CSBA’s Back-to-School Webcast covers LCFF, other ‘hot issues’
Published: September 11, 2013
The state’s new Local Control Funding Formula dominated yesterday’s annual Back-to-School Webcast, with CSBA’s in-house experts and guest panelists shedding light on what State Board of Education member Sue Burr called “a seismic shift”—not just in how schools are funded but also in local flexibility and accountability.
LCFF’s impacts are immense, and CSBA is taking the lead on an ambitious campaign to educate its members about the issue, as CSBA Executive Director Vernon M. Billy and others explained during the webcast. A special Web page—www.csba.org/LCFF—explains in great detail the impacts of the new school financing formula.
Basically, much district funding is now tied to student populations, with low-income students, English learners and foster youth generating extra funds to help districts meet the unique needs of those students. Under related Local Control and Accountability Plan requirements, every district must consult its administrators, parents and wider community in preparing those plans.
“All of it applies to every single district,” Billy stressed.
“We’re making sure that our members are aware of the governance implications,” said Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Relations Dennis Meyers, pointing to both CSBA’s robust online resources and a series of regional briefings planned through November.
Other ‘hot issues’ in final days of Legislature’s year
The complete Back-to-School Webcast itself will be posted on CSBA’s website next week, allowing members to replay the two-hour briefing by CSBA’s experts, joined at times by Burr, former Long Beach and San Diego superintendent and fellow State Board member Carl Cohn and Jonathan Raymond, superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District.
The panelists went into great detail on LCFF, LCAP and other education issues. But what Billy called “the hot issues right now” provided the timeliest news, as the fate of a number of important bills is debated before lawmakers go home for the year later this week.
For example, CSBA Legislative Advocate Brian Rivas planned to participate in the webcast but was busy fighting Assembly Bill 375, a legislative proposal that had stalled in the Senate Education Committee in July. As revived in recent days, it would make it harder to dismiss a teacher who doesn’t perform or may have abused students.
“CSBA’s been engaged on this issue since day one” and issued an Action Alert to mobilize members’ opposition last week, Meyers said during the webcast. Unfortunately, the revived bill passed the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning and appeared to be headed to the Senate floor.
Another important bill was drawing fire from the nation’s capital even as final preparations for the Back-to-School Webcast were under way Tuesday morning. AB 484 allows for suspension of some state standardized testing for two years as California shifts to the new Common Core standards and assessments.
“We’ve got teachers teaching to the Common Core, but [students] are still tested under the old process,” Legislative Advocate Erika Hoffman explained to the webcast audience. “We’re supportive of it, we believe this is the right direction to go. We need to get this new testing system in place.”
However, she noted, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan came out against the state bill just hours earlier. “We’re probably going to have another fight” with the federal government, she predicted.
Hoffman reported more definite progress on AB 420, Assembly Member Roger Dickenson’s measure tightening restrictions on student suspensions for “willful defiance.” CSBA opposed the bill as Dickenson introduced it earlier this year. However, “We were able to come to an agreement with him on the language in the bill. He’s now put that off and made it a two-year bill,” offering the prospect of additional discussion that could address CSBA’s and local concerns.
“This is the last couple of days of session. Things go crazy,” Meyers commented.