Leno bill gives homeless youth access to high school equivalency exams

SACRAMENTO – Homeless youth across California would have greater access to the high school proficiency and equivalency exams under new legislation introduced by Senator Mark Leno. Senate Bill 252 would prohibit the Department of Education or testing companies from charging an exam fee to young people who are homeless. “Exam fees, which cost up to…

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San Diego to celebrate health and education with three major events Aug. 9

SAN DIEGO – Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD) and Assemblywoman Shirley N. Weber will host a trifecta of celebrations Aug. 9, combining three major events into a single unified celebration at the new Diamond Neighborhoods Family Health Center. The Health Fair and Back-to-School celebration will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Diamond Neighborhoods Family…

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Point Foundation announces higher education scholarships

LOS ANGELES, — Point Foundation (Point) has announced that it is awarding scholarships to 23 students. The new scholarship recipients bring Point’s total to 80 full-time students who will receive financial assistance and programmatic support from Point during the 2014 – 2015 academic year. Point is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender…

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Celebrate ‘educate2impact day’ May 21

LOS ANGELES — Point Foundation has announced May 21, as the date for the inaugural educate2impact day and launched the Web site www.educate2impact.org. Everyone deserves equal access to education and educate2impact day will bring attention to the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students attending and graduating from high school and college. Thomas…

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California Music Educators Association names Kevin Beiser ‘Music Legislator of the Year’

SAN DIEGO – The California Music Educators Association (CMEA) has chosen Kevin Beiser, San Diego Unified School District’s recently elected Board of Trustees president, as the 2013 CMEA Legislative Music Leadership awardee. Beiser had earlier received recognition from the San Diego chapter of the CMEA, which nominated him for the state-wide award. “After receiving the…

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Kevin Beiser: public education’s unlikely gay superhero

Kevin Beiser grew up in a family whose challenges included constant moving, homelessness, school suspensions, low expectations from teachers and addiction. Nevertheless, he is now president of one of the largest school districts in the nation, San Diego Unified. “I remember my first couple of days at middle school,” Beiser recalls. “I was following my…

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Bay Area education leaders support the School Success and Opportunity Act

Local school boards and communities this week continued their progress towards implementing the School Success and Opportunity Act, which Governor Brown signed earlier this year.  The new law, AB1266, restates existing anti-discrimination law to ensure that all students, including transgender students, have the opportunity to fully participate and succeed in schools. Kane Tajnai, a student…

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Gov. Brown signs historic Transgender Students Bill into law

SACRAMENTO—Today, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the historic School Success and Opportunity Act into law, ensuring transgender youth have the opportunity to fully participate and succeed in schools across the state. Assembly Bill 1266—which goes into effect  Jan. 1, 2014—was authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and passed the California State Senate and Assembly earlier this…

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