Executive Director's note: From star thrower to star catcher
By:
Vernon M. BillySummer 2013
Even with all the controversy surrounding the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula and new accountability measures for local educational agencies, most CSBA members agree with the premise that directing more resources to students in need is a constructive first step in reforming the state’s school finance system. Without question, some of the neediest students in our system are the more than 55,000 school-age children and teens in California’s foster care system. According to “At Greater Risk,” a recent report released by the Stuart Foundation, foster youth “graduate from high school, enroll in community college, and persist in community college for a second year at lower rates than not only students in the general population but also other disadvantaged students.” These students struggle in school at higher rates than other students due to the physical or psychological trauma associated with abuse, neglect and separation from family, friends and teachers and disruptions in their living environments as they are moved into and out of residential placements. This situation triggers school attendance problems and frequent school transfers.
According to data from California’s Child Welfare System Case Management System, 70 percent of the students in foster care move three or more times during their school-age years. With this much disruption to their educational program, it is no wonder that less than half of all foster youth graduate from high school. However, there are policy options that we can promote and champion to help these students succeed.
The plight of foster youth in our state, and the efforts to help them academically, remind me of the famous essay called “The Star Thrower,” also known as the Starfish Story. The famous line from that essay is: “It made a difference for that one.” As beautiful and as touching as this story is, I prefer the version of the story that appears at the bottom of this page, which was written by foster care parents. The moral of this new version of the story provides an important lesson for all of us—we need systemic change to make a real difference.
Just as the older man in the story urged the younger man to address the “real problem,” so too are we at CSBA committed to addressing the real problem that contributes to low high school completion rates: California schools lack a standardized policy for awarding partial credit to foster youth based on the days of attendance in the course and the grade earned at the time of the transfer to another school. These students struggle to graduate because of school attendance interruptions and school transfers due to changes in their living arrangements. By creating a standardized policy for awarding partial credit from all LEAs, many more foster care youth may earn the credits needed to graduate.
I recognize that no single policy change will guarantee our foster care youth academic success, but I’m hopeful that CSBA and other key stakeholders can continue to work together to identify and address policy changes, such as the partial credit issue, that may be hampering their academic success. Working with Ken Berrick, a former member of CSBA’s Board of Directors and current member of the Alameda County Office of Education Board of Trustees, we have already hosted a meeting of various stakeholders to discuss standardizing the rules for awarding partial credit to these students. The meeting included representatives from the Legislature, the California Department of Education, county offices of education, school districts, and public and private children’s interest groups. The dialog was passionate and comprehensive, and progress was made in that first meeting to shape recommendations that would guide the development of sample statewide policy language for awarding partial credit. The group will reconvene this summer, with the goal of making a policy recommendation in September to the Child Welfare Council, a state advisory council.
In our capacity as policy leaders, we are more than Star Throwers, saving one youngster at a time. Instead, I see us as Star Catchers—actively working together to catch the foster care “stars,” before they fall (or are beached, as the story suggests), by establishing the policy pathway that will enable them to thrive and shine in our schools. As Star Catchers, we do as the story suggests … we save thousands, turning the tide on a long-overdue systemic problem, and fulfill our moral obligation to the foster care youth of this state. cs
The star thrower
—adapted from an essay by Loren Eiseley
A wise man, walking along a beach, saw a young man picking up objects and throwing them into the ocean. The wise man asked, “What are you doing?”
The young man said, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
“Why?” asked the wise man.
He replied, “The tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
The wise man said, “But, young man, there are miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile. You can’t possibly make a difference.”
The young man bent down, picked up yet another one and threw it into the ocean. “It made a difference for that one,” he said.
The wise man then asked: “Have you considered why these starfish are washing up on the shore?”
He led the young man to a hilltop overlooking the ocean. “Do you see that fisherman? He’s using dynamite to kill the fish so he can skim them off the surface. The dynamite explodes and destroys the mussel beds below, dislodging thousands of starfish. So, if you want to save the starfish, stop the fisherman! You showed compassion by saving
one at a time. But you could seek justice by stopping the fisherman. Then, you’ll save legions.”