Friday Must Reads: Brown and Napolitano Reach Deal on UC Tuition Freeze; Senate Passes Mandatory Vaccine Bill

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. Governor Jerry Brown and UC President Janet Napolitano have reached a deal on funding for the University of California that will eliminate tuition hikes for in-state students for the next two years, the SacBee$ reports. In exchange for the tuition freeze, Brown agreed to increase funding to UC by $436 million over three years, along with an annual 4 percent hike. Thanks to much higher than expected revenues, K–12 public schools will also receive extra funding.

2. The state Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation that would require all incoming kindergarteners in California schools to be vaccinated — unless they obtain a medical waiver, the Mercury News$ reports. The legislation, if approved by the Assembly, would eliminate the personal belief exemption for vaccines, although under a compromise agreement, currently unvaccinated students would be exempted until they enter the seventh grade.

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3. The tentative agreement between Oakland teachers and the school district calls for teachers to receive an 8 percent pay raise by next January, along with annual hikes tied to state budget increases, the Chron reports.

4. A student who was beaten by an Oakland schools security guard has sued the school district, the Chron reports. The security guard, Marchell Mitchell, has been fired and prosecutors have charged him with felony assault on a child.

5. Up to about 2,000 homes and apartments in San Francisco have been turned into Airbnb rentals, thereby exacerbating the city’s housing shortage, the Chron reports, citing a new city analysis.

6. Democratic Assemblymember Loretta Sanchez announced that she will run for US Senate next year against state Attorney General Kamala Harris, the SacBee$ reports.

7. And the USDA said it will offer certification of GMO-free products — a move that was praised by activists as a good first step but one that fell short of their goal to mandate labels on all genetically modified foods sold in the United States, the Chron reports.