On Jan. 9, Department of Finance Director Joe Stephenshaw presented Gov. Gavin Newsom’s January Budget Proposal, creating a juxtaposition between the positive legacy-setting narrative presented in the Governor’s State of the State address with the fiscal realities of the State Budget. On one hand, the Governor highlighted various financial investments the state has made in transformational educational programs. On the other, the budget includes another manipulation of Proposition 98 that foretells serious concerns about how the state may continue to approach public education funding.

School Board Recognition Month is observed annually in January and serves as a time to celebrate California’s more than 5,000 school district and county office of education trustees.

School board members, who represent the largest group of elected officials in the state, aid in supporting student success by establishing their local educational agency’s mission, vision, policy priorities, budget and benchmarks. Amid growing expectations associated with the role and ongoing challenges within the sector that they must navigate, board members, also known as trustees, uphold their commitment to provide students with the conditions they need to thrive.

Every culture has a moment of renewal — a point in the year when people pause, reflect and prepare to begin again. For some, it is tied to the rhythm of the seasons: spring festivals celebrating rebirth, harvest celebrations marking transition or cultural traditions that honor the turning of a calendar unlike our own. Renewal is universal because hope is universal. The desire to reset, to reconsider and to recommit ourselves to what matters most is woven into the human experience.

For me, renewal has always come with the arrival of the New Year. I look forward to it with the same anticipation I felt as a child: the clean page of a new calendar, the quiet moment before writing down my goals, the feeling that — even briefly — everything is possible. It is a time when I allow myself to look inward with honesty and look outward with optimism. I ask: Where did I grow? Where did I fall short? What do I want to become in this next chapter?

In 2018, the California Legislature added Section 234.7 to the Education Code to safeguard students and school communities in light of the threat of increased federal immigration enforcement actions. That law prohibits school districts and county offices of education (COEs) from: (1) soliciting or collecting information or documents regarding the citizenship or immigration status of a student or the student’s family members and (2) seeking or requiring information or documents, to the exclusion of other permissible information or documents, regarding the citizenship or immigration status of a student or the student’s family members. Additionally, it required local educational agencies to adopt policies using model policy language (or its equivalent) developed by the California attorney general (AG).

Thousands of education leaders joined CSBA in Sacramento Dec. 3-5 for the 2025 Annual Education Conference and Trade Show (AEC), confirming their commitment to professional development and passion for championing students’ academic and social-emotional well-being.

In October 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 707 into law, which expanded and modernized the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code Section 54950), California’s open meeting law. The bill is lengthy and detailed and includes restoration of previously implemented provisions that were set to expire in 2026, reorganization of some provisions, modifications of others, and establishment of new requirements for certain governing bodies. This article provides a look at some of those components for local educational agencies to be aware of. To gain a full understanding of the bill and the changes it brings, CSBA recommends consultation with legal counsel such as CSBA’s District and County Office of Education Legal Services.

The Dec. 11-12 meeting of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing focused on how to address persistent certificated teacher misassignments, a lengthy discussion on how and when to use substitutes to uphold instructional continuity, and advanced amendments to the Child Development Permit.