The Office of Administrative Hearings, and the Administrative Law Judges employed by OAH preside over these hearings in California. School districts, county offices of education and parents are encouraged to resolve their disputes through mediation, which is voluntary. If a resolution cannot be reached, or the parties refuse to participate in mediation, the parties may request a due process hearing before the OAH. OAH decisions can be appealed to state and federal courts in California. Importantly, plaintiffs must exhaust these administrative remedies under IDEA before bringing an appeal or lawsuit in court.

The process does not always go this neatly, though. Parents have at times resolved their dispute through mediation with the district, and then subsequently brought additional claims in court alleging the school district violated related laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

As I reflect on my year as CSBA President, I want to express what an honor it has been to represent California’s largest body of democratically elected public officials and the more than 6.2 million children that we fight for every day. This has been an eventful year in our state and our association’s history. The year began with a new governor who incorporated the voices of district and county board members into some of his first actions by including pension relief for school districts in his inaugural budget proposal and signing a charter school transparency measure for which CSBA had long advocated. In May, CSBA joined the California Teachers Association and other education partners for a momentous rally on the steps of the Capitol Building, working together to call on the Legislature for the Full and Fair Funding^SM of California’s public schools.

And just last month, a coalition led by CSBA, the Association of California School Administrators and the Community College League of California submitted language to the Attorney General’s Office for the Full and Fair Funding: Public School Progress, Prosperity, and Accountability Act. Although this is just the latest milestone on a long and winding road, it brings our Full and Fair Funding initiative a step closer to providing the resources that will help every student reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstances. The measure would generate $15 billion annually to support learning in the state’s K-12 public schools and community colleges and raise California from 38th nationally in school funding to the national average.

Panelists will include CalMatters columnist Dan Walters, Politico California education reporter Mackenzie Mays and Capitol Advisors Group President Kevin Gordon.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became interested in physics and predicting the future of technology? Did your interest start from a young age or develop later?

Recognizing that bullying and fear disrupt student learning, California state law requires districts, county offices of education and charter schools to adopt procedures for preventing acts of bullying, including cyberbullying, by Dec. 31, 2019.

Additionally, state law mandates that boards adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying based on disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion and sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

Bullying negatively affects school climate and therefore hurts all students’ educational experiences. The American Psychological Association has found that students who are victims of bullying experience higher rates of school avoidance and dropping out, lower academic achievement, increased emotional challenges and higher likelihood of suicide attempts. The 2015–17 California Healthy Kids Survey indicated that 34 percent of seventh-grade students, 31 percent of ninth-grade students and 28 percent of 11th-grade students reported being harassed or bullied on school property. Other studies have shown that about 20 percent of students across these surveyed grade levels report experiencing cyberbullying.

While much attention has been directed toward addressing disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates between African American students and their peers, a recent study shows Native American youth face similarly disproportionate rates of discipline.

For our organizations, the year gone by saw a tremendous amount of teamwork on shared objectives and, I think, respect between district board members and county board members continues to grow, accordingly. A great deal of my own work as California County Boards of Education President was focused on advancing objectives that supported all board members and, particularly, the work that CSBA does for all of us. The day that I, as CCBE President, testified on behalf of CSBA at the Senate Education Committee hearing on Assembly Bill 1505, a charter school reform bill, stands out to me not only as a moment of great pride personally, but also as powerful evidence of what we accomplish when we all share our views respectfully and move forward together armed with a greater shared understanding of our experience and goals.