The Brief

A school without steers? Unthinkable, said Mason Tucker, a 10th-grader at Madera South High School north of Fresno.

“When I found out there were all these animals here, I thought, I can do this in school? I have to be here,” said Tucker, who commutes 40 minutes each way to attend the school’s agriculture program. “Why hate school when you can love it?”

Steers, sheep, horses, pigs, rabbits, chickens, a sweet-smelling tangerine grove and acres of rotating crops are part of Madera South’s agriculture pathway for students — one of thousands of career-focused courses in California high schools that are part of a renaissance in career and technical education. Aimed at preparing students for skilled, high-wage jobs, the pathways are a step beyond the vocation ed courses of generations past.

First: Rows of citrus trees lined up in a field. Last: Sophomore student Brianna Ramirez checks on the sheep in their pen at the Madera South High School farm on April 2, 2024.

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Larry Valenzuela

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CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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Since 2015, California has invested well over $3 billion to expand career and technical education in high schools, making it a leader nationwide. That money has translated to state-of-the-art robotics labs, welding shops, film studios and other career-preparation programs intended to spur the economy and offer students more options for their futures, whether it includes college or not.

Students seem to appreciate the opportunities. Enrollment in career pathways has jumped from 18% of all students six years ago to 23% last year. Native American, homeless and low-income students had the highest rates among student groups.

Budget uncertainty could imperil career pathway expansion

More expansion is on the way, unless the initiative falls victim to upcoming state budget cuts. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget, released in January, calls for career education to stay intact, although that could change as negotiations continue. Last August, Newsom signed an executive order creating a Master Plan for Career Education, intended to link K-12 programs to those in community colleges and 4-year universities and streamline the dozens of career training pathways and funding sources.

Despite the surge in funding, Newsom is still a ways off from achieving his goal. While thousands of high schools in California have added or expanded their career education courses in recent years, some high schools still have scant — if any — offerings. Some courses don’t include academic content or lead to meaningful careers.

And while more students are enrolling in career preparation courses, the number should be higher, education advocates said. Ideally, all students should be taking college preparatory classes as well as career education courses, so they have the widest range of options after they graduate.

‘Once in a lifetime opportunities’

At Madera South, nearly all students are in a pathway, one of the highest rates in the state. And most of them are enrolled in the agriculture pathway, a mix of academic classes like biology and chemistry and hands-on courses such as animal science, floral design, welding and engine repair.

First: Sophomore student Saray Madriz demonstrates how students show rabbits in competitions. Last: Students assembled a flower arrangement for a class career pathway course on April 2, 2024. Photos by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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Larry Valenzuela

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CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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The school includes a 20-acre farm with ample space for livestock and raising crops. Much of the program is self-supporting, as students sell eggs, produce, floral arrangements and animals to their classmates and the community. State grant money has allowed the school to invest in field trips to local nurseries, processing plants and farms, and new equipment, such as a pair of ultrasound machines for students to see how many babies a sheep is carrying.

“It used to be, money was tight,” said Kristin McKenna, the district’s director of college and career readiness. “We couldn’t do a lot of things we wanted to. But now we have state-of-the-art equipment that’s comparable to what’s actually being used in the industry. … It gives students once-in-a-lifetime opportunities they’re not going to get elsewhere.”

Tucker and his classmates spend hours a day, even in the summer, tending to livestock and growing pumpkins and corn. Brianna Ramirez, a sophomore, said she’s motivated by the gratitude from community members.

“When I see the families line up for our corn, and they tell us how good it is, it’s just an amazing feeling,” Ramirez said. “People say I’m crazy for being out here at 6 a.m. pulling weeds all summer, but I love it.”

Ramirez, who aspires to be a horse trainer or veterinarian, said her grandparents were farmworkers for years and were initially baffled by her interest in agriculture.

Sophomore student Brianna Ramirez checks on the sheep in their pen at the Madera South High School farm on April 2, 2024.

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Larry Valenzuela

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CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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“At first they were like, why is she always with the sheep? Now, it’s ‘Damn, that girl is always busy,’ ” Ramirez said. “My goal is to always make them proud. … I want to keep the ag part of my family going.”

From vocational ed to career ed

Career programs, once known as vocational education, have been in high schools for at least a century, but were often criticized for tracking students — particularly those who were low-income – into auto shop, for example, rather than college preparatory classes.

In the 1980s, employers started pushing for stronger academic preparation in high schools so workers would be better equipped to tackle fast-changing technologies. In 1990, the federal government updated the Carl T. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act to require schools to integrate academic and vocational programs in order to get grant money.

These days, high-quality career preparation pathways are supposed to include academic courses as well as reflect the local job market, with input from industry leaders. In the Bay Area, that means lots of computer science pathways. Los Angeles high schools are replete with entertainment pathways to prepare students for careers in Hollywood, from acting to camerawork.

Pathways in marine transportation and global logistics

At least two schools in the Los Angeles area focus on global logistics, with support from the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. In Long Beach, Cabrillo High School, which is in a largely low-income area, has a global logistics pathway where students take courses in supply chain management, international business and other topics to prepare them for careers at the port.

In one project, students analyze a country’s imports, exports and biggest trade partners. In another project, students examine a hypothetical solar panels company – where it manufactures the panels, how it ships the panels across the globe, and how logistics impact revenues.

More than 425 students are enrolled in the program, making it one of the district’s most popular.

“Students see the cranes at the port, now they know the story behind them,” said teacher Jim Dowding. “You see students’ eyes get big and you know you’re changing lives. Not just their lives, but their family’s lives and the entire community.”

In San Pedro, a charter school called Port of Los Angeles High School offers several pathways that can lead to port jobs. Among them is a marine transportation pathway that includes classes in sailing, boat-building and navigation. Pathways in welding and construction also prepare students for jobs in the maritime industry. Partnerships with local unions allow students to enter apprentice programs after graduation.

The school is in high demand. Last year 420 students applied for 250 spots in the freshman class. Winners were chosen through a lottery.

Danica Nelson, a senior in the welding pathway, said she’s grateful to gain practical job skills. Her primary interest is theater, but she’s been able to merge the disciplines in a way she thinks will lead to a meaningful career in set construction. At school, she welded a table for a production of “Clue” and a counter for “Little Shop of Horrors.”

“I wanted to study theater but those jobs are hard to get and don’t pay that well,” Nelson said. “But with welding, I can make a good living and still be involved in theater. It’s a perfect fit for me.”

A film studio at Hollywood High

Across the county at Hollywood High, a $1 million state grant allowed the school to transform an abandoned auto shop into a state-of-the-art film studio. Students in the performing arts and media academies learn everything from animation to documentary filmmaking to stage design. One recent graduate, Cheyenne Williams, won an Emmy in 2021 for a short children’s program she directed, “Girls’ Voices Now.”

The academies are a way to guide Hollywood High students — the vast majority of whom are low-income and Latino — toward lucrative careers in the entertainment industry. Surrounded by Hollywood landmarks like the Walk of Fame and the El Capitan Theatre, the high school offers a natural training ground for future actors, lighting designers, key grips and other film set staples.

“Our students see (the entertainment industry) every day, it’s literally right in their backyard, but they don’t know how to access it,” said teacher Ali Nezu, who coordinates both academies. “We try to open those doors, give them opportunities and skills they’d never have access to otherwise, whether they decide to pursue entertainment or not.”

Higher graduation rates, better employment outlook

Research has shown that students in career education programs have higher graduation rates, improved academic achievement and higher rates of employment and enrollment in community college, said Miya Warner, a senior principal researcher with the research firm SRI.

Another benefit of high school career pathways is that the stakes are low if students change their minds. It’s relatively easy to change pathways in high school, while changing majors in college is more complicated and can cost thousands of dollars in extra coursework.

She also pointed out that college enrollment has been declining in California since 2019, as student loan debts climb and completion rates remain low. For many students, going straight from high school to a career is an appealing option.

“People are questioning college in a way they did not previously,” Warner said, adding that is happening in spite of projections that an increasing share of jobs over the next decade will require a college degree. “I think (career education) is definitely having a moment right now. It has bipartisan support, and there’s a lot of good research showing its benefits.”

She cautioned, though, that not all career education programs have the same positive outcomes. The most successful programs are tied to the local labor market and offer a sequence of linked classes, not “a la carte” offerings. Pathways should also link to high-wage careers in growing industries, not low-paying jobs with little future.

Students learning to weld in a classroom at the Madera South High School farm on April 2, 2024. Welding is one of thousands of career-focused courses in California high schools.

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Larry Valenzuela

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CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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Challenges with accountability and communication

Another hurdle with career education is accountability, said David Stern, a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley who’s extensively studied the topic. Currently, the state’s main accountability measure, the California School Dashboard, uses a “college/career” indicator to count the number of students who meet the state’s college admission standards or finish a career pathway, not both. In 2023, only about 11% of students met both criteria, according to the state.

“To really reach the golden age of (career and technical education), every student should be prepared for college and career,” Stern said. “It shouldn’t be one or the other.”

He also questioned how well schools are communicating with students about their options. Most schools have skeletal counseling staffs, and some students undoubtedly sign up for a pathway because their friends are enrolled, or because someone picked it for them.

At Madera South, Tucker enjoys his time outdoors tending to animals on the campus farm, but he also loves another class in the ag pathway: welding. He recently built a steel table in six hours for a class competition, emblazoned with intricate “Madera FFA” lettering.

In addition to working on farm machinery, welding students learn to make barbecues, fire pits and other metal items. Tucker hopes to continue welding at the local community college after he graduates.

Sophomore student Mason Tucker tying his rope halter to a bar after using it on a steer at the Madera South High School farm on April 2, 2024. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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Larry Valenzuela

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CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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“This program is what I look forward to every single day,” Tucker said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished so much. It makes me think, what else can I accomplish in life?”

That ocean breeze is just not cutting it in schools in Torrance and Long Beach as Southern California reels from a heat wave.

Parents have taken to social media, created petitions and are proposing a bond measure in order to address the sweltering classrooms as temperatures hit triple digits in some areas.

Only 25% of Torrance Unified classrooms have air conditioning, according to a district spokesperson. And while 90% of Long Beach Unified schools have air conditioning, the schools without air conditioning have to bear this heat spell until the end of 2027 when new air conditioning will be in all classrooms.

What are schools doing to beat the heat?

In Long Beach, the district says there are portable fans in classrooms without AC and the district has installed heat-blocking window covers.

"The things that we do immediately and have been doing for several years, hydration stations,” Keith Butler, the deputy superintendent at TUSD, told the school board early this week. “So our nutrition services freezes blocks of ice, puts them into containers with water, and students are — and staff are able to rotate through and at least get ice water.”

There is also a classroom rotation system so everyone gets a turn in cooling zones, he said.

Can schools close on extreme heat days?

Eric Mitchell, a spokesperson for LBUSD, told LAist, “The District will not close schools because of extreme weather unless the City of Long Beach Public Health Department or a state-authorized emergency response agency directs it.”

Baillie echoed his words adding that a state-declared emergency allows schools to close temporarily without needing to make up teaching time. School funding is dependent on attendance and instructional time.

If a local emergency is declared, school districts, she said, must consult with labor unions to adjust the school schedule to either extend the school year or move to a student-free professional development day.

“Our district is actively discussing creating union-approved ‘weather days’ that would provide a mechanism to adjust the schedule,” Baillie said. “Thresholds would be part of that discussion and might focus on when national weather alerts elevate a heat advisory to an extreme heat event, as they did this week.”

So how can Torrance get ACs in the classroom?

School districts like Torrance pay for facility upgrades like new ACs through district issued bond measures. A school district takes a loan and the people in that city pay back that loan through an increase in their property taxes. That is because there is no specific state allocation of funding for major upgrades or construction. Most of the money schools get from the state is spent on instruction and other student services. There have been some occasional grant programs, like CalShape, but no ongoing source of funding.

This week, a petition to get TUSD to place a bond measure on the ballot to fund ACs has already garnered over 1500 signatures.

But, Baillie said, “Third-party polling completed earlier this year showed a willingness to vote for additional future bonds; however, when specifically asked about the costs of specific bonds to fund the $520 million needed to upgrade the electrical systems and install AC at all 34 campuses, polling showed there would not be enough support (bonds require 55% +1 of voters in an election) to pass a bond for AC.”

And so the bond measure was not placed on the upcoming ballot.

Butler, the deputy superintendent, explained during this week’s school board meeting that parents cannot simply donate an AC unit.

“ One [reason] is it's not super effective to have a typical window unit from a home that would be trying to cool a 960 sq. ft. classroom with 27 students and a teacher, maybe an instructional aide,” he said. “But the bigger issue is the ones that are large enough to really do that, the room has to have a large electrical load, and our electrical system within our buildings where most of them were built in the 1960s, it's just not meant to handle what it does.”

LAist reporter Mariana Dale contributed to this article. 

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is hosting a buyback event Sunday where people can exchange their e-bikes and e-motorcycles for up to $1,000 in gift cards. The goal is to reduce the number of illegal bikes on the road, and give parents an incentive to get dangerous vehicles out of kids’ hands.

“These vehicles are not child’s play, and the consequences are incredibly dangerous and increasingly deadly,” DA Todd Spitzer said in a news release announcing the event.

Communities in Orange County have been grappling with a surge in e-bikes and e-motos on the road, including among young kids, and an accompanying increase in serious crashes.

“Our area has pretty much the highest concentration of e-bike injuries and e-bike accidents in the country,” said Dr. Tetsuya Takeuchi, the trauma medical director at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Takeuchi said  just over 70% of the children treated at the hospital for e-bike injuries had some level of head injury, “from a simple concussion to devastating brain damage, brain bleed and skull fracture."

A lot of those injuries are among teenagers not wearing helmets, he said. Plus, many e-bikes on the market are too heavy and fast for children to control, Takeuchi said.

Besides safety concerns, tensions have flared with other drivers, pedestrians, and neighbors in areas with heavy concentrations of e-bikes.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District became one of the first districts in the country this year to restrict e-bikes to high school campuses only. District leaders say the policy is working to disincentivize young students from riding e-bikes to school. But at one middle school, students with e-bikes have opted to ride them anyway, parking in the surrounding neighborhood and raising the ire of homeowners.

The DA’s approach

The DA’s office has started to target parents who allow their children to ride e-bikes and e-motorcycles that have been illegally modified for high speeds, sometimes with deadly consequences. In April, the district attorney filed child endangerment charges against a mother from Aliso Viejo after her 14-year-old son struck and killed an 81-year-old man while doing wheelies in the street in Lake Forest. The boy was riding an e-motorcycle souped up to reach 60 mph.

Details of the buyback program

The e-bike and e-motorcycle buyback program is part of the DA’s plan to address safety concerns with e-bikes. Local police departments, hospitals and the California Office of Traffic Safety will also be onsite with information booths.

People can bring in functioning or non-functioning e-bikes, e-motorcycles, e-scooters and pocket bikes and exchange them for gift cards worth up to $1,000 — while supplies last.

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 13, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

An appeals court issued a ruling Friday that strikes down a federal government effort to block a lower court’s order requiring the construction of 2,550 new housing units on the Veterans Affairs campus in West Los Angeles.

The long-running case, brought forward by disabled veterans struggling with homelessness in the L.A. area, has centered on the use of the sprawling 400-acre VA campus.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter had previously scrutinized leases for the private Brentwood School’s athletic facilities, a parking lot company, an oil drilling enterprise and UCLA’s baseball stadium.

Ruling that the campus was meant to aid veterans, Carter ordered the VA to not renew the leases and quickly build 750 units of temporary housing and 1,800 units of permanent housing.

But Carter’s September 2024 order has been on hold ever since the defendants asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to review his decision.

Case returns to lower court

On Friday, more than two-thirds of the court’s 29 judges ruled against the VA’s petition for a rehearing.

“It's a historic day for veterans,” said Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney with Public Counsel representing the plaintiffs.

“The government has been fighting their veterans, who went to fight on behalf of the nation,” he added. “They've been fighting them like they are the enemy. They went to the district court to fight. They lost.”

Rosenbaum said he’s pleased to see the case return to Carter’s courtroom after a long appeals process. Carter, himself a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Vietnam War, took an active role in pushing the VA to address a homelessness crisis that has thousands of former service members experiencing homelessness on any given night in L.A. County.

Could the VA pursue further appeals? 

Carter has also ordered the VA to stop using veterans' disability payment benefits as a reason to make them ineligible for supportive housing programs due to income restrictions.

But Rob Reynolds, an Iraq War veteran who advocates for L.A.’s veteran community, said the federal government’s attempts to win an appeal could continue.

“The government can still appeal this to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Reynolds said.

When veterans involved in the case first heard today’s news on the 9th Circuit ruling, he said they immediately asked about the potential for further appeals.

“All of us are really hoping that the government stops this fight, and that we can get housing built for our veterans and end this madness once and for all,” Reynolds said.

A spokesperson for the VA declined to comment on the ruling, saying the department does not discuss pending litigation.

Jenny Yang, a comedian from L.A., has been traveling across the country turning immigrant grocery stores into comedy hubs. Now she’s back in L.A. getting ready to start a mini-residency in Highland Park, tape her first one-hour special and share moments from the tour.

Yang kicked off her Good Egg Immigrant Grocery Store Standup Comedy Tour in June in L.A., then took it to 15 cities across the country. She told LAist the decision came as a way to cope with the grief from her dad’s death, 10 failed in vitro fertilization treatments between 2020 and 2025 and seeing the news of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids spread across the country.

She said the idea to tour grocery stores was a way to reclaim those spaces, after immigration enforcement left many afraid to go out and do simple tasks like buying groceries.

“If we cannot laugh in front of a wall of instant ramen around our bok choy," Yang said, "then what is the American dream for?"

Her routine wove in stories about her fertility struggles and the challenges of having to be a “good egg” growing up as the child of immigrant parents from Taiwan. Her hope for the tour was to connect with people, to make jokes and help people feel lighter after.

The tour proceeds went to local nonprofits serving immigrant communities, and Yang said those organizations helped recruit the grocery stores. She said some stores said no at first — they felt overwhelmed by ICE activity in their city, had lost staff or worried about drawing attention.

“That's part of the story of the tour is it's one thing to want to imagine this beautiful world where you can tell jokes inside of immigrant grocery stores," Yang said. "It's another thing to know what those obstacles are, and I think that's still very telling for where we are as a country.”

One moment stood out to Yang: performing at Shuang Hur Supermarket in Minneapolis. It’s near the memorial for Alex Pretti, the nurse that a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed in January as federal agents carried out immigration enforcement in the city.

“I was able to talk to Henry, the owner who’s a Chinese American uncle. [He] was so proud of being able to help his regular patrons, who for the most part even though it was an Asian centered grocery store, were majority Latino,” Yang said. “I was able to bear witness to their resilience as a community, what they did to take care of each other.”

Now she’s back in L.A. and is doing a mini-residency at the Outside In Theater at 5317 York Blvd. in Highland Park. Her first show is 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, followed by shows on Sept. 19 and 26 at the same time. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, and you can find them at Outside In's website.

In February 2027, Yang will be taping her first one-hour special at Rancho Meat Market #1 in Lincoln Heights. She describes it as a love letter to Los Angeles that’s endured so much, from the ICE raids to the January fires.

You can follow Jenny Yang’s work here.