What a CSBA poll tells us about Californians’ views about education funding

A new statewide poll from CSBA confirms that, in a year when statewide teacher strikes persist and the financial strain of our schools becomes more prevalent in the California news cycle, the general public is also acutely aware of the funding crisis facing our schools.

What is often viewed as the “silent recession” encroaching on our schools has been distressingly obvious for more than a decade to those closely tied to the inner workings of public education. As the state’s economy and revenues have swelled, so have the level of unfunded state mandates and costs to operate schools. These types of expenses have deflated district and county office of education budgets and have continually forced our schools to do more with less.

The changing tide of the California Public Records Act and the personnel exemption

he California Public Records Act requires that all public agencies respond to requests for documents by the public, unless an exemption applies. One such exemption is personnel records; however, a common misperception is that all personnel files are exempt from disclosure.

In fact, the exemption provided for personnel material in the CPRA is narrowly tailored and exempts only “[p]ersonnel, medical or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an invasion of personal privacy and personnel records when, from the facts of the particular case, the public agency can demonstrate that the public interest served by not disclosing the record outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.” (Cal. Gov’t Code § 6254(c) and § 6255(a)) Thus, when a CPRA request seeks the disclosure of personnel files, the responding agency may only refuse to provide records that fit into either of those exemptions. A public agency therefore must perform an analysis to determine whether (1) the requested contents of the personnel files implicate personal privacy, and (2) the invasion of privacy is unwarranted under the circumstances.

Digital early learning prepares Napa County preschool children for kindergarten success

houghts of the Napa Valley often bring to mind acres of beautiful vineyards, upscale restaurants and spa retreats. While its beauty is undeniable, Napa is also home to many low-income families. About one-third of Napa’s population is Hispanic or Latino, and more than half of all children in Napa County’s public schools are Dual Language Learners. In addition, 42 percent of Napa’s preschool-age children are living in poverty.

Research has shown that at-risk children typically hear 30 million fewer words by age 4 than their more affluent peers. They enter kindergarten with only 25 percent of the vocabulary they need to succeed and most of them never catch up.

In an effort to level the playing field, the Napa County Office of Education and NapaLearns, a nonprofit fundraising organization, began a 2011 summer pilot project that grew into a major countywide Digital Early Learning initiative to increase early literacy opportunities for every preschool age child in Napa County.

Reading their way past the summer slide

t a time when many school campuses are silent for the summer, each elementary school in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District has a classroom bustling with activity, as small groups of students move between reading, writing and technology centers at the district’s Summer Literacy Camps.

Winner of a prestigious 2018 CSBA Golden Bell Award, the summer camps serve more than 800 elementary students who are six months to one year behind in reading when entering grades 1, 2 and 3. The Lake Elsinore USD board of trustees charged Assistant Superintendent Alain Guevera with creating the program. He said the focus on these early grades sets kids up for a foundation of success. “Research shows that if kids can’t read really well by third grade, they really struggle with the rest of their academic career.”

In fact, according to the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading — a network of national and local civic leaders, policymakers, advocates and community organizations with the aim of improving early reading comprehension — reading proficiency by third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success.

Student equity and STEAM access through community partnerships

t’s a July afternoon in Long Beach and 100 people have gathered as a group of 11- and 12-year-olds take a STEAM challenge. A crowd of families, educators and elected officials have come to cheer on students as they race rowboats in Alamitos Bay.

These aren’t your everyday rowboats; these boats are handmade with only cardboard and duct tape and are designed to hold four students. The students have spent weeks creating them, practicing science, technology, engineering, art and math — a collection of subjects commonly known as STEAM. Most of the boats will sink in the harbor, but that’s not bothering the students — they’ve grown used to pushing themselves. Just earlier in the day, the students raced sailboats. With no adults. They are feeling like they can do anything.

The activity is part of the Summer STEAM Institute, a no-cost camp where the motto is perseverance. The students, all from low-income households, have spent the last three weeks doing hands-on projects and practicing 21st-century skills like risk taking and communication. The race is the culminating project of their work on these rowboats, which has included designing 3D-printed models, engineering prototypes, scaling them up to fit four people and building the final boats.

he term “model minority” was first used in 1966 by sociologist William Petersen in an article about Japanese American assimilation, and continues to persist based partly upon wide-ranging data showing that Asian Americans tend to hold higher degrees and earn larger incomes than the general population. For instance, a 2017 report released by the U.S. Census Bureau said that more than 55 percent of Asian Americans currently hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to just over 33 percent of the general population.

In reality, Asian Americans represent incredibly diverse communities with different ethnic, socioeconomic, historic and migratory characteristics. When taken as a whole, struggling groups within the population are rendered invisible. Take the example above, where it is cited that over 55 percent of Asian Americans currently hold a bachelor’s degree. Digging a little deeper produces a very different picture: only 14 percent of Laotian, 17 percent of Hmong and Cambodian, and 27 percent of Vietnamese Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher. While 86 percent of Asian Americans have completed their high school education — slightly above the national average of 85 percent — Southeast Asian Americans have significantly lower rates. For example, 61 percent of Hmong Americans have completed a high school education.

well-respected research and policy expert described as “a giant in the world of education” by The Washington Post, Linda-Darling Hammond began her new role as State Board of Education President in February 2019 after Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed her to the body. The 11-person board oversees policy, academic standards, curriculum, assessments and accountability for the state’s K-12 public schools.

Darling-Hammond is also president of the Learning Policy Institute, a non-partisan research organization based in Palo Alto, and served as chair of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing prior to her appointment to the state board.

California Schools recently talked with Darling-Hammond about her vision for the state’s K-12 public education system, the need for greater funding and the persistent teacher shortage impacting districts up and down California.