Tagged With "Tony Thurmond"
Blog Post
School-based health bill passes committee [Lake County Record -Bee]
In California, AB 254 authored by Assemblymember Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) will ensure access to health and mental health services for all students. The bill passed the Assembly Health Committee this afternoon. “We cannot continue to allow children that suffer from health conditions to fall behind in school and slip between the cracks,” said Thurmond. “All students, regardless of economic circumstances, deserve an opportunity to pursue an education and get the healthcare they need to remain...
Blog Post
Schools would get funding to hire mental health specialists [CabinetReport.com]
As part of the Legislature’s ongoing effort to improve mental health services to K-12 students, lawmakers are considering setting aside $15 million a year to fund a pilot program to help schools hire their own specialists. AB 254 by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond, is intended to close gaps in the ‘whole child’ approach to education. “Given the inextricable relationship between education and health, if the State of California seeks to lead in education we must also focus on the...
Blog Post
Education: Tony Thurmond’s silver bullet (Capitol Weekly)
Abandoned by his father and orphaned at age 6 after the death of his mother to cancer, Tony Thurmond believes he could have easily ended up in prison. Instead, the 50-year-old Richmond resident is the new state superintendent of public education. He is the second African-American in the position after Wilson Riles, who served 1971-83. “I’ve spent years analyzing my experience,” he said. “Why is my experience not the experience of many of my peers? If you look who is in jail, it is largely...
Blog Post
Equity on the Mall
On behalf of the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund (SJVHF), we invite you to join state legislative and community leaders in a day of advocacy entitled Equity on the Mall, taking place on February 9 at our state capitol in Sacramento. Thursday, February 9 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. California State Capitol 1315 10th Street, Sacramento The day will include a powerful program at the West Steps of the Capitol on the movement being built in the San Joaquin Valley. Highlights will include remarks by elected...
Blog Post
First on new California state superintendent’s long agenda: getting more men of color in the classroom Tony Thurmond reaches out for ideas on 13 education challenges [Ed Source]
our months into his first term, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond is creating 13 work groups that he expects will recommend strategies for addressing some of the state’s thorniest education challenges. The issues include the need for an extensive student data system, college affordability, special education, teacher development, student health and safety, the teacher shortage and the issue he ran on but has little direct power to effect — more funding for schools.
Blog Post
Lawsuit challenges use of restraint, seclusion in California special education school [ EdSource]
our special education students and their parents or guardians filed a lawsuit last week against the state of California claiming they were emotionally and physically harmed when they were illegally put in restraint holds and secluded during behavioral interventions at their Concord school. The four students attended Floyd I. Marchus School , operated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education. The public school offers special education services and integrated counseling to 85 children...
Blog Post
Push to Increase the Number of Teachers of Color in California Classrooms Gains Momentum [edsource.org]
By Diana Lambert, EdSource, October 11, 2019 Increasing the number of teachers of color in California classrooms has been a top priority for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond since he started the job in January. Now, he’s planning a statewide task force focused on improving teacher diversity in California schools. “The data shows when kids see a teacher who looks like them it makes a huge difference,” Thurmond said in an earlier EdSource interview. Hiring a diverse...
Blog Post
Children's Defense Fund Releases Report on Child Trauma Policy at RYSE Youth Center policy forum in Richmond, CA
Report and event materials attached below... On September 18, 2015, RYSE Youth Center, CA Children's Defense Fund, and ACEs Connection hosted the event for 60 participants from local and state wide direct service and policy programs to come...
Blog Post
California schools chief recommends that schools prepare for distance learning for rest of school year [edsource.org]
By Louis Freedberg and John Fensterwald, EdSource, March 31, 2020 Affirming a prediction that Gov. Gavin Newsom made exactly two weeks ago, California’s schools chief Tony Thurmond is recommending that the state’s public schools plan to provide distance learning to students through the end of their school year. “Due to the current safety concerns and needs for ongoing social distancing, it appears that our students will not be able to return to school campuses before the end of the school...
Blog Post
California Schools Will Not Reopen This Year Due to Coronavirus, Superintendent Says [sfchronicle.com]
By Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, March 31, 2020 California schools will be unable to reopen this year given current safety concerns and ongoing social distancing, the state superintendent told county officials Tuesday. The letter, obtained by The Chronicle, was not a directive, but rather an acknowledgment that the still growing coronvirus crisis will mean schools must stay shuttered. While classrooms will remain closed, education will continue, Superintendent of Public Instruction...
Blog Post
'A turning point': California education leaders speak out about racism and police brutality [edsource.org]
By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, June 1, 2020 After George Floyd, an African-American man, died last week in Minneapolis after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer, protests and rage erupted throughout the U.S. On Monday, education leaders across California spoke out about systemic inequities and current crises facing young people. Here’s a summary: “It has been difficult for me to make sense of how a man can beg and plead for his life and still have his life...
Blog Post
Emotional schools chief Tony Thurmond vows to address racism in public education [edsource.org]
By Dana Lambert, EdSource, June 1, 2020 California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond’s voice broke as he recounted the last moments of George Floyd’s life as he lay dying on a Minneapolis street. “I am haunted by the sound of his voice, begging to breathe, begging for life and we must address that trauma head on,” Thurmond said during an address on Facebook Monday. “We must have hard conversations.” Floyd, an African American man, was asphyxiated by a white police officer...
Blog Post
Should police officers be in schools? California education leaders rethink school safety [edsource.org]
By Michael Burke, EdSource, June 11, 2020 A movement to reform California public school policing and drastically rethink school safety is quickly gaining momentum amid nationwide protests against police brutality following the killing of George Floyd. In Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento and San Francisco, administrators and school boards are under pressure from community groups who are renewing demands for police-free schools and calling on districts to instead hire more counselors and other...
Blog Post
How Skateboarding Can Help Fight Racism [nytimes.com]
By Jill Cowan, The New York Times, June 18, 2020 In early March, I talked with a pair of researchers at the University of Southern California who had recently published a study — funded by the Tony Hawk Foundation — showing how skateboarding helps build resilience among young skaters, and helps them form communities across backgrounds. “The stereotype is white stoner guys,” Dr. Zoë Corwin , one of the researchers, told me at the time. “The reality in 2020 is the skateboarding community is...
Blog Post
Students speak out: California educators host first-ever statewide talk about institutional racism [sfchronicle.com]
By Brett Simpson, San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 2020 On Wednesday afternoon, over 300 California educators, parents, and students tuned into Facebook Live to hear high school students speak honestly about their own experiences of racism, implicit bias, and trauma at school. The “ Student Support Circle: Institutional Racism and Implicit Bias ,” was co-hosted by the California Department of Education and the National Equity Project, and is the first among several initiatives state...
Blog Post
Advocating for healing-centered schools [cachildrentrust.org]
From California Children's Trust, July 10, 2020 California Children’s Trust, and its partners, are making the case for policies and practices acknowledging the “Persistent Traumatic Stress Environment” (framing provided by Dr. Shawn Ginwright ) our children and youth are experiencing. We invite you to listen to these recordings, and hear from behavioral health, education and social justice leaders with both inspirational messages and concrete proposals that reimagine our children’s...
Blog Post
California Youth Mental Health Crisis Worsened by COVID-19 and Must Be Addressed
California Children’s Trust and it’s partner, Breaking Barriers, have released a “ Practical Guide for Financing Social, Emotional and Mental Health in Schools ”, designed to help education leaders and California access millions of dollars of Medi-Cal funding students are entitled to in order to support the social and emotional needs of our students, even more essential during COVID-19. The guide notes that less than half of California’s school districts currently participate in the LEA BOP...
Blog Post
California Schools Chief’s ’End Hate Initiative’ Prompts Contrast with President Trump [edsource.org]
By JOHN FENSTERWALD , September 22nd, 2020, on Ed Source State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced an “Education to End Hate” initiative Monday that he and others presented as an alternative to President Donald Trump’s call for “patriotic education” and as an antidote to acts of hate and hate speech that have risen during his presidency. A $1 million foundation donation kick started the effort. It will include resources and training grants for teachers to teach...
Blog Post
Mental health bills signed by Governor—but new data shows much more is needed to address crisis!
In recent days Governor Newsom signed into law three bills that take important steps to improve access to mental health care in California: AB 2112 establishes a state office of suicide prevention SB 803 will certify and train Peer Support Specialists that can bill Medi-Cal SB 855 increases mental health parity requirements commercial health plans Together these bills acknowledge our racialized crisis of despair (AB 2112), launch the formal integration and honoring of lived experience in our...
Blog Post
Children's Defense Fund - California Presents CHILD WATCH 2021 [childrensdefense.org]
A policy and advocacy virtual symposium that will highlight the current state of California's children and explore opportunities to rebuild communities of color with social justice, racial equity and the lives of young children as the drivers of decision-making and action. Friday, March 5, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. PST Featuring keynote remarks by the Rev . Dr. William J. Barber II, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond [ Please click here for more information and...
Blog Post
Speakers at children & youth conference call for systems change based in love, liberation
California can support children and youth by tackling the state’s — and the country’s — legacy of White supremacy and replacing it with a trauma-informed approach of love, empathy, and support.
Blog Post
Students, community organizations ask judge to order mental health services, internet access [edsource.org]
By John Fensterwald, EdSource, May 10, 2021 Arguing that appropriating billions of dollars alone will not ensure action, community organizations and parents from Los Angeles and Oakland are asking an Alameda County Superior Court judge to order the state to immediately provide computers and internet access and address the mental health needs of children who have borne the brunt of the pandemic. The May 3 request for immediate relief comes six months after the plaintiffs sued the State Board...
Blog Post
Webinar: NEW Report Shows Where School-Based Health Centers Can Have the Biggest Impact on Student Health, Mental Health and Learning
Please join the California School-Based Health Alliance for the release of the Student Health Index— the first comprehensive statewide analysis to show where strategic investments in school-based health centers (SBHC) will have the greatest impact on improving student health and education. Join our conversation on Wed., Oct. 6, 12 Pacific: https://bit.ly/ StudentHealthIndex100621 Learn more: https://www. schoolhealthcenters.org/ school-based-health/school- health-index/ The twin pandemics of...
Blog Post
California schools chief churns through top aides in allegedly toxic workspace [politico.com]
By Mackenzie Mays, Politico, September 28, 2021 Nearly two dozen senior officials have fled California’s top education agency since Tony Thurmond became state schools superintendent in 2019, with several of them accusing him of creating a toxic workplace that burned through staff with decades of experience. Much of the exodus occurred as California’s K-12 system faced its most tumultuous crisis in generations. The state had some of the nation’s longest pandemic school closures, and districts...
Blog Post
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces $2 Million in Grants Available to Community-Based Organizations to Counter Social Isolation Experienced by Students [cde.ca.gov]
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today announced that California community-based organizations will be able to apply for grants to address the social isolation experienced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of its ongoing efforts to address the pandemic’s continued impact on students, the California Department of Education (CDE) will award grants of up to $250,000* each to community-based organizations that can demonstrate their ability to partner with...
Blog Post
Native American students hope a new education law helps reverse years of misinformation (calmatters.org)
Gauge Hernandez, 16, the son of Johnny Hernandez Jr., the vice chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, looks out window in San Bernardino on Sept. 27, 2022. Hernandez is part of a youth committee that is advocating for AB 1703, which will ensure that students have an opportunity to learn about factual historical events involving Native Americans in California. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters Author: Joe Hong's article, please click here. Sixteen-year-old Raven Casas...
Blog Post
California Bans Book Bans and Textbook Censorship in Schools (www.gov.ca.gov)
To read more, click here, California Bans Book Bans and Textbook Censorship in Schools . SACRAMENTO — Building on his Family Agenda to promote educational freedom and success, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed AB 1078 by Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), which bans “book bans” in schools, prohibits censorship of instructional materials, and strengthens California law requiring schools to provide all students access to textbooks that teach about California’s diverse...