by Michael Funk Which sounds more appealing to you for a summer activity: sitting in a stuffy school classroom doing remedial work, or hopping on a bus with your friends to go chase minnows in a nearby river? The traditional paradigm for summer learning has […]
Category: Effective Governance
Effective Governance
Charter School Law Can Lead To Lack Of Oversight
by Chris Ungar In early August, I had the opportunity to testify before the State Senate Education Committee on an issue of grave importance to CSBA and to the future of public education in California — the oversight of charter schools. Many of you know […]
Finding meaning in California’s constitutional guarantee of education
by Keith Bray All children can succeed, but not all children have equal opportunity to do so. A child’s background and social station continue to play an inordinate role in his or her scholastic outcomes, both in California and across the nation. Schools, given the […]
Involving Students in LCAP Process is a Lesson in Civic Engagement
by Paul Richman California Gov. Jerry Brown’s May Budget Revise reflected a strong commitment to the improvement of public education through the Local Control Funding Formula. As school districts seek to involve local communities – parents, students, teachers, administrators and school boards – in shaping […]
Elected Boards Are The Best Way To Ensure Schools Remain Accountable To The Public
by Chris Ungar Public schools are the most universal and intimate of our democratic institutions. A central role in this tradition is played by publicly elected school boards. Charged with the stewardship of their local districts, school boards provide the most direct (and often the […]
Legislative Action Day 2016: 200 Education Advocates Rally at Capitol
CSBA President Chris Ungar shares the virtues of active engagement with local representatives in this 2016 Legislative Action Day video. “Remember the two A’s; advocacy and adequacy,” Ungar said. Watch this inspiring gathering of leaders fighting for public education and working on action for schools.
Call to Join the California Community Schools Network
by Deanna Niebuhr A few years ago, I worked with a team to write a Healthy Start grant proposal for an elementary school. The principal understood that this proposal writing process presented an opportunity to offer her students a valuable leadership experience. To give students […]
Smarter Balanced Assessments: Keep results in perspective for students and their families
by Kathy Caric With the release of California’s new Common Core-aligned test results for students from the third through the eighth grades, and 11th graders, the following is a perspective from the front lines. The commentary originally appeared as a From the Field piece in […]
Leadership Matters in the Reserve Cap Policy Debate
by School Services of California, Inc. staff We have written quite a number of negative articles outlining the potentially disastrous financial effects of the reserve cap policy contained in Senate Bill 858 enacted in June 2014. We think that the education community is well informed […]
Minding the DROPS: Water conservation projects teach awareness at schools
by Renee Cashmere As a first and second grader in the Bay Area in 1976-77, an epic drought made impressions upon me that have lasted a lifetime. Even before the more recent drought began, I remembered the conservation rules all Californian’s were required to follow back then. […]