California Secretary of State Alex Padilla recently announced the California Census Challenge, a statewide competition with the goal of increasing the census self-response rates of the state’s cities and counties while decreasing the need for at-home visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. If the current lack […]
Author: Kimberly Sellery
CSBA President’s Message: Unprecedented times call for sharing our best work
Now that the budget dust has settled and Gov. Gavin Newsom has issues much more concrete guidance for reopening schools, I know we are all hard at work figuring out how to make the 2020-21 school year work best for all students. And by the […]
Funding influx needed to address equity concerns this school year and beyond
In the topsy-turvy leadup to the 2020–21 school year, the most recent pressing issues involve the logistics of when and how campuses could or should physically reopen. While opening dates are critical for the operations of school districts, national education observers and advocates said at […]
Federal court denies request to stop Title IX regulations
On Aug. 12, 2020, in Pennsylvania v. Devos, a federal district court denied a request to stop the Title IX regulations implementation of the published by the U.S. Department of Education last May. The rules contain specific requirements for inclusion in the processes for investigating […]
Revised Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum begins new rounds of public review
A revised draft of the California Department of Education’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum was presented to the Instructional Quality Commission on Aug. 13, after reviewing thousands of critical comments of the initial draft. The first draft had been criticized by advocacy groups as promoting anti-Semitism […]
AEC is going virtual!
Due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and out of an abundance of caution, CSBA has decided that the 2020 Annual Education Conference (AEC), scheduled in Anaheim, will go virtual. CSBA has taken into consideration the recent trend of COVID-19 cases throughout the […]
Federal hearing explores pros and cons of schools reopening
Balancing the benefits of in-person instruction with the health and safety of students, teachers and staff was the focus of the Aug. 6 Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Remote Hearing, “Challenges to Safely Reopening K-12 Schools.” Hearing speakers were split down party lines on […]
CSBA webinars feature broad board member perspectives on preparing for the new school year
On Aug. 4, CSBA hosted two panels of board members to discuss the real-time progress and challenges their local educational agencies are facing as they plan for the 2020–21 school year, which begins as early as this week for some. The panels grouped representatives by […]
CDE partners with Apple and T-Mobile to offer discounted devices
The California Department of Education announced Aug. 5 a partnership with Apple and T-Mobile to aid in closing the state’s digital divide. The partnership comes at a key time when estimates have identified 700,000 students who need a device and 300,000 who need an internet […]
Court rules in favor of eliminating pension “spiking”
On July 30, 2020, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Alameda County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. Alameda County Employees Retirement Association that the Legislature was allowed to eliminate pension “spiking,” where employees artificially increased their earnings (and, in turn, their pension) in their last […]