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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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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“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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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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“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?”

At Signature Post in Burbank, Mariella Abaunza, the post-production company’s executive vice president for business development, shows off a photo of her talking to Gov. Gavin Newsom at the recent signing of AB 2319 at the Television Academy in North Hollywood.

Marielle Abaunza holds a photo of her and Gov. Gavin Newsom at the signing ceremony for California's new stand-alone post-production tax credit.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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She was there with the coalition that lobbied for the creation of a new stand-alone tax credit for post-production work done in California.

“It definitely restored my faith in government. ... Advocacy works,” she said.

It was a sizable coalition. Abaunza is president of the California Post Alliance, the post-production industry’s trade group. Leaders of the Motion Picture Association and the Editors Guild were there too.

The post-production tax credit is aimed at stopping the flight of TV and film work to other states and countries, attracted by generous tax incentives.

While there are existing tax credits for filming in California, under the new law, productions qualify for a 35% to 50% tax credit if post-production work such as editing, color correction, scoring and sound mixing is done in California, even if the filming was done outside the state.

But industry advocates acknowledge there’s a weakness in the law: Proponents initially asked lawmakers to set aside $100 million for the post-production tax breaks. By the time Newsom signed the bill into law, that amount had been drastically reduced to $10 million.

“That's going to get used up in a couple days. … It's not hard to allocate $10 million in post-production in California,” said Stephen Weizenecker, an entertainment lawyer based in Atlanta who advises TV and film productions on how to take advantage of tax credits in U.S. states and overseas.

But he said that regardless of the much lower cap, the credits will make California more competitive.

Abaunza hopes it will be a boost for Signature Post. The 6-year-old post-production company, which mixed sound for films and shows like  "Everything Everywhere All at Once," "American Fiction," and "Lessons in Chemistry," has been experiencing a slowdown, like many others.

“We're still ahead of the game, and we still have the largest concentration of post-production talent of anywhere in the world,” Abaunza said of Southern California.

But she said that post-production advantage has been eroded by new facilities and worker talent in the U.K. and Canada, among other countries.

Monica Levinson, executive producer of FX’s "Love Story," "Say Nothing," and many other TV and film projects, points out that those countries have another advantage: a lot more government social services.

She compared that to the U.S. “The one thing that this country has are unions, and it has health insurance, and it has pension plans, and the things that need to be put into the budgets of productions,” she said.

Weizenecker also noted that as much as producers might want to keep production in California or the U.S., they may not be the ones making the decisions about where work is done.

“ If Netflix only gives you so much to spend on the production, including post,” he said, “you're gonna go where it's the most cost-effective.”

Federal game changer

While the California tax credit is a step in the direction of keeping productions in the state, a much bigger tax credit is now making its way through the federal legislative process that may be even more transformative.

It’s called the Motion Picture, Television and Entertainment Revitalization Act and was co-authored by U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, and Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina. President Donald Trump has also said he supports it.

If the bipartisan birth and early life of the bill isn’t enough to raise eyebrows, what it promises may be: a 20% federal, labor-based tax credit to U.S. TV and film productions where 75% of the days spent on principal photography happen in this country.

The bill would also favor post-production work and extend benefits to productions in some rural areas and places affected by disasters.

Marielle Abaunza is executive vice president of business development for Signature Post in Burbank.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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“These things could be real game changers to bring back the work here,” Levinson said. She’s the co-chair of the legislative committee for Producers United, a 3-year-old group that advocates for established TV and film producers. That position led her to join the coalition of groups working to get the federal bill passed.

TV and film production and post-production used to be dominated by California, and L.A. County in particular. But Hollywood, as it refers to what you see on the big and small screen, is a national business now.

“Everybody in this country is behind this federal incentive. And therefore, that's why it's become such a bipartisan effort because there's production in every state right now,” Levinson said.

Supporters have not said how much less money would go to public coffers if this federal tax credit passes.

A long-running court battle between California veterans and the Trump administration will continue, as federal officials consider asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s order to build more housing for unhoused L.A. veterans.

A federal appeals court on Thursday agreed to temporarily pause the order to construct more than 2,500 new housing units on the Veterans Affairs campus in West L.A.

Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney with Public Counsel representing the plaintiffs, told LAist the delay could spell life or death for unhoused veterans, especially as the region braces for strong El Niño-driven storms.

“These are veterans who risked their lives and suffered both the visible and invisible wounds of war,” Rosenbaum said. “What the government is saying to them is, you're supposed to stay on the street."

VA officials did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

Veterans' lawyers in a court filing called a possible appeal to the Supreme Court a “hopeless shot.”

“The government has lost every time they have taken this to court. No court has ruled for them on any of these matters,” Rosenbaum told LAist. “This is part of the administration’s war on its own veterans, and it’s time for that war to come to an end.”

Could long-running case end up at the Supreme Court?

The litigation was initiated in 2023 by L.A. veterans struggling with homelessness. The case has centered on the 400-acre V.A. campus, which U.S. District Judge David O. Carter has ruled should offer more housing to the approximately 2,250 veterans experiencing homelessness in L.A. County.

In 2024, Carter ordered officials to add thousands of temporary and permanent homes, and end leases with UCLA, a private K-12 school and an oil drilling company, which he said did not serve the needs of veterans.

An appeals court last month blocked the federal government’s efforts to halt the housing construction. But veteran advocates knew that federal officials could ask for further delays as the case winds through the courts.

VA officials now have until Dec. 10 to decide whether to appeal their fight to the Supreme Court. Judges with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals told lawyers for the federal government that if they do not decide to appeal by Dec. 10, “the stay will be lifted immediately.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District shortened the application window for specialized academic programs this year, and will no longer accept paper forms.

Applications for the district’s magnet, dual language and affiliated charter schools for the next academic year opened Oct. 1 and are due Nov. 6, 2026.

How does it work?

If you want your child to attend their neighborhood school, enrollment is fairly straightforward. There’s a separate process for the district’s specialized programs called Choices.

There are two windows to apply — on-time and late. The latter consists of all the spaces left after families who applied on time accept their offers.

Here’s the timeline for the 2027-28 school year:

• Sept. 2026: School fairs start.
• Oct. 1, 2026: Choices application opens.
• Nov. 6, 2026:  Deadline to apply online.
• Dec. 1, 2026:  Late applications begin. 
• February 2027: On-time applicant results sent. 
• March 5, 2027: Deadline to accept or decline school offers for on-time applicants. School assignments for late applications follow the processing of on-time applications. Students may be offered a spot through the start of the spring semester. 
• Aug. 12, 2027: The school year begins.

LAUSD will no longer accept paper Choices applications. If families do not have a computer, they can use a smartphone to complete an application. LAUSD will also allow families to use computers at school parent centers.

How to prepare

Every child within LAUSD boundaries is assigned a school — find yours through the district’s “resident school identifier.”

But there are also hundreds of other programs available through the Choices process.

Those include:

• Magnets: Programs on a specific theme, such as science, math, language, advanced studies or art. These programs were originally established to integrate segregated schools and have a unique “points” system to prioritize applications. 
• Dual language or immersion: Students learn in English and in a second language such as Spanish, Mandarin, Korean or Armenian. 
• Affiliated charter schools: District-run schools with more freedom to try different types of teaching or other programs. 

No one type of school is inherently better than another, and no one metric defines a great school — there are many factors beyond test scores to consider, and we go over some of those here.

By far the most frequent piece of advice we’ve heard is to go on an in-person school tour if possible.

“The very best thing that people can do is go to the school and try to watch the way that educators interact with students, the way that students interact with each other, and the way that families are included or not in the life of a school,” said Jack Schneider, a University of Massachusetts, Amherst, education researcher and parent. “Once you do that, you really get a sense of what kind of place kids are going to school.”

Some schools post tour information online, but you may need to call for details.

LAUSD also hosts fairs, organized by geographic region, where multiple schools table and share information about their programs, through mid-October.

The Justice Department found Thursday that the law school at the University of California, Los Angeles, illegally considered race in admissions.

The announcement follows a similar finding against the university’s medical school and comes as President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges’ processes for selecting students. The administration also has accused the UC Berkeley Law School and the medical school at the University of California, San Diego, of illegally discriminating against white and Asian applicants.

The UCLA School of Law said in a statement that it was committed to making admissions decisions in compliance with all applicable laws.

“Students are admitted through a comprehensive, merit-based review process that considers each applicant’s achievements and experiences,” the statement said. “We are confident in our process.”

Affirmative action in college admissions has been illegal since a 2023 Supreme Court ruling forbade it. The same ruling said colleges could continue to assess how applicants’ backgrounds might speak to broader characteristics, but Trump has accused colleges of using applicants’ personal statements and other proxies to consider race in admissions — which conservatives view as illegal discrimination.

The Justice Department’s investigation found UCLA’s law school discriminated against white and Asian American students by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants in its 2023, 2024 and 2025 incoming classes. Its analysis found the mean LSAT score was lower for admitted Black applicants than for admitted white applicants.

The department also said admissions staff at the law school instructed applicants during recruitment efforts, including one called the “Diversity Admissions Open House,” how to reveal their race in essays.

“Like many of its peer institutions, UCLA Law School runs a two-tiered admissions system whose academic bar for acceptance shifts up or down depending on the color of your skin,” said Harmeet Dhillon, head of the department’s Civil Rights Division, in a news release.

California voters ended affirmative action in college admissions in a 1997 ballot measure. In a brief filed in the Supreme Court case, the UC system said the change led to a precipitous drop in underrepresented minorities, especially at the system’s most selective campuses. The brief said UC went on to implement a range of race-neutral measures to increase diversity.

The Trump administration also has sued over the main UCLA campus’s response to allegations of antisemitic harassment. The administration’s latest finding sets the stage for a voluntary resolution to bring UCLA into compliance with the Justice Department’s legal interpretation or, if none can be reached, potential legal action.

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