In a demonstration of unity, California’s leading education organizations representing administrators, classified employees, county superintendents, parents, school board members, school business officials and teachers convened on the West Steps of the State Capitol on May 21 to urge the Legislature to reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to withhold $3.9 billion owed to public schools.
The May Revise contains welcome provisions that will benefit public schools, including a 4.31 percent COLA for LCFF and a $2.4 billion ongoing increase for special education. Unfortunately, the Governor’s proposal masks an underfunding of the Prop 98 school funding guarantee and relies on the prolific use of one-time money to inflate funding levels in the short term without providing the stability and predictability schools need to plan effectively for student support.
When education leaders take the time to show up, share their stories and speak with clarity and purpose, they help shape policies that directly affect students’ lives. This truth was on full display when school board members and superintendents from across California gathered in Washington, D.C. from April 12-15 for the 2026 CSBA-ACSA Coast2Coast Federal Advocacy Trip.
On March 17, Assemblymembers Darshana Patel (D-San Diego), Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy) and Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) joined CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy, CSBA President Dr. Debra Schade and Hope Elementary School District Superintendent Melanie Matta at the Capitol to unveil the SOS for Student Achievement: Close the state accountability gap campaign and related legislation to improve overall student performance, close achievement gaps and establish comprehensive state-level support for local school districts and county offices of education.
Commentary by Melanie Waffle I serve on a school board, and I’m also a mom. That means I live in two parallel worlds: the public one, where policy is debated under the lights and eyes of a public meeting and the private one, where someone […]
CSBA’s 2026 budget advocacy strategy: Protect core funding, strengthen local control and drive overall student success As the 2026 State Budget cycle begins, CSBA is advancing a comprehensive advocacy strategy that defends public education’s fiscal foundation while urging Sacramento to do more — at the […]
In a testament to the value of persistent advocacy, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S 356, the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act on Dec. 9, restoring a financial lifeline to many rural schools in California and across the nation.
The California Department of Education released the latest edition of the California School Dashboard on Nov. 13, touting a “continued increase in academic achievement and graduation rates” and a “reduction in chronic absenteeism.” While some growth was evident, a look at the underlying data reveals a more complicated picture of student performance — one that demands greater scrutiny of the status quo, increased investment in public schools, and a commitment to reducing achievement gaps by accelerating achievement, particularly for the state’s most vulnerable students.
An Oct. 9 webinar hosted by CSBA featured initial analysis of results from the 2025 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and CSBA issuing a challenge to the state to create a state-level plan focused on what state agencies and policymakers will do differently to better support local educational agencies in closing the achievement gap.
With time to spare, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the final outcomes on Oct. 13 for all legislation that reached his desk at the end of the first year of the two-year 2025–26 legislative session. Notably, four CSBA-sponsored measures reached the Governor’s desk, with three signed into law.
