Education

California counties and school districts have been flooded since 2019 with lawsuits from people who say they were sexually abused as children in schools, foster care and juvenile detention facilities. State lawmakers are struggling to balance counties’ and schools’ financial health with the incalculable cost of survivors’ trauma.

Universities have refused to share information about the money they’re giving student athletes. CalMatters is suing UCLA and UC Berkeley for the data and sharing what we know so far, including the contracts universities sign with students and details about some of these payments.

The federal aid agency updated its fraud protections, delaying financial aid notifications to students by several weeks.

Proposition 28, which voters overwhelmingly approved in 2022, sets aside about $1 billion a year for the arts in California public schools.

Head Start is a federal childcare program that serves the country’s lowest-income families — those earning less than $33,000 a year for a family of four.

Through the Farm to School program, schools get grant money to obtain fresh, local food; send students on field trips to farms; and send cafeteria workers to culinary academies.

Following a CalMatters investigation, students and faculty at UC San Diego protested against campus police for collaborating with Border Patrol through a federal grant program. The university will stop participating in the program and aiding patrols, sources and internal documents confirm.

Some faculty have dedicated their careers to researching César Chávez’s life, legacy and labor movement leadership. Following the New York Times’ investigation that revealed a long pattern of Chávez sexually abusing women and girls, college faculty across California are evaluating their research and curriculum about California’s farmworker movements.

A program that promised schools upgraded AC systems was cut short in 2024, leaving hundreds of districts with broken systems and no money to fix them.

The Cal State chancellor has announced a new consultant role for the outgoing president of Cal State San Bernardino, Tomás Morales, who stepped down after he was sued for discrimination and harassment. Cal State settled his case as part of a $12 million settlement. For the next year, he will consult on international education programs, earning $343,920.