Editor's note: Thanks for reading—or e-reading!
By:
Brian TaylorSummer 2013
Odds are you’re reading this issue of California Schools in print, but there’s also a chance you’re reading it on your computer, smart phone, tablet or whatever other new medium has taken over the world in the days since I wrote this. Google Glass, anyone?
Early adapters to e-reading may already have read the story that closes this issue. “How Can Boards Provide Leadership and Funding for Summer Programs?” (page 34) originated on CSBA’s website. It’s the third in a series on summer learning programs that was underwritten by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. You can find all the installments—plus a related policy brief and a sample policy, at www.csba.org/SummerLearning.
It’s part of CSBA’s growing online presence since we launched our new website and CSBA blog (blog.csba.org) earlier this year. Other components include MyCSBA, a password-protected portal on our website that offers members-only materials and information. You can create a personal profile, register for CSBA events and trainings, and get easy access to services. Get started at www.csba.org/Account/signin.aspx by typing in the same user name and password you use to register for CSBA activities. (You can also click for assistance or, if all else fails, email register@csba.org.)
Once you’re in MyCSBA, you can also “Engage CSBA.” This exclusive online community functions as a social media site much like Facebook or LinkedIn; its interactive features allow members to connect with each other in discussion groups that share your passion, such as Achievement Gap or Grassroots Advocacy Network. OK, maybe they’re lightly populated outposts right now as opposed to established “commnities”—but the only thing missing is “u”!
But back to the Summer Learning series: We thought it was important enough to package the board leadership installment in print and online to disseminate the message widely, and to raise awareness of the other questions that the series’ titles pose online: “Why Do Summer Learning and Wellness Programs Matter?” and “What Constitutes an Effective Summer Program?” We hope you’ll consider those questions—and the series’ answers—as you look ahead to autumn and next year’s school budget.
The world being what it is, school safety must also be a consideration, at budget time and every day, as staff writer Carol Brydolf makes clear in “Preparing for the Unthinkable” (page 24). When Executive Director Vernon M. Billy spoke with CSBA’s officers and senior staff after the horrific school shootings in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, last December, Carol writes that he put the tragedy in context.
“Some of our discussions got a bit heated,” Vernon told CSBA’s Superintendents Advisory Council afterward, Carol reports. “But we had to look at the facts. Suicide, for example, is a bigger threat than gun violence.” The numbers show—as they have for decades—that students are far safer at school than they are in the world outside the schoolhouse doors.
Wherever they occur, “Adverse Childhood Experiences” (the name of an ongoing collaborative study being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente) can be traumatic. In a “Conversation” with California Schools staff writer Kristi Garrett (page 15), San Francisco-area pediatrician Nadine Burke-Harris makes the point—as the grieving parents in upscale Sandy Hook can confirm—that the hazards are not limited to school violence, nor to the inner city:
“This is all of our issue, whether we’re black or brown—it doesn’t divide along ethnic lines,” Dr. Burke-Harris told Kristi. “In fact, the original Adverse Childhood Experiences study was done in a population that was 70 percent Caucasian, 70 percent college educated. The impact is huge in terms of a kid’s ability to sit in class, learn, focus and pay attention. It’s also significant for us to be able to have sufficient use of our resources and for our competitiveness overall as a nation.”
Thank you—more than ever—for all you do for California schools and children, and thanks for reading—or e-reading!
Brian Taylor (btaylor@csba.org) is the managing editor of California Schools.