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Category: Education

  • The DJUSD Board Has Lost the Public’s Trust

    By Elizabeth Coolbrith

    The issue facing Davis is no longer Measure V. The issue is trust.

    For months, Davis parents were told that declining enrollment posed a serious threat to our schools. School closures, boundary changes, and district restructuring were presented as looming possibilities. Families understandably worried about the future of their neighborhood schools.

    At the same time, Davis Joint Unified School District leadership became deeply involved in the public discussion surrounding Measure V. District leaders repeatedly linked the Village Farms development to the future health of Davis schools, arguing that new housing would bring students and revenue. Many residents came away with a clear message: support Measure V or face the possibility of school closures.

    That perception matters because California school districts are expected to follow a clear principle during election campaigns: educate, don’t advocate. Public agencies may provide information about ballot measures, but they should not use their positions or public resources to persuade voters toward a particular outcome. The distinction exists for a reason. Public institutions are entrusted with informing the public, not campaigning.

    Many parents questioned whether that line remained clear during the Measure V campaign. Superintendent Matt Best conducted presentations throughout the community discussing why the district supported the project and how its approval could benefit local schools. Whether intentional or not, many residents felt these communications sounded less like neutral information and more like advocacy.

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  • You Don’t Tug on Superman’s Cape

    By Bertie Brouhard

    Sound advice from Jim Croce in his 1972 ballad “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” But I did tug with some success. 

    Long gone are Clark Kent and Lois Lane but I have found their replacements on the UCD Campus. 

    Last week I was ushered into the office of Chancellor Gary May on the fifth floor of Mrak Hall. Hanging on the wall of the Chancellor’s dark paneled office was his Superman cape. (I should have asked for a photo of him in his cape but lacked the courage.)

    After exchanging smiles and a handshake we sat at his conference table. My “tugging” began. He, now 62, was relaxed in his white starched shirt with black cufflinks and stylish necktie. He easily, confidently projects an image of leadership competence, attention and approachability. You’d gladly welcome him as your manager, boss, supervisor – Chancellor.

    A curious townie with no knowledge or previous experience with the workings of a large university campus I’m most grateful for the time and interest he gave to our interview. I had earlier submitted questions; softball tosses I’m sure.

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  • Living Water, Living Knowledge: Youth Explore Indigenous Stewardship in the Yolo Basin

    (From press release) For thousands of years, Patwin-Wintun peoples cared for the wetlands and waterways of the Yolo Basin using stewardship practices that enhanced biodiversity and sustained one of California’s richest delta ecosystems. This summer, Native, BIPOC, and ally youth are invited to experience these teachings firsthand through the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Youth Program.

    Led by Wintun/Maidu educator, naturalist, Fire Boss, and cultural practitioner Diana Almendariz, participants will explore how Indigenous communities lived in relationship with the land, plants, animals, and living water. Through hands-on activities, youth will learn about tule gathering, cultural burning, wetland ecology, wildlife, traditional foods, and Indigenous approaches to environmental stewardship.

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  • Twelve Davis teachers in support of Measure V

    [Doug Buzbee emailed the following to the Davisite for posting]

    Dear Neighbor,

    We are Davis teachers, and we are lucky to teach in this wonderful community. But our schools are in trouble. Every year, we have fewer and fewer new students. It’s gotten to the point that unless something changes, we will struggle to sustain the quality schools that Davis expects and deserves.

    Because of declining enrollment, the Davis Joint Unified School District announced potential plans to close two elementary schools and possibly a junior high school.

    Make no mistake – the ripple effects of school closures would be felt across our town, and not just by families with students. Deep-rooted school communities would be dissolved, surrounding neighborhoods would become less desirable, biking to school would become harder, car traffic would increase, teachers would be let go, and the list goes on.

    Those of us who teach at these threatened schools face a simple question from our students: why is this happening? The answer is clear – Davis has not done enough in recent years to make it possible for young families to move here.

    This is why we are supporting Measure V on the June ballot.

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  • Who Pays the Price in Davis Schools?

    By Jasmine Pettis

    At a time when Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) is asking families to consider closing neighborhood schools, one question remains unanswered: Have District leaders fully examined their own spending before asking the community to absorb the consequences?

    The answer appears to be “no”. Recent salary data shows that DJUSD’s superintendent received more than $427,000 in total compensation in 2024, with several central office administrators earning well over $200,000 annually. At the same time, the District is discussing the drastic step of school closures as a necessary response to budget pressures.

    DJUSD families have been told in Board Subcommittee meetings that there is “no fat left to trim.” That claim doesn’t hold up.

    The two realities of rising administrative compensation and proposed school closures demand scrutiny. Allow me:

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  • Lack of transparency in the relationship between DJUSD and Village Farms developer

    Screenshot

    By Elizabeth Coolbrith

    I am a parent with two children in DJUSD schools, and I’m sharing this focused update because Davis voters deserve to see some specific information that hasn’t been laid out clearly in one place. This goes to the heart of transparency and illuminates an aspect of the relationship between DJUSD leadership and the Village Farms developer. Now that these documents are public, I feel a responsibility to share them.

    Two pieces stand out:

    First, there is long‑term developer funding of DJUSD entities tied to Village Farms developer John Whitcombe and Tandem Properties, who have been major funders of DJUSD through the Tandem Foundation. Public records show roughly $40,000 a year in donations to Davis schools for over 20 years, totaling close to $500,000 as of 2023. These generous donations are legal. But they can create the appearance of a very close, ongoing financial relationship between this developer and the district.

    Second, newly released public records include an email from the Village Farms development team asking DJUSD to keep Measure V communications off email.

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  • Give students stronger representation on the UC Board of Regents

    Support ACA 18

    By Raymond de Vente

    In a public university system that manages a $53.5 billion annual budget, oversees three national labs, and educates nearly 300,000 students, you would expect those students to have a real say in how things are run. Currently, they do not.

    That is why Californians should pay attention to ACA 18, a new Assembly Constitutional Amendment moving through the state legislature. Authored by Assemblymember Jessica Caloza (D-Los Angeles), this measure would finally fix a long-standing democratic deficit at the heart of the University of California.

    Here is the current reality: Under the California Constitution, the UC Board of Regents, the powerful body that governs the entire system, includes just one voting student representative. One vote for almost 300,000 minds. While the constitution currently authorizes the Board to appoint student members, it does not guarantee meaningful representation. After a year of serving as a non-voting “designate,” a single student finally gets a vote. For a system this massive, that is not representation; it is a token gesture.

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  • Davis Deprives Younger Adults of Longterm Housing: Population Demographics

    by Hiram Jackson

    Introduction

    Davis has followed a policy of restrictive growth since 2000 when Measure J passed, which allowed city voters to approve of new projects on the margins of the city.  Since then, Breton Woods, designed for older (55+ years) residents, and the Nishi project, designed for UC Davis students, both passed in 2018. 

    Apart from that, every other proposed project, which notably would have been available for younger adults less than age 54, has been rejected.  This quarter century drought on peripheral developments for younger adults has consequences in our current demographic makeup.

    City of Davis census data show a local declining young adult population

    From 2000 to 2020 U.S. Census data show that Davis grew from about 60,000 to 66,000, an annualized growth rate of about 0.5%.  Within that time the population of 20- to 29-year-olds, which includes mostly UC Davis students, grew by about 2500.  The population of Davis adults aged 50 and older grew by 8,000, reflecting good health and the desirability of our community.  Meanwhile, the number of young adults aged 30 to 49 has shrunk by 2,000 during the same period (See Census chart). 

    Figure 1 – City of Davis Population – 2000 v. 2020 U.S. Census

    This last age cohort, specifically, includes parents who are likely to enroll students in the local public schools.   Based on the 2020 U.S. census, the 30 to 49 age cohort is proportionally larger, statewide and nationally, than either the Baby Boomer or older Gen X population, demonstrating that the Davis decrease is anomalous in not accommodating this age cohort.

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  • Trump administration drops its attack on the University of California

    By Roberta Millstein

    This is a quick followup to two earlier articles.

    In “Trump’s Attacks on the University of California (and higher education more generally)” I explained how the administration’s “Demand” letter sought a $1.2 Billion “settlement” from UCLA for allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. 

    Then, in “Coalition of faculty unions prevails against Trump’s attacks on the UC,” I explained that the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California granted the Plaintiffs in AAUP v. Trump, including the Davis Faculty Association, a preliminary injunction — that by temporary court order, the federal government is prohibited from holding federal funds hostage in an effort to coerce the University of California into imposing policies that would violate our First Amendment rights.

    That temporary court order is now permanent in the wake of the Department of Justice dropping its appeal of the federal court order.

    As Brian Lynch explains, the order:

    …doesn’t just unwind what the government already did to UCLA — it sets the rules for what the government can’t do going forward to any part of the UC system.

    He continues:

    The modified order, filed February 13, 2026, does two remarkable things. First, it forces the government to follow the law before it cuts university funding. Second — and this is the real teeth — it means that if the government freezes or restricts UC funding without completing every required procedural step, the university can go straight to court and seek enforcement of the injunction. The government would be in violation of a federal court order, and the remedy is immediate. Universities don’t have to start from scratch with a new lawsuit; the injunction is already in place.

    Note the word “universities” — not just UCLA, not just the UC, but universities. Thus, Lynch points out “this injunction is a roadmap for every university currently facing the same playbook.”

    This strikes a major blow against Trump’s attempts to illegally control the free speech and operation of universities in the U.S. Are you listening, University of California? Thanks to your faculty, students, and staff who risked speaking out, you don’t have to capitulate to Trump’s demands anymore. I — and many others — urge you to stop.

    This is a BFD. And it shows that fighting back can work.

  • Avid Reader Author Event for _Exploring the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Region_, March 19

    Announcing a free Author Event at the Avid Reader for Exploring the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Region, Thursday, March 19, 6:30-7:30 PM, with Davis co-author Bob Schneider, 617 2nd St, Davis.

    Written by Marc Hoshovsky, Peter Schiffman, Bob Schneider, and Tim Messick, Exploring the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Region is a newly released guidebook that helps you explore and learn about this extraordinary yet under-recognized region in our own backyard. Located in the northern Coast Ranges between the Central Valley and the Pacific Coast, this region has world renowned geology, extraordinary biodiversity, and rich cultural history, a story unlike any other in California. It is a wild expanse of steep canyons, ancient subduction zones, uplifted ocean crust, extraordinary biological hotspots, and traditional home to many Native peoples—all within a short drive of the Bay Area and Sacramento. In one day’s drive, you can get sweeping views of Clear Lake from Bartlett Mountain Summit, pick up rocks formed on the ocean floor, drive through spectacular wildflower displays in Bear Valley, see tule elk and bald eagles, and soak in historic Wilbur Hot Springs. 

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