CSBA’s landmark SOS for Student Achievement: Close the State Accountability Gap legislative package took another major step forward on June 24 as all four bills passed out of the Senate Education Committee and advanced to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bills received bipartisan support, and no votes were placed in opposition to the legislation.

The package to close the state accountability gap consists of Assembly Bill 2225 by Assemblymember Darshana Patel (D-San Diego), AB 2514 by Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy), AB 2149 by Assemblymember Robert Garcia (D-San Bernardino) and AB 2202 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), and would establish a coherent, state-level strategy to help local educational agencies boost overall student performance and close persistent achievement gaps.

“Yesterday’s vote is an important victory for California students, families and local schools,” said CSBA President Dr. Debra Schade, a trustee in the Solana Beach School District, on June 25. “County office of education and school district boards of education are accountable every day for student outcomes. This package asks the state to bring the same level of focus, transparency and accountability to state policies, budgets and systems that shape whether local efforts succeed. That is not more bureaucracy — it is better governance.”

CSBA launched the SOS for Student Achievement campaign to address a longstanding problem in California education — while school districts and county offices of education are responsible for improving student outcomes, state-level programs, mandates, funding streams and support systems are often fragmented, overlapping and disconnected from a unified strategy for student success.

California has invested billions of dollars in well-intentioned education initiatives over the years, but too often those initiatives have operated as stand-alone programs rather than parts of a coherent statewide plan. The result is a system that can make local improvement harder, dilute resources and obscure whether state programs are actually helping schools improve student performance.

“If it adopts the SOS for Student Achievement bill package, California will be the first state in the nation to implement holistic, broad-based education governance and systems change based on reciprocal accountability,” said CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy. “California does not lack commitment, talent or investment. What it lacks is a state-level infrastructure that aligns goals, budgets, supports and reciprocal accountability around improving student outcomes. These bills keep local control intact while ensuring the state is organized to support — not dictate to — school districts and county offices of education. Instead, the measures are designed to strengthen local success by ensuring state agencies, programs, budgets and policies are aligned behind the urgent goal of improving student outcomes.”

The SOS for Student Achievement legislative package would help close the state accountability gap by creating the support structure and public transparency California needs to turn state activity into measurable achievement. The four bills work together to create a more transparent, coordinated and effective state system:

AB 2225 would create the Closing the Achievement Gap State Operations and Support Plan, developed through a broad stakeholder process, to establish measurable goals, benchmarks and performance targets for the state’s role in helping local educational agencies close achievement gaps.

AB 2514 would establish a State Accountability Gap Dashboard to give the public a clear and concise way to see whether the state is making progress in implementing the plan and strengthening its support for local educational agencies.

AB 2149 would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to evaluate whether state budgets, mandates and programs align with the state plan and whether they are helping or hindering local efforts to improve student outcomes.

AB 2202 would create a Closing the Achievement Gap Commission under the State Board of Education to help monitor the performance of state programs, recommend improvements and identify more effective ways to support local educational agencies through the Statewide System of Support.

Together, the bills represent an essential governance reform: shifting California from a compliance-oriented and program-by-program approach to one rooted in shared responsibility, state-level coherence, customer-service support for local educational agencies and public accountability for results.

The four bills will next be considered in the Senate Appropriations Committee after legislators return from their summer recess, which will last through the end of July. To learn more about CSBA’s SOS for Student Achievement campaign and advocate for California students, visit csba.org/studentachievement.