Category: Effective Governance

Effective Governance

Policy watch: Does your district have policies that support breastfeeding?

As August is World Breastfeeding Month, this is a good time to review district policies and practices to ensure compliance with legal requirements that employees be provided with reasonable break time and an appropriate location to express milk for their infant children. CSBA’s sample board policy BP 4033 – Lactation Accommodation reflects these federal and state requirements and prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation against any employee who chooses to exercise her rights under these laws.

Teachers are critical to the success of Common Core

If the implementation of the Common Core State Standards is to be successful, it will be because of teachers. All of the planning, budgeting, assessment development and communication won’t matter at all if the efforts are not ultimately focused on preparing teachers. With approximately $200 per student to spend on Common Core implementation over the next two years, boards have work to do. They will need to have a plan for staff to use the funds, hold a public hearing to inform the community, and then adopt that plan at a subsequent board meeting.

CSBA kicks off post-doctoral fellows program

The CSBA post-doctoral fellows program is a new collaboration between Drexel University and CSBA. The fellows program is the result of CSBA’s effort to establish partnerships with universities and other organizations. These partnerships help advance the policy leadership and priorities of CSBA by adding to CSBA’s human capital, expanding the high-quality information we provide to the members, and building understanding of governance issues and the needs of governance teams.

Communicate now about Common Core

With the governor’s announcement in the May Revision about potentially directing $1 billion to support the implementation of Common Core State Standards, the buzz is beginning about Common Core among the general public, parents and those who look for reasons to point to the failure of our public schools. Do you have a communications plan in place to communicate to your parents and constituents about Common Core?

CORE’s Rick Miller briefs CSBA delegates on federal NCLB waiver request

Local Educational Agencies can’t rely on the California Department of Education to figure out how to implement the Common Core State Standards and other key education reforms looming on the horizon. Speaking to members of CSBA’s Delegate Assembly in Sacramento May 18, Rick Miller, former deputy state schools superintendent and executive director of the California Office to Reform Education, said that’s one reason 10 school districts banded together to form the CORE coalition, which is optimistic that federal education officials will approve its waiver plan that releases participating LEAs from some of the harsher requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Board Member Action Day: Speaking truth to power

Demonstrating their dedication to children and passion for public education, members of school district and county office of education governance teams throughout California gathered at the home offices of their state representatives to advocate for local governance and other issues vital to public schools as part of CSBA’s Board Member Action Day May 10.

Budget discussions crescendo as governor’s May Budget Revision nears

Next week, on Tuesday, May 14, the governor will unveil the May Budget Revision for fiscal year 2013-14. Details about his revision are beginning to surface, as are additional proposals. On May 8, Assembly Democrats announced their plans for the state budget, naming it the “Blueprint for a Responsible Budget.” In addition to calling for a ballot measure in 2014 to establish guidelines for a richer state reserve, a strong focus of the Blueprint is children and education. For K-12, they call for all school districts to get their share of previous funding cuts repaid as Proposition 98 grows.

Latest developments in the Local Control Funding Formula

Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) presented SB 69, her bill on school finance and a new funding formula, to the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, May 1. In presenting the bill, Sen. Liu noted it is a work in progress. It’s intended to move the discussion of a new education funding method forward by providing a venue and vehicle for policy discussion and debate. The bill was voted out of the Senate Education Committee, with the Republican committee members not voting. The bill will now progress to the Senate Appropriations Committee.