California School Districts Struggle To Build Out Classrooms For Transitional Kindergarten

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, June 11, 2024…

• When school starts in 2025, every four-year-old in the state will be able to attend public school. It’s a new grade known as transitional kindergarten. But some districts are struggling to build or tweak classrooms to make them best fit for these young learners. 
• A federal appeals court has ruled that a California law that set guidelines for classifying workers did not unfairly target Uber and other gig companies. In a lawsuit, Uber and the delivery company Postmates alleged that Assembly Bill 5 forced them to meet higher standards to classify their workers as independent contractors. 
• 25 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at UCLA on Monday after the group set up at least three encampments on campus. The group was trying to call attention to Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war, reading out the names of those who were killed in Gaza. Law enforcement declared the encampments unlawful and took a group of protesters into custody.

California Struggles With Classroom Space For Transitional Kindergarten

In 2021, California embarked on a $2.7 billion plan to offer transitional kindergarten to all four-year-olds by the 2025-2026 school year in what’s poised to be the largest free pre-K program in the country. But school districts across the state are struggling to build or modify the facilities most appropriate for these new young learners.

State requirements for new TK classrooms (and kindergarten classrooms) are different than those of typical classrooms. Four-year-olds can’t just sit at desks all day. They also need space to play, indoors and outdoors. They also need supervision when going to the bathroom, which means having a restroom inside the classroom, or close by.

California Gig Worker Law Withstands Challenge From Uber At Federal Appeals Court

Uber has lost its long-running attempt to overturn a California law that would require it to provide employment rights to its drivers and delivery workers. 

The ruling Monday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could have major implications,  depending on what the state Supreme Court decides in a separate, but related case.

Uber and Postmates, a food-delivery platform Uber now owns, alleged that Assembly Bill 5 violated their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the state and U.S. constitutions. AB 5 requires ride-hailing and delivery companies to treat their workers as employees instead of independent contractors and codifies the so-called ABC test to determine which workers should receive benefits. Under the law, other gig companies are subject to a different test, which Uber and Postmates claimed was unfair.

More Protesters Arrested At UCLA

25 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at UCLA on Monday after the group set up three encampments on campus.

This follows two previous encampments that were organized by the UC Divest Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA. The groups are demanding the University of California divest from companies associated with Israel.

The activists who were arrested Monday have been ordered to stay away from the UCLA campus for 14 days.