California
California schools spent $250,000 on 'Woke Kindergarten' curriculum
A California school district spent $250,000 on a ‘Woke Kindergarten’ curriculum for young children, according to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle, at a time when most of its students were failing to achieve grade-level competency in reading, writing, and math.
The teacher training provided by the group, which taught anti-Israel and anti-police messages and apparently told teachers they were meant to “disrupt whiteness” in school, was paid for using a federal program to help low-performing schools.
“Our reading scores are low,” one teacher told the Chronicle. “That could have gotten us a reading interventionist.”
Hayward district Superintendent Jason Reimann told the Chronicle that Woke Kindergarten was hired to boost attendance rates and eliminate suspensions, not for its political contents. And, Reimann said, the school has seen improvement in those areas: only 44% of students were considered chronically absent last year, the article said, compared to 61% the year before.
Nevertheless, the politics of the Woke Kindergarten group have, unsurprisingly, drawn significant attention and criticism: the for-profit education program, aimed at elementary-age students, advertises itself as “supporting children, families, educators and organizations in their commitment to abolitionist early education and pro-black and queer and trans liberation.”
Anti-Israel ‘zines and “Lil’ Comrade Convos”
It also offers online materials such as “woke wonderings”— questions for students including, “If the United States defunded the Israeli military, how could this money be used to rebuild Palestine?”— and educational materials such as “Free Palestine: a Visual History Instazine: for Kids” and “So You Made it to a Protest! A sensory guide for kids.”
On the website’s “woke word of the day” page, educators are offered “resources to introduce children to liberatory vocabulary in a way that they can easily digest, understand and most importantly, use in their critiques of the system.” Words of the day include “ceasefire,” “strike,” and “anti-racist.”
A recent post to the crowdfunding site Patreon, through which Woke Kindergarten raises some of its money, included a re-written version of the classic kids’ song “The Wheels on the Bus Go Round-and-Round” to be about an Israeli tank.
Tiger Craven-Neeley, a self-described “gay moderate” who teaches in the district and previously sued a California school district for the right to discuss gay history, as well as his own husband, with students, told the Chronicle that he questioned a trainer who used the phrase “so-called United States,” as well as online materials such as “Lil’ Comrade Convos,” and said he didn’t mean to be difficult when he asked for clarification about “disrupting whiteness.”
“What does that mean?” Craven-Neeley asked, “adding that such questions got him at least temporarily banned from future training sessions. ‘I just want to know, what does that mean for a third-grade classroom?’”
California traveled to Louisville, Ky., in search of a statement win against the No. 14 Louisville Cardinals (7-2, 4-2 ACC), and the Golden Bears (6-4, 3-3 ACC) pulled out all the stops Saturday evening to earn the upset, 29-26, in overtime.
On the first play of the game, California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw a lateral to his slot receiver, Jacob de Jesus, who then connected with Trond Grizzell on a deep 27-yard pass. While the Golden Bears would not score on the drive, their fast and aggressive play early on silenced much of the 51,381 in attendance.
California out-gained Louisville in total yards and offensive plays throughout the entire game. The Golden Bears never once trailed the nationally ranked Cardinals by more than one score, despite entering the game as three-score underdogs, according to many sportsbooks’ odds.
Sagapolutele earned the game-winning touchdown in overtime with a nail-biting throw on fourth down. California’s first-year signal-caller found his favorite target of the evening, de Jesus, who brought in the three-yard reception to close out the game.
De Jesus had a game-high 157 receiving yards and hauled in 16 of 23 passes in which he was targeted. His 16 receptions tie Geoff McArthur’s school record for receptions by a receiver in a single game.
In his post-game press conference, Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm praised de Jesus, calling him California’s “best player.”
“… Even at the end, to allow their best player to be one-on-one for an easy throw in the corner… you know, we need to coach better; we need to play better,” Coach Brohm said.
Sagapolutele completed 30 out of 47 passes attempted and racked up 323 passing yards—both career highs. In addition to the game-decider, the quarterback threw his first touchdown of the game in the first quarter, a 20-yard bomb to tight end Landon Morris.
The last time California beat a nationally ranked, top-25 team was on Dec. 5, 2020, when the Golden Bears upset the No. 20 Oregon Ducks, 21-17, for their first win in the 2020 college football season.
With the win, California is now eligible for a post-season bowl bid.
CALIFORNIA (AZFamily) — The mother of a missing California girl has been arrested on charges unrelated to her daughter’s disappearance, but the child still has yet to be found.
FBI Los Angeles announced that 40-year-old Ashlee Buzzard was taken into custody on Friday. However, the whereabouts of her daughter, 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, remain unknown.
Melodee and Ashlee reportedly went on a road trip as far as Nebraska in a rental white Chevrolet Malibu last month, detectives say. Federal authorities say Melodee and her mother may have passed through Interstate 15 in Littlefield, Arizona while on the drive.
Detectives say Ashlee was arrested for a recent incident where she allegedly prevented a victim from leaving against their will. Authorities say this crime is not connected to the ongoing search for Melodee.
“Although this arrest occurred during the course of the missing person investigation, it is not directly related to Melodee’s disappearance. Sheriff’s detectives remain fully focused on locating Melodee and confirming her safety,” FBI Los Angeles said in a statement.
Ashlee was booked for a felony charge of false imprisonment. She is being held at a jail in Santa Maria, California, with bail set at $100,000.
Melodee was photographed at a rental car agency on Oct. 7, wearing a wig and a hoodie.
The young girl has brown eyes and brown, curly hair that may be straightened or covered with a dark wig. She is between four and four-and-a-half feet tall, weighing between 60 and 100 pounds.
Anyone with information about Melodee is asked to contact detectives at (805) 681-4150 or submit an anonymous tip at (805) 681-4171.
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California
Home Ronald and Nancy Reagan commissioned as California Governor’s Mansion hits the market
A Carmichael home that was originally designed to be California’s official Governor’s Mansion is now up for sale.
The mid-century modern home, located at 2300 California Avenue, was built in 1975 after being commissioned by Ronald and Nancy Reagan to replace the aging governor’s mansion at 16th and H streets in Sacramento.
By the time construction was finished, Reagan had already left office. His successor, Jerry Brown, declined to move in – famously dismissing the Carmichael residence as the “Taj Mahal.”
No California governor ever called the mansion home, with the property being sold to a private citizen in 1983.
A time capsule installed at the property recognizes the home’s history. The capsule is scheduled to be opened on July 4, 2076.
Now, as of Oct. 16, the Carmichael home has hit the market with a list price of $7.5 million. The property spans 4.3 acres that overlook the American River, with the home featuring a total of 8 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, and 2 half bathrooms.
“You can really feel the history here,” said realtor Hattie Coleman in a statement.
The Carmichael home last sold in 2004 for $4.1 million.
The East Sacramento home Reagan lived in for much of his time as California governor was designated as a historic landmark in 2024.
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