California’s system of school finance has undergone drastic changes shifting control long held by the state to school districts. From the early 1970s to the early 2010s, California closely regulated the financing of its public school system. However, 2013 brought on a shift back to local control and discretion over spending with the condition that districts engage constructively with their communities to determine local spending priorities. Existing research has assessed the efficacy and equity of the finance system change (and for whom it is and isn’t equitable) as well as challenges with productive community engagement. This study extends on past work by examining quantitative associations between district spending patterns between 2014 and 2020 reported in Local Control and Accountability Plans and district-level socio-demographic (district ethnoracial composition, student enrollment and demographics) and -economic factors (district budget, median property value and income) measured by the American Community Survey (ACS) and California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). Associations between district spending patterns and their demographic and economic make-up provides a standardized state-wide proxy estimate of the actualization of local spending priorities. If districts are defining local spending priorities which reflect their community and are reflected in their actual spending, they are working to fulfill the promise of local control; otherwise, both school districts and California must work to realize and practice community engagement for the interest of all students and communities.

This project evaluates the effectiveness of outreach programs in underrepresented communities in California’s Rental Assistance Program. More specifically, this project assesses the Covid-19 rental relief outreach process, with a focus on the barriers and modifications needed to make the application more accessible for those seeking relief. There has been an increase in rent burden and extreme housing displacement since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study conducts qualitative research methods consisting of two focus groups (Latinx and Chinese communities) to show how lack of trust and or lack of accessibility effect people’s access to rent relief. The data shows that lack of trust in landlords, immigration status identification, and verifying their source of income creates barriers to rent relief. As well as by a lack of access to technology, the application itself, and language translation. By making these changes we can improve the application and thus create greater access to rent relief.

Since the 1940’s and 1950’s labor union representation has steadily declined to some of the lowest points in the last century; and among varying demographics of workers, of which are uniquely affected by the context of labor in America, one demographic has remained consistently underrepresented and under organized, despite the size of their population. The goal of this research is to understand the labor struggles of Chicanx and Latinx peoples in the United States and try to understand how Labor Unions are attempting to organize them and asses if they are being successful. Furthermore, this will be a heavily exploratory research project, and the starting point of this project is first to grasp the history of Mexican/Latino labor in the United States. Upon doing so, we will develop prescriptive solutions to common organizing roadblocks, by first establishing which tactics have proven to work greater than others.