Highlighting new education laws in California

The new year will ring in a wide array of new education laws in California. To familiarize board members with 2018 legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, CSBA has launched a weekly blog highlighting the laws and their impacts.

An overview of two new laws is provided below. Read the full blog posts at blog.csba.org.

The full What’s New for 2019 report on all new laws affecting K-12 education is also available at www.csba.org/whatsnewfor2019.

Assembly Bill 1248

Signed by the Governor on Sept. 27, Assembly Bill 1248 (Gloria, D-San Diego) clarifies that graduating students may wear traditional tribal regalia or recognized objects of religious or cultural significance as an adornment at school graduation ceremonies. CSBA opposed the bill until its language was amended to include protections for local control: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit a local educational agency’s discretion and authority to prohibit an item that is likely to cause a substantial disruption of, or material interference with, the ceremony,” the added language reads.

California bans for-profit charter schools after passage of AB 406

In September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 406, prohibiting for-profit charter schools in California.

The bill was supported by CSBA along with other organizations, including the California Charter Schools Association. Gov. Brown vetoed a similar bill in 2015, writing that he did not believe the case had been made to eliminate for-profit charter schools in the state. With the Governor’s signature secured, the new law will go into effect next year.

Appreciation for the work done and the work left to do

In the February 2018 issue of this newsletter, I wrote about beginning the year with appreciation, appreciation for selecting me as your President, appreciation for the importance of the office and the responsibility that comes with it, and appreciation — in advance — for all the hard work you were about to do.

Now, as the year and my presidency draw to a close, I want to show appreciation once again. This time, I’m thankful for all the work you’ve done to move the organization forward in 2018. Nowhere has that advocacy been more evident than in the fight for Full and Fair Funding. By now, I’m sure everyone is aware that California has the fifth largest economy in the world and the highest GDP in the nation. While that’s a source of pride, it’s hard to celebrate when that same prosperity has yet to make it to public schools. We are still 41st nationally in per pupil funding, 45th in the percentage of taxable income spent on education, 45th in student-teacher ratios, and 48th in staff per student ratios.  That is why so many of you passed resolutions calling on the Legislature to fund education at the national average by 2020, and the average of the top 10 states by 2025.  

In that same article back in February, I reminded you that CSBA stands as a willing partner with local districts and county offices of education, and works as an ardent advocate on your behalf. That wasn’t just talk. There are so many ways in which CSBA led the fight for public education and local control in 2018. Allow me to highlight just a few.

Distinguished authors highlight AEC; state leaders to discuss California education

CSBA’s premier event — the Annual Education Conference and Trade Show — takes place at Moscone West in San Francisco from Nov. 29–Dec. 1.

Drawing education leaders, trustees and school staff from across California, the conference provides critical issue and workshop sessions, table talks, networking and other activities to help governance teams from districts and county offices of education improve student learning and achievement, and advocate for public education. AEC also includes featured speakers for each of the conference’s General Sessions. A brief overview of this year’s speakers is below.

New laws prompt need for board policy revisions

Gov. Jerry Brown signed more than 1,000 bills this year, about a tenth of which impact K-12 schools. Most of those will become effective Jan. 1, 2019.

“While boards should be reviewing and updating policies all year long, this is a particularly busy time of year for districts and county offices of education as they work to understand the implications of the new laws,” said Tezeta Stewartz, senior policy manual consultant for CSBA. “CSBA’s policy services can help governance teams to update their policies and consider best practices for effective implementation.”

A focus on California’s Native American students

Native American Heritage Month, celebrated in November, is a time to recognize the significant contributions Native Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States.

It also serves as a reminder to education leaders that Native American students in California face some of the most significant challenges of any student group. A new CSBA Governance Brief, “Native American Students in California Public Schools,” outlines how Native Americans are among the most socioeconomically disadvantaged K-12 students in the state and, based on several measures, the least connected to school.

Socioeconomic disadvantages and poor school connectedness

With a higher concentration of students in the smallest and most rural counties, 32,500 Native American students (identified as Native Alaskan and American Indian by the California Department of Education) are enrolled in California’s K-12 schools. Socio-economically, more than two in three (67.2 percent) of Native American students are disadvantaged, compared to fewer than one in three white students. Additionally, CSBA’s brief reports that nearly three in four (72 percent) Native American students attend high-poverty schools, where half or more of students are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals.

Searching for a quality superintendent

Filling a superintendent vacancy is one of the most important job duties that school board members have on their plates. The superintendent is an integral part of the governance team and a good superintendent will be able to work in harmony with the board to help establish goals for the district and, most importantly, see those goals through to fruition.

The search for a superintendent requires ample dedication of both time and resources to define position criteria, advertise the open position, accept applications, and screen and interview candidates. Saugus Union School District Board President Chris Trunkey faced that challenge when the district’s superintendent announced her retirement to the board last winter. “As board members, I think all of us on our board have full-time jobs,” he explained. “It is hard to find the time that is necessary to be able to conduct a superintendent search, given all of the stakeholder input that was needed and the many meetings that we had that were related just to the search.”

National Diabetes Month: Taking on type 2

While its biggest day features an oftentimes hefty meal, November is also National Diabetes Month — a time when education leaders can place an added focus on the health and well-being of students.

Type 2 diabetes has become increasingly common among children and adolescents as obesity rates rise, according to the California School-Based Health Alliance. Because the chronic condition is largely brought on by an unhealthy lifestyle, it is largely preventable through healthy eating and regular exercise. The American Diabetes Association advises that eating less fat, fried foods and sugar, in addition to exercising at least 30 minutes a day for five days a week, can delay and possibly prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Schools can offer a setting where such practices are promoted and celebrated, said Melissa Cannon, policy advocate at California Food Policy Advocates in Oakland. A student’s home life might present barriers to a healthy lifestyle, with a parent working two jobs and not being able to cook dinner, for example, or a child living too far from a park to regularly exercise.

Any CSBA member board is eligible to nominate board members within its geographical region or subregion. Each board may nominate as many individuals as it chooses. The process begins with submission of the official nomination form, which is available on CSBA’s website.

All nominees must submit a candidate biographical sketch form along with their nomination form; an optional one-page, one-sided résumé may also be submitted, but a résumé cannot be substituted for the candidate biographical sketch form. All nomination materials must be postmarked by the post office no later than Monday, Jan. 7. It is the responsibility of the nominee to ensure that all nomination materials have been received by the CSBA Executive Office.