Power to the People! How the Golden State Keeps the Lights On (and What It’ll...
California is pulling the plug on nuclear power. The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, the state’s last remaining nuclear generator, is scheduled to close by 2025, part of a deal announced Tuesday...
View ArticleTIMELINE: The Frustrating Political History of Homelessness in San Francisco
For more than three decades, homelessness has consistently been one of San Francisco’s most troubling, intractable problems. It’s also been a political lightning rod in a city known both for its...
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EXPLAINER: What’s the Deal with the TPP?
UPDATED July 29, 2016 If you watched any part of the Democratic National Convention this week, you probably noticed a small but visible group of attendees protesting something called the “TPP.” Some...
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Why Do Americans Have Such A Hard Time Agreeing on Health Care Reform?
Despite seven years or relentless attacks, two Supreme Court challenges and dozens of congressional efforts to kill it, the Affordable Care Act — aka Obamacare — has again lived to see another day....
View ArticleLesson Plan: The Trials of Marvin Mutch
Marvin Mutch spent 41 years in prison for a crime he insists he didn’t commit. In 1975, The 19-year-old Bay Area native was convicted on circumstantial evidence of murdering a young girl in Union...
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How We Got Here: Why Americans Can’t Seem to Ever Agree on A Good Health Care...
Republicans on Thursday got one step closer in their epic quest to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare.” Controversially drafted behind closed doors by Senate Majority Leader...
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VIDEO: Aging, Longevity and the Eternal Fight to Stay Young
First the good news: People in most industrialized (aka wealthy) nations live roughly 25 years longer, on average, than they would have 100 years ago. Classroom Resources Use the Above the Noise...
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Heritage or Hate? The Raging Debate Over America’s Many Confederate Monuments
The fiery debate over Confederate monuments and other iconography was reignited last weekend after violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white nationalists had gathered to protest the...
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Does Your School Start Too Early in the Morning? (with Lesson Plan)
How’s this for a rude awakening? The average adolescent in the U.S. is “chronically sleep deprived and pathologically tired.” Teach with the Lowdown and Above the Noise Ideas for analysis, discussion...
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Stepping Up: Meet Four Teen Activists Fighting for Change in Their Communities
Activism isn’t just for adults. Teach with the Lowdown Suggestions for nonfiction analysis, writing/discussion prompts and multimedia projects. Browse our entire lesson plan collection here. Youth...
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Stop-and-Frisk: A Brief History of a Controversial Policing Tool (with Lesson...
On the campaign trail, President Trump repeatedly insisted that “stop-and-frisk” policing was among the most effective strategies for driving down violent crime. And following his boss’ lead, Attorney...
View ArticleMAP: What Are the Most Popular Halloween Costumes Near You?
If you’re still on the desperate hunt for a distinctive last-minute Halloween costume, you should probably steer clear of superheroes/villains and clowns. That’s according to Google, at least, which...
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WATCH: One Oakland High School Student’s Fight for Racial Justce in the...
This video is part of “Stepping Up,” a short video series featuring four impressive young people working for real change in their communities and explaining what sparked them to action. Watch all four...
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WATCH: A Teen Anti-Abortion Activist Forges Her Own Path in the Liberal Bay Area
This video is part of “Stepping Up,” a short video series featuring four impressive young people working for real change in their communities and explaining what sparked them to action. Watch all four...
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What’s Net Neutrality and How Will the Internet Change Without It?
Whether you’re heading to Amazon or your grandma’s cat grooming blog, every site and application on the internet is supposed to be delivered at the same speed. But that’s likely to be a thing of the...
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Before #MeToo: The Long Struggle Against Workplace Sexual Harassment (with...
In October, the dam finally broke. That’s when multiple women, including female employees and actresses, began to accuse powerful film producer and studio executive Harvey Weinstein of explicit sexual...
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New Tax Plan Got You Confused? Find Out What It All Means with These Handy...
All that’s left to do now is sign the darn thing. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives gave final approval Wednesday (for the second time) to a $1.5 trillion tax cut, the biggest overhaul...
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Reefer Madness! The Twisted History of America’s Marijuana Laws
Teach with the Lowdown Suggestions for nonfiction analysis, writing/discussion prompts and multimedia projects. Browse our lesson plan collection here. Lesson Plan: Weed Laws (PDF) Talk about a buzz...
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Six Big Issues Trump Will Likely Address in His First State of the Union
a.specialhover:hover img { background-color: #37B1A9; } a.entry-content img { border: #000000 3px solid; } Marking his first year in office, President Trump is scheduled to deliver his premiere State...
View ArticleActivism Isn’t Just for Adults! See How These Students Are Creating Change in...
Last year, KQED Education produced a series of videos about four high school students from around the San Francisco Bay Area who were “stepping up” to create change in their own communities. We then...
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