January newsletter links:
CSBA Annual Conference sends an assertive 'S.O.S.'
"State of Our Schools" letter template
State competes for 'Race to the Top'
CSBA: "Urgent Advisory: Race to the Top Memorandum of Understanding"
CDE: RTTT information
Delegate Assembly gears up
"State of Our Schools" letter template
Conference ran the gamut--DAIT, NCLB and beyond
Materials provided by presenters
CSBA, other associations prepared for 2010
Forecast Webcast
Federal Relations Network
Celebrating Opportunities
Also: Trainings on 'Maximizing Physical Activity'
Find out more and register
Workshops: Board presidents, new or first-term trustees, the Brown Act
CSBA Events Calendar
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January 2010
 | "State of Our Schools" correspondents put S.O.S. "badges of honor" on their name tags after dropping letters to lawmakers in a collection bin at CSBA's Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in San Diego last month. |
Web Only Articles
26 January 2010 - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell balanced seven years of progress with the recognition that challenges remain, and that a greater investment in education is needed to meet them, in his seventh annual State of Education address.
8 January 2010 - The governor proposes a number of complicated maneuvers to reduce the Proposition 98 guarantee. The net result would be a reduction to the guarantee of $892.6 million in 2009-10 and $1.5 billion in 2010-11 from what it would otherwise be under current law.
6 January 2010 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed midway through his State of the State address today to “protect education funding,” even after warning that additional cuts to the state’s general fund are unavoidable in the budget proposal that he will release Friday.
5 January 2010 - The slaying of a Southern California school board member in Mexico last week has sparked an international outcry and demands for a complete investigation.
In California School News
the State of Our Schools letters will remind the governor and legislators of the devastating effects state budget cuts have had on California’s public schools.
With a Jan. 19 deadline fast approaching, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state Legislature and the California Department of Education are scrambling to make California’s application for the “Race to the Top” federal grant program as competitive as possible.
CSBA and California officials have reservations about the constraints that common academic standards could place on the state’s own high standards, and so they have hesitated to fully support the initiative until it’s demonstrated that the common core standards would meet or exceed California’s existing standards.
The goal of my presidency will be to tell the truth, no matter how painful it is for some folks to hear. Fair warning: they don’t call me “Grumpy Ol’ Frank” for nothing, and there is plenty going on in the state right now to make me grumpy.
Members of CSBA’s Delegate Assembly met in San Diego Dec. 2-3 to get up-to-the-minute legislative, fiscal and policy updates, elect new officers and directors and rally support for a new advocacy campaign to restore funding to California’s beleaguered public schools.
Frank Pugh, a veteran community college professor and longtime Santa Rosa City Schools board member in Region 3, sounded a call to action as he took office as CSBA’s president during the association’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in San Diego last month.
Virtually every aspect of running schools and promoting student success in the 21st century, from school finances, facilities and environmental issues to partnerships and collaboration and school and student wellness, was addressed during the three-day conference.
“We really needed to make a statement about the behavior of the Legislature as a whole,” CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Relations Rick Pratt explained of the lack of awards.
From this month’s CSBA Forecast Webcast and the National School Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network Conference to plans for Celebrating Opportunities for Students of All Cultures in March, a variety of upcoming events are of statewide, Southwestern U.S. and national significance.
CSBA and California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition) are teaming up to host a round of Policy in Action trainings: Maximizing Physical Activity Opportunities in Tough Budget Times.
The 2010 schedule begins in Sacramento Jan. 22.