The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence’s board meeting on June 6 continued recent conversations about how the agency can play a key role in the state’s System of Support without the expectation of offering individualized assistance in every local educational agency’s time of need. A […]
Commentary: ‘The root cause of teacher strikes is found not in Oakland or Los Angeles, but in Sacramento’
“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 […]
CSBA plays key role in development of air quality guidance tool for districts
Last year, one of California’s most destructive wildfire seasons on record resulted in school officials hundreds of miles from the disasters making difficult decisions amid toxic smoke and unhealthy air, oftentimes without formal guidance or existing policies. Concerned parents and community members questioned whether schools […]
Legislative Update: Policy committee hearings resuming this month
Click here for all 2019 bills with CSBA positions. CSBA co-sponsored bills: Assembly Bill 39 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance), which would state legislative intent to increase the Local Control Funding Formula base grant targets equivalent to the national average in per-pupil funding (intent language mirroring this bill […]
Keeping kids safe at school: DSSF’s Lock Don’t Block campaign
Submitted by the Door Safety & Security Foundation According to The Los Angeles Times, there have been more than 180 shootings on school campuses that resulted in an injury or death in the U.S. since December 2012, when 20 children and six adults were killed […]
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 […]
Student data disconnect persists as California works to lower achievement gap
An integrated data system to assess student performance and results is desperately needed in California, two researchers said at a May 10 talk in Sacramento. At the event, experts discussed key findings on data systems from the Getting Down to Facts II report and next […]
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 […]