Ailyn’s journey from charter schools to a public high school in Boyle Heights showed her that real education isn’t about test scores or lotteries—it’s about investing in public schools so every student can thrive!

Nadia’s experience at an underfunded private school showed her that families shouldn’t have to pay thousands for basic opportunities—the real solution is investing in strong public schools for all.

Lynda reflects on the relationship between school and technology.

Natalie emphasizes the important of digital literacy in public education.

Natalie recounts her experiences with mental health in public education.

Alex recounts times of hardship and how free lunch programs could have alleviated stress for her and her family.

Natalie talks about her experiences navigating California’s public school system.

Marlenne tells us the story of her experience as a first-generation student and urges us to reform Prop 13 to support marginalized students with specialized needs.

Lynda talks about the lack of harm reduction at universities. Too often, we hear stories of parties gone wrong and young people lost too early.

Marlenne tells us the story of her experience as a first-generation student and urges us to reform Prop 13 to support marginalized students with specialized needs.

Natalie talks about bootstrapping in public education. Time and time again, teachers work on and off the clock, and are not compensated for their efforts. Teachers deserve to be compensated now.

Alex recounts times of hardship and how free lunch programs could have alleviated stress for her and her family.

Lynda shares about her time serving Berkeley High’s Multilingual Program and the support the program could have used.

Marlenne talks about the importance of funding public school teachers and how the interpersonal relationships between teachers and students will affect student futures and paths.

Alex talks about her elementary school experience with a teacher who changed her life.

Lynda talks about her experience in public schools where she encountered privatization of resources that should have been available to all students.

Morsal talks about her experience at Berkeley, opportunities, potential changes, and what to do to make Berkeley a more inclusive environment.

There is a huge gap in funding between public and private schools in California due to the way Proposition 13 changed the way our schools are funded. If we want to accurately compare public and private schools, we can’t cherry pick data. Public school students deserve just as many resources and support as anyone else.

Former Evolve Intern Neftaly describes her experience returning to her home of the Central Valley as a substitute teacher after college. She details how, on top of prior disinvestment, the Trump Era budget cuts are harming the Valley more than most.

Morsal talks about her experience of delayed graduation at UC Berkeley due to overcrowded classrooms and the underfunded UC system in California.