“2019 is becoming the Year of the Teacher Strike, a phenomenon four decades in the making,” CSBA CEO and Executive Director Vernon M. Billy writes in a new opinion piece in The Sacramento Bee, pointing out recent strikes in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, and the […]
Category: Funding & Finance
Funding & Finance
The limited impact but substantial importance of Cal Fire v. CalPERS
On March 4, 2019, the California Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the appellate court’s decision in Cal Fire 2881 v. California Public Employees’ Retirement System, upholding the 2012 elimination of a pension benefit for public employees. The narrow decision in favor of the State will not […]
Enthusiastic Capitol crowd calls for Full and Fair Funding of California’s public schools
From Humboldt County, Monterey, San Diego and beyond, school leaders converged on Sacramento by the busload on May 22 to make their voices heard and to fight for Full and Fair Funding of California’s public schools. About 200 school board members took that fight to […]
CEO’s Note: The ‘big short’ in California school funding
by Vernon M. Billy This past January, educators across the state (and nation) were fixated on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s six-day teacher’s strike. The LAUSD strike was followed almost immediately by a seven-day work stoppage in Oakland and a highly publicized one-day walkout […]
Commentary: Fighting for students, rallying for public schools
“Every student should graduate high school prepared for success in college, career and civic life. Unfortunately, our ability to deliver on this promise has been compromised by 40 years of underinvestment in public schools,” write Burbank Unified School District leaders in a new commentary published […]
Reserve cap trigger looming: What districts need to know
In one of those déjà vu moments, we are growing concerned about the possible “trigger” of the school district reserve cap in the next fiscal year. While it is still early, CSBA wants to alert all school board members, superintendents and chief business officials of […]
Districts encouraged to step up to the plate for summer meals
Only 14 percent of children eligible for subsidized summer lunches receive one, according to new analysis from California Food Policy Advocates. Further, one in five low-income schools have no open summer meal site within one mile and more than 800 public schools have no open […]
Expansive research provides further evidence of need for Full and Fair Funding
To adequately educate every student, California needed to spend $16,890 per pupil in the 2016–17 school year. The state spent $12,204. The vast funding gap was the highlight of Getting Down to Facts II research presented by Policy Analysis for California Education at an April […]
New study shows California schools critically underfunded in quest to close achievement gap
A new report released by the Albert Shanker Institute and co-authored by Bruce Baker, a top school finance expert from Rutgers University, points to the importance of increased school funding in bridging the achievement gap. “The Adequacy and Fairness of State School Finance Systems” examines […]
Commentary: Opportunity knocks for school funding
by Emma Turner The funding challenges facing California public schools are many and varied, and so are the ways in which CSBA is addressing them. By now, you’re aware of CSBA’s initiative to secure Full and Fair Funding for K-12 public schools by raising per-pupil […]