Category Archives: Education and Training

Education and Training

Report finds increased funding and access but low standards for California pre-K programs

19 Apr
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California increased its early childhood education funding and enrollment in 2017–18, but fell below the national average for meeting minimum quality standards, according to “The State of Preschool 2018” annual report from the National Institute for Early Education Research. The pre-K programs — composed of the State Preschool Program, Transitional Kindergarten, Head Start and special education — enrolled 242,297 children in 2017–18. More than 15 percent of all U.S. children in state-funded early education programs are in California, the research...

Record number of board members advocate for education on Legislative Action Day

20 Mar
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More than 260 board members and superintendents representing more than 150 school districts and county offices of education across California met at the Capitol on March 12 to advocate for the state’s K-12 public schools and its more than 6 million students — with Full and Fair Funding a central theme. Opening Legislative Action Day, CSBA President Emma Turner stressed the call for schools to receive more state funding to improve and expand programs, serve all students, and close opportunity...

What districts should know about first run of optional California Spanish Assessment

19 Mar
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A new, optional test will be administered for the first time when the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress testing window opens April 1, 2019. The California Spanish Assessment will be offered to third- through eighth-grade and high school students seeking a measure of their reading, writing, mechanics and listening skills in Spanish. The California Department of Education intends it to be especially useful for the more than 1.2 million students who speak Spanish as their primary language, but...

Report: K-12 cybersecurity incidents, risks growing across the country

14 Feb
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K-12 local educational agencies nationwide experienced both more frequent and more significant cybersecurity incidents in 2018, according to a new report from The K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center. Data suggests the incidents did not discriminate by district type, location or size. There were 122 publicly reported K-12 cyber incidents in the U.S. in 2018, or about one incident every three days. A map on the center’s website shows the location of every reported cyber incident since 2016, in addition to a...

Hard-hit educators testify on wildfire response and recovery at state hearing

8 Feb
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Educators from across California provided emotional testimony at a Feb. 6 hearing about the impact of recent wildfires on schools and communities. In what several speakers called the “new normal” due to climate change and a now year-round fire season, firestorms have caused unprecedented damage to school districts statewide since 2017. The State Assembly’s Education Committee met at the Capitol to assess the recovery process, what more needs to be done, and how to prepare for future fires and other...

Commentary: Justice for all students is imperative

31 Jan
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By Dr. Emma Turner It is one of the great honors of my life to serve as President of the California School Boards Association and advocate for the needs of students — all students — at the highest levels. I reflected on this during the Annual Education Conference when the Delegate Assembly rose as one to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Hands on our hearts, we concluded with the phrase, “with liberty and justice for all.” Those words provide the...

Shattering inequities: One California school’s story

17 Jan
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students taking test
by Robin Avelar La Salle and Ruth Johnson Pico-Union is one of the most socioeconomically challenged neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles. More than 44,000 people live in a 1.67-square-mile area, making it one of the highest density places to live in the county. Sixty-five percent of the residents are Latino and immigrant, mostly from Mexico and Central America. Pico-Union is in the top 17 percent for number of violent crimes in L.A. Seven percent of residents have a...

Statement on the Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Budget Proposal

11 Jan
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“We are encouraged by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first budget, particularly his commitment to the Local Control Funding Formula, school construction, services for young children and families, and recognition of the challenges facing school districts in the form of rising costs for pensions and special education. The Governor has demonstrated an appreciation of the critical issues facing public schools as we work to provide the next generation of Californians with the tools needed to expand our prosperity and ensure that every...

A conversation with … CSBA President Emma Turner

8 Jan
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Emma Turner is a trustee of the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District in east San Diego, a TK-8 district with about 12,300 students. Turner is particularly proud of the work the district does in its Literacy Academy, Arts Academy and STEAM Academy. She has been involved in CSBA since her second year as a board member in 2007. Tell us a little about your background including your own K-12 education and professional experience. I’m a lifelong learner, and that is...

Attorney General echoes CSBA’s call for greater charter school transparency

2 Jan
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On Dec. 26, when Californians were more focused on holiday celebrations than legal matters, the state’s Attorney General published a report with enormous implications for charter schools and their authorizers. The 23-page opinion assessed issues of transparency, accountability and conflict of interest and concluded that — contrary to current practice — charter schools should have to comply with the same laws on these matters as other public schools. “We are presented with a series of questions about whether charter schools...