In the News

Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

Prop 13. A Tale as Old as Time.

California is one of the few states that allows businesses, and not just residents, to get property tax breaks. We need to reform Prop 13 so rich entities like Disney foot the bill for California public schools and services.

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

Newsom Vetos Student Mental Health

Gavin Newsom recently vetoed a bill that would have allowed more CA students to have access to counseling services. This is unacceptable! We need to take student mental health seriously!

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

Cal State Students Face Tuition Increase

Gov. Newsom is currently facing a major dilemma: sign Senate Bill 140 and raise the wages of underpaid Cal State staff, or refuse to sign and anger employees. The choice is not simple. Signing the bill could force Cal State University to raise tuition and make students cover the costs of wage increases.

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

A Capitalist Fairytale or A Nightmare?

The CEO of Salesforce has “generously” agreed to donate employee time and his own fortune to save San Francisco public schools. But on closer exception, it all sounds very suspicious. Why are SF schools struggling so much that they need to turn to a corporation to keep their doors open?

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

Oakland Student Concerns Remain Ignored by County

When Oakland Unified students organized for the right to vote in their school board elections three years ago, they were thrilled when their efforts won 68% of the vote. However, since November 2020, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters has yet to implement the measure.

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

California is Failing English Language Learners

A recent study of California teachers’ perception of their instructional materials for English learners demonstrates that our state is not adequately providing for its students. Put bluntly: we need more funding for higher quality resources NOW, or our state will continue to fail the many English learners in the CA education system.

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

Kansas Votes to Safeguard Abortion Rights

In a major victory for abortion rights, Kansas voters have decided against removing the right to abortion from the State Constitution. Now, we must channel this energy into more funding for female reproductive health services across the nation and protect women who are unable to exercise their right to choose.

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

Construction Set to Begin to Destroy Historic People’s Park

An Alameda County Superior Court judge has okayed construction on the historic People’s Park in Berkeley. Students and residents have long pushed to protect the park as a residence for many homeless individuals in the city, who rely on the park and its structures for shelter and safety.

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

CA is Facing a Substitute Shortage!

Substitute shortages across the state have been fueled by the pandemic and early retirements. We need to retain our valuable teachers with more funding and more resources!

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

Devastating Wildfire Exposes Need for More Funding

Over the Summer, a  2,720-acre Washburn fire burned at the edges of Yosemite National Park‘s largest grove of ancient sequoia trees. We need to provide our firefighters with more funding and more resources to address this devastation.

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Ben Grieff Ben Grieff

$41 Million in Funding Dedicated to CA’s Low Income Students

The new California budget will provide $41 billion in funding for higher education. The funding will provide a 5% spending increase for UC and Cal State systems and also provide significant funding for the California Community College system to directly support low income students.

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Gillian Garaci Gillian Garaci

Rich Bay Area Can’t Pay Teachers?

The Bay Area is without a doubt one of the richest regions of the country. Despite that, however, we can’t seem to figure out how to properly use that money so that our kids can get fully qualifies and equitably paid educators.

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Gillian Garaci Gillian Garaci

Record Funding! But We’re Not Done Yet…

Gov. Newsom has allocated record funding for our public schools and wrap-around resources. This is great news, but there’s a huge problem—it’s that we still haven’t addressed Prop. 13 and we need to.

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Gillian Garaci Gillian Garaci

Prop. 13 Exposed to be Unjust… Again

Prop. 13 was sold as a way to protect homeowners, today the reality is that wealthy corporations are benefitting the most. This critical study has uncovered another way Prop. 13 has widened the state’s wealth gap.

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Gillian Garaci Gillian Garaci

SF Looks to Property Taxes for School Funding

San Francisco voters may decide this fall whether to set aside $70 million per year to finance new programs in the city school system that backers hope will boost enrollment and improve the quality of public pre-K-12 education.

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Gillian Garaci Gillian Garaci

Teacher Diversity is a Necessity

For a state as diverse as California’s we are shamefully behind on providing bilingual teachers for English-language learners. See how this community college is helping solve that gap.

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