Economy

School suspensions cost communities and unfairly affect minorities, experts say

A recent study suggests that not only do suspensions take a toll on students, they place a financial burden on their communities. In March, the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara and the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UC Los Angeles released a study revealing that school suspensions could cost communities across the state a total of $2.7 billion per graduating class.

Landed helps educators stay in the Bay Area

Everyone in the Bay Area knows the cost of housing is high, and that makes it hard for local teachers to live where they work. But Landed, Inc. is here to help. Landed, Inc. is a small San Francisco-based startup that helps Bay Area teachers afford homes. Co-founders Alex Lofton, Jonathan Asmis and Jesse Vaughn were inspired by sharing economy models, such as Uber and AirBnb, and applied this idea to the home market, Lofton said. The company works with…

In Oakland, women take the lead as Airbnb hosts

Cynthia Mackey, a 56-year-old self-employed digital marketer, loves to talk about Airbnb. She laughs and smiles, growing excited as she talks about the joy that comes from opening up her home in Oakland’s Adams Point to a world of strangers. Mackey started hosting for Airbnb, an online international marketplace for booking accommodations, in July, 2013. She purchased her 3-bedroom home 18 years ago with her brother. They used to rent out the basement in-law unit. But when her brother moved…

State legislators push bill to limit emergency room closures

California has one the nation’s lowest number of hospital emergency rooms per capita, and Bay Area legislators are calling this shortage a crisis, as the number of people who need urgent care services keeps growing. They are pushing for a bill that would require non-profit hospitals to obtain approval from the state Attorney General.