“In Focus SoCal” host Tanya McRae continues to look back at the defining issues and events of 2023 that impacted Southern California. High school seniors are currently preparing for the first round of college applications since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in June. California’s public universities have not used affirmative action since 1996 after voters approved Proposition 209, which barred public institutions from considering race as a factor in admissions. The UC system spent half a billion dollars on outreach programs after diversity on campuses plunged. Officials report it took nearly two decades for diversity to ramp up again.
Meanwhile, students returned to classrooms this fall, three years after the COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted learning. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho pledged the district will recover fully from the effects of the pandemic within two years. LA Unified’s $2.6 billion of funding through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Act and has until September 2024 to spend or commit the funds.
“We’re hired additional academic coaches in reading and mathematics, massive professional development with the ESSER money,” Carvalho said.
This summer, the California Reparations Task Force released a final report after a two-year comprehensive study, including 100 statewide policy proposals to address generations of racial discrimination and disparities. In August, Sen. Steven Bradford, who was on the task force, introduced the California American Freeman Affairs Agency. It’s the first substantive legislation introduced, and it will be eligible for a vote by the legislature in 2024.
In September, a federal judge in Texas declared a revised version of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival illegal. The federal policy, created in 2012, prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
McRae also sat down with LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who is currently the longest-serving member on the board currently. She discussed some of the big issues that the board tackled in 2023, including considering expanding the number of seats.
“The last census really, I think, hit home just how large the county is. You know, we have well over 10 million people across 4,000 square miles. We are one of the largest counties in the entire country,” Solis said.
“So one of the things that I’ve been hearing for many years is that we should be expanding the board.”
“In Focus SoCal” also takes a look ahead at some of the new laws going into effect in 2024, including AB 716, which ends surprise ambulance billings in California.
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