KQED's Forum

Helping with online homework, lack of playdates, fighting for computer time or even alone time; it has been a tough year of pandemic parenting. And for essential worker parents, there has been the added worry of accidentally bringing the virus home. We’ll get advice from experts and tips for coping after a year of no school. And as a return to normal begins with many schools reconvening, we want to hear from you about the highs and lows of home life with kids after a year of pandemic stress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State and federal officials are warning farmers and cities to prepare for potential water shortages as the state’s dry conditions reach worrisome levels. We discuss the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced Tuesday that the city is launching a guaranteed income pilot program this spring for 600 residents, one of the largest programs in the U.S. to date. Shortly following Oakland’s announcement, Marin’s board of supervisors voted unanimously to launch its own pilot program for 125 low-income residents over two years. Earlier this month, a study of Stockton’s now completed experiment with guaranteed income found that there were measurable improvements to the well being, job prospects and financial stability of the participants. Critics of a universal basic income policy, however, are wary of the cost to scale these kinds of programs and fund them with public dollars. Stockton’s program was and Oakland’s program will be privately funded. We’ll take up the conversation on guaranteed income programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past year, since the pandemic began, the statewide homicide rate has increased 30%. At the same time, law enforcement officials have reduced jail populations because of the COVID-19 infection risk. That’s exacerbating friction between reform minded district attorneys and law enforcement in the state. Critics have launched recall efforts against the progressive district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco. We’ll talk with San Francisco’s District Attorney, Chesa Boudin, and Vern Pierson, President of the California District Attorney Association, about their conflicting views about how to best address crime and criminal justice, and the impact the pandemic is having on the state’s crime rates.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco Unified School District is having a difficult year. They're contending with falling enrollment, a school naming controversy, a retiring Superintendent and bringing kids back to school in mid-April. There is also an existing recall effort against Board Vice President Alison Collins, given new momentum after recent revelations of old tweets condemned as Anti-Asian. Marisa Lagos talks about the state of the SFUSD and what it all means for parents and students with Heather Knight, reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, and the SF Examiner’s Ida Mojadad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The murders of eight people in and around Atlanta last week have left Americans reeling from yet another mass killing. In an essay she penned for Vanity Fair, author R.O. Kwon wrote, “I am not spending any more of my limited time alive defending the humanity of marginalized people... This long, hard week, I have felt especially pulled toward the company of fellow Asian women.” The murders have many people questioning not only how women and Asian Americans are regarded in America, but also why so much of the focus has been on the shooter and not the victims. Mina Kim examines the intersection of misogyny and racism and the aftermath of the shootings with author R.O. Kwon, WABE reporter Emil Moffatt, and The New York Time’s Juliana Kim.. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just two months after Georgia voters handed Democrats a majority in the U.S. Senate, state lawmakers there are proposing laws that would curtail weekend voting hours and impose ID requirements for absentee ballots, among other restrictions that critics say disproportionately affect Black voters. Attempts to restrict voting are not limited to Georgia. The Brennan Center for Justice reports that as of February 2021, lawmakers in 43 different states have introduced over 250 bills to restrict voting. Meanwhile in Congress, the House, with its Democratic majority, recently passed the For the People Act, a historic voter protection bill, that along with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Mina Kim talks with Nse Ufot, Dale Ho, and Eliza Sweren-Becker about why legislators are trying to make it harder to vote, and what is being done on the ground to combat these restrictive measures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom passed a few major hurdles last week, with supporters turning in more than enough signatures, and Newsom embarking on a media blitz acknowledging the likelihood of a recall election in the fall, and vowing to win it. Criticism of the governor revolves around economic hardship in the state after the long-term COVID-19 restrictions, and the slow pace of school re-openings. Marisa Lagos gives the latest on the recall effort, Newsom’s response, and other California political news with LA Times Reporter John Myers and Politico’s Carla Marinucci. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This past year, the pandemic pushed millions to move back in with family members at levels not seen since the Great Depression. This was especially true for Gen Z and Millennials. For many cultures across the globe and within the United States, multigenerational households are the norm. In the U.S., however, moving in with your parents as an adult carries a stigma and is often considered a “failure to launch” or an undesirable last resort. Ariana Proehl talks with Fiza Pirani and Sarah Todd about what’s been good, bad and surprising about moving back home during the pandemic. And we want to hear from you: did you move home due to impacts of the pandemic? Did you have family move in with you? What has that been like? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mills College, an Oakland institution since 1852, announced Wednesday that it will end its role as a degree granting college. No more students will be admitted, and the last degrees are likely to be awarded no later than 2023. Alexis Madrigal talks to Elizabeth Hillman, president of Mills College, about how declining enrollment, budget deficits, and the COVID-19 pandemic played into the decision and what's next for the school. And if you went to Mills, we want to hear from you. What's your reaction to the end of the college's 169-year run? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices