Updated each year, LCAPs are a requirement of the state of California under its Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The school-funding model offers base-level dollars to school district for every student enrolled and additional money for “high-need” students like low-income and foster youth as well as English-language learners.
While each LCAP is meant to include parental input and reflect community ideas on how best to serve each of the three high-need student populations, Merced residents say their voices have traditionally been ignored.
My mom and her sisters grew stressed and depressed. They missed their dad a lot. We also began to struggle financially. We expected Grandpa to only be gone a year at the most, but it’s been almost seven years now. Since then, we’ve struggled to make enough money to send to support him and support ourselves.
But despite the difficulties, we continue to help him as much as we can, hoping to bring him back to us.
Because of his circumstance, it was impossible for him to ‘pick himself up by the bootstraps’ and be ‘successful.’
But despite his incarceration, he has always been there for me, even if we only see each other through a window or speak on the phone during visits. This tall, quiet, soft spoken, funny man is the person I most admire. His piercing blue eyes that reflect the sadness in his soul from all the trauma he endured.
My dad is my role model because he holds on to hope that we will be reunited one day. Because he is determined to love me when he was never loved. And because, even though he has been through so much, he is willing to help others.
My grandma emigrated from Mexico to California during the 70s. She worked as a farmworker throughout the Central Valley. Via anecdotes, I know she made a lot of sacrifices for her family in order to provide for her loved ones. She also joined the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) where she met and worked along side of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.
Dozens of families, activists and young people came out to participate in Merced’s third annual Cesar Chavez march; walking down the city’s Martin Luther King Boulevard while holding signs displaying their support for undocumented rights and the continued protection of farm workers.
“We’re very happy with the event,” said Jesse Ornelas, community organizer and member of the local chapter of the Brown Berets. “We got the community to come out and talk about issues that were relevant to South Merced and the farmworker community in general in this area.”
There are many stories of people who are afraid to go outside in the daytime, of youth who are mistaken for gang members and attacked. This is what our city has come to, and it's been this way for as long as I can remember.
In order to change this, we need real investment from the city. Light posts need to be added in neighborhoods that are without them, parks need to be maintained, and pedestrians need sidewalks. These are the most basic elements that allow residents to feel safe in their neighborhoods. Without them, how can anyone feel safe?
Since taking office, Trump dramatically expanded the definition of who can be prioritized for deportation. Immigration attorneys say that under the expanded definition, nearly any undocumented immigrant could be considered a target.
The first thing to understand, Ruch said, is what undocumented means.
“Visa overstayers, as well as people who came without a visa, are undocumented,” Ruch explained on a recent national press call organized by New America Media and Ready California.
Legal immigrants, especially those who have criminal issues or travel internationally, may want to check with an attorney to find out their options and risks, Ruch said.
You might think sports teams are just a group of random people working together towards a shared goal, like winning or accomplishing a task, but for those of us who are part of teams, we know they are more than that.
It’s about the bond. The goal brings the group together, but it’s overcoming the obstacles along the way and forming a bond so special, it becomes nearly impossible to break.
The kids of this new neighborhood only cared about his street credibility: where he was from and what drugs he took. Teachers only cared about his prior education and how his grades were above average. This boy will refuse to make friends and keep to himself, focusing strictly on education. Until mom's too busy working to notice his 3.0 grade point average or achievements. The boy then realizes he has no achievements, or friends. His grades don't bring that release of dopamine anymore. His teenage mind is his worst enemy.
Multiple speakers also identified the current presidential administration as a serious threat to undocumented laborers in California, saying communities need to organize once again and rally around legislation to help protect rural communities.
“We are once again at a pivotal moment. Things are becoming painted as clear cut moral issue and that’s something that the [UFW] movement, at its height, was able to do,” said Miriam Pawel, author of “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez.”
“You were in favor of the conditions [in the fields] or you were against them. It was a moral choice,” she continued.
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