Until recently, the unique needs of California’s K-12 students in foster care were often overlooked. Recent research sponsored by the Stuart Foundation has shed new light on the challenges these students face. Board members are encouraged to view the CSBA Fact Sheet and short videos, and […]
Survival Of The Fittest: Adapting To Drive The Public Education Agenda
by Susan Henry In biological terms, fitness is defined by the ability to survive and reproduce — a condition dependent on how well an organism has adapted to its environment. As leaders in public education, we are operating in an extremely difficult environment. The political […]
From Small Learning Communities to Yoga: A Different Approach to Urban Education
by Betsy Schulz In the 1970s, I began my teaching career at the Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, a small public high school in Oakland founded to help academically at-risk students of color graduate. Inspired by school’s values and the Civil Rights movement, I signed on […]
What Parents Must Know About Type 1 Diabetes
by Debbie George So many times I hear my teenagers complain about aches and pains much like we all do at times. Most of the time I attribute it to growing pains or whatever bug seems to be going around at the time and don’t […]
CSBA President Susan Henry Issues Statement Regarding Cuts to Federal Education Budget that Threaten Teacher Training and Class-Size Reduction Programs
Educators apprehensive about budget which piles new mid-year cuts on top of reductions already proposed for fiscal 2018 “The California School Boards Association is deeply concerned about the Trump Administration’s plan to slash federal education spending. The $9.2 billion in cuts for the upcoming fiscal year […]
Storm Relief Needed For Pension Increase Crisis
by Susan Henry After you’ve survived a few financial storms, you begin to recognize clouds forming on the horizon. So, experienced weather watchers know a menacing front is headed for California schools in the form of major pension increases. Rising pension costs exceed new revenues […]
New federal budget blueprint slashes education funding
Written by CSBA Staff On Wednesday, the Trump Administration unveiled a budget proposal that ramps up funding for defense and homeland security while cutting education spending by 13 percent. Under the proposal, which would apply to the 2018-19 school year, the U.S. Department of Education […]
California Arts Education Data Project Provides Road Map for Districts
by Patricia Wayne All students in California deserve to have access to high quality arts education that will provide them with important skills they need to succeed in today’s competitive workforce. But up until now, we lacked the tools to show us where (and how) […]
Charter Schools: Good governance practices and lack of transparency a subject of dispute
by Keith Bray There are elements of good governance that for decades have been sewn into the statutory fabric of how elected officials do their work on behalf of the people they represent. For example, meetings, with limited exceptions, are open to the public. Documents […]
State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Commends California’s Continued Progress in Advanced Placement Exams
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced that annual Advanced Placement results released today show that the number of California public high school graduates taking and demonstrating success in AP courses continues to climb. California placed fifth in the nation in the percentage (28.5 […]