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 […]
California bans discrimination based on natural hair
On July 3, 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 188 (the Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural hair ‘CROWN’ Act) into law, making California the first state in the country to ban discrimination against natural hair. The text of the bill states […]
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 […]
UPDATE: Start time, charter school bills advance on fiscal deadline day
Updated Wed., July 10, 4:00 p.m. Today (July 10) marks the deadline for policy committees in both the Senate and Assembly to meet to hear all fiscal bills, while Friday, July 12 is the deadline to hear non-fiscal bills. Senate Bill 328 (Portantino), the CSBA-opposed […]
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 […]
A look inside the enacted 2019–20 budget act
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, […]
Guidance and support needed for charter school authorizers, panel says
Representatives from school districts, county offices of education and education organizations gathered in Sacramento on June 26 for a California Department of Education panel discussion, Best Practices for Charter School Authorization and Renewal. The panel, which included CSBA Legislative Advocate Carlos Machado, convened at a […]