LAUSD and other school districts nationwide are struggling to fill positions, including teachers and substitutes, crossing guards, and lunchroom attendants. “Our entire profession is in a crisis mode because people just don't respect it and appreciate it the way that it used to be,” says San Pedro High School principal Steve Gebhart. “The continued systemic pressures that are put on the classroom teacher and just all levels of educators on the school site is just something [educators] are not able to manage anymore.”

Also, jury selection is underway in the trial of three white Georgia men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a Black 25-year-old who was out jogging. Ambitious climate change legislation is part of the $3.5 trillion budget package that Congressional democrats are debating, and the party’s self-imposed deadline to pass it is the end of this month.