Prelude to a Budget: Assembly Democrats release their 2014-15 budget priorities

The Assembly Democrats released an outline of a 2014-15-budget proposal called “Blueprint for a Responsible Budget” on Dec. 11, just a month before the Gov. Jerry Brown is to release his budget proposal. The outline is organized around two themes: Ensuring Stability and Expanding Opportunity. It does not contain specific expenditures or funding levels; the proposals are to serve as guideposts throughout the budget process and will be updated and refined as additional fiscal information becomes available.

Urban districts look to Linked Learning partnerships as a way to promote equity

The Urban School Districts Luncheon, held during CSBA’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in San Diego, focused on veteran board member perspectives of Linked Learning implementation. The event provided an extended opportunity for governance teams, Business Affiliates, and experts from the field a chance to network and discuss how they might partner together to enhance public education within their districts.

How can parents help their children succeed in school?

School district and county Local Control and Accountability Plans provide excellent opportunities for school district and county leaders to form new relationships with parents, as well as enhance existing ones. According to the panelists, if school district leaders genuinely engage parents in the LCAP process they will find enthusiastic allies in their children’s education.

Students display their power—and prowess—at the State Board’s November meeting

Several dozen students traveled to Sacramento with the California Association of Student Councils (CASC) to spend a few days researching and debating education policy and eventually designing policy recommendations to be presented to the SBE. Not only did the presenters have an impressive grasp of the latest academic research, they skillfully spun the research into actionable proposals that could work in the real world.

Let’s restore the civic mission of California schools

Guardian of Democracy: www.civicmissionofschools.org

In California and across the nation, research is revealing a very troubling ‘civic learning opportunity gap.’ Students attending schools that serve populations with higher socio-economic status have many more civic learning opportunities than students attending schools serving lower SES populations, minority populations and those serving high concentrations of recent arrivals to our nation. Schools facing pressure to make ‘annual yearly progress’ are all too often significantly reducing instructional time for civic learning/social studies, or in some cases eliminating the subject altogether to concentrate on math and reading.

How can California schools reconcile 3 accountability systems?

As the Local Control Funding Formula and its Local Control and Accountability Plan are added to existing accountability measures under No Child Left Behind and the Common Core State Standards, education policymakers are talking about how local educational agencies can coordinate the three accountability systems. At a recent seminar hosted by Policy Analysis for Education, CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Policy and Programs Angelo Williams, Ed.D., joined several state-level education policymakers to discuss the different approaches to accountability and offer their best suggestions for going forward.

Grant Watch: $700 million in grant funds available for student success

For 34 years CSBA’s Golden Bell Awards program has identified quality best practices focused on student success. The larger education grant funding world has taken notice. Golden Bell Award winners, like Corona Norco, have gone on to win national recognition. Remember, funders are interested in a track record of success and view their funds as investments in innovative but tried and true methods with a verifiable track record. In future editions of Grant Watch I’d like to share with you some proven methods for securing grant funds to amplify your resources to support your mission of student success for all.

Schools have a role in helping children get health insurance

CSBA is partnering with The Children’s Partnership “All In” campaign to help schools get information out to families and employees about the new affordable health coverage opportunities. Covered California, California’s new health insurance marketplace, opened on Oct. 1 and offers ways for millions of Californians to obtain health coverage, including health and dental coverage for children.

How will the federal government shutdown affect California schools?

The following is the most recent information on the impact of the federal shutdown on education. Just after midnight, the Office of Management and Budget sent out a memorandum to heads of departments and agencies instructing those organizations to begin shutdown procedures. Last Friday, a memorandum from the U.S. Department of Education was sent out describing the agency’s plan of operation in the event of a shutdown.