Common issues unite schools, cities, counties

Partnership leaders hold ‘historic’ two-day meeting

A joint board meeting in Burlingame last month brought the leadership of CSBA, the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties together for “a historic two-day event” focused on the combined power and potential of the state’s local governments.

The three groups comprise the Cities, Counties and Schools Partnership, formed in 1997 and reportedly still the nation’s only state-level collaboration of the professional associations that serve municipal governments and school boards. The June 12-13 joint board meeting lived up to its historic billing, participants said, by laying the groundwork for a collaboration that promises to defend local interests beyond the current state budget crisis and to promote cooperative efforts on public policy affecting people’s daily lives.

“People recognize the power of local government and what could happen if the three associations work together and collaborate on certain local issues,” CCS Partnership Executive Director Connie Busse said. “This takes the Partnership to a new level.”

‘We Are California’

The joint board meeting’s theme was “We Are California,” with the first day focused on “California Communities Facing the Budget Crisis Together” and the second day on “Communities Working Together for Emancipating Foster Youth.” The state’s public schools bridged the discussions, serving as common ground that exerts a strong influence on virtually all residents’ lives.

“There was a lot of energy around the CCS Partnership having more of an education focus and an agenda,” CSBA President Paul H. Chatman said of the meeting. With more than 9,500 public schools in California, education facilities are broadly positioned as community centers in both urban and rural areas throughout the state. And with a current enrollment of 6.2 million and an alumni of many times that figure, they are the greatest common denominator—the common experience shared by the greatest number of people.

Beyond that, the more than 5,000 board members who govern the 1,018 school districts and county offices of education in the state make up its largest group of elected officials. Allied with the state’s 478 city governments and 58 county governments, the total number of local elected officials amounts to a potent political force that derives its authority from the people it serves.

“I really think everyone will be better off and have more of a voice” if cities, counties and schools increase their cooperation on projects benefiting their common constituency, Chatman said.

Foster youth

The potential of that cooperation is already evident in a report issued by the Cities, Counties and Schools Partnership last year, which lays out the challenges facing more than 4,000 children in foster care in California who turn 18 and “emancipate” or grow too old to qualify for foster services. The report, “Our Children: Emancipating Foster Youth, a Community Action Guide,” served as the basis for the second day of the Partnership’s joint board meeting.

Emancipated foster youths remain in critical need of housing, education, employment and other assistance that’s typically available through family networks, a number of speakers said.

Luan B. Rivera, a past president of CSBA who chaired the CCS Partnership when the report was prepared, was among the speakers, and she was followed by a panel of three former foster youths.

“You could have heard a pin drop in that room. There was total attention focused on those young people,” Rivera said afterward. “Their own real experiences really do confirm what was in our report.”

“I know we raised awareness,” Rivera added. “I hope it inspires [local government leaders] to go back to their communities and work collaboratively” for legislative, legal and policy changes to meet the needs of former foster youths. “These are the people who can make a difference,” Rivera said of the city, county and school decision-makers at the CCS Partnership meeting.

Related link:

Visit the Cities, Counties and Schools Partnership Web site @ www.ccspartnership.org; pull down the “Current Projects” menu to find the report on foster youth, as well as information on the Partnership’s other work.