Weekly Update 11/21/22

Coronavirus

Two new studies offer compelling views into how two basic mitigation measures— vaccination and masking — could keep students and their families dramatically safer if a winter surge materializes…

California

California could expand the use of controlled burns in the wilderness to reduce the danger from larger, more destructive wildfires, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) said last week…

California not long ago was reveling in a record budget surplus…

Gov. Newsom has agreed to restore local homelessness funding that he recently pulled back — but only if municipal leaders set more aggressive goals for mitigating one of California’s most pressing crises…

President and Administration

Children’s health groups are asking the Biden administration to declare a public health emergency over surging hospitalizations from RSV and the flu and the continuing mental health crisis…

November has been designated as the National Family Caregivers Month to recognize and honor family caregivers across the nation…

Suicide rates have declined in recent years among white Americans, while rates among Black and Hispanic Americans have risen, according to new data released by the CDC on Wednesday, 11/16…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released the National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis Care…

Drug overdose deaths have declined in the U.S. for three consecutive months, according to provisional data released Wednesday, 11/16, by the CDC…

The Biden administration has begun notifying millions of federal student loan borrowers it had approved their applications for debt relief — even as the program remains in legal limbo…

Congress

One of Congress’s main responsibilities is to allocate funding for the federal government’s services and programs, such as Social Security, the military and scientific research…

As the GOP prepares to take the House, top Senate Democrats are desperately proclaiming that the post-election session is the best…

House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-WA) and ranking member Mike Rogers (R-AL) predicted a final version of the National Defense Authorization Act could be ready for a vote as early as the first week of December…

The Senate took yet another step forward on Thursday, 11/17, to making the right to same-sex marriage the law of the land…

 Education

 The application period for the White House Internship Program’s Summer 2023 session is now open…

 A record 1,835 colleges will conduct admissions this year without considering test scores, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing

On Thursday, 11/15, the Common Application released its first information on the totals for fall 2023…

There were 174 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in California as of the 2020-21 school year, more than in any other state…

A new report offers guidance to community college leaders seeking to re-enroll adult learners who earned academic credits but left college without a degree or credential…

New data show enrollment in California community colleges is at its lowest point in 30 years, the Los Angeles Times reported…

Teachers were far more likely than other workers to experience anxiety during the first year of the pandemic, a newly released study has found…

In the earliest weeks of the pandemic, researchers predicted that school closures would lead to lower math and reading scores and that the already broad range of academic levels within classrooms would yawn wider…

Education Department Undersecretary James Kvaal said in a court filing that “there could be an historically large increase,” in student loan default rates if the president’s student loan relief program gets blocked…

 The best lever to accelerate learning in America is to use the science of how children learn to read, comprehensively outlined by the National Reading Panel more than 20 years ago, in the year 2000…

 An estimated one out of every five requests for substitute teachers typically went unfilled pre-pandemic…

On Monday, 11/14, the Department of Education announced the launch of Raise the Bar: Unlocking Career Success…