2014 will be 'a year of great change in education'
CSBA honors 60th anniversary of Brown and prepares Delegate Assembly for the 'future state of education'
Published: June 1, 2014
The May Delegate Assembly connected the past, present and future as CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy told delegates that “the focus of our agenda is to reinforce the connectedness we share with the past to reinvigorate us all to focus on the important work before us, our roles as leaders and the future state of education.”
CSBA President Josephine Lucey welcomed delegates and shared highlights of her involvement with the Local Control Funding Formula, Local Control Accountability Plans and Common Core State Standards.
“Implementing a new funding formula and new accountability system and at the same time adopting a radically different set of academic accountability standards has stretched the capacity of many districts,” Lucey said. “Common Core implementation has the potential to infuse our educational system with the academic rigor and the critical thinking skills that our students will need as they enter an information and technology based economy.”
Lucey also discussed a topic that is “near and dear to my heart….math.” She shared that she has “grave concerns with the baseline common core math curriculum” and that “depending on how you as board members adopt the curriculum, you have the potential to expand or limit the opportunities for many of your strongest and most capable students (see May’s Vantage Point for more information).”
She also discussed two topics that she’d like moved to the forefront; specifically, the overall level of education funding and the current trends around charter schools (see Lucey’s Vantage Point column).
Lucey then introduced Billy for the Executive Director’s report where he provided an overview of CSBA accomplishments and key areas of focus in the first half of 2014, including LCFF, teacher dismissal reform, Common Core, and overall education funding. Billy said that “the first five months of 2014 have been action-packed and representative of not only the changes happening in education, but of CSBA’s continued statewide influence.”
Billy told delegates that “your work over the next few years will be nothing short of heroic, but make no mistake that 2014 marks the beginning of great change in our school system. Not unlike 60 years ago, today we are being asked to dig down deep and at the end of the day our goal should be to do what is right—no matter the political or social cost, no matter the obstacles. That is true leadership and it’s what I believe will change lives and the world. The burden is great, the work is thankless and unforgiving but as Peter Drucker once said, ‘leadership is doing the right things,’ so let’s go do the right things together.”
Billy was honored to introduce keynote speaker Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals (see related story) who shared her courageous story as one of the Little Rock Nine students who integrated Central High School in 1957 after the Supreme Court’s 1954 landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision that outlawed “separate but equal.” Billy noted that “we mark the 60th anniversary of the Brown decision at a time in California when there is a resurgence in discussions about equity, opportunity and accountability as school districts around the state implement the first year of the LCFF and their LCAPs. LCFF today serves as the pivot point in California’s future to help finish what Brown v. Board intended to accomplish.”
Saturday afternoon Delegates had the opportunity to work in breakout groups to assist in the development of legislative priorities for CSBA’s 2015-16 Governance First agenda. The groups provided specific ideas for potential legislative proposals and then on Sunday Delegates voted on the priority of the issues that were raised. This valuable input will help guide CSBA as it finalizes the Governance First agenda. Delegates also voted to oppose the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act initiative due to the concern that the measure could potentially increase health care costs for school districts.
General Counsel and Director of CSBA’s Education Legal Alliance Keith Bray and CSBA attorney Joshua Daniels, spoke to Delegates on the high-profile case of Vergara v. the State of California. “As our attention this weekend has turned to the unanimous decision issued by the Supreme Court 60 years ago to open the doors of our public schools to every child regardless of the color of their skin, according to the lawyers representing the schoolchildren in Vergara, these statutes, by creating and maintaining an educational system where the more wealthy students are taught by effective teachers and the less fortunate students are not, these student plaintiffs in Vergara are being denied their constitutional right of equal protection under the law,” Bray said.
A panel of public interest groups shared their perspectives on the implementation of LCFF and observations on the LCAP development process. Moderated by Lucey, the panel featured Arun Ramanathan, CEO of Pivot Learning Partners, John Affeldt, Managing Attorney of Public Advocates and Ted Lempert, president of Children Now (see related story).
CSBA’s Policy Program Officer Julie Maxwell-Jolly presented on the demographic and achievement profile of California’s English learners. Based on a recent CSBA Governance Brief: English Learners in Focus, English learners represent a growing share of the California student community and have unique service needs. Maxwell-Jolly outlined trend data and shared best practices that LEAs can use to target the needs of this LCFF subgroup.
The Delegate Assembly wrapped up with the Annual Education Conference planning committee report by Bettye Lusk, Region 9 Delegate of the Monterey Peninsula USD (see related story).