Local educational agencies in Sonoma County have been awarded more than $9 million in Golden State Pathways Program dollars to help students prepare for and pursue college and career opportunities post-high school. The Sonoma County Office of Education, which acted as a lead agency in pursuit of a consortium grant, played a major role in encouraging and assisting school districts throughout the application process.
On July 30, CSBA joined State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, school system leaders and University of California researchers at the California Department of Education’s headquarters in Sacramento to help launch a statewide initiative that aims to create millions of housing units on land owned by local educational agencies.
California ranked in the bottom third of states in measures of children’s well-being, according to the 2024 Kids County Data Book, which details state trends on the topic. The annual report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation compares data from 2019, before the pandemic, to 2022 as COVID restrictions were easing. By presenting 15 indicators related to well-being, education, health and family and community, the organization aims to ensure all students have what they need to meet academic milestones.
Drawing upon a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, the 2024 Student Voice Report by Challenge Success, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Standford University’s Graduate School of Education, provides insight into a generation of high school students’ emotional and physical well-being, sense of belonging and engagement.
CSBA’s Research and Education Policy Development (REPD) team has contributed to the creation of new resources to inform local educational agency leaders on critical topics including state and federal reporting requirements and late start implementation. “The REPD team is committed to providing CSBA members with timely and relevant resources,” said Senior Director Mary Gardner Briggs. “This overview of the reporting requirements is a visual way of communicating concerns our members have been raising, and we already have reports of this document’s use in local and statewide advocacy with legislators.”
California school districts and county offices of education are required by July 1, 2025, to establish continuity plans to ensure students are provided instruction when natural disasters or other states of emergencies make in-person classes impossible.
The Consortium for School Networking’s (CoSN) recent report, 2024 State of Edtech District Leadership, covers survey results from industry professionals on topics including education technology (edtech) priorities and challenges, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, student well-being, digital equity, staffing and more.
Following a decline during the pandemic, undergraduate enrollment is projected to grow in California in the next decade, according to Public Policy Institute of California’s (PPIC) June report and policy brief on the future of higher education enrollment in the state.
California was among the three states with the most significant increases in per pupil expenditures between fiscal years 2021 and 2022, according to a first look report on public school revenues and expenditures released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in May.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) dealt with the highest number of complaints in its history in fiscal year (FY) 2023 at 19,201 — a 2 percent increase from the prior year, according to the its annual report. For comparison, just 8,934 complaints were lodged in FY 2021.
