The Westminster City Council this week approved funding of $450,000 to help build the Mendez Historic Freedom Trail and Monument.
The memorial will honor the Mendez v. Westminster case that ended segregation in California public schools. It will eventually be constructed along a 2.5-mile stretch along Hoover Avenue onto Westminster Avenue.
OCDE is teaming up with Westminster to create content and curriculum for the project, which will include interactive learning stations for students and other visitors.
The city is hoping to secure additional funding and state grants before it can break ground either later this year or early next year.
During the City Council meeting, Jasmine Chhabria, a ninth-grade student from Irvine’s Northwood High School, performed her symbolic re-enactment of the landmark legal case on school desegregation, a presentation she calls “Mendez vs. Westminster: Conflict and Compromise in Segregated Education,” according to an article on OrangeCountyTribune.com.
Here are some other education stories for the week ending July 12.
- The Santa Ana Unified School District is launching a national search for a new superintendent. Stefanie Phillips announced her resignation at the board’s June 25 meeting.
- The California State Legislature is once again busy this summer considering dozens of proposed education bills that could affect education. The OCDE Newsroom has compiled a digest of a few of these bills.
- In the first grade, Nicholas D’Sa told his teacher that one of his goals in life was to become a good speller. Years later, the Tustin student would go on to become one of the top spellers in the nation.
- Educators, parents and community members will learn how to further enhance interpretation and translation services in schools with the help of nationally and internationally recognized experts at OCDE’s Interpreters and Translators Conference in September.
- New studies look at how 10 school districts throughout California struggled and found success as they transitioned to the state’s new math standards.
- After weeks of negotiation, Gov. Gavin Newsom has stepped in to scale back proposed legislation that charter school advocates feared would radically slow charter growth.
- The number of California students enrolled in private schools has fallen by nearly 25 percent since 2000 – dragged down by a significant drop in the number of students attending religious schools.
- California State University is accepting applications from students enrolled in teacher preparation programs who want to spend a year in a residency program and receive a $10,000 scholarship in exchange for promising to teach in a high-needs school for two years.
This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroom, subscribing for emailed updates or following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.