Oklahoma. California recently approved $2.8 billion in the 2022 fiscal year budget for the implementation of community schools...

Please join us for our new series Education Upended: Talking Out of Turn . This monthly series will feature a conversation facilitated by Lara Kain, PACEsConnection Education Consultant , with special guests on education related current events and hot topics. We will use a trauma-informed and PACEs science aware lens to examine what is going on K-12 education, what needs changing, and strategies being used in the field to disrupt harmful policies and make positive changes in the system.

By Emily Elena Dugdale and Irena Hwang, ProPublica, September 29, 2021 Barron Gardner, a high school history teacher in Southern California’s Antelope Valley, stared down Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies during an online meeting in April, trying to keep his composure. Gardner, 41, had become a reluctant spokesperson for a growing movement, driven primarily by Black and Latino residents, to get LASD deputies off school campuses. His wife, who's also a teacher, worried about...

By April Dembosky, National Public Radio, September 30, 2021 When Billy Lemon was trying to kick his methamphetamine addiction, he went to a drug treatment program at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation three times a week and peed in a cup. If it tested negative for meth, he got paid about $7. "For somebody who had not had any legitimate money – without committing felonies – that seemed like a cool thing," says Lemon, who was arrested three times for selling meth before starting recovery. The...

By Rosanna Xia, The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 30, 2021 In a history-making move celebrated by reparations advocates and social justice leaders across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has authorized the return of property known as Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of a Black couple that had been run out of Manhattan Beach almost a century ago. Senate Bill 796, signed into law Thursday by Newsom before an excited crowd that had gathered on the property, confirms that the city’s taking of...

Evaluating District Discipline Reform Efforts in California This free webinar is now on our webinar page Thank you to everyone who participated in our last webinar - Evaluating District Discipline Reform Efforts in California . If you were unable to participate or want to share this with colleagues, visit our webinar page . There, you can find the recordings for these webinars and many others related to fixing school discipline. Watch at your leisure and share it widely. The webinar presents...

It was almost a year ago today that I, as a former California State Park and Recreation Commissioner, along with my fellow Commissioner, Ernest Chung, lauded our state’s Department of Parks and Recreation for its plan to identify and act on discriminatory and dehumanizing names on parks in our October 2020 article that appeared in CalMatters. At the time, Ernest and I also urged the department to "take this opportunity to honor and celebrate the rich culture and histories of Native...

The pandemic has had a lasting effect on youth mental health. Moved by a desire to reduce youth’s toxic stress and increase their resilience, The Dibble Institute, in partnership with a team of students and alumni from ArtCenter College of Design and author Carolyn Curtis, PhD, is releasing Me & My Emotions —a new, free adaptation of our beloved Mind Matters Curriculum. The mobile-friendly Me & My Emotions website features engaging graphics and bite-sized lessons teens can access and...