After spending less than a year living in Southern California, quarterback Ford Green of Westlake High retains his distinct South Carolina accent, still answers questions with “yes sir” and “no sir,” and greets adults with a handshake that can be described as nothing less than crushing.
The first impression he makes is off the charts, which piques the curiosity of strangers wanting to learn more. It only gets better., with As on his report card, an arm that throws frozen ropes and a sports history that includes baseball and boxing, which means defensive linemen better think long and hard if they want to do something stupid.
As a freshman last season, Green guided Westlake to an 11-1 record with 2,195 yards passing and 31 touchdowns. It was his first time playing quarterback with the idea of “going all in.” During the spring, Ohio State was among the schools offering a scholarship despite his lack of football experience. The Buckeyes might be on to something.
The 2026 season could be the year the 6-foot-2 Green rises to a whole different level because of his expected improvement from workouts, practices and devoting total attention to where he wants to go.
Before last season, he said he played football for fun in South Carolina. He was a baseball player, with his focus on pitching. Then, in 2025, everything changed. He said he went “all in” on playing quarterback.
“I fell in love,” he said. “When I wake up, I think about football. When I’m eating, I think about football. When I’m at school, I think about football. I’m infatuated by the game. Not a second goes by where I don’t think something about football. It’s my life.”
Put it down on your calendar. July 11. Edison’s Battle at the Beach seven on seven passing tournament. Great lineup of teams as always. pic.twitter.com/wV1tZATIQV
Green is someone to pay close attention to this summer during passing tournaments and showcases. Call it the bandwagon effect that happens when one person after another comes to the same conclusion and recognition that someone is going to be very successful.
Twice a week, he goes on Zoom to receive training from a Canadian Football League quarterback. Other times, he works with a private quarterback coach. He already understands the intricacies of the position.
“There’s so many more factors in playing quarterback than just arm,” he said. “It all starts between the ears.”
Westlake has gone from 0-10 to 5-0. Freshman QB Ford Green 17 of 24 passing for 301 yards, five TDs in win over Venice. Charles Davis seven catches, 130 yards, 1 TD.
As scrutiny heightens, attention grows and expectations increase, Green said he’ll follow a big lesson already learned.
“Take it day by day,” he said. “It’s never as good as it seems, it’s never as bad as it seems. Stay neutral and get better every day. I feel if I get better every day, I’ll be able to reach my goals and dreams.”
He said he was too busy with football this year to go out for Westlake’s baseball team, but in the spring of 2027, prepare for his high school pitching debut.
I can say confidently group of incoming freshmen quarterbacks in SoCal looks promising: Grady Wayne, Corona Centennial; Ford Green, Westlake; Thaddeus Breaux, Hamilton; Ezrah Brown, Orange Lutheran; Marcus Washington, Cajon; Evan McCalister, Valencia.
Green was part of an outstanding group of class of 2029 quarterbacks last fall, all of whom should be continuing their rise to prominence.
Seven-on-seven tournaments will be happening almost every weekend in June. Then, next month, prepare for one of the best on July 11 at Huntington Beach Edison, which brings out St. John Bosco, Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo, among others. The “offseason” has been shortened, with zero week scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 21-22. Programs are required to take a mandatory two-week summer break. Some take it in June, others in July. And then there’s the inevitable movement of players through transfers to change teams.
For Green, the 2026-27 school year is shaping up as his most pivotal season to show where he’s headed and what kind of talents he has in the classroom, on the football field and on the pitching mound.
Monitor the journey closely. Something tells me he won’t disappoint.
At the state track and field championships, Jayden Rendon of Carson was in the lead of the 300 intermediate hurdles on Saturday when he struck the final hurdle and fell to the ground. So ended his opportunity to repeat as state champion.
Did he pout? Did he lose his composure? Did he blame something or someone?
Absolutely not.
“You live and learn,” he said. “It does no justice dwelling when I can do so much more.”
He’s headed to USC, and what a student athlete he will become. He was honored on Tuesday, receiving a $1,500 scholarship from the City Section for his academic and athletic commitment. He wrote an essay on how schools in the Southern Section were trying to convince him to leave Carson.
He said absolutely not.
“Growing up in the track world since I was 8 years old, I watched many of my friends and teammates make a decision to attend schools outside of their community,” he wrote. “Their reasoning was based around sports because they believed that the CIF Southern Section schools were more competitive and would give them more opportunities for success. When I was in middle school, my family moved to Long Beach from Carson, which made my home school Long Beach Poly. The majority of my youth team friends decided to attend LB Poly, and I was often questioned on why I chose to stay in Carson instead of following the crowd. My parents and I were told that I would never reach my full potential in the City Section.
“My decision to stay in Carson and compete for the City Section was not just about competition, but about connection. While preparing to compete in the multi-events at the Junior Olympics, when I was 10, I had to run the hurdles. Coach Jojo coached hurdles at Carson so my mom asked him if he would be willing to train me in the summer. I grew a bond with Coach Jojo and developed a love for the hurdles. Both my mother and grandmother went to Carson but it was Coach Jojo who showed me what it truly meant to be part of the Colt family. Besides my family, he was my biggest supporter, he believed in me and made me feel like I belonged to something bigger: a legacy. I didn’t care what anyone said, I knew that if I had Coach Jojo by my side and if I set my mind to it, I could be successful.
“I never would have believed that from the start of my freshman year, the sport that I love, would hit me with life: In January 2023, just a few months before my first high school track season began, I lost Coach Jojo to cancer. After being a pallbearer for my beloved Coach Jojo, I made a promise to him to finish what we started. The way I saw it, I had two choices, I could feel sorry for myself or I could push through the pain and stay focused on my goals of becoming a USC Trojan.”
Rendon fulfilled his promise to his coach and community.
“I wanted to stay in the City Section,” he said. “It was my roots. I wanted to be the hometown hero. I didn’t think I needed to move to be great.”
He was right again.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Teachers in north-eastern Nigeria held protests, demanding stronger protection for learning institutions.
The outcry comes after the abduction of dozens of school children in Borno State last month. Al Jazeera’s Felix Niwara explains.
CIF SOCAL SOFTBALL REGIONALS TUESDAY’S RESULTS First Round
DIVISION I #1 Chula Vista Mater Dei, bye #5 Point Loma 10, #4 Whittier Christian 1 #6 St. Paul def. #3 Murrieta Mesa, forfeit #2 La Habra def. #7 Bonita, forfeit
DIVISION II #2 Riverside Prep 1, #8 Del Norte 0 #5 Redwood at #4 Birmingham, Wednesday at 3 p.m. #6 Garces Memorial 3, #3 Oxnard 0 #2 Great Oak 9, #7 El Capitan 4
DIVISION III #8 Mission College Prep 4, #1 Venice 2 #4 Hanford West 19, #5 Eagle Rock 1 #3 Grace 9, #6 Brawley 3 #2 Helix 14, #7 Covina 7
DIVISION IV #1 San Diego Madison 10, #9 Arleta 4 #5 Grossmont 7, #4 Arroyo 4 #3 Irvine 8, #6 Avenal 7 #2 Woodlake 8, #7 Edgewood 4
DIVISION V #1 Arroyo Valley, bye #5 La Jolla 16, #4 Franklin 3 #6 San Bernardino 9, #3 Monte Vista 6 #2 South East, bye
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE (Games at 4 p.m. unless noted) Semifinals
DIVISION I #5 Point Loma at #1 Chula Vista Mater Dei #6 St. Paul at #2 La Habra
DIVISION II #5 Redwood / #4 Birmingham at #1 Riverside Prep #6 Garces Memorial at #2 Great Oak
DIVISION III #8 Mission College Prep at #4 Hanford West #3 Grace at #2 Helix
DIVISION IV #5 Grossmont at #1 San Diego Madison #3 Irvine at #2 Woodlake
DIVISION V #5 La Jolla vs. #1 Arroyo Valley, Wednesday at San Gorgonio #6 San Bernardino at #2 South East
Note: Finals in all divisions Saturday, June 6 at 4 p.m. at higher seeds.
CIF SOCAL BASEBALL REGIONALS TUESDAY’S RESULTS First Round
DIVISION I #8 San Diego Cathedral 4, #1 St. John Bosco 2 #5 La Mirada 7, #4 Bakersfield Liberty 6 #6 Chula Vista Eastlake at #3 Corona, Wednesday #7 Huntington Beach 10, #2 Patrick Henry 3
DIVISION II #8 Arroyo Grande 4, #1 Loyola 3 #4 Bakersfield Christian 3, #5 St. Francis 1 #3 Point Loma 5, #6 Millikan 2 #2 Newport Harbor 2, #7 San Diego Madison 0
DIVISION III #8 Kaiser 2, #1 Mt. Carmel 0 #4 Helix 13, #5 Laguna Beach 4 #6 Westview 7, #3 Carson 1 #7 Culver City 11, #2 Glendora 10 (suspended in bottom of 13th inning due to darkness)
DIVISION IV #8 South El Monte 3, #1 Brentwood 2 #5 Francis Parker 6, #4 Covina 1 #3 Central Valley Christian 6, #6 Garfield 5 #7 North Torrance 2, #2 Bell 0
DIVISION V #1 Verdugo Hills 11, #8 Rolling Hills Prep 2 #5 LA Roosevelt 7, #4 Rancho Alamitos 4 #3 Schurr 11, #6 Webb 1 #2 Coastal Academy 5, #7 Fremont 4
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE (Games at 4 p.m. unless noted) Semifinals
DIVISION I #8 San Diego Cathedral at #5 La Mirada, Friday #7 Huntington Beach at #6 Eastlake / #3 Corona
DIVISION II #8 Arroyo Grande at #4 Bakersfield Christian, Wednesday at 3 p.m. #3 Point Loma at #2 Newport Harbor, Wednesday
DIVISION III #8 Kaiser at #4 Helix #6 Westview vs. #2 Glendora / #7 Culver City
DIVISION IV #8 South El Monte at #5 Francis Parker, Friday #7 North Torrance at #3 Central Valley Christian
DIVISION V #5 LA Roosevelt at #1 Verdugo Hills #3 Schurr vs. #2 Coastal Academy at Palomar College, Wednesday
Note: Finals in all divisions Saturday, June 6 at 4 p.m. at higher seeds.
Los Angeles Unified School District incumbents — Rocio Rivas, Kelly Gonez and Nick Melvoin — surged strongly ahead in early returns Tuesday night for three seats on the Board of Education.
The first reported results were trending toward one-sided outcomes because the major political forces of recent years declined to do battle against each other: The teachers union supported Rivas, who represents a largely Eastside district; a charter-friendly retired businessman supported Melvoin, whose district is centered on the Westside. And the largest union representing nonteaching employees all but avoided the fray.
The third incumbent, Gonez, was the only candidate on the ballot in District 6, and faced one write-in challenger, Jose Sagredo. Thus, Gonez is poised to continue to represent a district centered in the east San Fernando Valley for a third and final term.
With no challengers boosted by high special-interest funding, the three incumbents had a virtually unobstructed campaign path.
If the early returns hold as expected, the Los Angeles Board of Education will continue to lean against charter schools and would stand in general agreement on most policies — including assertive support for immigrants and a continued holding pattern on the future of Supt. Alberto Carvalho, who remains on administrative leave as a federal investigation proceeds.
District 4, Westside
Well ahead in District 4 was two-term incumbent Melvoin. His challenger was Ankur Patel.
The funding advantage in Melvoin’s campaign was sizable through just before election day: Melvoin, $378,803; Patel: $22,662.
In addition, Melvoin benefited from an independent expenditure of $367,093 on his behalf by retired businessman Bill Bloomfield, who has been a major funder in recent campaigns, typically for candidates who also are acceptable to charter-school advocates.
Charters are privately operated public schools, most of which are nonunion. About 1 in 5 L.A. public-school students is enrolled in an independent charter operating within L.A. Unified.
District 2, downtown and Eastside
Also with a huge funding advantage was Rocio Rivas, who was headed toward a second term in District 2.
LAUSD Board Vice President Rocio Rivas was headed toward a second term in District 2. Her major funding source was $889,469 in an independent-expenditure campaign on her behalf, nearly all of it from the United Teachers Los Angeles union.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Rivas’ own campaign raised $66,218. But the major funding source was $889,469 in an independent-expenditure campaign on her behalf, nearly all of it from the United Teachers Los Angeles union. The union also spent more than $4,000 in communications to its members about the election.
These figures compare with $2,525 raised by challenger Raquel Zamora, who reported spending $5,089.
In Rivas’ successful 2022 run, her main funding opponent was Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union, which backed Maria Brenes for an open seat. Historically, Local 99 has not been inclined to oppose an incumbent, which Rivas has become. And, true to history, Local 99 has endorsed Rivas, but without spending money on her behalf.
An end to charter school wars
More broadly, this election cycle marks the end to a generation of bitterly contested Los Angeles school board races that became the most expensive in the country, with the L.A. teachers union and charter school advocates slugging it out to advance their vision for public education.
Charter school supporters — who had poured tens of million of dollars into races to elect board members sympathetic to their cause — largely stepped aside, a reflection of their diminished resources and evolving strategy.
The bottom line is that, if current vote-count trends hold, the board will be unchanged for the next two years.
This situation is less than ideal for charter schools. Charters with a mixed record face a tough review when they come up for renewal — about once every five years. Charter opponents want the board majority to move more aggressively to shut down charters when possible and to force them off district campuses — where, under state law, they have a legal right to operate.
Big board decisions looming
Big decisions before the board include how to manage a projected structural deficient — with union leaders calling the dire predictions an accounting mirage.
Meanwhile, Supt. Alberto Carvalho remains in limbo after a February FBI raid of his home and office. The investigation relates at least in part to a failed district chatbot project.
Carvalho maintains his innocence and would like to return to work. The board, however, has turned the reins over temporarily to acting Supt. Andres Chait.
This election cycle marks the end to a generation of bitterly contested Los Angeles school board races that became the most expensive in the country, with the L.A. teachers union and charter school advocates slugging it out to advance their vision for public education. Above, LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
BOSTON — Former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell used one of his first major public appearances since leaving office to defend independent institutions while accepting an award Sunday honoring his efforts to preserve the central bank’s independence.
Speaking at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library overlooking Boston Harbor, Powell called universities, courts, Congress and the central bank “the foundation and the embodiment of our democracy” and argued that the Fed’s independence was a “priceless asset” that must be protected.
It was one of his most direct defenses of Fed independence, warning that a single administration’s decision to remove bank officials over policy differences would open the way for future elected officials to follow suit, ultimately undermining the credibility that the Fed has spent decades building.
Powell, who frequently clashed with President Trump during his eight years as chair, stepped down as his term expired in May. He was succeeded by Kevin Warsh, whom Trump selected to lead the central bank.
After stepping down as chair, Powell took the unusual step of keeping his seat on the Fed’s governing board, which he has until January 2028. By doing so, he has deprived the Trump administration of an opportunity to appoint another member of the board.
The Trump administration has also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, which would open an additional seat on the rate-setting committee the president could fill. Yet Cook sued and the courts have so far let her keep her seat.
While Powell never mentioned Trump by name Sunday, he repeatedly returned to the importance of protecting institutions from political pressure and preserving public trust in their independence.
“Like many other institutions, the Fed has been undergoing a stress test,” he said. “Congress wisely chose to insulate monetary policy decisions from political pressure. All other advanced economy nations have done the same.”
Since 1989, the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award has recognized public servants who make what the foundation describes as courageous decisions of conscience despite personal or professional consequences.
Previous recipients include former Presidents Barack Obama and George H. W. Bush, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former Vice President Mike Pence.
In March, the foundation said it was awarding Powell for protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve “despite years of personal attacks and threats from the highest levels of government.”
Trump harshly criticized Powell throughout his tenure as chair, frequently attacking the Fed’s interest-rate decisions and urging the central bank to cut borrowing costs more aggressively.
Beyond the Federal Reserve, Powell defended U.S. universities and research institutions, the Constitution, Congress and the court system.
“The United States has long been the leader of the world’s freedom-seeking people — the indispensable nation. Other countries know us as a nation built on integrity, and that integrity must be maintained,” he said.
In his remarks, Powell indirectly acknowledged mistakes as chair. The Fed is legally required to seek stable prices, but inflation surged amid the pandemic’s supply chain crunch. Many economists believe the central bank should have raised interest rates more quickly in response.
“At the Fed, we are, of course, human and thus imperfect,” Powell said. “When we make mistakes, we acknowledge them and change course.”
Powell was honored alongside residents of Minnesota’s Twin Cities, who received the award for what the Kennedy Foundation described as acts of courage during a federal immigration crackdown that led to thousands of arrests and the deaths of Minneapolis mother Renée Good and nurse Alex Pretti, both of whom were killed while observing or documenting enforcement activity.
“It’s wonderful just to be invited, honoring Renée,” Good’s father, Tim Granger, said as he entered the library with family members.
Kennedy’s only surviving child, Caroline Kennedy, and her son, Jack Schlossberg, said in a statement that without people like Powell and those in Minnesota “willing to put their lives on the line to hold America to its promises, our democracy can’t survive.”
Attendee U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is running for governor of Minnesota next year, reflected that the award was unusual because it recognized ordinary residents rather than elected officials.
“This didn’t go to an elected leader for a reason,” Klobuchar said. “It’s because the people stood up. They stood up by marching 50,000 strong. They stood by bringing kids they didn’t even know — strangers’ kids — to school, by bringing them groceries and they didn’t blink. And that’s what this award is about. It’s about courage.”
Willingham writes for the Associated Press. AP journalist Christopher Rugaber contributed to this report from Washington.
There’s been speculation for years when club sports, travel ball and showcases might make education-based high school sports obsolete or irrelevant.
The showdown is finally happening.
Ganesha High’s baseball team qualified to play in the Southern Section Division 2 championship game on Saturday against Loyola in Rancho Cucamonga, but the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported that several players and possibly their head coach, Jared Sandler, might not show up if they participate in a baseball camp in Mississippi.
Bring it on. No more playing around. Let everyone know the expectations of being part of the California Interscholastic Federation. When you agree to play in the playoffs, you can’t just decide to leave without notice. Teams and players have dreamed of playing in a championship game. Then one team wants to make a mockery of the final, Ganesha, by using backups.
School districts are allowed to establish independent online study programs, and there’s nothing the Southern Section can do about it. But local parents whose kids are losing out to players who don’t live near the school can do something by complaining to district officials of…
The YULA and Shalhavet baseball teams were banned from participating in this year’s Southern Section playoffs and placed on probation for pulling out in the middle of the 2025 playoffs to participate in a Jewish baseball tournament in Ohio.
The Southern Section has many options on how to proceed if Ganesha goes through with its decision to violate its commitment to the playoffs, from a postseason ban to removing the school from CIF membership.
In Northern California when a tennis team decided to send its JV team for the regional playoffs, sanctions were imposed. The same penalties might be applied by the Southern Section if it happens in the section championship game.
Ron Nocetti, the executive director of the CIF, said Friday, “We were made aware of this and any decision the Southern Section makes in this matter we support.”
Let’s have this showdown. Let’s see if the Pomona Unified School District, which pays thousands of dollars to support its schools’ athletic program, is going to act and stop this nonsense. Ganesha previously was in the news because many of its players live outside the district and participate through online classes, making the baseball team as close to a travel-ball team as you can get.
As of late Friday afternoon, a Ganesha representative said that most of the players and coach were expected to participate in the championship game.
Ronald Gonzales-Lawrence, director, governmental relations for the Pomona Unified School District, released the following statement:
“At this time, circumstances surrounding Saturday’s CIF Southern Section championship game have been resolved, and Ganesha High School will participate in the championship game as scheduled.
“Questions regarding CIF bylaws, eligibility requirements, championship scheduling decisions are best directed to the CIF Southern Section.
“We are aware of questions regarding travel-related expenses associated with this matter. The district is providing transportation and support for student participation in the CIF Southern Section championship game consistent with its normal practices for student activities and athletic competition. The district is not funding flights, hotel accommodations, or any other expenses associated with the separate out-of-state event.
“The district remains committed to supporting our student-athletes and ensuring compliance with all applicable CIF, district, and school requirements.”
DES MOINES, Iowa — The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district who was arrested last year in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.
Ian Roberts is likely to be deported to his native Guyana in South America once he serves the sentence. He pleaded guilty in January to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessing firearms, which together carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. His lawyers had proposed that he be put on probation “to facilitate his removal from the United States,” but prosecutors had argued that his likely deportation should not be a factor.
Prosecutors alleged Roberts knowingly lacked employment authorization for nearly all of his two-decade career in urban education and submitted a counterfeit Social Security card when he was hired as superintendent of the Des Moines public school district, which serves 30,000 students.
Roberts’ stunning case bookended the school year. His September arrest occurred as President Trump’s administration was sending increased numbers of federal immigration officers into American cities to round up immigrants.
Des Moines Public Schools said last month that it revised its conflict-of-interest policy after an audit found Roberts awarded district business to a consulting firm he worked for, affirming findings first reported by the Associated Press in the weeks after federal immigration officers detained him.
Roberts was in his school-issued vehicle when officers stopped him on Sept. 26 in a targeted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation. He allegedly fled before he was located with the help of state troopers. Authorities said a loaded handgun was wrapped in a towel under the seat and $3,000 in cash was in the car. Three other weapons were recovered during a search of his home.
In a court filing, attorneys for Roberts said he has dedicated his life in the U.S. to public service and has not been a threat to public safety. After Roberts married a U.S. citizen, his attorneys said, he was denied lawful permanent residency because he failed to disclose that he had been arrested. He said he did not think he needed to because the charges against him were dropped.
“While Dr. Roberts tried to adjust his status three more times, this initial mistake by Dr. Roberts sealed his fate,” his attorneys wrote. “In the background of his career for the next 24 years, this denial of his adjustment of status haunted Dr. Roberts like a ghost, eventually derailing his life and career.”
Dozens of people submitted letters on Roberts’ behalf to dispute how he has been portrayed and provide details of his positive impact. His lawyers wrote that he likely faces deportation to Guyana, where he will “be left without his career, without his wife, without his children, in a country where he has not lived for thirty years.”
In recommending a three-year sentence, prosecutors described a yearslong and deliberate misrepresentation of his legal status. Prosecutors said a reduced sentence is not appropriate just because Roberts is likely to be deported.
They said they do not know what documents Roberts presented to show eligibility for work dating back to 2008, years before he was approved for temporary status in 2018, but he “deliberately obtained employment without work authorization at school after school, within state after state.”
When Compton Unified School Board President Micah Ali checked his mailbox last week, he was in for a shock.
The school district has been making headlines as a state and national leader in student performance gains, and it has been upgrading and replacing its aging campuses to help advance that growth. Next week’s ballot includes a $360-million bond measure called CPT, which would keep that momentum going and replace badly dated Dominguez High School.
So when Ali opened a slate mailer titled “Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ Sample Ballot and Voter Recommendations,” he couldn’t believe her advice on Measure CPT.
Vote “no.”
Given Waters’ stature as a congressional representative for 35 years, Ali said, her slate mailers can swing outcomes.
“Yes, it does carry weight,” Ali said, and the thumbs-down recommendation “can literally cripple our ability to pass this bond.”
Ali was doubly surprised because the mailers went out to voters just a few weeks after Waters attended an unveiling ceremony for the new Compton High School campus. Compton High alums and hip-hop heavyweights Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre joined the celebration, and the latter was honored for his $10-million donation to the new performing arts center.
Lunch tables and a temporary cafeteria are set up outdoors at Dominguez High School because of a fire three years ago.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
A second district high school, Centennial, is being replaced with a modern campus, and district officials are hoping Measure CPT passes so Dominguez students aren’t left behind, but also because the district’s other schools would get multiple upgrades and repairs, from infrastructure to classrooms to athletic fields.
I met with Ali on Wednesday afternoon at Dominguez, along with Principal Caleb Oliver. The school turned 70 this year, and it shows. The grounds are scruffy, wiring and plumbing are outdated, the gymnasium air conditioning hasn’t worked in years. To walk the campus is to step back in time — to the Eisenhower administration.
While we were talking, Oliver called out to a senior named Angelina Ramirez, referring to her as a superstar student. I asked Angelina what kind of upgrades the campus could use.
Dominguez High School Principal Caleb Oliver.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“Well, I like to use the cafeteria as an example,” she said, pointing to where it used to be.
What happened to it?
“It burned down,” she said. An electrical problem was the suspected cause, her principal added.
“I feel like that’s affected students a lot,” Angelina said.
The big question, of course, is why Waters’ campaign committee — Citizens for Waters — recommended a no vote.
I’d like to tell you why it is that a rapper has written a $10-million check in support of Compton’s students while a congresswoman has told them to go fly a kite. But I’ve asked by phone, text and email, and I still don’t have an answer.
After contacting Citizens for Waters, which referred me to the congresswoman, I called her office and emailed her press office, which sent me this response at 7:43 p.m. Thursday:
“Per US House Ethics rules, we are unable to respond to your request.”
I don’t know what rules those are, but the rulebook needs some rewriting if a congresswoman can’t answer a simple question about why her campaign mailer recommends a no vote on a school bond measure.
“We have no idea, and we’re baffled,” Ali said. “Who would oppose the construction of a new school in a community like Compton?”
In the working-class community, the student population is roughly 84% Latino and 14% Black.
I suggested that Ali consider having students march over to Waters’ district office and ask for an explanation.
“We’d rather have these children’s butts in seats and learning,” Ali said, adding that “we need … to continue driving up these test scores.”
Compton school board candidate Tana McCoy talks to school board President Micah Ali about the mailer.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
It’s not as if there is no reasonable opposition to Measure CPT. These kinds of bonds cost taxpayers real money over the course of many years, and CPT would add about $60 per $100,000 of assessed property to annual tax bills.
That would hit working folks and retirees with an added tax burden of between a few hundred and several hundred dollars a year. And taxpayers have been paying off two previous school improvement bond issues, one passed in 2015 and one in 2022.
In addition to the financial burden, according to district parent Anthonia Limon, who wrote the statement against CPT for the L.A. County sample ballot, safety issues have undermined community trust in district leadership.
“Infrastructure alone does not create safe schools,” Limon wrote.
If Waters has similar concerns, that would be one thing. But to my knowledge, and to Ali’s, there has been no public explanation for recommending a no vote. And when you read the fine print on the slate mailer, which advises voters to “take Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ recommendations with you to vote,” it only raises more questions.
“This document was prepared by Citizens for Waters, not an official party organization. Appearance in this mailer does not necessarily imply endorsement of others appearing in this mailer nor does it imply endorsement of, or opposition to, any issues set forth in this mailer,” it says.
Huh?
Are they endorsements or aren’t they?
The Times reported in 2004 that the rep’s daughter, Karen Waters, “has charged candidates for spots on her mother’s ‘slate mailer,’ a sample ballot that many voters in South Los Angeles use to guide their choices.” Last year, the Waters campaign paid a $68,000 fine for campaign finance law violations following a Federal Election Commission investigation that involved Citizens for Waters.
Rep. Maxine Waters’ slate mailer.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Also in the fine print on the current mailer:
“Appearance is paid for and authorized by each candidate and ballot measure which is designated by” an asterisk.
So are these endorsements or paid advertisements? There’s an asterisk on nearly every endorsement in the mailer, from city council to governor to judgeships to Measure CPT. The way I read this is that various parties paid for endorsements, but the mailer does not reveal who paid, or how much they ponied up. Such mailers, by the way, are not uncommon in California, according to election law experts.
“I think this is misleading for voters,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley law school. Although he thinks the endorsements are a form of protected free speech, he said this “reflects a very deep problem in our elections with dark money, when we don’t know where the money is coming from.”
On Thursday, I visited Tana McCoy, a Compton High grad and retired city employee who is running for Compton Unified school board. She showed me the slate mailer delivered to her home, but said she’s going to vote yes on CPT despite Waters’ recommendation.
“Children need to feel good about their environment, because that’s all part of their mental health,” McCoy said.
At Dominguez, where graduates have a 96% college acceptance rate, according to district officials, junior Zaiden Ross gave me a tour that included a stop at a gymnasium fountain that he said hasn’t worked in years. Some fountains are dirty, he added, “and some of the pipes on campus produce water that has, like, extremely high amounts of lead and magnesium.”
Student Zaiden Ross demonstrates a nonworking sink in a bathroom on the campus of Dominguez High School in Compton.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Zaiden took me to a classroom to show me water samples he’s still testing. Then we visited the robotics classroom, where he turned on a faucet, and the flow was closer to the color of apple juice than water. The air conditioner was rattling, and teacher G.C. Esiobu, who runs the engineering and robotics club, said there had been an “emergency” fix for a busted system. Zaiden gave me a quick rundown of dated computers and other equipment students use to design drones and robots.
And yet despite all that, a display case was filled with trophies. At competitive meets, Esiobu said, “we have been winning with little or nothing.” With equipment upgrades, she added, “just imagine the level we will go.”
There’s still time, before Tuesday’s election, for Waters to visit Dominguez High and maybe get a tour from Zaiden and Esiobu.
At least 16 students were killed and dozens injured after a fire tore through the dormitory of a girls’ boarding school in Kenya’s Rift Valley early Thursday. Panicked parents gathered outside the school searching for their children hours after the blaze was extinguished.
At least 16 students were killed and scores were injured in the early hours of Thursday after fire ripped through a boarding school dorm in Kenya’s Rift Valley region. File photo by Justin Lane/EPA-EFE
May 28 (UPI) — At least 16 students were killed and 74 were injured after fire tore through a girls’ boarding school in Kenya in the early hours of Thursday.
The blaze broke out as students were sleeping, engulfing the dorm block at the school in Gilgil, 77 miles northwest of the capital Nairobi, police and the Kenya Red Cross said.
A rescue and recovery operation was still underway amid efforts to account for all the students who were in the accommodation building — thought to be about 220.
“It is a sad and distressing situation. As we speak, our officers are combing the area because some students fled in shock and fear during the night,” said police commander Masoud Mwinyi.
Mwinyi said the police department had launched an investigation and that criminal investigators and forensics officers had been dispatched to the scene.
A parent told Kenya’s NTV News that most of the students in the hospital had been injured as they tried to escape by jumping from the upper level of the dorm block because one of the doors was closed.
President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto extended their condolences to the victims’ families and friends, as well as teachers and staff at the school.
“Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters in the tragic fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil. No words can truly ease the pain of losing young lives filled with promise, hope, and dreams for the future. As a nation, we mourn with the parents, guardians, teachers and fellow students who are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” Ruto wrote on X.
Education Secretary Julius Ogamba ordered the immediate closure of the school but urged the public and media to refrain from speculating on the cause of the fire until the investigation was complete.
Ogamba said the Education Ministry was in the midst of a health and safety code audit of schools that had already seen the shuttering of almost 350 boarding schools that did not meet government standards.
The crackdown was launched 18 months ago in the wake of the deaths of 21 people in a blaze in a dorm of the Hillside Endarasha Academy, a boarding school in Nyeri, 100 miles north of Nairobi, in September 2024.
The country’s boarding schools have a poor safety record with a series of deadly blazes blamed on overcrowding and breaches of basic safety measures such as keeping exits clear and windows and exits unlocked.
Some have been deliberately set, with the finger pointed at students disaffected by tough discipline regimes and living conditions.
Responding to a parliamentary committee’s request in 2021 for school arson data, the Ministry of Education reported 126 arson attacks in the first 11 months of 2020 alone.
Wreathes are seen amongst the statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day weekend in Washington on May 27, 2023. Memorial Day, which honors U.S. military personnel who died while in service, is held on the last Monday of May. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
