Category: Effective Governance

Effective Governance

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.

California schools tackle Common Core challenges

How are school districts and county offices of education preparing to implement the Common Core State Standards? It’s a daunting task, reveals the spring 2013 issue of California Schools magazine. To be ready for new common national academic standards, local educational agencies will have to dramatically change instructional methods and prepare students—and technological systems—to handle revolutionary computerized tests. This would be a tall order in the best of budgetary times. Yet despite years of harsh cuts in state support for public education, LEAs throughout the state are finding creative and innovative ways to meet the CCSS challenge.

Refocused policy document will guide CSBA’s work

CSBA’s Policy Platform Review Committee is hard at work reorganizing the organization’s key policy framework for consideration by the Delegate Assembly in May. For years, the process of updating the eight primary policy areas, with its dozens of supporting statements, during the Delegate Assembly meeting every two years had proved cumbersome and time-consuming. While the Platform’s purpose in guiding the association’s policy and political leadership activities is essential, the process needed revision.

Is your superintendent meeting performance expectations?

By Christopher Maricle, Policy and Programs Officer It’s that time of year, when boards and superintendents give some thought and energy into fulfilling one of the board’s most critical functions – the superintendent evaluation. It’s through this process that boards practice an important part of […]