Community

Students, Community Organizations Ask Judge to Order Mental Health Services, Internet Access

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.

Published

5 years ago

May 14, 2021

Christy Price

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The May 3 request for immediate relief comes six months after the plaintiffs sued the State Board of Education, the California Department of Education and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. Now, they are seeking a preliminary injunction to force the state to respond. Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith has set June 4 for a hearing.

“The state cannot just write big checks and then say, ‘We’re not paying attention to what happens here,’” said Mark Rosenbaum, a directing attorney with the pro bono law firm Public Counsel. Public Counsel and the law firm Morrison and Foerster filed the lawsuit on behalf of 15 children and two organizations: The Oakland Reach and the Community Coalition, which is based in Los Angeles.

In their initial, 84-page filing, they claimed the state had shirked its responsibility to ensure that low-income Black and Latino children were receiving adequate distance learning, with computers and internet access the Legislature said all children were entitled to. Instead, they argued, children “lost precious months” of learning, falling further behind because of poor internet connections, malfunctioning computers and a lack of counseling and extra academic help.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic was unavoidable, these harms were not. Yet for most of this period, state officials constitutionally charged with ensuring that all of California’s children receive at least basic educational equality have remained on the sidelines,” the plaintiffs argued.

Angela J., of Oakland, whose three children are plaintiffs in the case, elaborated on the difficulties they encountered during a year under distance learning in a declaration filed with the latest plaintiffs’ motion.

Although she is president of the PTA, her school has been uncommunicative and unresponsive to requests for technical help and lesson plans, she wrote. Her children are falling behind and “suffering emotionally,” she said. Her third-grade twins are supposed to be doing multiplication and division but are struggling with subtraction. “They are supposed to be able to write essays, but they can barely write two sentences.”

The Oakland Reach and the Community Coalition have stepped in with technical help and support for hundreds of families that district schools should have provided, the plaintiffs’ motion said. The Community Coalition hired tutors and partnered with YMCA-Crenshaw to provide in-person learning pods with 100 laptops on site. The Oakland Reach hired 19 family liaisons, started a preschool literacy program and offered online enrichment programs for students.

Months passed, infection rates declined, schools made plans to reopen, and then in March, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature appropriated $6.6 billion in COVID-19 relief that school districts can put toward summer school, tutoring, mental health, teacher training and other academic supports. By June 1 — less than a month from now — districts and charter schools are required to complete a report, after consulting with parents and teachers, on how they plan to spend the money.

But the plaintiffs argue in their latest filing, “this funding comes with no oversight, assistance, or enforcement to ensure that the funds will be used properly to address the issues relating to digital devices, learning loss, and mental health support.” And there’s no requirement that districts begin this summer to address the harm that the most impacted students have felt, the statement said.“Schools are indeed ‘reopening’ to one degree or another, but absent a mandate that all students receive what they need to learn and to catch up, or any guidance from the State that would help them do so,” the filing said.

In a statement, California Department of Education spokesman Scott Roark acknowledged that the pandemic has disproportionately impacted those who “are vulnerable by historic and systemic inequities,” and cited the department’s work obtaining hundreds of thousands of computers, expanding internet access and providing guidance to educators on distance learning for highest-needs students.

“As we work to return children back to the classroom, we will maintain a laser focus on protecting the health and safety of our school communities while providing the supports needed to ensure learning continues and, where gaps persist, is improved,” the statement said.

In passing legislation accompanying the state budget last June, the Legislature laid out requirements for distance learning that school districts must meet to receive school funding. They included providing all students with access to a computer and the internet.

Missing, however, was an enforcement requirement, like the monitoring that’s used to verify that students in low-income schools have textbooks, safe and clean facilities and qualified classroom teachers. That system was set up in 2004 through a settlement of Williams v. State of California, in which low-income families sued the state over its failure to assure safe and equitable conditions in schools.

At the time, Rosenbaum was a lead attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, which brought the lawsuit with Public Advocates and other civil rights organizations.

Despite efforts by Thurmond and districts over the past year to get technology in place, Thurmond estimated in October that as many as 1 million students lacked devices or sufficient bandwidth to adequately participate in distance learning from home. Between federal and state funding, districts have plenty of money to buy computers, and the Legislature is considering several bills to fund internet access statewide (see here and here).

They won’t solve the immediate challenge, but they could become relevant if there were to be a settlement in this case, as in the Williams lawsuit.

Among their requests, the plaintiffs are asking the court to order the state to:

Determine which students lack devices and connectivity and ensure that districts immediately provide them;
Ensure that all students and teachers have access to adequate mental health supports;
Provide weekly outreach to families of all low-income Black or Latino students to aid in transitioning back to in-person learning through August 2022;
Provide a statewide plan to ensure that districts put in place programs to remedy the learning loss caused by remote learning.

Christy Price

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Commentary

Barbara Lee Mourns Gloria Steinem, Remembers a Friendship Rooted in Equality

Steinem became one of the country’s most recognizable advocates for women’s rights, reproductive alternatives and political representation. Lee said one of the most persistent inequities confronting Black women was inadequate access to reproductive healthcare, an issue Lee addressed throughout her years in the California Legislature and Congress.

Published

26 minutes ago

September 22, 2026

Post News Group

Barbara Lee greets longtime friend Gloria Steinem in undated photo. Facebook image.

By Carla Thomas

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee is mourning the death of her longtime friend Gloria Steinem, remembering the feminist icon as a devoted ally who understood that the struggles for racial justice and gender equality were inseparable.

Steinem died Sept. 2 in New York City at the age of 92. A pioneering journalist, author and political activist, she spent more than six decades advocating for women’s equality and reproductive choices. She also co-founded Ms. magazine and the National Women’s Political Caucus.

“I called her recently and could hear the weakness in her voice,” Lee said. “She was also very fragile at my New York event, but she remained supportive.”

The friendship between Lee and Steinem grew from their connections to the late U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black candidate to seek a major political party’s presidential nomination.

Chisholm was Lee’s mentor and inspired her to enter politics. Lee worked on Chisholm’s historic 1972 presidential campaign and served as one of her delegates at the Democratic National Convention.

According to Lee, Chisholm helped Steinem deepen her understanding of racial inclusion and recognize that the women’s movement could not succeed without addressing the experiences of Black women and other women of color.

“Gloria really understood what racial equity was about as a white woman and knew the value of building coalitions,” Lee said.

Lee considered Steinem a genuine ally who recognized the intersections of race, gender, healthcare and economic opportunity. Steinem also understood the importance of elevating women into leadership positions and encouraging them to claim their rightful places at decision-making tables.

Their relationship extended beyond politics and public advocacy. Lee recalled joining Steinem and her husband for dinner in Manhattan Beach with Lee’s son, Tony.

“It was beautiful to see how she could be a wonderful wife, feminine and be a strong woman,” Lee said.

Tony Lee also had a professional connection to Steinem through the rerelease of “The Road to Galveston,” the 1996 television film he wrote about the life of his grandmother, Mildred Parish Massey. The film starred Cicely Tyson.

“My son’s tribute to Gloria on Facebook is very touching,” Lee said.

Lee expressed profound heartbreak over losing her friend and gratitude for Steinem’s support throughout her political career, including during reelection campaigns.

As Lee continues carrying forward the lessons of Chisholm and Steinem, she has also helped encourage a new generation of women leaders, including U.S. Reps. Lateefah Simon and Jasmine Crockett.

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Art

Event Preview: ‘Fashion v. Fascism’ – A Runway Revolution Is Coming to the Bay Area

“Every piece on this runway translates what is happening under fascism into a feeling,” explains Erica Furlong, the FVF creative director. “One designer’s trench coat is covered in pockets stamped ‘TRUTH,’ ‘MEMORY,’ ‘HOPE,’ ‘VOTE,’ ‘FUTURE,’ because that’s literally what gets seized first, pocket by pocket, under fascist decline. Fashion can hold grief and hope in the same silhouette, and that tension is exactly what this moment needs.”

Published

31 minutes ago

September 22, 2026

Post News Group

By Dr. Y’Anad Burrell

“Fashion vs. Fascism” (FVF) is a visually immersive evening of fashion, music and political theater exposing the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the need to resist. Democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses, organizers say.

Called a live “runway revolution,” FvF premieres Oct. 3 at The Rotunda, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.

A play that is part fashion show, part protest, part performance art, FvF stages five runway collections spotlighting the pillars of contemporary fascist politics and the urgent need to resist: the myth of a “glorious past,” the manufactured emergencies used to justify surveillance and crackdowns, and the oligarchs and grifters profiting from it all. Runway fashion shares the stage with political theater and live music, with a closing call to action.

“We need lawsuits, ballots and mass protests, but none of it lands if we’re not also fighting for people’s imagination,” says Linda Burnham, co-producer of the show. “People are exhausted and scared. FvF will expose the absurdities of fascist mythology and ideology in ways a news headline cannot and spark new ideas about how to resist.”

“Fascism doesn’t win by policy alone. It wins by telling a story. A myth about a ‘Golden Age.’ A permanent emergency that makes cruelty seem necessary. That’s not an accident, it’s a strategy, and it works on the same terrain as culture: image, spectacle, emotion,” says Aya De León, the show’s playwright.

At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent.

FVF was created, organizers say, because democracy should always be in style.

Featured designers include Erica Varize, Rickie Lee, Tianna Charity, Julie Wong, and Maria Flores. The evening features a script by lead playwright Aya De León, musical performances by Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation, and other special guests.

FvF is designed to travel. Following the Oakland premiere, FvF will extend its reach through a documentary short, a curriculum on contemporary fascism in the U.S., and a full replication playbook — design templates, script, and curriculum — so organizers in other cities can stage their own version of the show.

Get more details at www.fashionvfascism.org.

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Community

Two Looming Threats Every Alameda County Elder Should Know About

Federal changes enacted under H.R. 1 are bringing new eligibility, reporting, and coverage rules beginning in 2027. Although Californians age 65 and older and people with disabilities are exempt from the new 80-hour-per-month work requirement and will continue with annual rather than six-month renewals, that does not mean elders can ignore the coming changes.

Published

37 minutes ago

September 22, 2026

Post News Group

By Tanya Dennis

Alameda County elders are urged to attend the Elder Justice Symposium at Oakland City Hall on Sept. 25, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., for information that could profoundly affect both their health care and the legacy they hope to leave their families.

For many older adults, a lifetime of hard work has produced two things they understandably want to protect: access to health care while they are living and the home, savings, and other assets they hope to pass to loved ones when they die.

Changes already underway in California make understanding how to protect both increasingly urgent.

The first threat involves Medi-Cal.

California has already reinstated an asset test for certain Medi-Cal recipients age 65 and older, people with disabilities and those needing long-term care. Assets must be reported when applying or renewing coverage.

And another significant change is coming.

Beginning July 1, 2027, California says the Medi-Cal asset limit for affected beneficiaries will fall from $130,000 for one person to just $21,000, and to $31,000 for two people, with certain assets excluded and special rules applying in some circumstances.

There is more. Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, Medi-Cal’s retroactive coverage period will also shrink. For most beneficiaries outside the ACA expansion adult group, coverage of qualifying medical expenses incurred before application will be reduced from three months to two.

For an elder facing hospitalization, long-term care or an unexpected medical crisis, misunderstanding these rules could have enormous financial consequences.

The second threat concerns what happens to everything you worked so hard to acquire.

Many people believe, “I have a will and a living trust, so my family is protected.”

It may not be that simple.

An estate plan is only as effective as the way it has been structured, maintained and implemented. How assets are titled, whether a trust has actually been funded, beneficiary designations, Medi-Cal eligibility and long-term-care planning can all affect whether a person’s wishes are ultimately carried out.

A will by itself does not automatically avoid probate, and simply possessing trust documents does not mean every asset has been properly protected or positioned to pass as intended.

That is why elders should learn the rules before a medical crisis, incapacity or death makes planning far more difficult.

At the Elder Justice Symposium, experts will explain these changes in understandable language and discuss steps that elders and their families should consider now.

Attendees will have an opportunity to learn what questions to ask about Medi-Cal eligibility and renewals, asset limits, estate planning and protecting the legacy they intend for their families.

Do not assume the rules you learned years ago are still the rules governing you today.

Come to Oakland City Hall on Sept. 25, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bring your questions. Bring your family. Most importantly, bring a willingness to prepare.

The decisions you make before these changes take full effect could profoundly affect your health care, your financial security, and what remains for the people you love.