Obesity rate remains high for California’s fifth-graders, racial disparities prominent

Showing only marginal improvement from years prior, 40.5 percent of California fifth-graders were overweight or obese in 2018, according to new data from the Kidsdata program of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. Research has long shown that the physical health of students significantly […]

Newly released 2017–18 California college-going rates in perspective

Last week, the California Department of Education released the 2017–18 college-going rates for high school graduates. This release continues to reveal an achievement gap between students of color and their white peers, but also offers an opportunity for school leaders to assess how well their […]

State Board of Education adopts new five-year graduation rate for Dashboard

Future versions of the California School Dashboard will include a combined four- and five-year graduation rate, which officials say provides schools with an opportunity to demonstrate their success with students who may need additional time to earn a high school diploma. The State Board of […]

State Allocation Board talks full-day kindergarten program, hears several appeals

The State Allocation Board meets monthly to apportion funds to school districts, act on appeals, and adopt policies and regulations. At its June 26 meeting, Office of Public School Construction staff provided updates on the Full-Day Kindergarten Facilities Grant Program and priority funding apportionments, and […]

CEO’s Note: What a CSBA poll tells us about Californians’ views about education funding

In my last CEO’s note in the spring California Schools magazine, I discussed the ongoing “big short” in how the state of California has funded its schools over the past several decades. A new statewide poll from CSBA confirms that, in a year when statewide […]

Diverse consortium lays out policy priorities to boost English learner achievement

A new policy priority report from The Consortium for English Learner Success finds that if California does not boost the achievement of English learner students, “it will lose the linguistic, cultural, social and economic assets of these students needed to develop a global, diverse and […]

CSBA’s Education Legal Alliance restores California public school funds to state budget

California’s public schools will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding and avoid billions in potential losses thanks to a settlement agreement between the State of California and CSBA. The agreement ensures public schools will receive repayment of $686 million (approximately $110 per […]