With the passage of a state budget in July, California’s school districts can get down to the business of calculating just how far they will be able to stretch their budgets this year to provide the program necessary to improve student achievement. While I am pleased our schools will not suffer from a long delay in funding, I remain very disappointed in the lack of commitment to education reflected in the budget that was signed.
This budget does not represent a significant increase in funding for our schools, but barely maintains the status quo by providing funding to cover cost-of-living and enrollment increases. Nor does the budget include the $3.1 billion our schools are owed under the Proposition 98 constitutional guarantee as well as the promise made (and broken) by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor’s claim that the budget significantly increases classroom funding surely rings hollow to the many districts with declining enrollment, where the spending plan translates into real cuts, not increases. As you are aware, most school districts are barely staying afloat and many are facing serious budget shortfalls. I will continue to fight for significant new investment in California's public school system so our schools will not continue to be shortchanged.
One of our teachers "walked the walk" on calling for higher levels of school funding by trekking all the way from Ventura to the State Capitol in Sacramento, where I met him for the last leg of his journey. Chip Fraser, a teacher at Pacific Continuation High School in Ventura Unified School District, spent 24 days walking 442 miles, to raise money for classroom materials and to call attention for the need for adequate funding for all of California schools. I admire his single-minded dedication to his students and the students all of us serve.
On another unrelated topic, I am pleased that this month Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill 110 by Assembly Member Ira Ruskin (D-Redwood City), a bill I sponsored to reduce the burden of data collection on school districts.
The bill will delete redundant and duplicative data collection and reporting requirements contained in existing law. Since I introduced the State Superintendent of Public Instruction's Paper Reduction Initiative in 2004, this Department is on track to eliminate more than 37 percent of the information we require from local education agencies, schools, and programs. According to a survey conducted by the California Department of Education (CDE) last year, each piece of data collected from a school district costs approximately $315.
I continue to direct my staff to get involved at the federal level when new data collection is proposed, questioning the necessity and relevance of each proposal. I also encourage all of you at the local level to help us question the usefulness and point out potential redundancy of proposed new data collections.
On July 17 at the National Governors Association annual summer meeting in Iowa, 45 Governors signed an agreement that will standardize the way states track graduation rates. Under the agreement, states will develop and implement a standard four-year adjusted graduated rate. States will develop ways to improve state data collection, reporting, and analysis and use information from preschool through college. States also will provide annual progress reports, which will include completion and dropout rate data. I am pleased to say that Governor Schwarzenegger has also signed on to this agreement.
Also this month, I have enjoyed evenings at a Sacramento adult school, volunteering to teach citizenship classes to immigrants. I have found this a moving and powerful way to interact with people who increasingly reflect the diversity of our kindergarten through grade twelve classrooms—students from Mexico, Russia, Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand. All of them are eager to learn and become involved, better-educated citizens of the United States, including California.
Honoring Teachers of the Year
This month’s Highlights honors California Teacher of the Year Eric A. Burrows, teacher of Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. and European History at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara. Twelve years ago, Burrows gave up a career he enjoyed as an attorney with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office because he felt called to invest in the education of young people.
Taking night classes, he earned a teaching credential and eventually switched to teaching in Oakland public schools. He knew immediately that this new path felt right. To this day Burrows calls teaching "intensely personal, demanding, exciting, and rewarding."
Burrows earned a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988; a master's degree in public policy analysis at Claremont Graduate School in 1984; and a bachelor's degree in history with distinction from Stanford University in 1982. He received his teaching credential in 1994 from Holy Names College. Burrows has received eight awards as an educator, including local teacher-of-the-year awards.
He says teaching allows him to study history and learn new teaching skills every day and gives educators a chance to "learn about ourselves in incredible ways." When Burrows moved to his current district, he was assigned to teach AP classes in which the students' pass rate was 13 percent. Now 70 to 80 percent of students pass the AP history classes, which have grown in number. Burrows says that from the minute students walk into his classroom, he tells them: "Welcome to college," a hint that they are about to work harder and learn more than ever before.
Burrows believes that students must think to learn and must understand the facts of our national past. On a typical day he might tell students to "ask yourself what it was like to be a Japanese American in Manzanar or an African American caught in a race riot in Detroit."
He encourages reluctant learners by challenging them, seeing some success, then following up with more challenges—and more successes. On the basis of his or her learning type, each student is given an opportunity to shine. For 10 years, Burrows has coached the San Marcos Mock Trial team, celebrating successes at the county and state levels for both the junior and varsity teams. One team placed fifth nationally. A student recalls that "tryouts for Mock Trial were when I would see Mr. Burrows' compassion. Every year at least 70 kids tried out. It ripped his heart out every time he had to deny a young adult of such a wonderful opportunity. I saw Mr. Burrows' intensity. He coached Mock Trial like it was an actual sport. There were practices, scrimmages, and real competitions. There were four teams. . . . He made sure we were all ready. ... We were drilled constantly ... knowledge of the law, oratory skills, rhetoric, and quick thinking. ... Almost every day he was meeting with people, starting at 7 a.m. and going to 9 p.m."
Burrows works with the school's debate club and with the Junior Statesmen of America, activities that fill his classroom to capacity during lunchtime meetings. He also coaches basketball, soccer, and baseball for the youths in his community. Burrows loves coaching because every team member knows that his or her success depends on others. He has also worked to bring music and arts education to local schools.
One student recounts the changes in his life as a result of her time under Burrows' guidance: "I have actually started on the road to maturity. I have started to really enjoy current news and can now have intelligent conversations with my parents."
Events Calendar Now Posted
The popular Calendar of Events for 2006 has been posted on the CDE Web site to help school districts plan activities and special recognition events for the new school year. In addition, the informative 134-page 2005 Fact Book is now available for sale in hard copy, and you will find ordering information at this same Web page.
Passenger Transportation Administrator Certificate
The California Department of Education (CDE) Office of School Transportation in partnership with the California State University, Sacramento, semiannually conducts a "Passenger Transportation Administrator Certificate" course at CDE’s training facility in West Sacramento. The course is 80-hours in length and tailored to meet the challenges and concerns of the modern transportation administrator. Course curriculum includes fleet administration, personnel, special education, risk management, regulation compliance, transportation funding, cost accounting, alternative methods and new technologies in passenger transportation, and transportation safety and security. Each graduate receives eight Continuing Education Units, a certificate of attendance from, and a "Passenger Transportation Administrator Certificate" from the university.
If you have any questions regarding this course, please contact the Office of School Transportation, at 916-375-7100.
School Bus Radio Thefts
In the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Bulletin dated March 23, 2005, district superintendents were informed of a series of school bus two-way radio thefts that were currently being perpetrated throughout California. As of July 20, these thefts continue to occur. Currently, more than 2,000 school bus digital two-way radios have been stolen.
The California Department of Justice is about to begin a new phase in the investigation in an effort to apprehend the perpetrators of these thefts. In order to proceed, it is necessary for the justice department to compile a list of California school districts that use digital programmable two-way radios in their school buses.
The California Department of Education is requesting district superintendents to have their school transportation staff contact the Office of School Transportation at 916-375-7100 and request a questionnaire on school bus radio use. Staff from the office will fax a simple one-page questionnaire to the district transportation office and compile the responses. This information will then be forwarded to the Department of Justice in an effort to help bring an end to these ongoing thefts.
If you have any questions regarding this effort, please contact John Green, Manager, Office of School Transportation, at 916-375-7108.
Child Nutrition and Information Payment System
The California Department of Education (CDE) recently received approval from the California Department of Finance to replace its antiquated nutrition program payment and tracking systems with modern, Web-based technology. In addition to strengthening our ability to administer the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s school meal and child and adult care food programs, the new Child Nutrition and Information Payment System (CNIPS) will dramatically improve how districts and other local program sponsors submit their nutrition program and claims information to CDE. As part of the initial effort, the Department is continuing to gather input from local food service directors and business officials to identify CNIPS business requirements. The new system will also integrate school nutrition program, child and adult care food program, and food distribution data into a single repository to better manage these programs.
This project is jointly sponsored by three divisions within the CDE-Nutrition Services, Fiscal and Administrative Services, and Technology Services. The CDE anticipates that the Request for Proposal to procure CNIPS will be released in early 2006, with system development beginning later that year.
If you have any questions regarding CNIPS, please contact Kari Sachs, Staff Information Systems Analyst, Nutrition Services Division, at 916-323-1582.
News from the California School for the Deaf
The California School for the Deaf, Riverside (CSDR) has been working with a number of Special Education Local Plan Agencies (SELPAs) to establish improved coordination of local and state operated programs. As a result, several long-standing issues, such as the coordination of bus services and student disciplinary consequences have been addressed with very good results. Additionally, during the 2004-05 school year, both the CSDR and the Riverside Unified School District have developed a cooperative Parent Infant Program serving deaf and hard of hearing students from ages eighteen to thirty-six months. We are very proud of and plan to continue these types of cooperative planning efforts to better serve our deaf and hard of hearing students.
Observing Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
Federal law requires observation of "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day" on September 17 of each year beginning in 2005, and next month’s Highlights will refer you to technical assistance developed by California Department of Education staff. In the meantime, some excellent information and resources are available on the U.S. Department of Education (Outside Source) Web site.
