Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 49 | Number 21 | March 18, 2019
State Charter Task Force holds first meeting
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Tony Thurmond facilitated the first meet-
ing of the Charter Task Force as requested
by Gov. Gavin Newsom. As Newsom stated
in his first budget proposal, rising charter
school enrollments in some urban districts
are having real impacts on those districts’
ability to provide essential support and
services for their students. The governor
requested Thurmond provide a report and
recommendations to him by July 1.
Members of the Charter Task Force
were selected by the California Department
of Education, in consultation with the
governor’s office. That task force met for
the first time in Sacramento and will con-
tinue to meet regularly in order to meet the
governor’s July 1 deadline. Thurmond will
continue to lead and facilitate these meet-
ings throughout the process.
“I am excited that we have this incredible
assembly of experts from all sectors to help
lead this charge, to take a deeper look at the
impact of charter schools,” Thurmond said.
“We plan to research data and facts, and
will review the fiscal impact and authoriza-
tion process of charter schools. But more
importantly, we are going to do this with
thoughtful intention and through the lens
of identifying what is truly best for kids.”
Members of the task force include:
• Edgar Zazueta, ACSA senior director,
Policy and Governmental Relations.
• Ed Manansala, El Dorado County
superintendent;
California
County
Superintendents Educational Services
Association, board president.
• Cindy Marten, San Diego USD super-
intendent.
• Erika Jones, California Teachers
Association, board of directors.
• Cristina de Jesus, Green Dot Public
Schools California, president and chief
executive officer.
See TASK FORCE, page 6
2019 Civic
Learning Awards
announced
Gov. Gavin Newsom prepares to sign SB 126, the charter school transparency bill. He was joined at the
signing by representatives of various education groups, including ACSA Executive Director Wes Smith,
at left.
Governor signs charter
school transparency bill
Alongside representatives from
ACSA, the California Charter School
Association, California Teachers
Association,
California
School
Employees Association, California
Federation of Teachers and SEIU
California, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently
signed Senate Bill 126, historic legisla-
tion requiring all schools that receive
taxpayer funding to follow the same
standards for accountability and trans-
parency.
“It’s common sense. Taxpayers, par-
ents and ultimately kids deserve to know
how schools are using their tax dollars,”
Newsom said. “This isn’t the end of
a conversation but a beginning. Let’s
use this momentum to move forward
together, constructively and in partner-
ship, to improve education for children
across California. I thank the leaders
on both sides of this issue for coming
together to help get this bill across the
finish line.”
SB 126 requires charter schools and
charter management organizations to
adhere to public records and open meet-
ing laws such as the Brown or Bagley-
Keene Acts, Public Records Act, conflict
of interest provisions and the Political
Reform Act, just as public school dis-
tricts do. It will take effect Jan. 1, 2020.
“For far too long, charter schools
in California have been held to lower
accountability and transparency stan-
dards than traditional public schools,”
said Sen. Connie Leyva, one of the
bill’s authors. “By codifying the Attorney
General’s recent advisory opinion related
to charter schools, SB 126 will ensure
that all publicly funded schools – includ-
See SB 126, page 3
The California Department of Education
announced that 92 schools won this year’s
Civic Learning Awards, which celebrate
public schools’ efforts to engage students
in civic learning. Now in its seventh year,
the awards program is co-sponsored by
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony
Thurmond and Chief Justice of California
Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye.
These schools engage students in civic
learning through unique classes, clubs and
programs preparing students for participa-
tion in democracy. The awards are designed
to both celebrate successful efforts to engage
students in civic learning and to identify
successful models that can be replicated in
other schools.
“Having had the chance to teach a civ-
ics class, and from my time working with
students in the Legislature, I’m a huge
supporter of engaging students in civics
early, which helps to engage them for life,”
Thurmond said. “It was fulfilling to work
with students in the state Legislature, where
every year I had students help write a bill
with me. I would like to continue that work
by asking students to share their ideas on
new bills, such as keeping college affordable,
school nutrition and student housing.”
“I commend our schools and teachers
for their creativity and commitment to civic
education,” Cantil-Sakauye said. “They are
giving students the skills they will need
as active participants and leaders in our
democracy.”
Cantil-Sakauye visited schools receiv-
ing Awards of Excellence, the highest level,
which include:
• Flora Vista Elementary School in San
Diego County, where students develop bud-
gets and proposals for the school board on
how to conserve energy in the classroom,
CAASPP security. The California
Department of Education has a guide
available, “CAASPP Security Incidents
and Appeals Procedure Guide.”
This resource is linked on both the
Manuals and Instructions webpage
and the CAASPP Security and Test
Administration Incident Reporting
System (STAIRS)/Appeals Process for
Summative Assessments webpage.
Find out more at the CAASPP Portal,
http://www.caaspp.org.
NGSS resource. The Stanford
NGSS Assessment Project (SNAP) has
developed free resources to engage
teachers, coaches, and administra-
tors in professional learning on the
development and use of assessments
to support three-dimensional science
learning. The resources include sample
performance assessments for the Next
Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
and a toolkit for developing and using
the performance assessments. To find
out more, visit the SNAP website at
https://snapgse.stanford.edu.
MTSS institute. The Orange
County Department of Education,
Butte County Office of Education,
and the UCLA Center for the
Transformation of Schools are host-
ing the 3rd annual California Multi-
Tiered System of Support Professional
Learning Institute on July 29-31 at the
Long Beach Convention Center. The
2019 California MTSS PLI theme “All
Means All – Know My Name, Face,
and Story” will focus on promoting
excellence, equity and access for all
learners. Visit camtsspli.ocde.us for
information regarding event.
Negotiators 2020. Mark your
calendars now for the 2020 ACSA
Negotiators Symposium, Jan. 22-24 in
San Diego. This is one of the premier
events for anyone on a management
collective bargaining team. Be watch-
ing www.acsa.org/conferences for
more details as they emerge.
See CIVICS, page 2
District staff members
join homeless outreach
Chaparral Middle School teacher Sherry
Robertson has been showing others the
importance of giving back throughout her
20-year career in education. At Castle Rock
Elementary, her fifth graders worked at a
local food pantry every Thanksgiving.
When she transferred to the middle
school level in 2007, Robertson was excited
to share her passion for community ser-
vice with a whole new crop of students.
The Design-Based Learning social studies
teacher launched a HUMANitarian Club
to provide means for students to learn
and become aware of global needs and the
closer-to-home-homeless crisis.
“There is a misconception that home-
less people are lazy and can better their
status in life if they just work a little harder,”
Robertson said. “I wanted my students to
learn first-hand the causes and effects of
homelessness.”
After doing some research, Robertson
learned of the East San Gabriel Valley
Coalition for the Homeless, a rotating win-
ter shelter that services nearly 1,800 people
from October through March.
Local homeless people register and
receive an ID card that they must present
when they enter the facility each night for a
warm home-cooked meal at 5:30 p.m. They
sign up for a shower, browse through donat-
ed clothing items, get a haircut and shave,
and often receive medical and dental care.
“It was an easy decision to take on the
responsibility to feed 200 men, women and
children,” Robertson said.
For a decade, she signed the club mem-
See HOMELESS, page 5
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