California Endowment

The debate over taxing sugar-added beverages is even more divisive than the age-old Coke-versus-Pepsi question. Some studies demonize soda for the rise in obesity; others defend it, blaming snack food and other treats. 
 State Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, thinks there’s enough evidence to single out sweetened drinks as a cause of obesity. And he’s looking to treat them more like cigarettes with a proposed penny-per-ounce excise tax. 


School suspensions are a big issue in California. Last year, schools handed out 700,000 of them. But the Los Angeles Unified School District took a step to change that this week when it voted to ban suspension of students deemed "willfully defiant." Before the vote, the district maintained a zero tolerance policy for students who failed to comply, in any way, with any policy or direction given by teachers or school administrators — covering everything from mouthing off to wearing baggy pants. These suspensions accounted for almost half of those handed down in the state last year.

LOS ANGELES—Damien Valentine was suspended from school for the first time as a seventh-grader in South Central Los Angeles, after arguing with a math teacher who had asked him to change seats. Mr. Valentine, now a 16-year-old sophomore, said he was sent home for a day-and-a-half for "willful defiance," a term encompassing a variety of misbehavior that California schools can use as reason to remove students from the classroom. This week, the Los Angeles Unified School District—the second-largest in the nation—decided to end the practice of suspending or expelling students for "willful defiance," starting this fall. District officials said the practice disproportionately affects minority students' education and leads to more disciplinary problems for students down the line.

Led by youth, a coalition of community leaders and school officials ends use of Willful Defiance, a catch-all category accounting for 48% of suspensions

Brothers, Sons, Selves coalition celebrate their victory outside the LAUSD Board Meeting I am excited to report that Los Angeles Unified School Direct just passed the School Climates Bill of Rights 5-2.  The School Climate Bill of Rights/Every Student ...

In ground-breaking action, the Los Angeles Unified school board voted Tuesday to ban suspensions of defiant students, directing officials to use alternative disciplinary practices instead. The packed board room erupted in cheers after the 5-2 vote to approve the proposal, which made L.A. Unified the first school district in the state to ban defiance as grounds for suspension. The action comes amid mounting national concern that removing students from school is imperiling their academic achievement and disproportionately harming minority students, particularly African Americans. "Now we'll have a better chance to stay in school and become something," said Luis Quintero, 14, a student at Augustus Hawkins High School in South Los Angeles. He attended the board meeting, along with dozens of other students and community activists who have been pushing the proposal by board members Monica Garcia and Nury Martinez.

The Los Angeles Unified School District voted Tuesday night to discontinue its use of “willful defiance” by students as a suspendable offense. The policy allowed school staff to suspend “disruptive” students, including those who refused to remove their hats or turn off a cellphone.

Demonstrators began gathering early Tuesday outside Los Angeles Unified headquarters, where the school board was expected to decide the fate of the Breakfast in the Classroom program, whether to ban student suspensions for "willful defiance" and funding for key programs." The agenda for the noontime meeting covers more than five dozen items, with the back-up materials totaling some 800 pages. The issue drawing the most public attention is the year-old Breakfast in the Classroom program, which currently feeds 200,000 youngsters a day. But whether the program will expand next year, as planned, will be up to the board.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday will consider changes that would ban suspensions of students for basic bad behavior or "willful defiance." The proposed change would be the first of its kind in California. Suspensions would still apply to students involved in criminal activity, but not those who are simply deemed defiant by a teacher.

California labor officials estimate that nearly 10,000 new slots for registered nurses will open each year between now and 2020, half from increased demand for health services and half from retirement of aging nurses.

Important legislation is emerging that would significantly improve care for the most severely mentally ill people in California. Proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, the package of bills warrants serious consideration by Gov. Jerry Brown, even though the measures would add to state costs, at least in the short run.

I've been thinking a lot about the future lately. I turned 58 this year and my sense of urgency about what kind of country we are leaving our children has gone into turbo speed. I have the great privilege of living in California, where many say we see the future first. And in the Golden State, it's becoming quite clear that our future is in color. Seventy percent of youth under 25 identify as people of color, according to the latest Census. Across the U.S., the majority of our youth will be young people of color before 2020. These kinds of numbers demand that we plan in a new way for health and prosperity.

Damien Valentine knows painfully well about a national phenomenon that is imperiling the academic achievement of minority students, particularly African Americans like himself: the pervasive and disproportionate use of suspensions from school for mouthing off and other acts of defiance.

Early this week, Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to release what’s known as his state budget “May Revise,” a version of the budget he hopes to see enacted by the Legislature by June 30, the constitutional deadline to pass the budget in California. Unfortunately, the current budget proposal calls for redirecting up to $1.5 billion in funding that counties use today to provide local health care services. That proposal could remain in the May Revise.

More than a dozen public school teachers respond to NRA’s call for armed teachers in our nation’s schools   May 14, 2013 – Los Angeles-- In a new 60 second video released today by The California Endowment, more than a dozen California teachers ...

Check out our new video, California Teachers Want to Be Armed. You can watch it here.    It’s a response to calls from the National Rifle Association and some politicians who want to arm teachers with guns to keep schools safe. The fifteen or so ...

The new funds would help about 1,200 health centers hire and train staff, conduct community outreach efforts and assist consumers in applying for benefits under the law, which provides coverage through subsidized insurance markets and an expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.

Brown signed ABx1-2 by Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento and SBx1-2 by Democratic Sen. Ed Hernandez of Covina. The Assembly bill makes changes to the insurance code that regulates insurers, while the Senate bill makes changes to the health and safety code that regulates health care service plans.

The forum, “African American Students in Crisis?” was convened by Rep. Karen Bass and held in the hall at the Audubon Middle School. In particular, the summit heard the findings of a recent report from the California-based Education Trust-West, which found that by the time African-American youth in L.A. reach the second grade, they already demonstrate significant learning gaps that only increase during their schooling.

When one talks about the social determinants of health – the roles that poverty, employment, education and housing play in health status – outside the public health world, eyes glaze over. How to elevate these ideas in a way that resonates with ...