The Brief

Vicky Martinez feels cheated that her children haven’t had much exposure to the arts at their Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) schools despite state funding through Proposition 28, the state’s landmark arts education mandate. She believes access to the arts could help them cope with their anxiety and ADHD, conditions that have spiked post-pandemic.

“I had more arts than my kids do,” said Martinez, mother of three LAUSD students in the Highland Park area. “That’s not right. It makes me angry that our kids are being denied the arts when there’s been so much research about how it keeps kids engaged in school. We should be making progress, and instead we are lagging behind.”

Many parents share her outrage. The families of eight students, including Martinez’s three sons — who are 12, 15 and 17 — and the author of the arts proposition have joined forces to file a lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district, and its superintendent, Alberto Carvalho. The lawsuit, filed Monday afternoon in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges misuse of funds as well as misleading the public in its rollout of Proposition 28 that sets aside roughly $1 billion a year statewide for arts education.

“LAUSD has willfully and knowingly violated the law,” said former LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner, who authored the proposition, “and as a consequence, is harming hundreds of thousands of students by depriving them of the arts education that they are entitled to under law.”

The suit also claims that LAUSD’s mismanagement of Proposition 28 funds, particularly at low-income schools , has disproportionately impacted Black and Latino students, deepening inequity. The thrust of the law, Beutner says, is that all students, not just privileged ones, deserve access to the arts.

“We have not received notice, nor have we been served with any lawsuit regarding Prop. 28,” an LAUSD spokesperson said in a statement to EdSource. “That said, we have sought to clarify any misunderstandings regarding Prop. 28, and we continue to follow implementation guidance as provided by the state of California to ensure that we are fully complying with the requirements of Prop. 28.”

The suit is the latest push for accountability on arts education funding. Beutner and a group of major unions, including UTLA, the local teachers union, SEIU Local 99 and Teamsters 572, wrote a letter to education officials last year demanding the state hold districts responsible for their spending. LAUSD was allotted roughly $77 million for arts education in the 2023-24 school year.

The unions are helping pay for the lawsuit, which comes at a time when the district is already facing mounting scrutiny over its handling of three large cyberattacks exposing sensitive student information and the appropriateness of its response to recent catastrophic fires.

“LAUSD has done exactly what the law prohibits,” the suit argues. “It has eliminated existing funding sources for existing art teachers, and replaced those funds with Proposition 28 funds, thereby violating the requirement that the funds supplement rather than supplant existing sources. Moreover, LAUSD has made no meaningful effort to recruit or hire new art teachers as required by the law.”

Given extensive research that arts education has key academic and social benefits, the law was designed to hire new arts teachers, and most schools are required to spend at least 80% of funds on staff. The plaintiffs allege that the district has been willfully misinterpreting the law and misleading families and teachers.

“Bottom line, there’s been rampant misuse of the funds,” Beutner said, “and the guidance and oversight has been insufficient.”

In an Aug. 15, 2024, memo to the board, Carvalho acknowledged spending new Proposition 28 money to pay for existing staff: “Given historic staffing challenges in filling arts educator roles and because 80% of Prop. 28 must be spent on labor, the district prioritized the use of Prop 28 funds to cover existing staff as well as hire new staff.”

The district argues that the law only requires an increase in arts funding for the district as a whole.

“The law requires that non-Prop. 28 arts expenditures at the district level are higher than previous years and does not factor in differences in spending at a school site level,” according to an LAUSD fact sheet.

Beutner has long objected to this interpretation. The law requires that every school to increase its arts offerings, he maintains, so that all students have access.

Cecily Myart-Cruz, the president of UTLA, the union representing about 35,000 LAUSD educators, claims the district has not been honest about its use of Prop. 28 funds.

“The superintendent pulling out a bulletin saying, ‘Oops, my bad,’ doesn’t work,” Myart-Cruz said. “If you have arts in school, you will change lives. ... And so, I’m exasperated by the district’s lack of response and responsibility to providing arts educators for our babies and the communities in which we serve.”

To be sure, similar issues have arisen across the state. Facing budget woes, some schools have used creative bookkeeping maneuvers to pay existing staff with the new funds, instead of actually adding arts teachers, experts warn.

“The temptation to redirect these funds can arise when schools face financial pressures in other areas,” said Allison Gamlen, visual and performing arts coordinator for the San Mateo County Office of Education. “This is a clear violation of the intent of the proposition and, unfortunately, not an isolated incident.”

However, many other districts across the state, from Pacifica to Long Beach, have successfully used the proposition funds to build robust new arts ed programs, experts note.

That disparity explains why many parents and teachers have been calling for greater transparency in how schools use the arts money, which landed in schools in February 2024.

“We want real support for the hiring of folks who can provide arts instruction, and I think that this is the righteous thing. This is the legal thing,” said Nicolle Fefferman, a veteran LAUSD teacher, who also co-founded the Parents Supporting Teachers advocacy group. “Who does this money serve sitting in a district bank account?”

Families want a seat at the table.

“At many schools, there was no conversation about Prop. 28,” said Martinez. “Parents had no input.”

Martinez, the Highland Park mother of three LAUSD students, said that her 15-year-old son, going by the alias Julian in the suit, suffers from severe anxiety and feelings of despair, conditions she believes could be alleviated by the therapeutic influence of the arts. When her oldest son got his hands on a guitar, she says, he started to thrive.

“Arts improves learning, especially for low-income students,” said Martinez. “We are hurting them by not providing it.”

Another plaintiff’s mother, going by the alias April T., says her son, going by Lucas, 9, only gets one hour a week of art class, the same as before Proposition 28. She says she pays for private music classes because none are available through LAUSD.

Accountability is among the most critical issues facing the Proposition 28 rollout, according to a recent report by Arts for LA, an arts advocacy organization.

“Teachers, parents and students should know whether, how and when Prop. 28 decisions are being made,” said Lindsey Kunisaki, who wrote the report. “They’ll be the ones to directly experience the impact of those Prop. 28 decisions in practice, and moreover, they’re the experts in the realities of their own classrooms and communities.”

Carvalho’s August memo also acknowledges that the district did not “consult with school communities specifically about Prop. 28 arts funding,” but will encourage principals to solicit feedback going forward.

Many experts recommend an independent oversight committee of administrators, teachers, families and community partners to make sure that arts education funds are properly spent. Some may assume that county offices of education provide oversight, but that is not within their purview, experts say.

Arts education advocates have long urged the California Department of Education (CDE), which is administering the new funding, to step up enforcement of the rules. Many have complained that the department has not provided enough guidance to schools already struggling with myriad post-pandemic issues.

“The structure of the proposition did not include any provision to ensure adequate CDE staffing to address questions and the overall confusion that has been a common thread,” said Allison Cagley, executive director of Friends of Sacramento Arts, an advocacy group. “There was no one or two people at CDE that could adequately address the questions.”

CDE officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Amid the controversy, many parents are anxious to see Proposition 28 funds put to good use to spark engagement at a time of chronic absenteeism and widespread disaffection at schools.

“This is an investment in our kids,” Martinez said. “Our kids deserve this. We all agreed on this. The state of California voted for this. So why aren’t we doing it?”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Colorful parade floats, charros on horseback and live music will take over Cesar E. Chavez Avenue on Sunday for the 80th East L.A. Mexican Independence Day Parade.

For decades, organizers have brought together community leaders, performers, businesses and organizations to celebrate culture, community and tradition. This year, the parade will culminate in a festival with family-friendly activations, including live music, local vendors and lucha libre. 

This year’s co-grand marshals are singer and actor Dasahev López Saavedra, better known as El Dasa, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Here’s everything you need to know.

When is the parade and festival?

The parade runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13. The festival takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on First Street and Mednik Avenue. 

What’s the parade route? 

The 1.5-mile route will run along Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, starting at Mednik Avenue and ending on Gage Avenue. You can find a map of the parade route and other festivities on the festival’s webpage here. Early arrival is suggested to secure a viewing spot for the parade. 

A map of the East LA Mexican Independence Day Parade route.

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Courtesy of the organizers

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What streets will be closed?

• Mednik Avenue: Between 1st Street and Cesar E. Chavez from 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13.
• Cesar E. Chavez Avenue: Between Vancouver Avenue and Gage Avenue from 6  a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13.

What can I expect at the festivities?

The parade will feature floats, show cars, representatives from Eastside organizations, equestrian teams, marching bands and folklórico dancers. 

The festival will include vendors, musical performances, resource booths, a pop-up from local boutique The Goddess Mercado, a free pet vaccination clinic that will administer free vaccines for the first 200 pets, and a free lucha libre showcase by East Los Lucha. 

Where can I park? 

Limited free parking will be available at the East L.A. Civic Center lot located on E. 3rd Street and Civic Center Way. Attendees can also find street parking in the surrounding area. 

Can I take public transit to the event? 

The Metro E Line’s East L.A. Civic Center station is just a short walk from the event. 

What if I don’t want to attend in person? 

If you’re unable to attend or want to watch the parade from home, you can tune in to the live broadcast on ABC7. 

For more information, check out the website here. 

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Robbie Hall has a record of the people she has treated for overdoses at MacArthur Park.

The photos of many of the people she has treated are saved on her phone. She can scroll through them and remember each one.

Hall, an ambassador with the nonprofit Five Keys, has been doing this work for about four years and is at the park almost every day, carrying Naloxone, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses.

She typically responds when someone stops breathing.

“I stopped counting when I got up in my 40s, because it started being gradually three of them, four of them,” Hall said. 

On a recent September morning at the park, Hall said she found a 14-year-old girl in a bathroom who was experiencing an overdose. Tears welled up as she talked about the people she encounters at the park.

“They need help, they need help,” she said. “This is every day.” 

She believes the city needs to address the problem. When asked about the plans to fence the park, she said she sees the fence as one way to improve the conditions she sees on the ground.

“They need to put something up here,” she said.

For Hall and others who work around the park, the fence is less a solution than a stopgap, something concrete to try amid problems that have proven harder to solve.

The Department of Recreation and Parks says the fence will be temporary and is still on track for construction this fall, but has not provided a specific date, cost estimate or explained what conditions would need to change before the fence comes down.

Marco Pacheco, president of the MacArthur Park Park Advisory Board, does not believe the fence will be temporary. 

“I think this is going to be permanent,” Pacheco said. “This is going to be a permanent fixture of some sort because first of all, you don’t put up a fence that costs millions of dollars to take it down. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Pacheco isn’t the only one who has doubts.

Richard Barron, who served on the Cultural Heritage Commission for 22 years before departing in July, also questioned whether the city would follow through on its promise to remove the fence.

“I doubt that the fence is going to come down,” Barron said, “especially when they’ve spent all that money. Even taking it down costs a lot of money, you know, and you’re going to throw all that material away?”

The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners approved $2.3 million in funding for the project. The city has not said how much money will ultimately be spent on the fence.

Everyone has a different idea of what the fence will do

The city’s consultants have described a fence that would be transparent, reversible and designed to blend into the park.

Leila Hamroun, a senior preservation architect with Tetra Tech, the consulting firm working with the city on the project’s design, said the fence won’t be a dominant feature.

“The whole intent here is to guarantee that it just blends in, that it’s seamless,” Hamroun said. “It’s reversible, transparent, minimalist, consistent with the evolution of urban parks over time.”

A rendering shows the proposed green metal fence around MacArthur Park.

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Courtesy L.A. Recreation and Parks

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The fence is expected to be about 8 feet tall, with gates at eight existing entrances. Decorative elements would be considered separately, with community input expected next year.

For Michelle Garcia, who has been a vendor around MacArthur Park since 2015, it could help distinguish vendors from the people living in the park.

“I support it if they could get the homeless people out,” Garcia said. “They are the ones that make MacArthur Park look bad. But they also make us look bad, because we sell around the area, so they think we’re like them, which we’re not.”

Garcia was among a group of vendors at MacArthur Park who held a Sept. 2 press conference to call attention to what they described as police harassment and citations that pushed vendors away from the park.

“Like us, we’re trying to work and get money for our bills, our rent,” she said.

Police have their own expectations for what a fenced park could accomplish.

The Los Angeles Police Department has stepped up enforcement around the park through a joint task force with the Drug Enforcement Administration focused on drug dealing in the area. In July, Rampart Division Capt. Benedict Fernandes said the operation had significantly disrupted the drug trade, but that drug users were spreading into surrounding neighborhoods in search of narcotics.

“We know that all the communities around have been impacted because it got spread this way, sort of like a shotgun blast,” he said. “It went south, it went east, it went north, it went west.”

Fernandes said the next phase of the enforcement effort would focus on connecting unhoused people and drug users with shelter and recovery services.

The fence, he said, is meant to make the park less convenient for drug activity and “prevent crime” inside the park.

“Because that’s the problem,” Fernandes said. “The Alvarado corridor at MacArthur Park has been convenient for drug users for years. We’re just trying to make those things stop.”

Fernandes said the temporary fence along Alvarado and now the orange bollards installed in the area, have worked to disrupt that activity. 

But Hall, the outreach worker administering Narcan at the park, has not seen those types of improvements on the ground.

“Since they did that big bust? No, it got worse,” Hall said when asked whether she had seen fewer overdoses in the area.

She said people wait for police to leave the park before returning.

“If it wasn’t for Five Keys, there would be a lot more dead bodies here,” she said.

Some residents say that adding a fence around MacArthur Park would change the makeup of the neighborhood. Others welcome a change to the troubled park.

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Gary Coronado

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How the fence is supposed to work

The plan calls for the park to remain open during the day, with eight entry points, and close overnight from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. LAPD would close the gates at night, and Recreation and Parks maintenance workers would reopen them each morning.

The department says the fence is intended to make the park easier to maintain. Illegal dumping, littering, vandalism and graffiti have made routine maintenance difficult, according to the department, which has said MacArthur Park generates more graffiti cleanup requests than nearby Lafayette Park.

The city has pointed to nearby Lafayette Park, which is fenced and closed at night, as a model for MacArthur Park.

Pacheco, the president of the park’s advisory board, said he has heard general support for the fence among community members. 

“In many cases, community members alluded to Lafayette Park having been fenced for a long time, the difference between the two parks, Lafayette being a lot safer and a lot cleaner and less of a problem than MacArthur Park,” he said. 

The fence still needs final approval from the five-person commission that approved the project’s conceptual phase in October. The commission has not yet set a date to consider the final plans.

To incentivize voters to cast ballots for Republicans, President Donald Trump used his convention speech to promise a dividend of $5,000 to every adult citizen if the Republican Party maintains control of Congress in the midterm election.  

"If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000," he said. "It will be called the Trump dividend, congratulations."

The money would have to be spent in the U.S., the president said. 

Trump did not provide details about where the money would come from or the legality of his promise. According to the most recent Census data, it could cost $1 trillion or more to provide these payments. 

The event is designed to rally support for Republicans in the midterms where they face an uphill battle to maintaining control of Congress. 

He said the midterms will decide if the country stumbles or surges forward, adding that he will travel to "every race," to show his support to the Republican nominees, and to Texas even more than once. 

Trump's support and his ask of voters to "pretend" that he's on the ballot could backfire given his unpopularity amid the war in Iran and the nationwide focus on affordability.

"Vote Republican and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come," said Trump.

Apart from the $5,000 promise, Trump's address was not very different from his typical rally speech, touching on issues he often speaks about, including tariffs, the importance of destroying Iran's nuclear program, passing a bill to limit voter identification and registration rules and claiming lower inflation than when he took office. 

It was a night where Trump was the star of the show. The event, billed as a "Trumpapalooza," put the president center stage as Republican candidates, lawmakers and everyday Americans shared appreciation for Trump and his policies.

President Trump greets attendees as he walks on stage to speak on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention Sept. 9, 2026 in Dallas, Texas.

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"Let's hear it for the man who had the vision to hold this convention," Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said to widespread applause.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee in Texas, also opened by praising President Trump for standing up for Texas.

Paxton addressed the economy, promising tax relief policies to help American families. He also made an appeal for more support, acknowledging that his opponent, state Rep. James Talarico has the money advantage.

"I need your prayers, your vote and your support," Paxton said. "If we lose Texas, we lose the common sense revolution. If we lose the common sense revolution, we lose America."

Texas Republican Senate candidate, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks on stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention on Sept. 9, 2026 in Dallas, Texas.

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Rep. Brandon Gill, who represents a district north of Dallas, said this election is about "the mainstream versus the extreme."

Gill, one of the speakers with the longest address Wednesday, returned several times to transgender issues, a culture-war theme that has been especially prominent in Texas politics.

"I think we can all remember the good old days when political debates were about marginal tax rates and government spending," Gill quipped. "Now we are debating whether toddlers can become transgender, whether men can become pregnant and whether your daughter should have to share a locker room with a man."

Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke about the Trump administration's law enforcement agenda.

"President Trump will hold you accountable," he said. "If you choose violence, you will be held accountable. Now that is making America safe again."

Before Blanche, no sitting Attorney General had spoken at a political party convention, the House Judiciary Dems said on X Tuesday.

They called Blanche's participation in the convention "dumbfounding and unprecedented. Amazing how far the DOJ has fallen," said the post. 

Political parties typically hold big, televised presidential nominating conventions every four years, but this isn't a presidential election year. And midterm conventions just aren't a thing (at least not since Democrats scrapped them after a short run in 1982).

It would be reasonable to ask why Republicans, trying to hang onto their narrow majorities in the House and the Senate, would want to train so much attention on a president whose approval rating is underwater.

People hold signs on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention Sept. 9 in Dallas, Texas. President Donald Trump will headline the Republican National Committee's first-ever midterm convention Wednesday night.

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Tasos Katopodis

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At a recent campaign rally, Trump laid out the theory of the case.

"The problem that we have is they say that Trump does great when he's on the ballot," said Trump, speaking in the third person. "But when he's not on the ballot, his people don't come and they don't vote.

"So, what I really want you to do is pretend please, that I am on the ballot," Trump said at the rally for South Carolina Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who is running for her seat this fall. "Just come and vote. It's so important."

But this isn't just a plea for Republican primary voters in a runoff election in a deep red state. In swing states and toss up districts, Trump and his advisors are trying to rebuild the coalition of voters who propelled him back into office in 2024, voters who don't always show up if there isn't a presidential race at the top of the ticket.

This is a different approach than that taken by most presidents whose parties are facing political headwinds in a midterm year. But President Trump has never been one to go along with the normal rules of politics.

Convention organizers say the gathering in Dallas will focus on the issues shaping the midterms, including lowering the cost of living and raising incomes, securing the border and protecting American values.

Based on an NPR analysis, using race ratings from the Cook Political Report, fewer than half of the Republican candidates in competitive House and Senate races are listed as convention speakers.

"We're going to be back in our district, working hard," said Republican Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa, when quizzed on his convention plans by reporters on Capitol Hill.

He's in a toss-up race for reelection.

But if the White House is concerned about attendance, Vance isn't letting on.

"The president and I can go and make [the] argument on national TV," Vance said at a White House press briefing last week. "We don't need a congressman in a tight race to be there in all cases."

There's also a question of who will be watching. The convention is up against the NFL season opener on Wednesday night, a rematch of this year's Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. There's a primetime football game on Thursday night as well.

Democrats aren't planning their own convention and the counterprogramming will be fairly limited.

"Most elected officials don't even want to go to [presidential nominating conventions]," said John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster and consultant. "I mean, the expiration date on conventions has passed a long, long time ago."

And, he argues, the war in Iran, unpopular tariffs, high gas prices and broader affordability concerns, mean the political environment "is disastrous for Republicans running for office and this Republican convention is not going to change that narrative one iota for the midterm elections."

Ohio Republican Party chairman Alex Triantafilou said he had no trouble finding people interested in attending. But the state party was also allotted far fewer tickets than it would get for a traditional presidential convention.

"From the very beginning we were told that we could use this as an opportunity to rally the troops and to raise some money for the party and those two things have certainly happened," said Triantafilou.

He said the state party is using the convention to excite grassroots Republicans and he hopes the president will visit Ohio again sometime before the November election.

"He is very popular here," said Triantafilou. "We do talk a lot about low propensity voters and turning them out. Nobody turns out low propensity voters in Ohio like the president. So, we welcome this."

Whether this novel midterms approach will pay off is yet to be seen, but some Republicans say it may be the best shot the party has to limit its losses in what is widely expected to be a tough year for Republicans.

"Running to President Trump and defending his record, I think, is an interesting strategy and I think it is so interesting that it might just work," said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, a Republican group. "We've tried running away from the president in previous midterms and we almost always lose."

Schilling will be at the convention and says he expects many of his friends involved in Republican politics to be there as well. He hopes they emerge energized and ready to drive a focused message heading into the midterms.

NPR's Eric McDaniel contributed reporting for this story.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.

The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.

The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks in the traditional manner and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment.

The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.

Both teams agree this contrast in preparation is not a referendum on the best way to handle a pair of 16-hour flights with a football game in between — even if the rest of the world might see it that way after the final whistle.

Instead, this game is primarily a difficult early test for both the Super Bowl favorite Rams and the talent-laden 49ers, who also intend to be a title challenger. The coaching staffs and veteran players all know each other thoroughly after a decade of competition between Shanahan and McVay, who are both constantly looking for an edge.

“I don’t think there’s any right way to do it,” said defensive end Myles Garrett, who will make his Rams debut in Australia. “They have a plan, and I’m sure they consulted different teams and people to find out a way to combat jet lag and such long travel. We’ve done the same thing. I think we’re both riding our methodologies.”

Garrett will be joined by star cornerback Trent McDuffie and cornerback Jaylen Watson in their debuts with Los Angeles’ revamped defense.

But Garrett will not be joined at the MCG by Aaron Donald, who ended his 2 1/2-year retirement late last month. The Rams decided the 35-year-old Donald will stay home as he ramps up deliberately for his return — and that’s a beacon of hope for Shanahan, who was sure his old friend McVay would bring Donald to Australia.

“I’ve never been more excited to be wrong about something,” Shanahan said.