California's Children

Recent Sac HS grads have unemployment rate of 33%

In 1991, the unemployment rate for high school graduates with no experience who are no longer on any form of educational track was 10%. Today, in the Sacramento region, according to the Sac Bee, it's 33%.

"I tell my kids all the time, 'You are competing with adults with master's degrees, with adults who have 15 years' job experience,' " said Kareem Clark, a job-placement specialist who works with youths at the Sacramento Urban League.

As reporter Phillip Reese writes:

Low-skill jobs in areas such as retail sales and fast food were cut fast during the recession, creating more competition for fewer slots. Employers often hire someone with a dependable job record over a fresh-faced kid, even for relatively simple work....

Not counted in those unemployment figures are "idle" teens – those who aren't in school or college, and who aren't even bothering to look for jobs. More than 5,500 Sacramento-area teens fall into that category.

"There are some youth who I haven't seen in a couple of months," said Vidal Gonzalez, a job specialist at La Familia in south Sacramento, fearing that some of his former charges are making money through crime. "They see the underground economy as a means of support."

Gonzalez and the Urban League's Clark help teens find jobs using money from the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency, or SETA, a joint effort of the city and county of Sacramento. They have seen an increased demand for services, which include temporarily paying young workers' salaries as a sort of tryout until their employers keep them on staff.

SETA provides intensive help to about 1,100 young adults each year, and counseling to another 8,000. The agency could serve more, said Christine Welsh, SETA's workforce development manager, if it had the funding.

 

The Break Room: dress codes v. cheerleader uniforms in class

California's Children has a long-standing policy: no unncessary sensationalism, stay away from outrageous stories that may have some "hook" to a child, but are not helpful to the health/education/welfare/juvenile justice professional...but now, we've changed our minds. Wild tales told around the water cooler can sometimes lead to thoughtful disussions and, occasionally, wise policy.

The senior cheerleaders of Piedmont Hills High have been told that the school dress code of classroom attire -- skirts must streth below the thigh -- applies to their uniforms. And, since their uniforms are considerably shorter than the code allows, they are being told to wear sweat pants under the skirts during class.  

As the San Jose Mercury reports this morning:

The dress code at the East Side Union High School District campus isn't new -- and requiring that skirts or shorts stretch lower than mid-thigh is pretty universal school code around the country. What's new this year at Piedmont Hills is that the cheer skirts got shorter -- and it happened just as administrators began conducting "dress-code sweeps," yanking inappropriately dressed students out of class and into a special building until parents can be summoned with a change of clothes.

"Pockets are hanging out," Williams said of the offending skirts found during the sweeps. "Cheeks are hanging out. We don't want them bending over."

"Do you have a teenager?" added Vice Principal Jenner Perez. "Well, if you don't...you havne't seen how short these skirts are."

"This is really unfair to us," said Piedmont High senior, Antonia Bavilacqua, 17, who is leading the vocal charge to change the principal's mind [and who gave the Mercury the photo, above]. The skirts are still OK for games, just not during school. "We're just sad and hurt. It's our school colors and spirit. And they're making us feel like outcasts."

 The uniform of the outcasts is custom-made and costs $300 -- just an update for those who can remember when cheerleader uniforms were: a)made in 4-H, Home Ec, or by the girls' moms; b)regardless of the length, not allowed to be worn in class (no sports uniforms were allowed in class).

The Break Room: Mom punches kid's (female) principal

 
California's Children was two years old this month, and our long-standing policy for all of those two years has been: no unncessary sensationalism, stay away from outrageous stories that may have some "hook" to a child, but are not helpful to the health/education/welfare/juvenile justice professional...but now, we've changed our minds. Wild tales told around the water cooler can sometimes lead to thoughtful disussions and, occasionally, wise policy.

 Pami Gibbs, 29, is the mother of a third-grade son who, on the first day of school at Stockton's Fillmore Elementary School, wore a tee shirt with skulls on it (see below). A dress code violation. Principal Evangelina Ramos (at right on right) said the child could not wear the shirt. The Associated Press reported that Gibbs "suddenly began punching Ramos in the face," according to witnesses. Gibbs left the school and went home, where police arrested her (mug shot, at left) two hours later on two felony charges of battery and criminal threats, and three misdemeanors, including a hate crime (Ramos is a Latina).  Gibbs is being held in the San Joaquin County Jail. The Stockton Record reported:

  One of the misdemeanor charges is for inflicting “injury based at least partly on race.”

West said Gibbs, who is white, made reference to the ethnicity of Ramos, who is a Latina. A bleeding Ramos was taken by ambulance to Dameron Hospital. Wright said she is in stable condition.

Pami Gibbs and her husband, Michael, have two other children. Their side of the story:

...[the Gibbs famly]...claims it was Ramos who had become increasingly hostile in recent weeks over the school dress code.  The Gibbs say dress code changed for a third time in three years; and they are being forced to buy uniforms when other families weren’t.  ...  Fillmore Elementary is heavily Hispanic and the Gibbs say their children have been bullied repeatedly because they are white.  They’ve complained; but [the child's great-grandfather] says Principal Ramos...challenged [Gibbs's] frustration.  ”She said are your threatening me, are you threatening me.  She just kept it up, are you threatening me.  She aggravated Pami is the way it came across to me.”

 The Record also noted that because of budget cuts in the Stockton school district, school security has been reduced on all campuses.