The California Fires; Reality

  

The California Fires.  View from California

 

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-great-fire

 

For all of those voters who have under funded local emergency services. 

Tell Lawmakers To Support The Education Funding Agreement By Upholding Prop 98 (CC)

Schools and Equity Law Suites in California

The State of California settled a lawsuit last week that had been going on for more than three years, since the height of the debate around pandemic school closures. The case was notable nationally; there have been few others like it. And the settlement included an eye-popping number: $2 billion.

Several families in Oakland and Los Angeles had sued the state, accusing it of failing in its constitutional obligation to provide an equal education to all children in the state, because lower-income, Black and Hispanic students tended to have less access to remote learning in the spring and fall of 2020 than other students did.

It’s important to note that the state — meaning taxpayers — will not pay out any new money under the settlement. Instead, it will take money that was already set aside for pandemic recovery — no less than $2 billion of it — and will direct schools to use it to help students who need it most to catch up. There will be requirements to spend the money on interventions that have a proven track record. You can read more about the settlement here.

Why does this matter?

Because new national data released last week, in a study led by researchers at Stanford and Harvard, made it clear that students across the country are nowhere close to catching up on learning lost during the pandemic.

That is true for students of all backgrounds, but especially for poor students. Schools in poor communities tended to stay closed longer than those in more affluent areas, and when they did, students lost more ground. Once schools reopened, students from richer families have tended to catch up more quickly than students from poorer families in the same districts, according to the new data.

Yet there have been some surprising variations.

In California, Compton Unified, near Los Angeles, and Delano Unified, north of Bakersfield, are examples of lower-income school districts that have recovered remarkably well, at least judging by standardized-test scores. You can read more about bright-spot districts, including Delano Unified, in an article I wrote with my colleagues Claire Cain Miller and Francesca Paris.

Some more affluent districts have had lackluster recoveries in reading, math or both, including Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, Menlo Park City in the Bay Area, and Arcadia Unified in the San Gabriel Valley, northeast of Los Angeles.

Look up your school district and see how it compares with nearby areas and the rest of the state. (Note: This data includes scores for students in third through eighth grades for most public school districts; some small ones are not included. The graphics show only math scores.)

Continue reading the main story

NYT.  

NEA. Republicans Make Massive Cuts to Education Funding

 Republican Congressperson Kevin Kiley ( Rocklin) votes with extremist to cut education budget, 

I—and our students across the country—urgently need your help to stop extreme cuts to public schools.  Just as parents and educators prepare to welcome students back to school, several Republicans in the House have proposed the deepest and most drastic cuts to education in history. Their bill passed a key subcommittee last week and could be on its way to the House floor soon. It’s unconscionable!   Please write your representatives in Congress right now and tell them you oppose horrific cuts to education.  Write Kevin Kiley. ( Rocklin)  The House bill would:  Decimate funding by 80% for Title I schools, which help our most vulnerable students;    Wipe out as many as 220,000 educator jobs;   Block President Biden from enacting meaningful reforms to federal student debt programs; and  Completely eliminate federal funding for class size reduction, educator salaries, and the English Language Learner (ELL) program.  If they’re passed, these proposed cuts will hurt our students, especially our most vulnerable, at a time when they need more attention and opportunities, not less.   And, they will deepen educator shortages and increase class sizes.  If enough people make their voices heard, we can stop these cuts, preserve federal funding for our public schools, and give students the attention and opportunity they deserve.

No matter where we’re from or what we believe, we all want all our students—every last one—to get the great education that they deserve.   Let’s make sure our politicians know that we will make our voices heard. We will demand what our students need. And we will succeed.  In solidarity,  Becky Pringle  President

Republicans Propose Massive Cuts to Education

 House Democrats warned that hundreds of thousands of teachers could lose their jobs if legislation advanced Friday by a Republican-controlled appropriations subcommittee becomes law.

The panel's draft Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill for the coming fiscal year calls for nearly $64 billion in total cuts, a proposal that Democrats said "decimates support for children in K-12 elementary schools and early childhood education" and "abandons college students and low-income workers trying to improve their lives through higher education or job training."

The nonprofit Committee for Education Funding noted that the Republican proposal would impact "virtually all" education programs, hitting teacher funding, student aid, and more. The bill, one of a dozen appropriations measures that Congress is looking to pass by the end of September, would bring Department of Education funding to below the 2006 level, according to the group.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Friday that "we are witnessing a widespread attack on public education that should shock every American family."

"If left to their own devices," DeLauro added, "Republicans would gleefully take public education to the graveyard."

The GOP legislation would slash Title I grants to local educational agencies that serve children from low-income families by nearly $15 billion compared to fiscal year 2023 levels. Appropriations Committee Democrats said the massive cut "could force a nationwide reduction of 220,000 teachers from classrooms serving low-income students" amid a teacher shortage.

The legislation would also completely eliminate funding for a number of Education Department programs, including Federal Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Promise Neighborhoods, and Child Care Access Means Parents in School.

"Disgraceful to say the least," Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) tweeted in response to the GOP measure.

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams. 

 

https://www.commondreams.org/news/republican-education-cuts

 

Record Funding to School Districts

 

Record Funding to Support Educator Retention and Professional Learning ($1.5 billion):
How is your District Planning to Spend It?

 

Para español, favor de hacer clic aquí.

This fall, school districts, charter schools and county offices of education are receiving record investments to support educator retention and professional learning. These investments include $1.5 billion statewide in Educator Effectiveness Funds. They are required to spend the funds on professional learning for teachers and administrators, as well as paraprofessionals and classified staff who work with students. They are also encouraged to invite teachers and other school staff to identify the topics of professional learning they need. Districts will begin receiving their Educator Effectiveness allocations by early 2022. 

There's big money involved

There’s big money involved: 

~$131 million in Los Angeles Unified School District

~$18 million in Fresno Unified School District

~$12 million in San Bernardino City Unified School District

~$14 million in Long Beach Unified School District

~$9 million in Sacramento City Unified School District

~$10 million in Oakland Unified School District

~$1.5 million in Alisal Union School District

~$7 million in West Contra Costa Unified School District

~$6 million in San José Unified School District

~$2 million in Alum Rock Union School District

~$4 million in East Side Union High School District

~$6.5 million in Pomona Unified School District

~$3.5 million in Salinas Union High School District

Check out how much funding your district will receive in this spreadsheet.

Thoughtful and targeted training and professional development for staff can create more inclusive teaching and learning environments, which are essential to attracting and retaining a diverse, prepared educator workforce. Environments where teachers and students feel a strong sense of inclusion and belonging and have support to build restorative and relationship-centered practices promote transformational cultural shifts for racially just schools. 

School districts must adopt a plan by December 30, 2021 that explains how they intend to spend their Educator Effectiveness Funds, starting in the 2021-22 school year and continuing through June 30, 2026. 

What must Educator Effectiveness funds be used for?

Districts must use them to provide instruction, training and professional development for teachers, administrators and other staff who work with students. What could this look like? 

• Coaching and mentoring for staff to foster a meaningful teaching and learning experience
• Programs improving instruction across all subject areas
• Practices and strategies that reengage students and lead to accelerated learning
• Strategies to implement social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, access to mental health services and other approaches that improve student well-being
• Practices to foster a positive school climate, including, but not limited to, restorative justice, implicit bias and discrimination and harassment prevention
• Instruction to support effective language-acquisition programs for English   learner students
• Strategies to improve inclusive practices for students receiving special education  services and develop individualized education programs and Section 504 plans
• New professional learning networks for educators
• Education and strategies to incorporate ethnic studies curricula into student instruction for grades 7-12 
• Instruction, education and strategies in early childhood education and expanding universal transitional kindergarten

Check out this infographic on the Educator Effectiveness Plans here [English, Spanish]!

Ask your District: 

• Have you asked teachers and other school staff to identify the professional development and training topics that they need to promote inclusion and belonging in their school communities and better serve students and families?
• Have you drafted your Educator Effectiveness Expenditure Plan yet after incorporating staff feedback? If so, could you post the draft online for community members to review?
• What investments do you plan to make with these funds and why? When will you start spending these funds?
• How much of this funding is being used for new services versus continuing existing services?
• When and how are you planning to request feedback from students, families and other community members on this plan?
• What metrics will you use to evaluate the impact of investments made with these funds and how will you report publicly on their effectiveness over time?
• Will you commit to engage with the community before making any material revisions to the Educator Effectiveness Expenditure Plan in the future?

Contact an administrator in your district’s state/federal programs or finance/budget departments with your questions, requests and feedback

This is an ongoing task of Sacramento LULAC. 

Note; Sacramento City Unified continues to under fund education for English Language Learners. They continue to use funds designated for English Language Learners for other tasks.

Sacramento City USD Fails English Learners

 The Education Committee of LULAC/Sacramento has recommended for over 4 years that the funds allocated to Sacramento City Unified School District specifically to improve the educational achievement of English Learners be used specifically for that purpose.

( see example below of 2018 submission).  Supplemental funds carried over from one year to the next should not be used for projects other than serving English Language Learners.

 

We note with interest the presentation to the Special Board meeting of 3.11.21 on LCAP draft materials.

The district is now preparing its LCAP plan ( Local  Control Accountability Plan) and it is time for us to again make recommendations.  Our recommendations for prior years have been ignored. We request that our proposals for this year be included in the report to the board scheduled for May 5, 2021, and that our requests be included in the documents sent to Sacramento County Office of Education for their assigned task of monitoring the development of LCAP proposals on matters of accountability. 

 

We  note the requirements of LCAP to include community participation in development of the district plan.  We assert the reflections of the district advisory committees are important but inadequate to the requirements of community participation required for the development of LCAP. 

 

The next presentation will be at the SCUSD Board of Education meeting on May 6, 2021. You can participate on line. 

Education Committee.

League of United Latin American Citizens, / Sacramento 

 

 

Legislative summary.  LCFF

 

Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula, as specified. Existing law requires funding pursuant to the local control funding formula to include, in addition to a base grant, supplemental and concentration grant add-ons that are based on the percentage of pupils who are English learners, foster youth, or eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as specified, served by the county superintendent of schools, school district, or charter school. Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt regulations that govern the expenditure of funds apportioned pursuant to the supplemental and concentration grant add-ons.

 

AB 533 Proposal.

 

This bill would require the State Department of Education to develop, on or before January 1, 2022, a tracking mechanism for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to use to report the types of services on which they spend their supplemental and concentration grant funds. The bill would require each local educational agency, commencing July 1, 2022, to annually report to the department the types of services on which it spends its supplemental and concentration grant funds using the tracking mechanism developed by the department. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

 

 

 

State Audit of LCFF

 

State Auditor’s Report  LCFF funding

 

https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2019-101.pdf

 

 

LCFF require districts to use these funds to increase or improve services for intended student groups, the regulations do not create an effective means of ensuring that districts do so. Districts must identify in their annual local control and accountability plans (LCAPs) the supplemental and concentration funds they expect to receive and spend. LCAPs provide a key opportunity for stakeholders to ensure that districts direct the funds toward the intended student groups. However, districts can treat any supplemental and concentration funds that they do not fully spend in a given year as base funds in the following year, meaning that the districts can use the funds 

for general purposes that do not directly serve intended student groups. Despite this lack of r 

….

Moreover, even when districts did report supplemental and concentration funds in their LCAPs, we had difficulty determining whether or how the districts’ use of those funds increased or improved services for intended student groups—a difficulty 

that stakeholders likely share. One challenge is that the current requirement districts must meet for spending supplemental
and concentration funds to benefit intended student groups is essentially meaningless. Specifically, a district must describe in its LCAP how it will increase or improve services for those students in proportion to the amount of supplemental and concentration funds it receives. However, it is unclear how a district would demonstrate that it increased or improved services by a proportion, and neither county offices of education nor the California Department of Education are responsible for verifying whether districts actually met the required proportional increases. 

Further, although districts must report in their LCAPs information about the services on which they have spent their supplemental and concentration funds, they often do not effectively analyze whether those services have been successful. As a result, stakeholders may struggle to hold districts accountable for continuing to fund effective services and discontinuing ineffective services. 

To ensure that intended student groups receive the maximum benefit from supplemental and concentration funds, the Legislature should take the following actions: 

• Amend state law to require districts and other local educational agencies to identify any unspent supplemental and concentration funds by annually reconciling the estimated amounts of
  these funds they include in their LCAPs with the actual amounts of funding the State reports apportioning to them. 
• Amend state law to specify that unspent supplemental and concentration funds at year‐end must retain their designation to increase and improve services for intended student
  groups and be spent in a following year, and it should require districts and other local educational agencies to identify in their LCAPs the total amounts of any unspent supplemental and concentration funds from the previous year. 

 

 

·       As Figure 3 indicates, a number of different state and local entities are involved in overseeing and making decisions related to LCFF funding. For example, local stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, and other interested groups, provide input and oversight to ensure that districts develop clear and informative LCAPs. Stakeholders review and provide comments on a district’s draft LCAP. In addition, they can submit complaints to the district or county office, and appeal to CDE, if they believe a district has violated state law in completing its LCAP. 

·       In most instances, county offices are responsible
for approving LCAPs for the districts within their counties.2 Figure 4 depicts the LCAP development and approval process. The California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) has developed an LCAP approval manual that county offices can use as a guide during their reviews. A county office must approve a district’s LCAP if the LCAP meets the conditions listed in the text box. If a county office rejects a district’s LCAP, it must provide assistance to that district that focuses on revising the LCAP so that the county office can approve it before October 8 of that year. This date is the deadline for county offices to approve LCAPs. 

 County Office of Education

 

LCAP Approval Requirements for County Offices 

The county office must approve a district’s LCAP on or before October 8 if it determines all of the following are true: 

·       The district’s LCAP adheres to the LCAP template. 

·       The district’s budget includes expenditures sufficient to implement the services included in the LCAP. 

·       The district’s LCAP adheres to the expenditure requirements for supplemental and concentration funds. 

·       Districts must consult with stakeholders, including parents and teachers, in developing their LCAPs. They must hold public meetings to solicit recommendations from members of the public regarding the services and expenditures in their LCAPs. 

  

Funding of Public Schools

Public Advocates’ Statement on Proposition 15 Outcome

The defeat of Proposition 15 by wealthy corporations shows just how far we have to go to truly advance equity in California. But rest assured that the fight for adequate funding for our schools and communities is far from over. Poll after poll showed widespread public support for the measure, and the total vote, with more than 7.5 million in favor, is cause for optimism. Californians know that there is an unacceptable gap between the haves and have-nots in our state. Now, the fight for progressive sources of new revenue turns to the Legislature where we can build on this momentum.

The measure’s narrow defeat is nevertheless a tragic setback at a time when our state grapples with multiple crises: a pandemic, wildfires, record unemployment, surging homelessness, and chronically underfunded public schools that are struggling to educate over 6 million school children under unprecedented conditions. An influx of Proposition 15 tax dollars would have provided much-needed relief to school districts and local governments.

Today, our fight for progressive revenue sources continues. Alongside our community partners, we will advocate for every new or existing dollar needed to provide all students with a quality education, to protect families from eviction, and to establish a robust safety net for all Californians.

We call on Governor Newsom to take three immediate steps: (1) close a loophole allowing school district to misallocate billions of dollars intended to benefit high-need students, (2) pass an eviction moratorium to keep families home during the pandemic, and (3) work with the Legislature to secure new and equitable sources of funding. Now is also the time to pass a California Green New Deal which envisions an abundantly-funded public sector that can meet the needs of all our communities.

Public Advocates is proud to have served as a member of the Proposition 15 steering committee and we thank all our partners who worked tirelessly to build the growing movement behind the campaign. 

Schools and Communities First 2020

Bretón has it wrong- Again

Bee opinion columnist Bretón has a harsh column about the SCUSD budget crisis.
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article238321423.html

Part of the problem is what he assumes.,

He argues teachers should take a pay cut, and that they should pay some of their health care. This is the essence of austerity.  He assumes that the way to fix the problem is to pay teachers less,

( You can see how well this works out.  The Bee now pays its reporters less. They have over 100 fewer reporters. The quality of the paper has diminished substantially.  It is no longer a substantive paper. see https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/growing-local-news-deserts-endanger-democracy-study-finds)

Why assume that cutting salaries is the answer?  Lets try an alternative.

Assume the teachers should be paid well.  Assume that teachers should have quality health care for themselves and their families.  This is what unions are fighting for all across the nation,. It could be called Medicare for All.

Well, if we need to pay teachers well, more money will be needed for schools.  Yes, we should tax more and adequately fund our schools.  We have not done that since the passage of Prop. 13.  Austerity, underfunding schools, is a lousy policy. Just fighting over who gets their salaries cut is avoiding the important issues.  Fund the schools.

Here is how.

ABC 7: LAUSD not properly accounting for $2 billion in funding

The same applies to Sacramento Unified. LULAC has been working on this for 4 years.

State Education Budget

Bill Raden, Capitol & Main

California governor Gavin Newsom racked up significant wins last week when his first education budget sailed through the legislature mostly intact. A minimum increase, mandated by Prop. 98, will bump funding for K-12 and community colleges by $2.9 billion, to $81.1 billion in 2019-20. The best news for the Golden State’s chronically cash-strapped school districts may be the estimated $850 million freed up over the next two years by the $3.15 billion pension obligation paydown Newsom unveiled in January. Also included is spending that emphasizes Newsom’s commitment to early education:

·     A $1.8 billion down payment on the governor’s long-term plan to institute universal preschool and vastly expand subsidized childcare for low-income families.

·     $646 million for special ed, with nearly $500 million earmarked for preschool.

·     $300 million in one-time facilities funding for districts expanding to full-day kindergarten (a reduction by half of the $600 million requested).

Still pending in a follow-up budget bill is language that would limit the ability of charter schools to cherry-pick enrollment, by banning the requirement of student academic records for admissions and outlawing the “counseling out” of low-achievers and students with learning disabilities.

For higher ed, lawmakers signed off on Newsom’s pledge to keep college tuition flat for 2019-20 and provided money to expand in-state undergraduate enrollments at the 10 UC campuses by 4,860, and by 10,000 in the 23-campus Cal State system. There is also aid for homeless and hungry students, and up to $6,000 for students who are parents of dependent children to pay for tuition and living costs.

https://capitalandmain.com/budget-victory-age-of-newsom-state-education-0620

The Schools are Underfunded

As you consider the Sacramento City Unified Budget Crisis: Consider the Source.

It is the state budget. Tell the legislature. 

During that semester I taught six separate classes and was responsible for more than 250 students. Despite the pretense that real instruction was taking place, teachers like me were largely engaged in crowd management and little more.

Three weeks ago, I sat in a cramped conference room in the large public high school where I teach in Beaverton, Oregon. I was listening to the principal deliver a scripted PowerPoint presentation on the $35 million budget deficit our district faces in the upcoming school year. Teachers and staff members slumped in chairs. A thick funk of disappointment, resignation, hopelessness, and simmering anger clung to us. After all, we’ve been here before. We know the drill: expect layoffs, ballooning class sizes, diminished instructional time, and not enough resources. Accept that the teacher-student relationship -- one that has the potential to be productive and sometimes even transformative -- will become, at best, transactional. Bodies will be crammed into too-small spaces, resources will dwindle, and learning will suffer. These budgetary crises are by now cyclical and completely familiar. Yet the thought of weathering another of them is devastating. This is the third time in my 14-year-career as a visual arts teacher that we’ve faced the upheaval, disruption, and chaos of just such a budget crisis. In 2012, the district experienced a massive shortfall that resulted in the firing of 344 teachers and bloated class sizes for those of us who were left. At one point, my Drawing I classroom studio -- built to fit a maximum of 35 students -- had more than 50 of them stuffed into it. We didn’t have enough chairs, tables, or spaces to draw, so we worked in the halls.

Fact Checking the De Leon - Feinstein Discussion

FACT-CHECKING KEVIN DE LEÓN’S CONVERSATION WITH MARK BALDASSARE AND DIANNE FEINSTEIN 

SAN FRANCISCO – Just after U.S. Senate candidate Kevin de León and incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s met on stage this afternoon, Communications Director Jonathan Underland made the following statement:

“The historic debate we witnessed today is testament to the unprecedented strength of Senator de León’s challenge and exposed just how starkly the values of the two candidates differ. It is shocking that California’s senior senator would dismiss the value of organizing and peaceful protests. Saying that ‘it doesn’t do anything’ and that we should focus on winning elections ignores a basic truth: You have to build coalitions to make real change. Senator de León, who cut his teeth organizing the largest civil rights protest in state history against Prop 187, knows that organizing and coordinating with the grassroots is vital to California’s success in Congress.”

FACT CHECK

IMMIGRATION REFORM OVERDUE…

• Senator Feinstein claims that “immigration reform is long overdue.” But in 1993, Senator Feinstein said that “whether it’s a space for a job, a space is a home, a place in a classroom, it becomes a competition for space… The people who should be here are those who come legally.” [C-SPAN, 9/17/93].

• And even now, “for immigration advocates rushing to beat back congressional momentum to crack down on so-called ‘sanctuary cities,’ their chief worry isn’t the Republicans who control Capitol Hill. It’s Sen. Dianne Feinstein.” [Politico, 8/03/15].

SO OVERDUE, DE LEÓN HAS PICKED UP THE SLACK

• During the PPIC discussion today, Sen. Feinstein said she "just learned" that there are multiple family detention facilities in CA. Senator de León – pictured here marching on the Otay Mesa Detention Center with religious leaders this past June – has been fighting to keep immigrant families together since long before it became a hashtag: In 2012, his SB 1064 broke down barriers to reunite detained and deported Californians with their children.