Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 49 | Number 15 | January 28, 2019
SPI Thurmond appoints leaders within CDE
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Tony Thurmond announced two new
appointments.
He has appointed a new deputy superin-
tendent, Khieem Jackson, for the California
Department of Education’s Government
Affairs Division.
Jackson will lead the Government
Affairs Division and serve as CDE’s liaison
with local, state, and federal elected officials
and government agencies. Jackson brings a
wealth of expertise to CDE, with a diverse
background in federal, state and local gov-
ernment advocacy, along with extensive
international experience as an officer in the
United States Marine Corps.
“I am thrilled to have Khieem Jackson
join our team as deputy superintendent of
Government Affairs,” Thurmond said. “He
is a strong advocate for students who need
the most assistance, and brings invaluable
insight from throughout the world support-
ing service members and their families.”
Jackson recently served as director of
Government Relations for San Diego
Unified School District, where he pro-
vided executive level policy and legislative
guidance on critical issues such as curricu-
lum, transportation, and energy. While at
SDUSD, Jackson also advocated for career
technical education incentive grants and
increased support for school districts with
refugee students.
Prior to SDUSD, Jackson served as
director of Federal Legislative Affairs with
the USMC in Oceanside. In that role,
Jackson worked with Gov. Brown’s office to
establish a monitoring process to measure
See THURMOND, page 5
Janus advisory
revisited
With many districts entering into col-
lective bargaining negotiations, ACSA has
received a number of inquiries as to the
effect of the recent Janus ruling by the
Supreme Court on such talks.
In the wake of the ruling, EdCal ran the
following joint advisory issued by ACSA
and CTA regarding Janus. The full advi-
sory and other resources are also available
at www.acsa.org/advocacy. It should all help
provide some clarity on the issue. This could
help as negotiations in the wake of the Los
Angeles USD strike seem to be taking a
more contentious turn.
CTA and ACSA Joint Advisory
JANUS v. AFSCME and its impacts
Val Verde USD Superintendent Mike McCormick presents on his district's work during the 2018 ACSA
Leadership Summit.
Building toward “All
Means All” with MTSS
One district's approach to helping students
Val Verde USD Superintendent Mike
McCormick wrote the following article
which is a synopsis of a presentation he and
district leaders made at ACSA’s Leadership
Summit.
With a graduation rate of more than
96 percent, Val Verde Unified School
District has achieved steady academic
growth over the last few years by provid-
ing comprehensive academic supports
for students. Building on this success,
the district is now focused on pair-
ing academic supports with climate
and culture supports to expand equity
and access for all students. As part
of this work, Val Verde partners with
Panorama Education’s surveys to capture
student voice pertaining to perceptions
of climate, culture, Growth Mindset,
and social-emotional learning. With this
critical data, educators are better able to
support the whole child within the dis-
trict’s Multi-Tiered System of Support
(MTSS) framework.
Val Verde’s journey of building an
MTSS culture started with noticing that
the systems already in place were work-
ing independently of each other and pri-
marily targeting students identified as at
risk or having special needs. Sites knew
they had many students not so labeled
but needing supports. MTSS became the
framework to guide teachers in creating
one cohesive system with a continuum of
supports for all students, with or without
a label. Sites also realized that there is
not a “one size fits all” solution for defin-
ing MTSS. Each must develop its own
MTSS culture and system of support to
fit its own unique needs.
See MTSS, page 2
On June 27, 2018, the United States
Supreme Court issued a 5-to-4 decision in
Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 that over-
ruled more than 40 years of law allowing
public sector unions to charge fair share
fees to employees who, though represented
by those unions in the workplace, chose not
to become union members. The Janus deci-
sion has continued to generate questions
among school employers, administrators,
and employees. In addition, recent legisla-
tive changes in California have affected the
rights and responsibilities of public employ-
ers and the unions who represent public
employees.
The California Teachers Association and
ACSA provide this joint guidance regarding
Janus’ meaning and recent legislation related
to union membership. This joint document
also discusses rules that might apply when
outside, non-union entities seek to obtain
contact information for union-represented
public employees.
ACSA and CTA are pleased to col-
laborate on this guidance, and we are proud
See JANUS, page 3
Sisterhood event. Registration
is open now for ACSA’s Sisterhood
Leadership Symposium on May 18
in Alhambra. The symposium, co-
sponsored by ACSA, CAAASA and
CALSA, is an inclusive space that
brings together women in the educa-
tion profession, women in leadership
positions, and women leaders seeking
to advance their career for a one-day
event focusing on leadership, diversity,
and empowerment. Session content
addresses relevant topics within the
education field and provides practi-
cal tools and resources for attendees
to implement at work right away. For
registration, go to www.acsa.org/sis-
terhoodsymposium.
Janus info. ACSA Legislative
Advocate Laura Preston will present
information on the Supreme Court’s
ruling in Janus vs. AFSCME at a
Region 6, Diablo Managers Association
meeting, March 18. Free to all Region
6 members. Go to https://dma-acsa-
janusruling.eventbrite.com.
CAAASA conference. The
California Association of African
American Superintendents and
Administrators is holding their annual
Statewide Professional Development
Summit March 27-29 in Garden Grove.
This year’s conference, “Creating
an Equitable Education for African
American and Other Students of
Color,” will focus on highlighting poli-
cies and practices that promote educa-
tion equity for African American and
other students of color. ACSA and a
number of other education groups are
co-sponsors of the event. Please go to
www.caaasa.org to register.
Accreditation agenda. The
Committee on Accreditation will meet
on Jan. 31. The COA is responsible for
implementing the CTC's accreditation
system, making determinations about
the accreditation of approved program
sponsors in California, and ensuring
quality in preparation programs. The
meeting agenda can be seen at www.
ctc.ca.gov/commission/meetings.
Sanger USD a featured district in
college- and career-ready study
Education Resource Strategies has pub-
lished a study of four school systems from
throughout the nation, and from California,
Sanger USD is represented. The study,
Connected Professional Learning for
Teachers, looks at how these school systems
are redesigning professional learning for the
age of high academic standards.
The study brief on the ERS website
notes the introduction of college- and
career-ready standards profoundly raises the
bar for teaching and learning in American
schools – and for professional development.
The brief noted the study looked at school
systems that are rising to the challenge and
seeing growth in student achievement, even
as they work with large populations of high-
need students. Each system took a different
path, but they all relied on three elements:
• Rigorous, comprehensive curricula and
assessments.
• Content-focused, expert-led collabo-
ration.
• Frequent, growth-oriented feedback.
These school systems made these com-
mon, research-backed practices power-
ful by integrating the elements in one
cohesive strategy, tightly connected to the
work teachers do every day. ERS calls this
“Connected Professional Learning.”
It requires significant shifts in how
school systems organize resources – mov-
ing away from one-size-fits-all workshops
and pay for advanced degrees – toward time
and instructional leaders to help teachers
engage with the curriculum and adjust to
student results. In “Igniting the Learning
Engine: How school systems accelerate
teacher effectiveness and student growth
See ERS, page 2
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