America’s 250th birthday is causing headaches for CA teachers

I’m CalMatters reporter Marissa Kendall, filling in for Lynn today.

America turns 250 this year. For California students, this important Fourth of July milestone will be about more than fireworks and backyard barbecues: it will be a time to learn about how their government works.

For decades, civics education was neglected in California schools, in large part because of the intense focus on reading and math prompted by the No Child Left Behind initiative in the early 2000s. But there are efforts at the state and local level to change that, holding schools accountable for teaching civics and introducing new lessons focused on the country’s birthday.

The idea is to inspire students to get involved, become regular voters or even run for public office.

• Michael Matsuda, former superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District: “Who is responsible for ensuring that the next generation supports democracy? It’s not up in the air – it’s something that needs to be taught and schools need to teach it.”

But it’s not always that simple. Over the past year, policy changes at the federal level have led to some confusion about what citizenship is, what patriotism is, and even what the country’s founding principles are. Although civic education is traditionally nonpartisan, President Donald Trump’s administration has shifted funding to right-wing organizations.

In response, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office is working on lesson plans that mark California’s 175th anniversary as a state.

Competing curricula only make life more difficult for civics teachers, who are already “treading lightly” in the current era of hyperpolarization, said Michelle Herzog, former history and social studies coordinator for the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

• duke: “It takes a very special skill set for teachers to stay out of the political fray.”

Read more here.

Stay away from diseased seals. This is the warning government health officials are giving to Californians after making an unprecedented discovery: baby elephant seals infected with H5N1 bird flu.

Seals at Año Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County have experienced weakness, tremors, seizures and sudden death, according to the California Department of Public Health. In response, California State Parks have closed areas of the beach.

This is the first documented time the virus has spread to a marine mammal in California.

• Dr. Erica Pan, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer: “The risk to the general public remains very low, but Californians can protect themselves and their pets by avoiding contact with sick or dead marine mammals or birds, keeping pets on a leash near beaches and following closures.”

The virus can have devastating effects on marine mammals. In 2023 it thousands killed of elephant seals at an Argentine breeding site.

Do Californians have to show ID at the polls?

With President Donald Trump pushing for additional voter requirements at the federal level, the issue could also end up on California’s ballot this November.

Backers of the Republican-backed effort say they have submitted more than enough signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. One supporter says Californians want “fairness back in our elections.”

Opponents say voter ID laws unfairly disadvantage poor people and black and Hispanic voters who are less likely to have official identification, and that creating more requirements is a way to make it harder for people who typically support Democrats to vote. They also stress that voter fraud is rare.

But a 2025 survey from the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for Governmental Studies showed that a majority of Californians polled support voter ID at the polls.

Read on full story.

California’s foster care system is facing an insurance crisis that threatens to displace thousands of vulnerable children.

Without any long-term policy solutions, advocates warn that the entire system is at risk of collapse.

Read more here.