News Impacting CA School Districts Through August 20
Sacramento News
A bill to create the state’s first formal system for soliciting opinions of high school students about their classes and teacher effectiveness was sent to Governor Schwarzenegger. Senate Bill 1422 would authorize student governments at each high school to appoint a committee of students and faculty to develop surveys for “fostering improved communication between pupils and teachers, and improving individual classes.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell announced California was awarded nearly $51.8 million in federal Charter Schools Program grant funding through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement. The fact that California was a grant recipient was announced in July. However, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced how a total $136 million would be divided among 12 state education agencies including the California Department of Education (CDE).
School District Impacts
As public schools continue to be battered in California’s budget wars, parents are organizing to compete with other powerful constituencies fighting for a share of dwindling taxpayer dollars and to push for education reforms. Parents are arguably among the least politically active, given the relentless time and financial pressures of raising children. For years, many have worked on local school issues through their PTAs to advocate for their schools, and the California PTA to represent them in Sacramento. But in a state where Sacramento controls so much of what happens in local schools, some parents are beginning to realize they may have no choice but to get more directly involved in political organizing.
After making the “easy cuts” school districts are struggling to find ways to reduce expenses. Lodi Unified trustees deadlocked Tuesday in a 3-3 vote, denying staff permission to file a class-size reduction waiver that would have allowed the district to legally increase class sizes as state and local officials continue to battle budget cuts in education.
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) is a nonpartisan grassroots movement of concerned citizens and businesses who are fighting against lawsuit abuse in California. CALA released a report on litigation costs to 12 of California’s school districts, finding that in just three fiscal years, these schools spent $98.7 million.
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