Category Archives: Elections

Polling finds strong support for more funding, school facilities bond

13 Feb
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A majority of California voters continue to say the state should spend more money on schools, new polling shows, reflecting the severity of chronic underfunding that has left California well below the national average in per-student spending. Additionally, a robust 64 percent of voters support the $15 billion school facilities bond measure on the March 3 ballot. The results from 2,000 registered California voters detailed in “Californians and Public Education: Views from the 2020 PACE/USC Rossier Poll” finds that only...

Districts can further increase young voter turnout by providing strong civics education

26 Sep
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Teenage voting hit a historic high in the 2018 midterm elections, with voter turnout rates for 18- and 19-year-olds reaching 22 percent. High School Voter Education Weeks, officially designated as Sept. 17–29 this year, presents another opportunity for school and district leaders to spread awareness of the importance of civic participation among students. Much of the increase can be attributed to students rallying themselves and their peers. A pre-election poll conducted by the Center for Information & Research on Civic...

Assembly District 1 race heads to November runoff

28 Aug
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The race to fill the vacant Assembly District 1 seat is headed for a Nov. 5 runoff between Democrat Elizabeth Betancourt and Republican Megan Dahle, after the two garnered 39.1 percent and 36.2 percent of the vote, respectively, as of late Tuesday evening. Betancourt, a local farmer and small business owner, was the lone Democrat in a five-person race, while Dahle snagged the highest percentage of the vote among the four Republicans. Dahle is a former school board member of...

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...

Former CSBA Delegate Smith celebrates swearing-in with community, outlines education goals

11 Mar
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Assemblymember Christy Smith’s community swearing-in on Feb. 16 was an opportunity for the former CSBA Delegate and two-term Newhall School District trustee to connect with locals and share her education agenda. Smith (D-Santa Clarita) was elected to the Assembly with 51.5 percent of the vote in November 2018’s election and she is now a member of the Assembly Committee on Education. About 150 community members turned out for the event at Oak Hills Elementary School in Valencia, which included a...

CSBA institute helps new board members answer ‘what’s next?’

7 Jan
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From the Redwood Coast to the Coachella Valley, about 80 newly elected district and county board members gathered Jan. 3-4 in Sacramento to focus on “what’s next.” With their campaigns finished and a largely procedural first board meeting under their belts, attendees learned about effective governance, finance, human resources and student learning at CSBA’s popular Institute for New and First-term Board Members. Governance Consultant and CSBA Past President Luan Burman Rivera started the program by outlining the key concepts of...

Superintendent-elect Thurmond vows to increase K-12 funding; other election news

20 Nov
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Superintendent of State Public Instruction-elect Tony Thurmond called for greater K-12 school funding at his introductory press conference on Nov. 20 in Sacramento. “The thing I will work the hardest on is changing how we fund public education in the state. We will never again be 46th in the nation in per-pupil spending,” the Democratic Assemblymember representing Richmond said. Even considering the improvements seen with the Local Control Funding Formula, Thurmond said, the kind of supplemental funding measures he has...

New Laws for California Schools: Assembly Bill 2449

12 Nov
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governance meeting
This new, weekly feature from CSBA will highlight a new education law signed by the Governor in 2018. All laws are effective Jan. 1, 2019, unless otherwise noted. The full What’s New for 2019 report on all new laws affecting K-12 education is available at www.csba.org/whatsnewfor2019. AB 2449, Governing board elections; beginning date of board member terms Assembly Bill 2449 (Arambula, D-Fresno) changes the seating date for newly elected school district and county board of education members to the second Friday in December...

November 6, 2018, Election Summary and Recap

7 Nov
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i voted sticker
Governor Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom was proclaimed California’s Governor-elect shortly after the 8 p.m. poll closures Tuesday night, with Newsom’s lead continuing to widen throughout the evening; the current semi-official results show Newsom as having claimed 59.4 percent of the vote as of this writing. Democrat Eleni Kounalakis will become the new Lt. Governor after holding off former State Senator and fellow Democrat Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa). View Gavin Newsom’s response to CSBA’s questionnaire. Superintendent of Public Instruction Following a campaign...