Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- Civil rights enforcement in California schools is uncertain after Trump slashes education department.
- Trump and recent gains give the California Republican Party hope.
- 20 stellar lunch spots from the 2024 101 Best Restaurants guide.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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What’s next for civil rights protections in state schools?
When students and school staff in California seek protection from discrimination, they often turn to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, or OCR.
That office handles a variety of cases, tackling allegations that include unequal instruction for disabled students, sexual assault, unfair disciplinary actions against students of color, bullying of LGBTQ+ students, along with claims of reverse discrimination.
But as part of President Trump’s effort to dismantle the federal education agency, his administration laid off nearly half its workers, prompting the shutdown of the OCR’s regional offices in San Francisco and elsewhere.
My colleagues Jaweed Kaleem and Howard Blume reported on the emerging fallout this week, as the fate of open investigations, litigation and monitoring of resolved cases hangs in limbo.
“About 1,500 California cases are pending, according to multiple laid-off attorneys for the Bay Area office, who said they have been largely locked out of case files and email,” they reported. “They can receive messages on cases but were unable to reply after receiving layoff notices, despite being technically employed until March 21.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said OCR “will continue to investigate complaints and vigorously enforce federal civil rights laws.”
Newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in an interview last week that many of the agency’s programs are “excellent” and that the goal with layoffs has been “to make sure that we kept all of the right people, the good people, to make sure that the outward facing programs, the grants, the appropriations that come from Congress, all of that are being met and none of that’s going to fall through the cracks.”
But attorneys and civil rights advocates worry civil rights protections for many U.S. students will be ignored as the new administration prioritizes shrinking government and focusing on antisemitism.
What happens now?
“Many Southern California cases that were resolved during the Biden administration are supposed to be under monitoring but have been left to languish,” Jaweed and Howard wrote, citing “several current attorneys in the California office, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the media.”
Catherine Lhamon, who led the OCR under Presidents Obama and Biden, told Jaweed and Howard that “many millions of students will now not enjoy the civil rights protections that Congress has guaranteed them.”
Ken Marcus, who led the department’s civil rights office under President George W. Bush and during Trump’s first term, told Howard and Jaweed the job cuts could mean remaining OCR staff pursue fewer cases moving forward — and that states could pick up some of the enforcement slack.
But as my colleagues noted, the towering stack of cases “suggest that states have not been able or have not been willing to carry out civil rights enforcement.”
The OCR was already struggling before Trump took office
Attorneys described caseloads that doubled or tripled over the past 10 years, citing in part increased politicization and growing public knowledge of the OCR. The increase in cases came even as staffing at the Bay Area office fell gradually by 25% over the last two decades, Howard and Jaweed noted.
The office also sparked outrage last year when it ordered the Los Angeles Unified School District to open its Black student achievement program to all students, following a civil rights complaint from a conservative group based in Virginia.
One attorney from the San Francisco office told Jaweed and Howard that staff had sometimes been directed to pursue systemwide cases out of singular allegations, which may have undermined efficiency.
“It’s not that things could not be done better,” the attorney told them. “But they will be worse when we’re all gone.”
The lawsuits have already begun
California and 19 other Democratic states sued the Trump administration Thursday in an attempt to halt the mass layoffs at the Department of Education.
“It is a bedrock constitutional principle that the president and his agencies cannot make law. Rather, they can only — and indeed, they must — implement the laws enacted by Congress, including those statutes that create federal agencies and dictate their duties,” the lawsuit states.
Then on Friday the National Center for Youth Law filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of U.S. students and families who seek to reverse the Education Department’s “recent decision to effectively stop investigating civil rights complaints.”
“To abandon thousands of claims, while our schools are seeing increased bullying, harassment and discrimination, not only goes against the very mission of the Department of Education, it sends a chilling message that schools don’t need to foster an environment in which every student is safe and welcome,” Shakti Belway, the organization’s executive director, said in a press release.
Today’s top stories
Tesla’s steep fall from California’s green darling to hated target of protests, violence and fires
- Tesla owners in California and beyond have become targets of an unusual form of resistance to the second Trump administration and Tesla owner Elon Musk, whose so-called Department of Government Efficiency is slashing federal jobs and stirring controversy.
- They say they’ve been flipped off in traffic, called Nazis and even punched in the face.
- Singer Sheryl Crow said she sold her Tesla and donated the money to National Public Radio.
Trump and recent gains give the California Republican Party hope
- Once dominated by Reagan-era Republicans who favored traditional conservative policies including opposing the Russia-led Soviet Union and favoring free trade, the California GOP is being reshaped by Trump’s populism.
- Though Trump lost the state by 20 points to former Vice President Kamala Harris, he received more votes in November here than he did in the last two presidential elections.
What else is going on
- Sen. Adam Schiff dismisses Trump’s assertion that Biden pardons for Jan. 6 committee are ‘void.’
- Expect fights at the 2028 L.A. Olympics — and boxing fans can thank Uzbekistan.
- Screaming leads to a grisly discovery of stabbed homicide victims inside an Azusa home.
- Chuck Schumer postpones his book tour amid liberal criticism over spending vote.
- What to know about El Salvador’s mega-prison after Trump sent hundreds of immigrants there.
- The winner of the largest Mega Millions jackpot in California history has been identified.
- We asked if the Getty should move. Here’s how readers responded.
- Eleven years after Mickey Rooney’s death, prized memorabilia from his estate will be auctioned.
- Jesse Colin Young, vocalist for the Youngbloods who sang ’60s hit ‘Get Together,’ has died at 83.
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Commentary and opinions
- Katie Porter has a shot at being California’s next governor, but there’s a big hitch, columnist George Skelton writes.
- Most of what you’ve heard about the stock market’s gyrations is wrong, probably, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
- Why you shouldn’t make deals with the (climate) devil, columnist Sammy Roth writes.
- ‘Looney Tunes’ has been removed from Max. This is why it feels like an attack, television critic Robert Lloyd writes.
This morning’s must reads
He calls himself LA’s rags-to-riches pot billionaire. Investors allege in court their money disappeared. When a brash, Porsche-driving weed entrepreneur announced the launch of a new chain of Southern California cannabis shops, investors ponied up millions. Now, they are suing the entrepreneur, Vincent Mehdizadeh, alleging fraud and breach of contract.
Other must reads
- A ‘Trump whisperer’? Mexican president’s strategy faces its biggest test yet.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- 🍔 Smashburgers are out. Thick, stacked patties are trending at this Brazilian spot.
- 😋 20 stellar lunch spots from the 2024 101 Best Restaurants guide.
- 🪨 A modern Stonehenge rises in Desert Hot Springs: Here are the standouts in Desert X 2025.
Staying in
- 📚 The four best mystery books to read right now.
- 🫛🥔 Here’s a recipe for The Café 2001 green pea and potato salad.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What’s your favorite California book?
Email us at [email protected], and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally … your photo of the day
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Christina House at the Rolex Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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