by Jill Wynns, Commissioner, San Francisco Board of Education CSBA 2012 President Downtown San Francisco, my home, is filled with school board members from all over California this week. I am always so impressed by how hard school board members work to ensure that our […]
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Investing in Our Youth
by San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee If we want our families to stay and grow in San Francisco, and if we want employers to stay and grow here, we must strive for the best public schools, anywhere. I say the best public schools “anywhere” […]
New Research Suggests Common Strategies to Align Expanded Learning
by Jessica Gunderson, Policy Director, Partnership for Children & Youth Did you know that your students who regularly and fully participate in state-funded or federally-funded expanded learning time – afterschool, intersession, and/or summer – programs can gain up to an additional 90 full-days of learning […]
Reforms need time and leadership, and the board has the power to sustain both
by Christopher Maricle, Policy & Programs Officer A recent education week article reports that the average tenure of superintendents across the country has dropped slightly to an average of 3.2 years for large urban districts. Is this a trend that we should be concerned about? […]
Making the Most of Summer Time
by Jennifer Peck, Executive Director, Partnership for Children & Youth Districts are working hard to meet the demands of multiple initiatives and new expectations … with the valid lament – “There’s not enough time to get all this done!” But Summer TIME offers a solution. […]
California Thursdays: Making the Case for Farm to School Programs
by Nathaniel Browning, Policy & Programs Officer The growing prevalence of schools acquiring food from local farms makes me wish I could once again eat at school. The increasing popularity of Farm to School (F2S) programs is for good reason: they have a positive impact […]
Lead, arsenic, nitrates, OH MY!
by Nathaniel Browning, Policy & Programs Officer, CSBA Research has shown that adequate consumption of healthy water ensures proper motor functioning, mental acuity and stress reduction. Access to safe drinking water helps promote greater student achievement, physical fitness and a positive school climate. Unfortunately, many […]
September Attendance Awareness Month
by Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction September is a busy time of year for all of us. Our schools are back in session – students and teachers around the state are hard at work – expectations are high. And we are charged with the responsibility […]
Making a Difference in Student Attendance–Lessons Learned
by Audrey Yamagata-Noji, Ph.D., President, Santa Ana Unified School District Board and CSBA Director-at-large, Asian Pacific Islander Attendance is especially challenging in a district where the majority of families qualify for free/reduced lunch and the majority of families are immigrants. Cultural differences can lead to […]
Two Languages: Multiple Benefits
by Julie Maxwell-Jolly, Programs & Policy Officer In an increasingly globalized economy, California will need a population with the skills and understanding to thrive in multiple settings, languages, and cultures. One way to prepare our young people for this interconnected future is by providing them […]