Charters, budgets, broken promises and … a brighter 2006? 

Members of CSBA’s Delegate Assembly elected new officers, debated the merits of charter schools, and heard a plea for help in bridging the ideological divide over education funding from a conciliatory California Education Secretary Alan Bersin.

Delegates also heard detailed analyses of last year’s bewildering change in school fortunes from Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin and outgoing CSBA President Dr. Kerry Clegg. And they got some potentially good budget news for a change, in the form of a cautiously optimistic assessment of the 2006 budget prospects for schools from CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Affairs Rick Pratt.

During the Nov. 30 - Dec. 1 Delegate Assembly in San Diego, Delegates worked their way through a dense policy agenda that included a town hall meeting on charter schools, officer elections, a pitch for more civics education by Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and a vote on changes to the association’s bylaws designed to intensify the association’s focus on the achievement gap.

Delegates welcomed incoming President Luan Rivera and said good-bye to Clegg, whose presidency was dominated by an unexpected battle to preserve Proposition 98.

Delegates carefully considered a list of technical bylaws changes that have significant policy implications for the association and schools in general.

After impassioned pleas from proponents of maintaining the historic relationship between CSBA and the California County Boards of Education in its present form, Delegates rejected a recommendation to reorganize the CSBA Board of Directors so the CCBE president would no longer automatically have a seat on the board.

A bizarre year for education

The governor’s failed special election agenda dominated much of the policy discussions.

Clegg told delegates he came into office last December with an extensive agenda of his own, that included beefing up science education, increasing career and technical training options for students and working closely with the governor to “make something happen for children.”

Expecting to build on their “collaborative relationship” with the governor, CSBA and other members of the Education Coalition instead spent much of the year working to defeat the governor’s attack on minimum school funding guarantees.

Nonetheless, Clegg, who holds a doctorate in molecular and developmental biology, found time to chair the Joint Task Force on Science Education that CSBA convened with the California Science Teachers Association (see related story on page 6).

Executive director’s report

Plotkin, a former local school board member and chief consultant to the Senate Education Committee, said 2005 was the most puzzling and discouraging year he could remember in all his years dealing with education and politics.

After working closely with the governor to help the state balance the 2004 budget without abandoning future Proposition 98 guarantees to schools, the governor suddenly pulled the rug out from under the education community at the beginning of 2005, Plotkin said.

The change in the once cordial relationship with Schwarzenegger “came suddenly, without notice, without warning… It was as bizarre as politics can be,” he said.

Denying the state had ever agreed to restore funds to schools in better economic times, the governor eventually waged an all-out assault on Proposition 98, calling a special election to promote the so-called “Live Within Our Means Act,” an initiative that would have been devastating to schools.

“I have never experienced such a turnaround,” Plotkin said. “We kept asking ourselves: ‘Why is this happening?’ ”

Plotkin also decried what he said is a disturbing erosion in civility that has made it extremely difficult to have serious discussions about important and legitimate policy disagreements.

But he also said he is excited about some of the association’s new projects: in particular, CSBA’s new adequacy campaign – officially launched at this year’s annual conference. Financed by a major grant from the Hewlett Foundation, the campaign aims to build public awareness of and support for consistent and adequate funding for the crucial work of public schools.

With such important work underway, it’s critical that public school supporters focus on areas of common interest, he said. “We are a family,” Plotkin said. “We do have our differences, but most of the time we’re coming together effectively.”