I had hoped that by the time you read this, California will have had the 2007-08 state budget signed, sealed, and delivered, putting an end to the month-long stalemate. Unfortunately, that is not the case and we continue to have partisan wrangling over the spending plan.
I continue to press legislators to pass a budget maintaining the governor's commitment to fully fund Proposition 98 and provide needed growth and cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) funding for our schools. The school funding approved in the Legislative Budget Conference Committee report will allow our schools to maintain, but not expand, programs that are working to improve student achievement. It is critical that we do not undermine this progress. The need to close the achievement gap and prepare all students to compete in the competitive global economy is more important than ever before.
I am tremendously pleased, however, that a tentative settlement agreement has been reached in Valenzuela v. O'Connell et al., the lawsuit challenging the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). Final agreement to this proposed settlement will put to rest this challenge, leaving the exit exam in place. More importantly, it will ensure that students in the class of 2006 and beyond will continue to get the assistance they need to learn the critical skills measured on the CAHSEE. The settlement proposal requires passage of Assembly Bill 347 and approval by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The measure ensures that students who fail to pass the CAHSEE may receive up to an additional two years of academic assistance from their school districts after completion of the twelfth grade. AB 347, authored by Assembly Member Pedro Nava, is currently pending approval by the state Senate. A hearing to give final approval to the proposed settlement has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. August 13, 2007, in the Alameda County Superior Court.
And, I am happy to report that the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and Vallejo City Unified School District (VCUSD) both have taken steps toward the return of local control after substantial progress was made in key operational areas.
On July 9, I signed a memorandum of understanding that returned control of Community Relations and Governance to the OUSD Board of Education. In 2003, the Oakland school district experienced a severe fiscal crisis and requested a $100 million loan that was approved through state legislation. Substantial and sustainable progress has been made in this particular area, and I am pleased to see this first of five objectives successfully met.
Less than a week later, I issued an executive order restoring local control to the VCUSD in the areas of community relations/governance, personnel management, and pupil achievement. The district has gone from a $28 million deficit three years ago to the adoption of its current budget that is balanced and includes the required 3 percent reserve. I am grateful for all the hard work done by district employees, and the support of the Vallejo community in this work.
August is here and that means a busy time of year for all of us in the areas of testing and accountability. Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) scores are publicly released on August 15, CAHSEE scores on August 23, and Academic Performance Index (API) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results on August 31.
And lastly, the traditional start of the school year is just around the corner, and I wish each and every one of you success as we continue with renewed determination our focus on closing the achievement gap. I hope I will see you at my Achievement Gap Summit on November 13-14 at the Sacramento Convention Center, where educators from across the state will gather to address this major crisis facing public schools in California and throughout the nation: the systemic gap between our highest- and lowest-performing students.
Honoring Teachers
This month Department Highlights honors one of Sacramento County's Teachers of the Year 2007, Skye Mie Smith, who is a first grade teacher at Prairie Elementary School in the Elk Grove Unified School District.
Mrs. Smith became a "teacher" at a very young age, in a most poignant way. She wrote in her county Teacher of the Year application that she was in an orphanage in post-war Japan when, as the last of the American Occupational Forces were departing, prospective parents came to visit. One couple passed out chocolate bars to the children, and after receiving hers, she said, "Thank you," the only two words of English she knew. The couple adopted her, telling her later that she was the only child to thank them.
"It was just a tiny voice, but the magic of those words was heard among the sea of orphaned children. Before I left the orphanage for my new home, before I got into a car for the first time, I taught the 'magic words' to my fellow orphans. Although I hadn't the vocabulary to articulate what compelled me to teach them, my six-year-old soul, my 'hara,' already felt it."
And a teacher was born.
For the past eight years, Mrs. Smith has taught in a school filled, she says, "with variety, diversity, and challenges-a school where 17 different languages are spoken and 87 percent of the children live in poverty." She witnesses daily the "achievement gap" that divides children of different backgrounds, children who come from homes where parents struggle to earn a living or to deal with life's demands, leaving little time to participate in their children's education.
"This learning gap issue in education is an 'inconvenient truth' that cannot be quickly swept under the rug. We may not be able to change every factor that contributes to the learning gap, but we can change some things," Mrs. Smith writes.
Topping her list is to continue to study successful "gap-closing" schools. In addition, she says, district leaders and principals must drive the change by articulating clear, measurable expectations for growth and improvement. Districts, principals, and teachers must identify, support, and implement effective "evidenced-based" interventions for English learners and struggling students. Teachers must continue to assess their students frequently, particularly their at-risk students.
She also believes in universal preschool.
"We must invest in the possibilities of every child 'up front' to ensure their individual success and the success of our democratic society. We, as adults, must be accountable for all our children and the future."
Mrs. Smith attended California State University, Sacramento, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in 1983. She received a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with an emphasis in Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development in 1998, when she also began her teaching career at Prairie Elementary.
New Assistant Director for Nutrition Services Division
Brenda Padilla has joined the California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) as Assistant Director. Prior to joining the CDE, Brenda served as Director of Nutrition Services at Chico Unified School District. Previously, she led Vacaville Unified School District's food service department, and was formerly Assistant Director of Fairfield-Suisun's food service operation. During this time, she has been very active in the California School Nutrition Association (Mother Lode Chapter President and member of the Public Policy and Legislative Committee) and the California Association of School Business Officials' Sacramento region Research and Development Committee on Child Nutrition.
Brenda won the Food Service Management Excellence (FAME) Silver Star Spirit Award in 2005 for her commitment to the people and programs of school food service.
"We at the CDE are proud of the leadership exhibited by the Nutrition Services Division, the steady and numerous improvements we have made in our administration of California's child nutrition programs, and our commitment to working in partnership with our local program colleagues. We look forward to the local perspective and experiences that Brenda will contribute to NSD's management team so we can further improve our initiatives in these areas," said Phyllis Bramson-Paul, Director of NSD.
Latest Edition of Education Data News Is Now Online
On July 9, 2007, CDE's Data Management Division published the second issue of the quarterly newsletter that addresses topics related to data management in the California public school system. The spring 2007 edition, which can be accessed on the California School Information Services (CSIS) Web page, which includes articles on:
- "Emphasizing Student-Level Data, CBEDS Reporting in October 2007" by Keric Ashley, director of the Data Management Division
- "Lessons Learned from the Fall 2006 Annual SSID Maintenance Submission" by Nancy Sullivan, administrator of Special Projects
- "CALPADS Development Approaching" by Paula Mishima, manager of the CSIS-CALPADS Program Office
- "The Good Fight Continues - Funding to Support LEA Activities" by Paula Mishima
- "Get Ready to Plant Some SEIDS" by Paula Mishima
- "The California School Technology Survey: An Evolving Resource" by Patrick McMenamin, consultant in the CDE Education Technology Office
- "Reducing Data Collection and Reporting Burden on LEAs" by Sonya Edwards, manager of the Education Data Office
Registration Now Available for "On the Right Track" Symposium
On the Right Track 5 Symposium: Navigating through Program Improvement and Strategies for Exiting, will be held September 30-October 2, 2007. This will be the fifth annual event co-sponsored by the California Department of Education and the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd.
Interactive sessions will provide participants with an opportunity to hear from schools and districts that have been in Program Improvement (PI) and, by meeting their student achievement targets, have exited PI. There will be stories of success and of ongoing challenges. Participants will be able ask questions and discuss strategies with peers from throughout the state about what works and how to implement district and school reform. The focus of this Symposium is schools and districts talking and interacting with other schools and districts.
The On the Right Track 5 Symposium will be held at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove, California. Registration and hotel information is available on the WestEd Web page (Outside Source).
If you have any questions regarding the Right Track 5 Symposium, please contact Linda Slayton, Education Program Consultant, School Improvement Division, at 916-319-0833 or by e-mail at lslayton@cde.ca.gov.
P-16 Unit Gathers Achievement Gap Input
In July, the Superintendent's P-16 Unit sponsored several "brown bag lunch" events at the California Department of Education (CDE), with the intent to engage a broad cross-section of Department staff in discussions around various topics related to California's achievement gap. The topics of the first four such events in what will be a long series of targeted discussions around the achievement gap were: the Achievement Gap and Latino Students, the Achievement Gap and Special Needs Students, the Achievement Gap and African American Students, and the Achievement Gap and English Learner Students.
Through these and other formal and informal forums, the P-16 Unit is encouraging CDE staff members, who collectively possess an unparalleled wealth of knowledge, experience, and personal insight, to engage in cross-program conversations to help inform the Department's continuing work around the achievement gap. The most important intended result however, will be a paradigm shift toward cross-program collaboration among all department staff to accomplish a tangible, consensus mission that will best serve the students of California: to develop, implement and sustain a specific, ambitious plan that holds the State of California accountable for creating the conditions necessary for closing the Achievement Gap.
The P-16 Council, a statewide assembly of education, business, and community leaders charged with developing strategies to better coordinate, integrate, and improve education for preschool through college students, is aggressively pursuing the charge given to them to research, analyze and develop solid recommendation to move the state forward in closing the achievement gap. Since the last P-16 Plenary Session, Subcommittee meetings in June, the P-16 Unit consultants have, and will continue to convene the respective P-16 Council subcommittees to which they were assigned.
You can find more information on the P-16 Council on the P-16 Council Web page.
The California Department of Education's School Transportation Experts Go to Washington
On July 11, staff members from the California Department of Education (CDE) Office of School Transportation presented a program on California's school bus lap/shoulder belt law for members of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington D.C. Department of Transportation members in attendance included the Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters; Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Nicole Nason; National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member, Deborah Hersman, and representatives of various organizations who have an interest in the issue of passenger restraint systems on school buses.
The meeting was a day-long series of presentations made by local, state, and federal government representatives, school bus and restraint system manufacturers, seat belt advocates, the American Academy of Pediatrics and parents. The purpose of the public meeting was for NHTSA to hear all sides of the school bus seat belt issue and to place those comments on public record.
NHTSA will now take the comments, recommendations, and concerns back to their staff to analyze and then develop a standardized rule on the design and construction of passenger restraint systems in future school buses. California's experience in the development of school bus lap/shoulder belt system statutes, regulations, training, procedures, and our real-world experience were invaluable to the process. California again sets the standards by which other programs are measured, and we remain the only state in the nation to require the installation and use of lap/shoulder belts on new California school buses.
Disability Benefit Available to California State Teachers' Retirement System Members
A disability benefit is available to eligible, active members of the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) Defined Benefit Program.
The benefit is available to those who become unable to work due to a health impairment that is considered permanent or expected to last 12 or more continuous months, measured from the onset but no earlier than their last day of work.
Members may be eligible for this benefit if their health impairment prevents them from being able to perform:
- Usual job duties
- Usual job duties with reasonable accommodation
- Duties at a comparable level
Medical and other pertinent documentation is required to substantiate an impairment. For more information about the disability application process, please contact CalSTRS at 800-228-5453.
Public Charter School Grant Program Request For Applications Approved
At its July meeting, the State Board of Education approved the Request for Applications (RFA) for the 2007-10 Public Charter School Grant Program (PCSGP). The PCSGP is authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. California recently was awarded approximately $108 million, the largest grant to any state, most of which will be distributed in the form of sub-grants to local educational agencies and nonprofit entities over the three-year period.
Under the RFA, we expect to provide one hundred $45,000 preplanning sub-grants to nonprofit entities to develop a high quality charter school petition for approval by a local authorizing entity. Competition for these funds will be focused on the capacity of the nonprofit founding group/governing board to start a successful charter school as stated in a published rubric. The California Department of Education (CDE) will also provide approximately 75 sub-grants annually to new charter schools to assist with the costs of planning, opening, and operating high-quality approved charter schools.
Applications will be evaluated against a published rubric on leadership capacity, quality of the educational program, and the degree of parent involvement. Preference for funding will be awarded to schools that will serve educationally disadvantaged students, defined as those who reside in the home attendance area of a chronically low-performing school, with additional preference given to secondary schools.
You can find more information on the PCSGP on the Public Charter Schools Grant Web page.
Reading/Language Arts Experts and Teachers Sought for Panels
The State Board of Education, the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, and the California Department of Education are seeking individuals to serve on panels that will assist with the evaluation of kindergarten through grade eight instructional materials to be submitted for the statewide
2008 Reading/Language Arts-English-Language Development (RLA/ELD) Primary Adoption. Please consider participating in this important and professionally rewarding opportunity. If you cannot serve, please forward this message to other colleagues you believe would be interested in serving on these panels. The expertise of educators from all grade levels is critical for the successful review of these programs.
Panel members are needed to review five types of RLA programs:
- Program 1: RLA Basic Program, kindergarten through grade eight (K-8)
- Program 2: RLA/ELD Basic Program, K-8
- Program 3: Primary Language/ELD Basic Program, K-8
- Program 4: Intensive Intervention Program in RLA, grades four through eight
(4-8) - Program 5: Intensive Intervention for English Learners, Grades 4-8
Applications are being accepted to serve as Instructional Materials Advisory Panel (IMAP) members. These reviewers are primarily classroom teachers. In addition, panels may include school administrators, parents and guardians, and school board members whose interests include English, reading, and language arts.
Applications are also being accepted to serve as Content Review Panel (CRP) members. These individuals are usually educators with extensive knowledge of RLA who hold an advanced degree in a related field. Application packets and additional information can be found on the Instructional Materials Web page.
For more information on serving on these panels, please contact Irma Hernandez-Larin, Education Programs Consultant, Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division, at 916-319-0440 or by e-mail at ihernandezlarin@cde.ca.gov.
