CSBA envisions a state where the futures of all children are driven by their aspirations, not bounded by their circumstances.
The primary responsibility of public schools is to educate students. However, research shows that the ability of children to attend school, to be engaged and learning in the classroom and to achieve academic success can be significantly affected by circumstances or conditions that confront them in their daily lives. These potentially binding conditions include the physical, mental and emotional health of each child, the social and economic obstacles they and their families may face and the environment they live in that may expose them to crime, violence, poverty, substance abuse, homelessness, foster care or other negative influences. Research demonstrates that many of these adverse conditions affect students disproportionately based on race and socioeconomic factors, contributing heavily to the achievement gap in California. By addressing the obstacles of those students most in need, schools can simultaneously help tackle the achievement gap and create and sustain a safe, healthy and supportive learning environment that positively impacts all children.
CSBA works to create circumstances that allow school governance teams and school districts to address conditions of children that can be barriers to their ability to attend, learn and achieve in school.
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