Category Archives: Uncategorized

After myriad advocacy organizations sounded their opposition to the first draft of California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, the State Board of Education indicated in a statement that the curriculum will be “substantially redesigned.” The statement, from State Board President Linda Darling-Hammond, board Vice President Ilene Straus and board member liaison to the Instructional Quality Commission Feliza Ortiz-Licon, acknowledges that a “model curriculum should be accurate, free of bias, appropriate for all learners in our diverse state, and align with Governor...

A new Center for American Progress report finds that unresolved complaints to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights related to sexual orientation or gender identity have increased by 20 percent since the repeal of Obama-era guidance that protected transgender students. The guidance cited Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds, as protecting all students on the basis of their gender identity “including discrimination based on a...

Are U.S. high schools doing enough to prepare students for college, career and civic life in the 21st century? That question is explored by a recent nationally representative survey of current and recent high school students conducted by Civic with Hart Research Associates for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Respected: Perspectives of Youth on High School & Social and Emotional Learning finds that while the majority of surveyed students give their schools and staff a passing...

A well-respected research and policy expert described as “a giant in the world of education” by The Washington Post, Linda-Darling Hammond began her new role as State Board of Education President in February 2019 after Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed her to the body. The 11-person board oversees policy, academic standards, curriculum, assessments and accountability for the state’s K-12 public schools. Darling-Hammond is also president of the Learning Policy Institute, a non-partisan research organization based in Palo Alto, and served as...

A new report by the Public Policy Institute of California examines how two major educational reforms in California in the past decade — the adoption of the Common Core State Standards in 2010 and the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013 — have effected student test scores on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The study finds that while the state’s students are making progress in English, math scores are relatively stagnant and indicate...

On June 27, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed his first state budget act as Governor, wrapping up a 2019–20 budget that invests more than $3 billion above the Proposition 98 guarantee in pension relief and special education. While the budget invests heavily in ongoing programmatic support, there is no one-time discretionary money in the 2019–20 budget. The budget leaves no maintenance factor obligation or payment in 2019–20, and makes a $687 settle-up payment, leaving no additional outstanding settle up. During the...

In a June 17 EdSource webinar, Building for the future: Funding school renovation & construction, a panel of school facilities experts discussed a proposed school bond measure making its way through the Legislature. Assembly Bill 48 (O’Donnell-D, Long Beach), the Kindergarten-Community Colleges Public Education Facilities Bond Acts of 2020 and 2022, would place a $13 billion school facilities bond on the March 2020 ballot and an additional bond of as-yet-undefined value on the November 2022 ballot. Panelists included CSBA Legislative...