At present, approximately 90,000 African-American students do not generate LCFF supplemental and concentration grants, despite these students currently ranking as the lowest-performing group of students in the state.

In California and many other states, public employees are required to pay their “fair share” or “agency fees” of union dues regardless of whether they choose to join the union or opt out — these fees are used for collective bargaining and contract administration, but not for unions’ political activities, which pay for lobbying and campaigning at the federal, state and local levels.

We listened closely to what our hosts had to say. They talked about the successes their schools enjoyed and the obstacles they have encountered as they try to do more for their students. They also shared the opinion that CSBA must be careful to listen to all sides of an issue in order to represent all of its members and remain united in its mission to secure the highest outcomes possible for California’s 6.2 million public school students.

“It’s both comforting and inspiring to know that a native of California who is a longtime educator and passionate advocate for our public schools has been elected NSBA President,” added CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy. “We look forward to bringing a California perspective to the national stage.”

To reconcile these points, the SBE’s plan includes the separate reporting of academic performance and change in academic performance over time. Additionally, 11th-grade standardized testing scores will be added to high school ratings.

For middle- and upper-class Americans, summer might entail family vacations, camps and local enrichment programs provided privately or by community-based organizations. However, for low-income families and children, it is typically a different story. For these children, summer is more likely an educational drought — a period when not only are they not learning anything new, but they are actually losing knowledge they gained during the school year.

Providing all students with more learning opportunities during the summer months is one of the most effective strategies to avoid summer learning loss and enhance student academic progress, according to researchers from the RAND Corporation. For example, one study of summer programs in third grade found that participation was associated with higher math and language arts achievement.

This month also provides school board members and others in the educational community with a reminder to review the demographic and achievement data of these diverse student groups in order to provide the support needed to ensure achievement for all students. While the California Department of Education reports data for Asian, Filipino and Pacific Islander students separately, districts and county offices of education should review disaggregated data, where available, to ensure that opportunity gaps are not masked. For example, while the achievement of Asian students might be high overall, these students include Cambodian, Laotian and Hmong students, who have been historically underserved.

For the estimated 250,000 undocumented children between the ages of 3 and 17 who are enrolled in California public schools, the 750,000 K-12 students in California who have an undocumented parent and the 5,000 undocumented teachers who reside here, nothing is certain when it comes to immigration.