Santa Cruz County Local News: Education

03/14/2024
An interview with Lucinda Lee Katz, the first grade teacher of the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Lau vs. Nichols.

03/07/2024
The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources advisors has published a new website with information resources for small acreage landowners raising livestock.

03/07/2024
California’s public schools depend on state aid for the lion’s share of their operational income. Two trends – declining enrollment and high absenteeism – are creating financial headaches.

03/04/2024
California schools got $23.4 billion in federal pandemic relief money. Low-income schools that got the most may be hardest hit when the funds expire this year.

02/28/2024
The board unanimously approved preliminary layoff notices at a special meeting Tuesday for the equivalent of 53 staff, or about 24% of full-time employees in the district.

02/26/2024
EdSource asked students at California colleges and universities why they are choosing between online or in-person options.

02/25/2024
Joel R. Primack, distinguished professor of physics emeritus at UC Santa Cruz, was recently announced as the 2024 recipient of the AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize, awarded to those who demonstrate significant contributions to science through their research, policy work or public service. “As a young scientist, I was often advised that spending time on social and political issues would be career suicide, and that I should focus solely on research,” said Primack on receiving the reward. “But I take seriously the social responsibility of scientists, and I deeply appreciate being recognized both for my scientific contributions and for my efforts to broaden the opportunities for scientists and scientific societies to help solve the challenges facing our world.” Growing up in Montana, Primack became fascinated with science from an early age. His concern for its social implications grew during the arms race, where he was instructed to hide under his desk at school as drill practice for nuclear bomb threats. He would go on to study physics at Princeton University, where he graduated as valedictorian in 1966. Primack’s speech caught the attention of Oppenheimer — the theoretical physicist known as the father of the atomic bomb who was retiring as the head of Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study — who was impressed by his humanizing appeal of science. “I wouldn’t have made such a speech unless I had had a lot of preparation,” said Oppenheimer in the June 15, 1966, issue of the New York Times. Pursuing a Ph.D. in physics at Stanford University, Primack was further inspired to seek science policy by his graduate adviser Sidney Drell, a critical scientific consultant of the U.S. government on nuclear weapons. He then started a series of workshops to educate students on political and social issues with physics professor Frank von Hippel, another rising leader in science policy. These workshops led to the creation of a congressional fellowship program in 1973, which would eventually become the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellows Program. The fellowship supports an increasing number of scientists and engineers in getting first-hand experience in policymaking with the federal government. Primack has established that with good ideas and strong conviction, even young graduate students can have a big impact, said von Hippel. Primack continued his work in science policy as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University in 1970, when he founded the Union of Concerned Scientists and proposed the American Physical Society’s program of studies on public policy issues. He would also later create the APS Forum on Physics and Society, AAAS Program on Science and Human Rights, and the National Science Foundation’s Science for Citizens program that would be signed into law. In the 1980s, Primack was a leading force in promoting the abolition of nuclear weapons. He served as a U.S. delegate to several Pugwash Conferences and even flew to Moscow to stop the Soviet Union from launching nuclear reactors into orbit. He believed that because many worldly issues are fairly technical, scientists and engineers have a social responsibility to provide practical solutions given their background. Following his time at Harvard, Primack chose to start a faculty position at UC Santa Cruz in 1973 for its growing astrophysics prowess. He applied his knowledge as a major contributor to the Standard Model in Particle Physics to fundamental questions about the universe. Together with former UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal and professor emerita Sandra Faber, Primack’s research pioneered modern theories of cosmology. Today, Primack continues to mentor young physicists and encourages them to shape the evolving state of our world using their expertise. Many of his students now occupy leadership positions, showcasing his meaningful impact on future generations. “He’s been a really great exemplar of what a scientist should be,” said Faber. “An expert in their own field, [making] important contributions to society at large and in their own lives, and exhibiting honesty, integrity and authenticity.”

02/22/2024
In the face of a looming budget crisis, the Live Oak School District’s governing board declined to approve recommended employee cuts, at least for now, despite warnings from staff that the reductions are necessary.

02/21/2024
Lawyers representing organizations in property-poor school districts are pressing Gavin Newsom and legislators over a school bond for the November ballot.

02/21/2024
On one side: Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ advocacy group. On the other side: Protect Kids California, a parents rights organization.

02/19/2024
Members of the California Faculty Association approve a two-year agreement that the union and administration hammered out after a strike last month that lasted one day.

02/16/2024
Following December’s fatal loop bus crash that killed bus driver Dan Stevenson, students were finally able to address administrators.

02/15/2024
Immigration enforcement lowers students’ ability to succeed academically and negatively affects their overall learning experience.

02/14/2024
By reframing them as mutually reinforcing rather than mutually exclusive, we can transform education for every child.

02/14/2024
Teachers and students tap into a native tradition in which art and nature have always been inextricably linked.