Coachella Valley Grapples with Shifting Retail, Education Challenges

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The Coachella Valley is experiencing significant shifts, from the struggles of traditional malls like the Shops at Palm Desert to a high school student leading a lawsuit to freeze $3 billion in state school funds due to inequitable funding. Additionally, the region is grappling with the impact of students' constant social media use on their education, prompting calls for cell phone bans in schools.

Why it matters

These issues highlight the broader challenges facing communities across the country as they adapt to the decline of brick-and-mortar retail, fight for equitable education funding, and address the growing influence of technology on student behavior and learning.

The details

The Shops at Palm Desert mall is struggling, with a 9% vacancy rate even during the 2025 holiday season, while the high-end El Paseo district is thriving. Experts suggest repurposing vacant spaces, such as turning a former Sears into a bowling alley or church, to keep malls relevant. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Coachella Valley High senior Miliani Rodriguez is leading a lawsuit to freeze $3 billion in state school funds, arguing that the current funding formula disproportionately disadvantages agricultural communities like Thermal, where classrooms can reach 85 degrees with black mold on the walls. Additionally, a new study shows teenagers are checking social media hundreds of times a day, rewiring their brains and making real-life interaction feel "boring" to them, prompting calls for school cell phone bans.

• In the peak of the 2025 holiday season, the Shops at Palm Desert had a 9% vacancy rate.
• Coachella Valley High senior Miliani Rodriguez is leading a lawsuit to freeze $3 billion in state school funds.

What they’re saying

What’s next

The judge in Miliani Rodriguez's lawsuit will decide on Tuesday whether to allow the $3 billion in state school funds to be frozen.