The Brief

Break out the crayons and finger paint: Every 4-year-old in California is now eligible for transitional kindergarten.

Fifteen years after a handful of school districts opened the first TK classrooms, California now has the largest — and fastest growing — early education program in the country. At least 200,000 youngsters will attend TK this fall, enjoying low teacher-student ratios, age-appropriate curriculum and plenty of music, art and circle time.

“This really is something to celebrate,” said Carolyne Crolotte, policy director for Early Edge California, an advocacy group. “Now, there’s no question about who’s eligible and who isn’t. Everyone is eligible.”

TK is meant to be a bridge between preschool and kindergarten, preparing 4-year-olds for the routine and expectations of elementary school while honing their social skills and self-confidence. In TK, children learn how to make friends, write their names and do basic math. Mostly, they’re supposed to fall in love with learning.

Holding frogs and counting marshmallows

That was the case at Silverwood Elementary in Concord last week as a dozen bright-eyed 4-year-olds hovered around their teacher, Elizabeth Swanson, as she gingerly held out a tree frog for their inspection.

Several got a chance to hold the docile, turquoise amphibian.

“What does the frog feel like? What do you wonder about the frog?” said Swanson, who was recently named Mt. Diablo Unified’s Teacher of the Year. “How does he use his hands? How do you use your hands?”

But the tree frog — one of several critters in her classroom — was not the most popular attraction that afternoon. That honor belonged to the “home living” station, a corner of the classroom dedicated to costumes, dollhouses, a mini kitchen and everything else an imaginative youngster would need to play house.

Transitional kindergarten teacher Elizabeth Swanson shows a frog to children at Silverwood Elementary School in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in Concord on Aug. 11, 2025.

(

Laure Andrillon

/

CalMatters

)

Last year, an enterprising group of students, inspired by the opening of a Dutch Bros. near the school, used the home living station to open their own coffee shop. They ordered lattes and made coffee and collected money. Swanson turned it into a math lesson by asking them to count marshmallows and decide how many should go into each cup of hot chocolate.

“One child would be the barista and one would be the customer, so they learned how to share and take turns,” Swanson said. “They were getting so much practice with social language and communication. And everything was integrated into play.”

Importance of fun

Judy Krause, executive director of early childhood programs at Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, said that’s exactly what a TK classroom should be like. The focus should be on experimentation and hands-on activities, based on students’ interests. TK, she said, is not a version of kindergarten; 4-year-olds have unique developmental needs. The main one, she said, is having fun.

If children are enjoying themselves, they’ll learn naturally, she said. If they feel overly pressured or bored, they’ll lose interest and miss out on valuable skills they’ll need for kindergarten and beyond.

“It’s a really big deal that we have this opportunity for all 4-year-olds,” Krause said. “But we have to make sure we’re doing it right.”

15-year rollout of TK

California introduced TK in 2010, and a decade later began expanding it to all districts. This year is the culmination of that effort, with all 4-year-olds now eligible and 91% of districts offering the program. The only districts that are exempt are those that don’t receive money through the state’s funding formula because they receive more money through their local property taxes.

Like kindergarten, TK is optional. But many districts, including Mt. Diablo Unified, have seen strong interest from families. A recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California predicted that about 70% of 4-year-olds will enroll in TK this fall, with waiting lists in some districts. Black, Latino and Native American students have been slightly underrepresented so far, although those not enrolled might be enrolled in other programs. The state doesn’t track that data.

Nearly everyone agrees TK is a good idea. Children who’ve attended TK tend to do better in reading and math, and those with disabilities can be identified early and receive services, research shows.

TK, which is free, can be a financial boon for families. Because of California’s high cost of living, child care and preschool costs are among the highest in the country, with families paying up to $20,000 annually — more than the cost of in-state tuition at the University of California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has long championed TK, setting aside more than $2.7 billion in the years when the state had a budget surplus. The money is to help school districts pay teachers, keep class sizes small and provide other services to the new learners. Ongoing funds will come from the state’s Local Control Funding Formula.

“California is making a big commitment to making transitional kindergarten free and accessible to all 4-year-olds,” Newsom said in a 2023 video. “When we’re finished, California will have the largest free preschool program in the country, where every 4-year-old can start their schooling on the right track, setting them up for success further down the road.”

Teacher shortage and other challenges

But the TK rollout has had some hiccups. The chief one is finding enough qualified teachers. Because of the small class sizes and the extra qualifications required to teach 4-year-olds, there’s a shortfall of at least 12,000 TK teachers, according to Early Edge California. Last year the state introduced a new TK-through-third-grade credential and more districts are partnering with local colleges to recruit and train future teachers, which has eased the shortage somewhat.

Another obstacle has been finding classroom space. Like kindergarten classrooms, TK classrooms must contain bathrooms, which means that districts had to find money to remodel existing classrooms, or build new ones altogether. Last year’s $10 billion school construction bond has funding available for TK projects.

TK has also had an impact on preschools. Families in California have several early education options: state-funded preschools for low-income families, federal Head Start preschool for very low-income families, and private preschools. Now that 4-year-olds have a free option, existing preschools have seen an enrollment decline that, in some cases, has led schools to raise prices or even close. A recent report from UC Berkeley showed that TK expansion has led to “pre-K deserts” in some parts of the state.

Lauren Ashton plays with a child during a transitional kindergarten class at Silverwood Elementary School.

(

Laure Andrillon

/

CalMatters

)

Children walk out after a transitional kindergarten class at Silverwood Elementary School in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in Concord on Aug. 11, 2025.

(

Laure Andrillon

/

CalMatters

)

Bruce Fuller, an education professor at UC Berkeley who’s researched TK, said it’s too early to tell who’s benefitting from the program.

“We’re seeing a shift away from preschool and toward TK, but we don’t know if TK is actually reaching new families,” Fuller said. “We might just be seeing families who would have enrolled anyway.”

Dual-language programs

A handful of districts offer dual-language TK classes, which have been popular with parents. Karina Galustians, a parent in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles, enrolled her daughter Julianna last fall in an Armenian-English TK class in Los Angeles Unified’s Pinewood Early Education Center.

Galustians’ husband speaks fluent Armenian, and the couple was eager for Julianna to be able to communicate with the extended family and learn more about the culture.

“The more languages you know, the better off you are,” said Galustians, whose first language is Spanish. “To find a school where she can get those academic skills and practice her Armenian — me and my husband were beyond grateful. We hit the jackpot.”

Julianna starts kindergarten this fall at another Los Angeles Unified school, where she’ll be part of the Armenian dual language program. “We feel like she’s very well prepared,” Galustians said.

‘Everyone feels included’

Meanwhile, at Silverwood Elementary in Concord, Swanson ended the day by having students put away the blocks and plastic bugs and Eric Carle books. Then she sat with them in a circle and praised each child’s efforts and told them how excited she was to see them again tomorrow.

“David, you were super responsible today,” Swanson told an awed 4-year-old as she handed him a personalized certificate. “Lindsay, you were a good friend. Zaire, you were so respectful.”

Then it was time for the children to go meet their parents, who were waiting at the side of the playground. Swanson chatted with nearly every parent, telling them how much she enjoys their children.

“I think TK should be the same as what we want for society generally,” Swanson said. “It should be a place where everyone feels included and valued. We want everyone to be curious and non-judgmental and happy to be here.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

The Olympic medal is one of the most coveted awards that an athlete can receive. But at this year's Winter Games in Milan, medalists are celebrating cautiously.

"I was jumping in excitement and it broke," American skier Breezy Johnson said after earning her gold medal on Sunday. She warned other medalists "Don't jump in them."

Johnson is one of several athletes who reported their medals detaching from their ribbon and in one case, breaking in half.

American skier Breezy Johnson holds up her gold medal on the podium of the women's downhill event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8.

(

Stefano Rellandini

/

AFP via Getty Images

)

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Olympic organizing committee spokesperson Luca Casassa said he was aware that there were issues with some medals. He added that a solution has been identified and encouraged athletes with faulty medals to return them for repair.

"As a precaution, we are re-checking all the medals to make sure that the athletes' joy can be really 360 degrees when they conquer something which is so precious and so important," Casassa said in Italian.

He didn't specify what the issue or the fix was.

This isn't the first time that Olympic medals needed to be replaced. After the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, athletes raised concerns that their awards, which famously included pieces of the Eiffel Tower, were tarnishing and corroding after the games.

Athletes report faulty medals, but continue to celebrate their achievements

The exact moment when German biathlete Justus Strelow's medal came loose was caught on camera. In a video that has since gone viral, Strelow's teammates are seen clapping when a clang can be heard. The camera pans to Strelow, who picks up his medal and tries to re-attach it to his ribbon — leading to an awkward halt in celebrations.

In a video posted on Instagram, Alysa Liu, a figure skater with Team USA, showed off her ribbon-less medal, alongside the words, "My medal don't need the ribbon."

While most of the medal snafus were limited to strap issues, Swedish cross-country skier Ebba Andersson told Swedish broadcaster SVT that her silver broke in two when it fell in the snow.

Johnson, the American skier, said a small rectangular piece — that was supposed to hold the medal and ribbon together — came apart, making her medal unwearable.

"I'm sure somebody will fix it. It's not crazy broken but a little broken," she said on Sunday.

A few days later, Johnson told Reuters that she received a replacement medal, but she would prefer to have her original back, noting that her new medal was not yet engraved.

"They couldn't fix it so they gave me a new one," she said. "Although I'm actually curious, because then I think some of the later ones they were able to fix. So now I'm kind of wondering if maybe I can get the old one back fixed."

Design flaw or manufacturing glitch?

This year's medals resemble two halves coming together. In a video, Raffaella Paniè, who serves as the Brand, Identity and Look Director at this year's Winter Games, said it was meant to symbolize how each victory is the result of the athlete, as well as their team of family, coaches and trainers.

Reuters reported that the medals featured a safety clip, intended to snap off when pulled forcefully to prevent the ribbon from strangling. The Milano-Cortina press team did not respond to an email request for comment about the medals' clip function.

"It sounds like it's not all of the metals, it's just some of them, which leads me to believe that — just speculating — there's some sort of manufacturing glitch," said Doug McIndoe, editor of The MCA Advisory, a magazine from the Medal Collectors of America.

According to McIndoe, when cast metals are poured into mold and harden, it can cause the metal to shrink.

"It's possible that the opening where that clip goes in is maybe slightly too big, just a few millimeters or less than that, and it's just not securing that clip in properly," he said.

He added that it's an age-old question of how to make medals wearable, explaining that drilling a hole or incorporating one into the design of a mold to thread a ribbon through were historically unpopular methods. It wasn't until the 1960s that Olympic medals began to be worn around athletes' necks.

"Back from Roman times, they were, they were just something you hold in your hands and enjoy and a lot of them were issued in boxes," McIndoe added.

Even with the design hiccups, this year's gold and silver medals are worth the most they've been in a century. That's because the price of these precious metals have soared over the past year. Several factors are contributing to record prices, but a main driver is President Trump's tariffs, which is causing economic uncertainty in markets around the world, according to precious metals expert Peter Krauth.

Although each gold medal contains only about six grams of actual gold (the rest is made of silver) Krauth estimates that their current worth stands at around $2,300 — twice their value during the Summer Olympics in July 2024. A silver medal is currently worth around $1,400 — nearly three times its value two years ago, he said.

Krauth believes the price of gold and silver will continue to remain high for years to come, even up to the 2028 Summer Olympics. But he noted that the real worth of Olympic medals comes from the athletic achievement behind it.

"The sentimental value of a medal is worth way more than the metal in the medal," he said.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Two federal immigration agents involved in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis last month appear to have lied about the details of the incident, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

The agents have been placed on administrative leave after "a joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice of video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements," the spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said.

The rare acknowledgment of potential missteps by ICE agents comes after the agency's acting director, Todd Lyons, told Congress on Thursday that ICE has conducted 37 investigations into officers' use of force over the past year. He didn't say whether anyone has been fired.

McLaughlin said the agency is investigating the Jan. 14 shooting of the Venezuelan immigrant, and the officers involved could be fired or criminally prosecuted for any violations.

"The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct," McLaughlin said in Friday's statement. "Violations of this sacred sworn oath will not be tolerated."

DHS initially said the officer fired a shot to "save his life" after being "ambushed and attacked" by three immigrants with a snow shovel and a broom handle during a "targeted traffic stop."

Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, the subject of the traffic stop, was injured after getting shot in the leg. Another Venezuelan man, Alfredo Aljorna, was also accused of attacking the officers.

However, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen on Thursday dropped the charges against them.

McLaughlin did not respond to questions about whether the agency stands by its initial statement describing the agent's behavior during the incident as self-defense.

Since the beginning, eyewitness accounts contradicted the statements made by DHS related to the shooting of Sosa-Celis.

His partner, Indriany Mendoza Camacho, told Minnesota Public Radio last week she was present the night of the shooting, and that Sosa-Celis was trying to separate the agent and the other Venezuelan man so both the immigrants could get into a house.

"I'm a witness, I saw everything, and my partner never grabbed anything to hit him or anything like that," she said.

The shooting happened during Operation Metro Surge, an aggressive immigration crackdown that brought about 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota starting in December.

The Trump administration Thursday announced it was ending Operation Metro Surge. The operation led to more than 4,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants, according to White House border czar Tom Homan, and the killing of two U.S. citizens, Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti.

Those shootings are also being investigated by federal authorities.

An internal preliminary review conducted by Customs and Border Protection into Pretti's death also contradicted the Trump administration's initial narrative about his shooting.

Copyright 2026 NPR

It’s been more than four decades yet Rhonda Campbell’s voice still quavered as she stood before a row of television cameras recalling the day in 1981 when a repeat drunk driver killed her 12-year-old sister. She remembers her father crying as he told her what happened, still hears her mother’s scream when the coffin lid closed.

“For our family, 45 years means 45 years of missed birthdays, missed holidays and that empty chair at our table for every holiday gathering. Grief does not fade, it just becomes part of who you are,” Campbell, victim services manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving California, said Thursday at a press conference.

Campbell joined other victim relatives, lawmakers, advocates, a police chief and a trauma surgeon on a Capitol building stage, all there to build momentum for what’s shaping up to be the biggest legislative effort to address dangerous driving in a generation.

Next to them as they spoke was a table filled with photos of people killed on California’s roads and one old pair of gym shoes belonging to Campbell’s sister.

“Behind every statistic that you will hear today, someone is loved and irreplaceable,” she said.

A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers has so far introduced 10 bills this year as part of an unprecedented legislative package aimed at confronting California’s permissive roadway safety laws. Many of the proposals directly address issues CalMatters uncovered as part of the ongoing License to Kill series, which revealed how the state has routinely allowed dangerous drivers to stay on the road as its roadway death toll has skyrocketed.

Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, a Democrat from Irvine, called the package of bills “California’s largest and most significant anti-drunk driving and anti-DUI push in over two decades.”

“This crisis is an urgent call to action,” she said.

Her colleague on the other side of the aisle, Assemblymember Tom Lackey of Palmdale, said “it’s time.”

“We are failing, folks, and I’m so heartened by this big coalition of people. I’ve waited 12 years for this,” he said, referring to his time in the legislature after decades as a CHP officer.

Lawmakers said to expect a few more bills next week before the deadline to propose new legislation. Several Republican legislators also asked for a formal audit into DMV records and Democrats plan to propose a separate audit of how the state spends its traffic safety funds.

At Thursday’s event, lawmaker after lawmaker stepped to the podium to discuss their proposals and call on colleagues to join them in doing something about traffic deaths. They were often followed by grieving parents, there to talk about unfathomable loss.

For one father, Anatoly Varfolomeev, it was almost too much. He struggled to address the audience, at one point gripping the podium and lowering his head, overcome with emotion before gathering the strength to continue.

Varfolomeev said he’d planned to cite some of the statistics regarding motor vehicle fatalities but it was clear listening to the speakers that they were well known.

“That means that this legislative initiative is long-time overdue,” Varfolomeev said.

His daughter and her childhood friend, both 19, were killed in November 2021 by a drunk driver going more than 100 miles per hour, Varfolomeev said. The driver served just three and a half years behind bars, Varfolomeev said.

As we reported last year, vehicular manslaughter isn’t considered a violent felony in California, meaning drivers who kill can serve only a fraction of their sentence behind bars.

“So this is not a violent crime,” he said, holding up a picture of the mangled, charred remains of a car. “If this is not a violent crime what is?”

One of the bills in the package would add vehicular manslaughter to the state’s list of violent felonies.

A mom, Kellie Montalvo, was there to support the change and the rest of the bill package. Her son Benjamin Montalvo had just turned 21 and was riding his bike when a woman with prior reckless crashes ran him over and fled the scene.

The woman who killed Benjamin – “Bean Dip” as his family affectionately called him – is due to be released from prison as early as this weekend. She called on Governor Newsom to do something.

“Please come out now publicly and support these bills. You have an opportunity to lead the charge in supporting victims,” she said. “His name was ‘Bean Dip’, and he mattered.”

Together, the bills are aimed at strengthening the state’s enforcement system and keeping many reckless drivers from behind the wheel for years longer. The package would bring the state more in line with much of the country, particularly when it comes to handling drunk and drugged drivers.

California saw a more than 50% spike in DUI-related deaths over the most recent 10 years for which federal estimates were available, an increase more than twice as steep as the rest of the country. As our investigation has shown, California currently has some of the weakest DUI laws in the country.

“Safer roads are not a partisan or political issue. They are the basic responsibility we owe to every family that travels upon our roadways,” said Alex Gammelgard, past president of the California Police Chiefs Association.

Yet, even as the number of deaths on our roads soared, California leaders have previously failed to confront these issues.

Many of the bills are sure to face significant challenges in the months to come. Financial concerns, for example, have helped doom previous efforts to pass expanded use of the in-car breathalyzers known as ignition interlock devices. A proposal to bring California in line with much of the rest of the nation is back on the table as part of the current package. Increasing criminal penalties could also be a tough sell in a legislature that’s been so focused in recent years on criminal justice reforms and alternatives to incarceration.

It was a challenge some on the stage alluded to.

“I want to align myself with the idea of compassion. I think California has done a lot to try to be on the compassionate side of the justice system,” said Assemblymember Dawn Addis, a Democrat from San Luis Obispo.

“But I think, in this moment,” she added, “we have tragically failed.”

Lawmakers have a little more than a week before the deadline to introduce new legislation for the session.

The bills highlighted at Thursday’s press conference would:

Make vehicular manslaughter a violent felony and increase DUI penalties

(Introduced by Senator Bob Archuleta, a Democrat from Norwalk.)

Issue: Vehicular manslaughter isn’t considered a “violent” felony under state law, our reporting showed, allowing people convicted of the crime to serve only a fraction of their time behind bars.

Proposed changes: This bill would add vehicular manslaughter with “gross negligence” to the list of violent felonies. It would also add prison time for crashes with multiple victims and drivers with a prior felony DUI within 10 years. Finally, the bill would stiffen penalties for hit-and-run collisions where the driver had a prior DUI and expand so-called “Watson advisements” that make it easier to charge repeat DUI offenders with murder if they kill someone.

Close the DMV point loophole for drivers who get diversion after a deadly crash

(Introduced by Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City.)

Issue: Recent criminal justice reform laws made it easier for judges to wipe misdemeanor convictions — including vehicular manslaughter — from criminal records. In practice, that means some California drivers can get points added to their license for speeding, but not for killing someone, our reporting has shown.

Proposed change: Ensure the DMV adds points to a drivers license in vehicular manslaughter cases where a driver gets off with misdemeanor diversion instead of a criminal conviction.

Ensure deadly drivers don’t get their licenses back as soon as they get out of prison

(Wilson plans to introduce.)

Issue: License suspensions or revocations often start at the time of a conviction and can actually end before someone is released from prison.

Proposed change: Require license suspensions and revocations to start when a driver is released from incarceration as opposed to at the time of a conviction, potentially keeping licenses away from dangerous drivers for years longer than the current law.

Increase DMV points for fatal crashes 

(Introduced by Assemblymembers Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, and Cottie Petrie-Norris, a Democrat from Irvine.)

Issue: California drivers currently get the same number of points added to their license for killing someone as they do for non-injury DUIs and hit-and-run collisions.

Proposed change: Increase the number of points a vehicular manslaughter conviction adds to a driver’s license from the current two points to three.

Allow prosecutors to charge DUIs as a felony on second offense 

(Introduced by Lackey)

Issue: It currently takes four DUIs within 10 years to be charged with a felony in California. Many other states allow prosecutors to charge a felony after two or three offenses.

Proposed change: This would allow prosecutors to charge a second DUI offense within 10 years as a felony.

Allow prosecutors to charge DUIs as a felony after third offense, increase repeat DUI penalties

(Introduced by Assemblymember Nick Schultz, a Democrat from Burbank)

Issue: Habitual repeat DUI offenders often face few added penalties.

Proposed change: Similar to Lackey’s bill, Schultz’s would let prosecutors charge a driver with a felony for their third DUI in 10 years. Increase the time some repeat DUI offenders need to have an ignition interlock device installed on their car and the amount of time their driving privileges are revoked.

Revoke the licenses of repeat DUI offenders for longer 

(Introduced by Lackey)

Issue: California takes away repeat DUI offenders’ driving privileges for three years, less time than many other places. Some other states revoke licenses for up to 15 years, or even issue lifetime bans.

Proposed change: Increase the amount of time the DMV can revoke the driving privileges of someone who gets a third DUI to eight years.

Bar people convicted of serious or repeat DUIs from purchasing alcohol

(Introduced by Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, a Democrat from Stockton.)

Issue: California’s current system allows many repeat DUI offenders to stay on the road with few safeguards.

Proposed change: Let judges essentially bar people convicted of serious or repeat DUIs from purchasing alcohol by adding a “NO ALCOHOL SALE” sticker to their driver’s licenses, similar to a law recently enacted in Utah. A “Severe DUI” would be defined as an offense with a blood-alcohol level at least twice as high as the legal limit , conviction for two DUIs within three years, or a DUI causing great bodily injury, death, or major property damage.

Mandate in-car breathalyzers for all DUI offenders

(Introduced by Petrie-Norris)

Issue: Most states already require all DUI offenders to install an in-car breathalyzer. California does not. State law currently requires the devices, which a driver must blow into for their car to start, for people convicted of two or more DUIs, or a DUI that results in injury.

Proposed change: Require the breathalyzers for all DUI offenders. (A nearly identical measure was gutted late in the legislative process last year after the DMV said it did not have the technology or funding to implement the changes.)

Expand law enforcement DUI training

(Introduced by Assemblymember Juan Alanis, a Republican from Modesto.)

Issue: Local law enforcement training varies widely in California, meaning that officers aren’t always trained in how to test for drunk and drugged driving.

Proposed change: Increase DUI training for police officers who work traffic enforcement to ensure they are proficient in areas like sobriety testing and report writing.