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EdSource Commentaries

The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.

All posts by EdSource Commentaries

Tracking educational progress of California’s foster children just a first step

By Michelle Traiman

| September 21, 2016

Commentary

Last week, for the first time in history, California released statewide data on the educational outcomes of students in foster care. Until now, the state has not published school data on the approximately 70,000 foster children in California’s children separately from other children. But as a requirement of the state’s Local Control Funding Formula, the California Department of Education has just published data on…

Equity gap in California: what the new test scores tell us

By Linda Darling-Hammond and Leib Sutcher

| September 19, 2016

Commentary

When the new Smarter Balanced test scores (part of California’s new assessment system known as CAASPP) came out last month, Californians engaged in what is now a time-honored routine — noting that scores inched up but large equity gaps remain. Differentials by race, ethnicity, income, language background and disability status have become a common feature of the landscape, like our dry riverbeds and brush fires in…

California must move ahead on new approach to school accountability

By Michael Kirst

| August 29, 2016

Commentary

The State Board of Education has been working for several years to develop a new accountability system based on the Local Control Funding Formula, which the Legislature and governor passed in 2013. In September, the state board will take an important step forward by establishing a new way to measure progress and identify problems in our schools and districts, giving parents, teachers and community…

CORE Districts can inform state’s new accountability system

By Christopher Steinhauser

| August 24, 2016

Commentary

As California prepares to adopt its new multiple-measure school accountability system, the CORE Districts can offer firsthand experience and data to inform the transition and ongoing policy work. The CORE Districts, representing Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Fresno, San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento unified districts, have a six-year history of collaboration and three years of experience under a federal waiver for school…

New accountability system must measure all priority areas

By Sergio Luna and Norma Rodriguez

| August 11, 2016

Commentary

In June 2013, California passed the Local Control Funding Formula – a groundbreaking civil rights law that created a more equitable school funding system, established a well-rounded set of measures by which we would gauge school success, and required a community-driven decision-making process. For the past three years, our organizations, which collectively represent thousands of parents and students of color from around the state,…

Parent alert: before rejecting Pokémon Go, consider opportunities it provides for more communication

By Erin Brownfield

| August 4, 2016

Commentary

Support their “lemonade stands.” That advice from Ellen Galinsky’s book about childhood development “Mind in the Making” is one of the pieces of parenting wisdom that has stuck with me as I’ve raised two boys. Galinsky uses “lemonade stands” as a catch-all term for children’s interests and passions, and her advice for educators and parents is to foster kids’ growth, agency and “grit” by…

The benefits of bringing controversial issues into the classroom

By Judith Pace

| July 27, 2016

Commentary

As a series of seemingly never-ending horrific events dominates news headlines, children are especially vulnerable to the fear and anxiety these attacks can provoke. More than ever, young people are exposed to violent and traumatic confrontations at home and abroad through social media. They feel the ripple effects of these and other disturbing events, which may threaten their own and their loved ones’ sense…

California needs not just more teachers but more master teachers

By Derek Mitchell

| July 21, 2016

Commentary

California is trying to increase both the quantity of teachers and the quality of teaching. However, we should be wary about just expanding the pipeline of teachers. What we also need is a different kind of teacher. Since the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, the nation has broadened the expectations of whom our schools are expected to effectively serve. In the 1960s,…

Summer and after-school programs can promote social and emotional learning

By Jennifer Peck and David Plank

| July 19, 2016

Commentary

When we think of school we too often picture rows of students sitting quietly at their desks, listening to the teacher or reading a textbook. This familiar image of a quiet classroom and docile students is and should be increasingly outdated. The state’s new Common Core and Next Generation science standards require teachers to teach and students to learn in more dynamic ways. They…

Baseball can teach education a lesson

By Arun Ramanathan

| June 30, 2016

Commentary

I wish that discussions of education data were as interesting as my conversations on baseball statistics. Contrary to my reputation as an Ed Dork, I do not wake up every morning, grab my phone and check out EdWeek, EdSource and Eduwonk for the latest Ed news. I wake up, grab my phone and check out two pretty amazing baseball blogs: crashburnalley.com and fangraphs.com. The first…

Make student voices really matter in our schools

By Aaron Feuer

| June 21, 2016

Commentary

Nearly every middle and high school gives students a voice on campus in some way, but many schools miss the opportunity to make student voices really matter. Student voice is an area that I’ve been passionate about for a long time. When I was a student at North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles Unified, I participated in several meaningful programs that gave students…

Saving after-school programs from unintended effects of raising minimum wage

By Loni Hancock and Jennifer Peck

| June 2, 2016

Commentary

In his first inaugural address in 1959, Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown said that “Both our Constitution and our conscience enjoin us to invest money in young minds, our greatest natural resources,” because he was confident that our investment in free public education would be returned “manyfold to our economy and to the strength of our democratic government.” We agree. As a long-time public…

Civic preparation cannot be measured by a multiple-choice test

By Young Whan Choi and Elizabeth Humphries

| May 25, 2016

Commentary

There is an adage in education that what you test guides what you teach. Those who care about democracy may soon have reason to celebrate, as the California Legislature is currently weighing a recommendation from the California Department of Education to implement a test to measure students’ knowledge of civics. The thinking goes that if we test for civics then we are more likely…

Bridging the digital divide for families can improve student outcomes

By Delaine Eastin

| May 23, 2016

Commentary

California, once revered as a top school system, now ranks among the bottom in the nation. Despite being one of the most expensive states to live in, California is near the bottom in per-pupil spending. Inadequate funding has led to teacher training and retention problems, overly large classes and the fewest number of counselors, nurses and librarians per student of any state. Most disturbing,…

California must stay the course on path to achieving fair school funding

By Danielle Farrie and David Sciarra

| May 23, 2016

Commentary

In recognition of how unfair California public school funding had become, the Legislature in 2013 enacted the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), a groundbreaking reform of the state’s broken finance system. The new law eliminated numerous categorical grants and linked funding to pupil needs through weights for low income students, English learners, or those in foster care, along with larger allocations to districts with high…

Teacher residencies: A long-term strategy to solve California teacher shortages

By Linda Darling-Hammond and Steve Barr

| May 18, 2016

Commentary

This was a year of good news and bad news in California’s schools. Faster-than-expected infusions of new funding under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) allowed many districts to replace teachers and programs lost during the Great Recession. However, as the school year opened last August, districts around California scrambled to hire qualified teachers and many came up short. About one-third of the credentials issued…

State must include suspension rates as measure of school success

By Robert Ross

| May 10, 2016

Commentary

Both California’s experience and the latest academic research validate the view that fewer suspensions and improved campus climates are critical drivers of academic achievement and school success. During the past several years, California has reduced out-of-school suspensions by nearly 40 percent, while academic achievement (as measured by the Academic Performance Index) increased. Individual schools that embraced school climate improvement as a core strategy have…

Time to begin implementing new science standards in our schools

By Michael Kirst and Trish Williams

| May 3, 2016

Commentary

A strong science education is an important part of learning for students at all grade levels. California’s new science standards emphasize science in early grades and ensure students use what they learn in connection with other core subjects. The new standards help students solve problems, think creatively and make sense of a rapidly changing world. California is among a short list of states that…

Teaching math with computer programming can help narrow achievement gap

By Harry Cheng

| April 26, 2016

Commentary

President Obama earlier this year announced a new initiative, “Computer Science for All,” to empower a generation of American students with the computing skills they need to thrive in a digital economy. I believe we can take this a step further by employing computer science to help students do better at math – particularly algebra, which is often referred to as a “gatekeeper” that…

Transformation goal is to narrow achievement gap, promote college and career success

By Michael Kirst

| April 24, 2016

Commentary

California’s public education system is in the midst of systemwide transformation designed to narrow the achievement gap and elevate low-achieving students to be ready for college and career success. At the core of the change are higher academic standards for all students, regardless of their achievement level, socioeconomic status, ethnicity or family background. These higher standards, coupled with our new school funding and accountability systems,…

Dear Gov. Brown: closing the achievement gap must be our goal for all students

By EdSource Commentaries

| April 20, 2016

Commentary

This is an open letter to Gov. Jerry Brown. Dear Governor Brown: Last week I received a message from Rocio Gonzalez, a parent of two boys attending Jordan High School in Watts. Growing up in an L.A. neighborhood known more for gang violence than for college graduates, Rocio understood that a quality education provided the best shot for her two sons to succeed. So as…

Making better use of graduation rates to assess school success

By José Banda

| April 13, 2016

Commentary

The CORE Districts began in 2010 as a collaboration across school districts exploring ways to improve teaching and learning. In 2013, several school districts in the CORE consortium received a federal waiver from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind law and are working together to develop a new School Quality Improvement Index to provide more and better information about schools and the…

Investing in California: A smart choice

By Don Shalvey

| April 7, 2016

Commentary

A few years ago, conventional wisdom held that California wasn’t a good place to invest philanthropic dollars in education. The state was seen as dysfunctional, it couldn’t win federal grant money, its budget was shattered, California was cutting school funds and districts were laying off teachers. I don’t think the “wisdom” was right then, and I’m sure it isn’t now. Now, I believe, is…

Toward a collaborative agenda for education reform

By Dixon Slingerland and Antonia Hernandez

| April 6, 2016

Commentary

Bickering and politics in education have sidetracked what should be our top priority: students. School choice is here to stay, so we must all play a role and seek out collaborative models in creating a better education system for our children and the region. The Los Angeles Unified School District’s reform efforts have created many options in the school system: magnet schools, pilot schools,…

Speaking with one voice for California’s youngest children

By Moira Kenney

| April 4, 2016

Commentary

As state budget conversations heat up at the Capitol, early childhood advocates are more united than ever before. We are speaking with one voice to make quality preschool programs and increased funding for underpaid early care providers a shared priority for our elected officials. On early learning, the path forward is clear: invest in quality early learning for all California’s young children and societal…

Odds are low state Supreme Court will intervene in education equity cases

By Peter Schrag

| March 21, 2016

Commentary

There’s little doubt that in California, as in the rest of the country, poor and minority students tend to get the short end of the educational stick: in the quality of their teachers, in the condition of the schools they have to attend, in books and other materials, and in access to librarians, counselors and other support personnel. Nor is there much question that…

California must continue push for school discipline reform

By Michael Meehan

| March 16, 2016

Commentary

Getting “smart on crime” means we cannot focus solely on arrests and continue to look for upstream solutions. After 29 years in law enforcement, I’m concerned with the cycles of violence and poverty that threaten the future of our children. We can do a better job preventing crimes before they occur and keeping kids in school and off the street is a good place…

With state support, what higher education can do to address teacher shortages

By Marquita Grenot-Scheyer

| March 14, 2016

Commentary

This is the third in a series of commentaries on the emerging teacher shortage in California. Over the last decade, the California State University system prepared more of California’s teachers than all other institutions combined – and nearly 8 percent of the nation’s teachers. During this same period, the CSU system nearly doubled (to 1,500 per year) the number of math and science teachers it…

What California school districts can do to address teacher shortages

By Roberta Furger and David Robertson

| March 3, 2016

Commentary

This is the second part of a series on strategies for tackling teacher shortages in California. School districts and county offices of education are estimating they’ll need to hire just over 22,000 new teachers for the 2016-17 school year. These latest projections, part of a multi-year rebuilding of the state’s teaching force, are a good sign. They mean budgets are growing and programs are…

What California can do to address teacher shortages

By Linda Darling-Hammond and Patrick Shields

| February 23, 2016

Commentary

The following is the first in a series of commentaries on the emerging teacher shortage in California. This one focuses on what the state of California can do to address the shortage. As California has embarked on an ambitious journey to raise standards for student learning and rethink nearly every aspect of its educational system, one of the state’s most pressing challenges is…

State should report graduation outcomes of all its students

By Paul Warren

| February 18, 2016

Commentary

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which was recently signed into law by President Obama, aims to offer states more flexibility in designing K-12 accountability programs than they had under No Child Left Behind. But one of the law’s lesser-known provisions – a requirement that states identify and assist high schools with graduation rates below 67 percent – might force California to revise the…

Bold action needed on early childhood education

By Andrea Ball

| February 9, 2016

Commentary

This is a year of unexpected opportunity to strengthen early childhood programs and policy in California. The new federal education law, Governor Jerry Brown’s surprising early education budget proposal and the continued commitment of the Legislature to early childhood programs together offer a unique chance for state policymakers and local educators to deepen support for early learning programs and address achievement gaps. The Every…

Our children are not commodities

By Scott Schmerelson, Steve Zimmer and George McKenna

| February 1, 2016

Commentary

In their first meeting of the new year, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education set a strong new direction for the district by adopting the “Excellent Public Education for Every Student” resolution. The board’s unanimous approval of this action made it clear that the district would no longer be doing business as usual and would stand together to counter efforts to…

Holding ourselves accountable for chronic absenteeism

By Sonia Llamas

| January 26, 2016

Commentary

The CORE Districts began in 2010 as a collaboration across school districts exploring ways to improve teaching and learning. In 2013, several school districts in the CORE consortium received a federal waiver from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind law and are working together to develop a new School Quality Improvement Index to provide more and better information about schools and the…

UC admissions logjam is hurting our students and our state

By Stephen Williams

| January 21, 2016

Commentary

Twenty years ago Eagle Rock High School, located in Northeast Los Angeles and serving predominantly low-income Latino and Filipino students, could boast that it consistently had more than 20 students accepted every year to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the country’s premiere universities and a gem for the state. Today, only five to seven lucky students from Eagle Rock will find…

Schools are an unspoken target of anti-union lawsuit

By Peter Schrag

| January 20, 2016

Commentary

Given the drift of the justices’ questions during oral arguments in the Supreme Court last week (Jan. 11), it’s highly likely the Court will overturn its own 40-year-old precedent and outlaw the fees that all public employees – even non-union members – must pay to the public-sector unions that are legally required to represent them. That would be a three-fer for the conservative groups…

California schools need a new accountability system, not no accountability

By Seth Litt

| January 18, 2016

Commentary

Last fall I went with a group of parent leaders to a State Board of Education meeting in Sacramento, where much of the discussion centered on plans to do away with the current system for ranking California schools, the API score. The parents and I were troubled by what we heard. The California Department of Education appears eager to move as far as possible…

High school test scores show no dip in preparedness for college level math

By Matthew Rosin

| January 15, 2016

Commentary

Here’s some news from California’s first year of Smarter Balanced testing: The 2015 results show that high school juniors did about as well in demonstrating their readiness for college-level mathematics as they did during other recent years. But you might not know it from the Early Assessment Program (EAP) data published by the state, which seem to show far higher percentages of students being…

New law offers opportunity to revise California’s blueprint for school accountability

By Carrie Hahnel

| January 11, 2016

Commentary

With some sputters and starts, California’s education leaders have been making progress on a redesign of the state’s school accountability system. Now, just as a blueprint for this remodel has started to emerge, the federal government has thrown California a curveball in the form of a new federal education law. Not that this should come as a total surprise: after all, Congress had been…

New education law puts more pressure on states to serve English learners

By Delia Pompa

| January 5, 2016

Commentary

The Every Student Succeeds Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law last month, includes important policies that recognize the needs and diversity of English learners in an effort to close the ongoing achievement gap between them and other students. The bill, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also crucially maintains accountability for improving academic achievement of English learners – a hallmark of the…

Closing the achievement gap: Will California’s reforms make a difference?

By Louis Freedberg

| December 22, 2015

EdSource conducted a series of interviews with leading educators and scholars about the persistence of these achievement gaps and the prospects for the current set of reforms in California to help close them.

Getting it right: Four key areas in effective Common Core implementation

By Michael Moody

| December 13, 2015

Commentary

When the Common Core State Standards were launched in 2010, former Los Angeles Unified superintendent Roy Romer announced his high expectations for the initiative: “The common standards will provide an accessible roadmap for schools, teachers, parents and students, with clear and realistic goals.” Now, more than five years later, the Common Core is still making headlines, but feelings are mixed as to whether or not…

Alternative pathways essential to attract more teachers to the profession

By Shia Smith

| December 3, 2015

Commentary

For a long time I did not know exactly what job I wanted, but I knew I had a passion for helping the voiceless. I worked as a faculty research assistant for the Oregon Water Resources Research Center, led professional workshops for Dell Computer Corporation, became a mentor for young people through the the Austin Writers’ League’s writing and poetry workshops and was a part‐time…

Career and technical education must be integrated with academic coursework

By Gary Hoachlander and Christopher J. Steinhauser

| November 24, 2015

Commentary

Young people growing up in California will face stiff competition for jobs when they enter the workforce. Lasting success in the rapidly changing world of work requires ever increasing levels of proficiency with technical knowledge and skills. And the future prosperity of our state depends on a highly skilled workforce able to compete with the rest of the world. Fortunately, career and technical education…

In exchange for local flexibility, accountability plans will require work

By John Affeldt

| November 23, 2015

Commentary

I have a thought for school district staff, board members and others characterizing the process for developing Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) as too time-consuming, tedious and cumbersome. Quit your belly-aching! Districts and other local educational agencies have just been relieved of a slew of bureaucratic compliance mandates tied to dozens of old state categorical programs. Those mandates required hours of accounting, tracking, reporting…

LA charter debate offers opportunity to devise ways to ensure all schools succeed

By Pedro Noguera

| November 15, 2015

Commentary

The “proposal could radically alter the face of public education in Los Angeles.”

Some college students more prepared than placement tests indicate

By Katie Hern

| November 12, 2015

Commentary

Not long ago I was at a meeting of community college and high school faculty, talking about college readiness in our region. “Tell us what we need to do,” said one high school teacher, frustrated that so many of her students were ending up in remedial courses when they enrolled in a community college. “We really want them to be prepared for you guys.”…

Math placement tests deserve more scrutiny

By Pamela Burdman

| November 5, 2015

Commentary

Mathematics plays a central role in winnowing opportunities for students to enter and succeed in college. In California, students can graduate from high school with just two years of math, including a single college-preparatory course, Algebra 1. But if they don’t also complete Geometry and Algebra 2 (or, with the introduction of the Common Core state standards, an integrated pattern of courses covering the…

Incorporating social-emotional learning into school accountability

By Noah Bookman

| October 18, 2015

Commentary

The CORE Districts began in 2010 as a collaboration across school districts exploring ways to improve teaching and learning. In 2013, several school districts in the CORE consortium received a federal waiver from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind law and are working together to develop a new School Quality Improvement Index to provide more and better information about schools and the…

Home visits are key to kids’ success

By Jonathan Raymond

| October 14, 2015

Commentary

This has been back-to-school night season, and in auditoriums across California, too often the seats that are left empty are for the parents and guardians of children whom the school rarely sees. This phenomenon should set off alarms at a time when the Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control Accountability Plans put parents, families and communities at the center; but is it? When…

Free preschool should be for all – not just a quarter – of our kids

By Seth Rosenblatt

| October 13, 2015

Commentary

Imagine if the state of California passed a law that stated that children born with blond hair get 14 years of free, taxpayer-funded, public education, while children with other hair colors only get 13 years. We know what would happen next – the public response would be swift, with protests throughout the state. The public wouldn’t stand for such arbitrary discrimination against a group…

New times demand new ways to support students and schools

By Tom Torlakson

| October 11, 2015

Commentary

Updated: October 14, 2015. California’s education system is transforming in positive ways. Replacing the high school exit exam with more modern and meaningful measures is a critical part of that work. Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill 172 into law, suspending the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as a requirement for high school graduation for the next three years. It also requires school…

Advocates will work for “clear and continual progress” toward universal preschool

By Moira Kenney

| October 9, 2015

Commentary

In vetoing Assembly Bill 47, titled The Preschool For All Act of 2015, Governor Brown states that there isn’t a need to set a deadline for meeting the needs of California’s youngest learners. Tens of thousands of families in every corner of the state would disagree. His decision, to keep the goal of providing universal preschool to every child who needs it elusive, is out…

Beginning teachers need support – without having to pay for it

By Ellen Moir

| October 6, 2015

Commentary

A bill sits on Governor Brown’s desk that not only has the potential to support the development of a world-class teaching force for California’s students, but to right a wrong currently imposed by the state on many new teachers. The bill, Assembly Bill 141, is focused on making sure beginning teachers – who face a steep learning curve and low salaries in their first…

How best to measure success with English learners

By Richard Carranza

| September 20, 2015

Commentary

The CORE Districts began in 2010 as a collaboration across school districts exploring ways to improve teaching and learning. In 2013, several school districts in the CORE consortium received a federal waiver from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind law and are working together to develop a new School Quality Improvement Index to provide more and better information about schools and the…

How to assess whether middle schoolers are ready for high school

By Antwan Wilson

| September 15, 2015

Commentary

The CORE Districts began in 2010 as a collaboration across school districts exploring ways to improve teaching and learning. In 2013, several school districts in the CORE consortium received a federal waiver from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind law and are working together to develop a new School Quality Improvement Index to provide more and better information about schools and the learning needs of students. …

How the CORE districts are designing new measures of school quality

By Michael Hanson

| September 1, 2015

Commentary

The CORE Districts began in 2010 as a collaboration across school districts exploring ways to improve teaching and learning. In 2013, several school districts in the CORE consortium received a federal waiver from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind law and are working together to develop a new School Quality Improvement Index to provide more and better information about schools and the…

Current high school exit exam was always supposed to be temporary

By Jack O'Connell

| August 26, 2015

Commentary

Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 725 by Senator Loni Hancock, D-Oakland, on Wednesday, a bill that was moved quickly through the Legislature to allow students in the Class of 2015 to receive high school diplomas without passing the California High School Exit Exam, or CAHSEE. I completely support this action – the exit exam was not administered in July and a number of…

Lessons learned: Making the Local Control Funding Formula work

By Michael Kirst

| August 4, 2015

Commentary

The transition to a new funding and accountability system for California’s schools has required a more responsive, collaborative and nimble California State Board of Education than at any other time in recent history. The first full year of Local Control Funding Formula implementation is complete, and local educational agencies have produced their first annual updates and second round of accountability plans using a new…

News must highlight links between community violence and education

By Lori Dorfman and Rachel Davis

| July 21, 2015

Commentary

School’s out for the summer. But that apparent distinction – school versus no school – is not so distinct. All year long, what happens in neighborhoods affects schools, which in turns affects what happens in neighborhoods – and beyond. Consider one example: violence. Students can’t learn in unsafe schools or when they are traumatized from exposure to violence outside the classroom. Research is clear that violence…

We can’t give up on struggling students

By Lisa Higuera

| July 17, 2015

Commentary

USC Social Work and Public Policy graduate student Lisa Higuera connects stories from her childhood to today’s push for school discipline reform.

How to build a bridge from pre-kindergarten to third grade

By Richard Carranza

| July 9, 2015

Commentary

The month of June marked transitions for many of our students, but few more so than the very youngest. This month, thousands of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds completed their first years of formal education in San Francisco Unified. Research suggests they will be significantly better prepared to succeed in school because of their high-quality preschool experience. What these children don’t know – and it should be…

State budget offers ‘epic opportunity’ for California community colleges

By Richard Duran and Brad Phillips

| July 2, 2015

Commentary

The budget deal agreed to by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature last month has record increases for education, particularly community colleges. Some call it a windfall. Others call it catch up from deep budget slashing during the recession. We call it an epic opportunity. The infusion of money combined with untenable economic and racial inequity provides an extraordinary opportunity to slay some sacred…

School districts have opportunity to build their dream house

By Karen Baroody and Melissa Galvez

| July 1, 2015

Commentary

Earlier this year Superintendent Devin Vodicka of Vista Unified School District in Southern California gathered his leadership team to revise their Local Control Accountability Plan. To inspire the team, he used the metaphor of a house. He compared his district’s budget right after the 2008 recession to a storm-battered cabin. It had been ravaged, but it also gave the district an opportunity to rebuild better – to…

Time to break up the Los Angeles school system

By Carl Cohn

| June 3, 2015

Commentary

Now that the recent school board elections are over in the Los Angeles Unified School District, there will be the usual calls for a new beginning and getting down to the serious business of charting a bright future for the 600,000 or so deserving students that the board is privileged to serve. Such a view ignores the fact that LAUSD’s governance structure is fundamentally broken…

What’s not on California’s education agenda – and should be

By EdSource Commentaries

| June 2, 2015

Commentary

We asked nonprofit education leaders what reforms they think should be added to California’s agenda.

Going beyond testing to prepare students for college and careers

By Michael Matsuda

| May 18, 2015

Commentary

Respected educational leaders like Michael Fullan, Linda Darling-Hammond and David Conley have repeatedly warned us that we should not make one big test the main driver of education reform. Sadly, it seems that with the new Smarter Balanced Assessments that students throughout the state are taking now, many school districts are doing just that. Across California, there is a danger that too many districts are…

California can no longer ignore teacher shortage

By Eric Scroggins

| May 12, 2015

Commentary

As California lawmakers in Sacramento move to tackle major issues affecting public education, the “impending teacher shortage” has become a new buzz issue. But it is still largely framed as something “yet to come” – a problem brewing in the future. The urgent truth is that the shortage is already having an impact on California’s classrooms and some of its most vulnerable students, and…

Building new pathways to math success

By Pamela Burdman

| May 6, 2015

Commentary

Teachers and students across the state are adjusting to the Common Core standards, which promise to help more young people become ready for college. In the words of State Board of Education President Michael Kirst, the standards represent “a unique opportunity to strengthen alignment across the divide between K-12 and post-secondary education in California.” Kirst and other advocates of the new standards were motivated…

LA Unified must recommit to goal of college for all

By John Rogers

| May 4, 2015

Commentary

Ten years ago this spring, hundreds of high school students from across East and South Los Angeles joined together to address the poor quality of education in their neighborhood schools. Chief among their complaints was that their schools institutionalized low expectations by offering few college preparatory courses. With the support of community based organizations like InnerCity Struggle and the Community Coalition, the students collected…

Schools must embrace the power of parents

By Ryan J. Smith

| April 15, 2015

Commentary

School officials must “genuinely encourage” parent participation.

How to fix No Child Left Behind

By Diane Ravitch

| March 12, 2015

Commentary

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s commentary for EdSource last month, called “How Not to Fix No Child Left Behind,” consisted for the most part of mushy platitudes that must be measured against the realities of his actions over the past six years. During that time, Duncan has aggregated an unprecedented power to tell states and districts how to operate. The administration’s Race to the…

Restorative practices quickly cut suspensions in middle school

By Paul Meyers

| March 10, 2015

Commentary

Standard School District Superintendent Paul Meyers writes how adopting a restorative justice approach reduced suspensions in a problematic middle school by more than 50%.

New standards and tests are worth the effort

By Gina Dalma

| March 1, 2015

Commentary

Lower initial scores on the new tests should not be an indictment.

Expulsions and suspensions decline as schools shift strategies

By Carl Cohn

| February 17, 2015

Commentary

New educators network focuses on effective school discipline.

The case for California’s new integrated model for middle school science

By Trish Williams

| February 16, 2015

Commentary

California is taking steps to bring science back as a core subject in school curricula.

How not to fix No Child Left Behind

By Arne Duncan

| February 5, 2015

Commentary

Efforts to expand preschool and other educational opportunities could be at risk amid a debate over renewing America’s most important education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Adult schools need dedicated funding

By Kristen Pursley and Karen Arthur

| December 4, 2014

In his 2013 budget, Gov. Jerry Brown included a provision to safeguard existing adult schools from further cuts and closures. The “maintenance of effort” clause mandated that school districts maintain their current level of funding for adult education for two years, during the formation of regional consortia, as outlined by Assembly Bill 86. The maintenance of effort expires at the end of the current school year….

What’s wrong with the Vergara ruling

By Carl Cohn

| October 5, 2014

Nearly two decades ago, when I was superintendent in the Long Beach Unified School District, the superintendent in nearby Palos Verdes asked me if he could send some of his teachers to our workshops to help them improve their skills in teaching kids how to read. I wondered why one of the state’s wealthiest and most successful districts, at least as measured by its…

Charter school movement must focus on excellence

By Jed Wallace

| September 22, 2014

When the California Charter Schools Association released our first “Portrait of the Movement” report in 2011, it revealed a stark picture of uneven performance among the state’s charter schools. While California’s charter sector had evolved to produce a substantial number of schools generating among the highest levels of student learning in the state, the movement was simultaneously allowing an unacceptable number of chronically underperforming…

Keeping parents involved in shared decision making

By Miguel Hernandez

| September 11, 2014

As school staff and families head back to school this fall, districts and communities are ramping up for the second year of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Like many parents around the state, I’m starting the new school year with both excitement about the potential of this historic reform and with hope that we learn from last year’s implementation and take the needed…

New school year raises teachers’ hopes for positive change

By Linda Yaron

| August 28, 2014

As my colleagues, students, and I look forward to a new school year, I can’t help but feel like there’s something different about this one. This year is a game changer. As we transition to new standards, assessments and funding systems in California, this is the year that has the potential to make all the difference in our public schools. But it’s up to…

Burned out teachers, too, deserve day in court

By Dave Orphal / commentary

| August 24, 2014

My friend is being fired from her teaching job. As sad and sympathetic as I am for my friend, I can’t say that I am surprised. I’ve known this teacher for several years, and I’ve seen the burnout coming for the entire time of our friendship. This teacher has been using language like “those kids” and “the kids” for a long time. Listening to…

Higher ed is embracing goals of Common Core

By Jacqueline King / commentary

| August 18, 2014

Most attention to the Common Core State Standards has focused on the continued political backlash against the standards and the status of implementation in schools. As we look ahead to next spring when students will take assessments that indicate whether they are on track to college and career readiness, we are seeing some attention begin to focus on the role of higher education (see New…

Take a breath and prepare for your LCAP’s next stage

By Megan Sweet / commentary

| August 7, 2014

As we pass the first anniversary of the historic adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula, it is tempting for districts to celebrate having turned in their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs), pat themselves on the back for a job well done and breathe a huge sigh of relief. After all, with all of the uncertainty, controversy, hard work and unrealistic deadlines, we sure…

Why public education needs teachers unions

By Gary Ravani

| July 27, 2014

“I consider it important, indeed urgently necessary, for intellectual workers to get together, both to protect their own economic status and also, generally speaking, to secure their influence in the political field.” – Charter member of AFT Local 552 (c. 1938) There have been many assertions made over time about the negative effects of teachers unions on student performance. A number of states have…

1,000 LCAPs later, let’s hope we learn something

By Carrie Hahnel / commentary

| July 9, 2014

As districts completed their first-ever Local Control and Accountability Plans this spring, the caveat “this is a learning year” became their oft-shared refrain. Now that more than 1,000 district LCAPs have been stamped as “approved” by their boards and sent off to county offices for review, what have we learned? At The Education Trust–West, we have been collecting hundreds of LCAPs, with support from…

State should not be forcing districts to spend down their budget reserves

By Vernon Billy and Wes Smith / commentary

| June 12, 2014

The governor and Legislature are preparing to approve budget language that severely limits the amount of funding school districts can maintain in their local reserves for economic uncertainties. Both the Association of California School Administrators and California School Boards Association, representing superintendents, school boards and county boards of education, vehemently oppose this fiscally irresponsible proposal, as it is inconsistent with the principle of subsidiarity…

Reports of Career Technical Ed’s demise are greatly exaggerated

By David Gordon

| June 11, 2014

As a longtime proponent of Career Technical Education, I feel compelled to provide additional context to the June 5 commentary by Nicole Rice and Jeremy Smith entitled “Save Career and Technical Education from Their Death Spiral.” It is unfortunate that the article suggests that Career Technical Education (CTE) in California is on the decline when the state’s commitment to a complete, integrated learning program…

Save career and technical education programs from their death spiral

By Nicole Rice / commentary

| June 5, 2014

Imagine if California schools had reduced student access to science instruction by eliminating 1,500 courses, resulting in 50,000 fewer enrollments in science … all in just a single year. This would have triggered outrage by the media, the public and our elected lawmakers. Well, this is what happened to middle and high school Career Technical Education (CTE) programs and students over the course of…

Districts must give teachers the time, opportunity and guidance to develop Common Core

By Susan Carle / commentary

| June 3, 2014

Fifty years ago, employers sought workers who were proficient in reading, writing and math. Today, they are prioritizing abilities like teamwork, problem solving and communication. The Common Core reflects this shift, which should change not only how students learn, but how we teachers learn (and, of course, teach). Michael Fullan gets it. As the worldwide authority on education system change said at the EdSource…

Why a “fair start” is so important for California’s kids

By Jim Steyer / commentary

| May 27, 2014

Commentary

Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has introduced his revised budget plan, a month-long negotiation over the state’s priorities has begun. Unfortunately, the governor’s spending blueprint is still missing a key investment in preschool-age children, even though California continues to sorely lag in preschool enrollment. According to a recent report by the National Institute for Early Education Research, preschool enrollment in California dropped by almost…

On 60th anniversary of landmark court case, our work is not yet done

By Vernon Billy

| May 15, 2014

Commentary

As the first African-American to serve as the CEO and Executive Director of the California School Boards Association (CSBA), one of the nation’s oldest (at 83 years) and largest school board associations, I find special meaning in the 60th anniversary today of the historic Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. My educational and professional achievements stand, in part, on the foundation…

San Francisco’s new dress code removes causes of needless conflict

By Matt Haney / commentary

| May 14, 2014

With all the challenges that we face in getting students to feel welcomed, comfortable and safe at school, why we would we set up new barriers that push some students away, particularly students of color? In a city known for our eclectic style and love for our sports teams, where residents struggle to stay here, why are we creating blanket bans and punishing students…

Seven challenges to getting the Common Core tests right

By Morgan Polikoff / commentary

| May 1, 2014

Commentary

The rollout of the Common Core standards offers California – and most of the nation – an opportunity to address some of the issues that have plagued education reform in the past. Foremost among these issues is the generally poor quality of state assessments of student achievement and a resulting negative effect on instruction. State tests in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era…

Trouble ahead for local school bonds and parcel taxes?

By Mark Baldassare / commentary

| April 29, 2014

Commentary

The elections this year offer the first statewide look at Californians’ willingness to raise revenue for their local schools since passage of Proposition 30, the tax initiative to benefit education that voters passed in November 2012. While it’s too early to know how many local school districts will test the waters by placing a construction bond or parcel tax on the ballot, there are…

The time is now to pass a teacher dismissal bill to protect California’s students

By Josephine Lucey / commentary

| April 28, 2014

Commentary

One of the more unsettling issues in K-12 education is how we deal with teachers who harm children. Because most teachers are committed, caring professionals, we are all the more shocked and betrayed when we learn of a teacher who poses a threat to students. It’s as if our sense of safety and order has been pulled from under us. Sadly, when these rare…

Higher college attainment will raise wages but not narrow income gap

By Marisol Cuellar / commentary and Hans Johnson

| April 23, 2014

Commentary

In both California and the nation, income inequality is at or near record levels. Because educational attainment is by far the single most important determinant of an individual’s income, a key question, then, is whether improvements in educational outcomes can reduce inequality. Unfortunately, for those who argue for policies that will lead to greater levels of educational attainment, the answer is mostly no. This…

New education funds in Los Angeles Unified must target highest-needs schools

By Maria Brenes / commentary, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and John Kim

| April 22, 2014

More than 300 students, parents and community members from the Eastside of Los Angeles and South Los Angeles demonstrated during the first week of April in front of the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters to demand that Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) dollars be directed to schools based on a comprehensive set of needs that includes academic outcomes and neighborhood conditions. Passed by the…

Districts should make early learning a priority in their local accountability plans

By Ted Lempert and Mark Friedman

| April 13, 2014

Commentary

The achievement gap is a term used so regularly in the education world that its realities can sometimes lose their significance. But according to new research from The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the gap is still very much here in California, resulting in sizable disparities between African American and Latino children and their white and Asian peers. Just a few of the highlights: A…

Bullets fly, but the test must go on

By Maggie Terry / commentary

| April 9, 2014

Commentary

This commentary was written the day last month that 10th graders in Los Angeles were due to take the math portion of the California High School Exit Exam. Five pops that sounded like fireworks. Short and crisp. Totally misplaced at 8:05 a.m. Who lights fireworks on a Wednesday morning? But it wasn’t fireworks and you know that. After half a second, I knew that…

Districts’ stringent criteria can delay reclassifying English learners

By Laura Hill and Margaret Weston

| April 4, 2014

Commentary

English learners have been a subject of policy concern in California since the early 1970s. The needs of these students — who make up about 25 percent of the state’s public school students today — are well documented. On a host of measures, they lag behind their English-speaking peers. However, English learners who have been reclassified as fluent English speakers perform very well, sometimes…

Repay schools their stolen property taxes now, while times are good

By Jennifer Bestor / commentary

| March 20, 2014

Should California schoolchildren be the state’s interest-free lenders of first resort? Most people would say no. Yet they are. Should California, in opposition to the equitable school financing principles outlined in Serrano v. Priest, take the most stable, reliable, local funding – property tax – out of the poorest schools? Most people would say no. But we have. Was Proposition 98 designed to enable…

School districts should begin planning now for new science standards

By Trish Williams / commentary

| March 4, 2014

The Next Generation Science Standards, adopted last September by the State Board of Education, will better engage and educate all students in science, and better prepare them to enter more in-depth science, computing and engineering courses in high school and beyond. I am a passionate champion of California’s new science standards. The board adopted the standards based on recommendations by Superintendent of Public Instruction…

Now is the time to seize the parent engagement moment

By Colleen You

| February 26, 2014

Commentary

Well-informed, engaged parents make a vital difference in the health and education of children. When families, schools and communities work as partners, student achievement is boosted and children are better prepared to lead happy and productive lives. With new academic standards, new tests and new funding and local accountability systems all underway in California, it’s more crucial than ever that parents engage, not only…

Community schools can help break the cycle of poverty

By Ed Center

| February 18, 2014

Commentary

We’ve known for some time that children from low-income families are less likely to succeed in school relative to their higher-income peers. Many solutions to address this achievement gap have been explored, such as greater funding, more accountability for teachers or a longer school day. Yet as of 2012, 70 percent of the students who did not graduate from high school were living in…

CalSTRS shortfall will require a shared responsibility

By Rob Bonta / commentary

| February 14, 2014

The California Teachers Retirement System, or CalSTRS, is facing a significant unfunded liability with respect to its Defined Benefit Program. CalSTRS has a shortfall in funding of approximately $71 billion and will run out of funding for the program by 2046 if no changes occur. If this happens, it hurts hard-working teachers in our state as well as taxpayers and our education system. The…

Transitional kindergarten for all would lessen inequality

By Paul Miller / commentary

| February 13, 2014

In January, California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg introduced the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014 (SB 837), legislation that would improve and expand high-quality transitional kindergarten (TK) for all 4-year-olds, regardless of income. As the executive director of Kidango, one of the largest early childhood education providers in California, I have seen first-hand the positive impact of early learning on a child’s future,…

With affordable housing, summer and after-school learning can start at home

By Mark DeSaulnier / commentary

| February 5, 2014

Given that housing prices and rents in California far exceed what is affordable to the average working family, a disproportionate number of California families experience housing instability. Housing instability hits children particularly hard, and can significantly affect their ability to engage at school or even their ability to attend school regularly. We know that when children have a stable living environment they have reduced…

What parents know: The arts matter

By Joe Landon / commentary and EdSource Commentaries

| February 3, 2014

The new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) recognizes the critical role parents play in the education of their children – and embeds it into law by requiring parents’ input into local school district budgets and accountability plans. We are excited about the opportunities for parents, educators and school board members to talk more frequently with each other, listen to each other, and work more…

You’ve got to have faith to be a great teacher

By Ellie Herman

| January 30, 2014

Commentary

For the last four months, as part of a yearlong search to understand what great teaching looks like by visiting 11th grade English classrooms across Los Angeles, I’ve had a chance to observe great teachers in schools across the socioeconomic spectrum, from a very low-income community in Watts to an elite private school in Sherman Oaks. Despite radical differences in approach, personality and philosophy,…

Coherent and sequenced curriculum key to implementing Common Core standards

By Bill Honig

| January 29, 2014

Commentary

The Common Core State Standards state what students should master, but they are not a curriculum. Jumping from the standards to create lesson plans misses a crucial middle step of developing a coherent curriculum. The absence of this more complex work of creating a local curricular framework for the district, which informs the sequence and breadth of instruction (usually referred to as “scope and…

Declaring war on teachers’ rights won’t improve children’s access to a sound education

By Gary Ravani

| January 22, 2014

Commentary

Last year a group calling itself Students Matter filed a lawsuit, Vergara v. the State of California. The lawsuit challenges a number of labor protections for California’s teachers, including due process rights for dismissals and seniority rights during layoffs. The suit, which goes to trial next week in state Superior Court, and its backers’ publicity strategy fit firmly within the unfortunate recent tradition of wealthy…

Early education narrows the gap between the haves and have-nots

By Micah Ali / commentary

| January 21, 2014

Compton, Watts and other South Los Angeles communities are filled with families struggling with the growing income disparity that grips the country. During the last 30 years the so-called “one percenters” of American income earners have had their incomes rocket upward. For the middle class and those at the bottom, statistics show tiny gains and even backsliding. Since 1988 and through 2012, the median…

It’s time to invest in summer learning

By John Deasy

| January 16, 2014

As our fellow school superintendents across the state consider their budget priorities, we urge them to consider investing in summer learning programs, a cost-effective, yet highly impactful strategy to help achieve their school district’s most pressing priorities. In our own districts, we’ve seen firsthand that summer learning programs are key to advancing some of our top priorities, including Common Core implementation, supporting students’ social-emotional growth and…

A welcome recognition of the importance of engaging parents

By Oscar Cruz, EdSource Commentaries, and John C. Osborn

| January 10, 2014

Commentary

As education advocates we know the powerful connection between student achievement and parent engagement. Take any student; no matter what grade they’re in, which school they attend, their ethnic or racial background, their age, what part of the state they live in – take your pick of factors, but when you get their parents involved, that student will always do better in school. The…

Sacramento’s schizophrenic love affair with Career Technical Education

By Fred Jones / commentary

| January 8, 2014

Californians have never seen more systemic reforms of how schools are financed, assessed and held accountable than in the three years since Governor Brown took office. The State Board of Education, the State Department of Education and the Community College Chancellor’s Office officials are scrambling to implement these sweeping statutory and budgetary changes, with anxious districts and stakeholder groups gearing up to meet the…

No more excuses: As California rebounds, invest in kids

By Ted Lempert

| January 6, 2014

Commentary

Even as California heads into 2014 with lots of good news – a rebounding economy, a stable state budget and a functional state government – state spending on children’s health and education continues to lag far behind the rest of the nation. Not only does this misprioritization contradict public will, it also represents one of the biggest threats to public health and the economy…

Don’t (further) integrate middle school science standards

By Paul Bruno

| December 20, 2013

Commentary

As California proceeds with implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a major point of contention is likely to be how to sequence science content in the middle-school grades. Currently in California, the various middle school science topics are grouped together within grade levels roughly by discipline: earth science in 6th grade, life science in 7th grade, and physical science in 8th grade….

Think locally to ensure children get a fair share of funding

By Margaret Brodkin / commentary

| December 12, 2013

Californians who care about the future of our state have both a once-a-generation opportunity and an urgent challenge: to marshal the resources needed to ensure the well-being of our children. California has more children living in poverty than any place in the country, and continues to have lower education funding than all but a handful of states – despite the passage of Proposition 30…

Support, food key to school success

By Stephen Fong / commentary

| December 11, 2013

Through most of elementary school I believed myself to be truly stupid. Unaware then that I have dyslexia, all I knew, and all my parents could see, was that I hated anything and everything to do with reading or writing. But instead of trying to force better grades out of me, whether by hiring a tutor or by piling on extra homework, they took…

The kid in my class I didn’t kill

By Ellie Herman

| November 24, 2013

Commentary

I once ran over a student in the parking lot. Gio was standing in front of my car, waving, grinning and doing a little hopping dance in apparent joy at seeing me, which made no sense because only an hour earlier he had brought my entire class to a standstill by taking a half-eaten pear and mashing it into the floor with his shoe….

Next steps for implementing (and mitigating) California’s new science standards

By Paul Bruno

| November 20, 2013

Commentary

I have been highly critical of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for their vagueness and lack of rigorous scientific content. Now that those standards have been adopted by the State of California, what can be done to mitigate those weaknesses during implementation at the national, state and local levels? Nationwide: Clarify the standards by pushing for assessments that require specific scientific knowledge Compared…

Everyone benefits when charter schools and districts partner on special education

By Gina Plate / commentary

| November 17, 2013

The charter school movement began as a way to create a new kind of public school – one with more flexibility and autonomy over instruction and operations in exchange for higher levels of accountability. However, as the movement evolved, flexibility and autonomy did not follow in the area of special education. Instead, charter schools’ special education services have, in many cases, mirrored the services…

Education reform through the courts and why it’s necessary

By Marcellus Antonio McRae / commentary

| November 15, 2013

In California – and in many other states – the Legislature has proven devastatingly ineffective at ensuring equal educational opportunity in our public schools and protecting the fundamental rights of students. Fortunately, our government has another branch – the judiciary – whose express purpose is to protect constitutional rights, to step in when popular will or an ineffective legislature tramples the rights of the voiceless and the…

Better together: A case to combine implementing Common Core and new funding formula

By Megan Sweet / commentary

| November 12, 2013

For as long as anyone can remember, California has had a strong reputation for designing and testing bold reforms. From the standards movement to accountability to charter schools, California has initiated policies aimed at improving educational outcomes for all children. But recently, faced with crippling budget cuts, we’ve struggled to maintain our current practices, let alone take on exciting new ideas. Today, with the…

California deserves praise not punishment for common sense school reforms

By Carl Cohn / commentary

| November 8, 2013

Whenever I finish teaching a doctoral level course at my university, I always remind my students that, no matter what they’ve learned in my class, they should never abandon their common sense when it comes to running schools. Both the U.S. Department of Education and a number of California interest groups, presenting themselves as the sole protectors of students of color, could benefit from…

School funding reform must not fall short of its promise

By Elizabeth Romero / commentary

| November 4, 2013

As a parent in San Bernardino, I celebrated the passage of Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and the commitment I believed our state was making to support low-income students, English learners, and foster youth with the additional programs, services, and resources they need to be successful. I also celebrated the focus on local decision making and the opportunity for parents like me to be…

In adopting regs, State Board should keep an eye on the prize: student achievement

By Jim Wunderman / commentary

| November 3, 2013

Many of us in the business community supported Governor Jerry Brown’s proposal to overhaul the state’s antiquated and cumbersome school funding system and replace it with the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). We have long advocated for a system with greater transparency, accountability and coherence that would invest in the achievement of all students to generate an educated citizenry and skilled workforce. This is…

Implement funding formula that helps me become successful

By Cindy Andrade / commentary

| November 1, 2013

It might be hard to imagine what it’s like for Oakland students if you’ve never been through our schools. I have friends who have dropped out, or are thinking about dropping out, because Oakland Unified, the district I attend, doesn’t have enough money to provide sufficient resources in order for us to be successful. For years, students like me in Oakland have been asking:…

New funding system requires education leaders to shift their thinking

By Ron Bennett

| October 24, 2013

Commentary

Much attention has been paid to the calculation of revenues and redistribution of funding that occurs as a result of California’s new Local Control Funding Formula. We see the dust settling on that issue and the calculations becoming more routine as they become better understood. But we see a lag in the adoption of new thinking that must accompany implementation of the new formula….

Contest seeks ideas on how schools could use new flexibility

By Patrick Atwater

| October 3, 2013

Commentary

California has embarked on a bold experiment in education. Policy shifts like the new Common Core State Standards and the governor’s Local Control Funding Formula make local school districts dramatically more autonomous. Such changes provide a golden opportunity to transform education’s much derided one-size-fits-all factory model into something, frankly, more human. So how might your local school district take advantage of that flexibility to…

Testing bill would dim the light on state’s most vulnerable students

By Ama Nyamekye / commentary

| September 25, 2013

I was an immigrant when I entered this country and our public school system. Because of my “funny accent,” I was too embarrassed to speak or read aloud in class and my school threatened to hold me back a year for remediation. It was not until my father demanded that I be tested that I was classified as being gifted, the top of my…

Bill would prevent double testing and double frustration for students, teachers

By Randolph Ward / commentary

| September 23, 2013

Of all the bills sitting on the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, perhaps none is more important to the future of education in California than Assembly Bill 484. Sponsored by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and authored by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, AB 484 would end the standardized tests that have been in place since 1999 and move California forward in implementing…

Local Control Funding Formula: Is there a new rulebook?

By Samantha Tran / commentary

| July 30, 2013

Now that the state’s new system of funding schools has been signed into law, educators and community groups are trying to get their bearings. At an event recently a colleague from a county office of education said that she was being inundated by calls from the field “wanting to know what the new rulebook is” for transitioning to the new system and ensuring successful implementation….

California should embrace new national teacher preparation standards

By Benjamin Riley

| July 15, 2013

Commentary

Are we finally about to get serious about improving the professional training of school teachers and principals in this country? And will California be a leader or laggard in this effort? Earlier this week, a special blue-ribbon commission convened by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) – the new national accreditation organization – issued its final report with recommendations for dramatically different standards for accrediting teacher-preparation programs. These new…

Schools, districts need freedom to realize new funding system’s potential

By Kay McElrath / commentary

| July 11, 2013

As we all scramble to comprehend the nuances of last month’s budget compromise, there’s no shortage of commentary as to the wisdom or lack thereof of the Local Control Funding Formula as written. Generally I find my colleagues falling into four camps – those who claim the sky could fall if there aren’t strict limits on how local educational agencies can spend the money;…

Districts must plan carefully to make most of state, federal money for technology

By Evan Marwell / commentary

| July 1, 2013

The state budget that Gov. Jerry Brown signed last week includes $1.25 billion to accelerate the adoption of the Common Core in California. Two weeks ago, President Obama announced the ConnectED Initiative to connect 99 percent of America’s K-12 students to 1 gigabit of bandwidth in the next five years. Together, these bold programs have created a moment of opportunity for California’s K-12 schools…

Innovation teams can build bridges to schools of future

By Patrick Atwater

| June 28, 2013

Commentary

I recently took part in an experimental NextGen startup weekend aimed at designing a new model of schools. The participants worked in teams to come up with structural innovations to move schools beyond our current factory-like structure. A few of us, though, chewed on a nagging question throughout the weekend: All this talk of innovation sounded great, but what about schools that aren’t charters…

After historic win, much collective work lies ahead

By Ted Lempert

| June 14, 2013

Commentary

California is about to embark on the most comprehensive reform to its school finance system in 40 years, putting local communities in the driver’s seat and making a historic investment of more than $10 billion in high-needs students. The compromise Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to be voted on by the state Legislature by the June 15 deadline also fairly addresses the earlier “winners-losers”…

LCFF lemmings poised to leap?

By Eric Premack / commentary

| June 14, 2013

The current Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) legislation pending before the Legislature utterly fails to reach any of the key reform goals that Gov. Jerry Brown and his advisers articulated. The bill presents the Legislature and governor with a stark choice. The key goals of LCFF, as articulated by the governor’s astute adviser Mike Kirst and his colleagues in a seminal paper, were as…

Cost, convenience not valid reasons to lower schools’ nursing standards

By Karen Daley / commentary and Linda Davis-Alldritt

| June 6, 2013

The California Supreme Court is considering a precedent-setting case to protect the right of schoolchildren with diabetes to receive care from licensed professionals. The court will determine whether other school employees, rather than licensed nurses, should administer insulin in schools to students with diabetes. This case is critical to ensuring that children with diabetes and other conditions that require health care services to participate…

It’s time to fix school discipline practices and policies

By Sarah Omojola

| May 20, 2013

Commentary

All students can learn. That’s a simple but profound starting place for talking about changing school discipline policies. As a former teacher in New Orleans public schools, I am well aware of the difficulty of teaching students who have varying backgrounds, abilities and learning styles in an ever-changing school system, inundated with countless internal and external pressures. However, research has shown that students are…

California needs alternative certification now more than ever

By Corinne Muelrath / commentary

| May 15, 2013

California, now more than ever, is facing an urgent need for qualified and talented professionals to enter our teaching workforce. At a time when one-third of California’s educators are nearing retirement, school districts are going to need the thousands of teachers entering the profession through alternative certification programs, which allow candidates to teach in the classroom while simultaneously earning their teaching credential. This is…

You reach more kids when you use the arts to teach

By Jon Schwartz

| May 12, 2013

Commentary

When I tell people I use the performing arts to teach my second grade students, they often ask, “You’re responsible for teaching kids academics. How do you find the time for that?” Guess what? For the first 13 years of teaching, I too viewed the performing arts as an unaffordable luxury, if not a waste of precious instructional time. My job was to teach academics by…

Staffing a universal preschool program will be no small task

By Marcy Whitebook / commentary

| April 9, 2013

President Obama’s rhetorical plea for universal preschool has yet to be translated into an actionable policy proposal, but we can reasonably assume that any expansion of early learning services for young children will create a demand for more preschool teachers. And not just more teachers but trained ones: Twenty-nine state-funded preschool programs currently require educators with a bachelor’s degree, and many of them demand…

Brown’s funding formula must work for all districts

By Ron Bennett

| April 7, 2013

Commentary

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a marked change in the debate about education funding and the rebuilding of our decimated funding level. Over the past five years, all districts have stood together as revenue limits were cut by roughly 12 percent, our categorical funding was cut by 20 percent, statewide our teaching staffs were cut from 300,000 teachers to only 250,000,…

State still has a role in supporting and holding districts accountable

By Erin Gabel / commentary

| March 31, 2013

With the passage of Proposition 30 and almost nine out of 10 local ballot measures last November, the voters of California gave our schools an almost unprecedented chance to begin rebuilding after years of budget cuts. With his budget proposal, Governor Brown kept the promises we made to voters and made education funding his top priority. But his proposal does more than fund schools…

Hold districts accountable for restoring funding for the arts

By Mark Slavkin / commentary

| March 26, 2013

A well-rounded education that includes the arts is essential to prepare California students for college and careers. A year of fine arts is required for admission to the CSU or UC campuses. Further, the skills students gain in the arts – imagination, creativity and innovation – are essential for success in the California economy, no matter the industry or sector. While the California Education…

New teacher assessment: much promise, many questions

By Benjamin Riley

| March 20, 2013

Commentary

What if I told you that: There is a major national education reform under way, with its origins in California; which may result in the creation of a national “bar exam” to enter the teaching profession; and yet few in the education community seem to be paying attention to this effort or weighing in on whether it’s worth supporting? This is the story of…

Keep Foster Youth Services out of governor’s funding formula

By Maya Cooper / commentary

| March 10, 2013

Governor Jerry Brown’s new funding formula for education threatens to leave more than 40,000 school-age foster children in California without the essential support they need to succeed in school. The governor’s proposed budget eliminates 47 of 62 “categorical” education programs, including California’s Foster Youth Services program. Local Foster Youth Services programs operate primarily through county offices of education to better coordinate with the other…

Keep promise to California’s new teachers and their students

By Liam Goldrick / commentary

| March 3, 2013

California’s recognized national leadership on developing and supporting new teachers is at risk. That’s bad news for beginning teachers—and for the students they teach. Here’s why—and how we can fix it. More than 200,000 new teachers enter the profession annually across the United States—10 percent of them in California alone. As New Teacher Center (NTC) reported in our Review of State Policies on Teacher…

Brown’s school finance reform has the right intent but major flaws

By Bob Blattner / commentary

| February 10, 2013

Fresh on the heels of having saved – at least for now – California’s public education system through passage of his Proposition 30, Governor Jerry Brown is rededicating himself to the task of tearing down and redesigning the twisted maze that currently serves as the K-12 funding system. This is a wonderful goal, but enthusiasm for the general concept may unfortunately be blinding proponents…

Transforming ‘deferred action’ for young immigrants into true opportunities

By Edward Kissam / commentary

| February 5, 2013

President Obama’s announcement of a new immigration program, “deferred action for childhood arrivals” (DACA), last June makes 2013 a year of hope for undocumented immigrant youth and young adults in California. However, a key factor in determining whether their dreams become reality will be their ability to enroll in adult schools and community college programs. Modeled on the DREAM Act, DACA provides undocumented immigrants…

Udacity’s statistics course to offer insights into online learning

By Katie Kormanik

| February 3, 2013

Commentary

You may have heard of a new development in higher education: MOOCs, or massive open online courses, are challenging traditional notions of higher education. Allowing students to work at any time, any place, and any pace, MOOCs are free and are open to anyone. This is why they’re massive, often enrolling tens of thousands of students. This revolutionary medium of higher education may shift…

Time for a statewide database to better serve foster youth

By David Gordon

| January 23, 2013

Commentary

California has been a national leader in passing state legislation to improve educational outcomes for foster youth and in recognizing the importance of sharing education data. Now, with the passage of the federal Uninterrupted Scholars Act and Governor Brown’s focus on the education needs of foster youth, the time is right for California to support the use of a statewide foster youth education database….

$500 million question: What to do with Mark Zuckerberg’s gift?

By Jennifer Thomas / commentary

| January 16, 2013

Commentary

In December, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated $500 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for projects related to health and education. Zuckerberg and the Community Foundation haven’t announced yet what they have in mind, so that got us thinking: why not pass along some ideas? We asked some educators and EdSource Today contributors from Silicon Valley what they would do if they had…

Foster youth to benefit from broader access to school records

By Daniel Heimpel / commentary

| January 13, 2013

(Update: The Uninterrupted Scholars Act was signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 14, 2013) The Uninterrupted Scholars Act, which sits on President Obama’s desk awaiting signature, marks another important step on the longer road to increased educational opportunity for students in foster care. The act will amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to ease child welfare agencies’ access to foster…

Resolving to transform our school finance system

By Ted Lempert

| January 3, 2013

Commentary

Each new year brings the opportunity for a fresh start and renewed purpose. For many of us committed to improving student achievement and promoting excellence in all of California’s schools, our resolve in 2013 is aimed at finally reforming the state’s convoluted education finance system. Governor Jerry Brown wants to get this critical education reform done in 2013, giving us a historic opportunity to…

Why California must lead the way in closing underperforming charter schools

By Jed Wallace / commentary

| January 1, 2013

Many of California’s charter schools are among the best public schools in the state, if not the nation, but some are also among the worst. It is time for the charter community to fix the failings in the sector so that more children have the chance to attend a great school. The second state in the nation to allow charter schools, California has long…

How safe is safe?

By School Services of California, Inc.

| December 22, 2012

Commentary

Much has been, and will be, written about the latest incident of senseless violence on a school campus. But there will never be a rational explanation for what has happened or anything written that can reasonably justify the taking of the lives of our children. Schools across this state and across this country take very seriously the responsibility for developing school safety plans that…

A teacher’s advice to the Legislature in 2013

By David Cohen

| December 20, 2012

Commentary

Looking ahead to the next legislative session, it appears likely we’ll have a replay of some of the education policy debates of 2012. Here are my recommendations for how the Legislature might avoid pitfalls and advance positive changes in education policy next year. First, do no harm. In the name of accountability, some legislators will be tempted to make laws that increase pressure on schools…

A greater role in math education for parents: mathematical reasoning at home

By Katie Kormanik

| December 9, 2012

Commentary

While policymakers, researchers and educators decide how our children learn math, parents don’t seem to be anywhere in the mix. Yet parents can and should play a greater role in their children’s math education. The problem is that most parents simply don’t know how. This situation is complicated by the fact that many parents struggled with math themselves, making it more difficult for them to…

Lindsay Unified students blazing their own paths to higher achievement

By Benjamin Riley

| December 4, 2012

Commentary

Those of us who travel in education reform circles hear a lot of skepticism about whether traditional school districts can truly innovate. Yet, more than five years ago, a small rural school district in the Central Valley that serves predominately English language learners from low-income families reimagined its entire strategic approach to education and learning. And now, Lindsay Unified School District may just win…

Student-centered teacher evaluations focus on learning goals

Data Story

By Joan McRobbie / commentary

| November 2, 2012

By now the consensus is clear: California needs a better, more systematic way of supporting and ensuring teacher effectiveness. Though the teacher evaluation bill, AB 5, collapsed again in August, there is wide agreement on the state’s responsibility to ensure that every student has an effective teacher. Moreover, good teachers welcome accountability and they want and need support. As the 2010 Accomplished California Teachers…

Romney’s right to oppose Common Core (even if wrong on facts)

By Doug Lasken / commentary

| October 24, 2012

Many education activists were high-fiving in September when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney finally attacked President Obama’s signature education initiative, the Common Core State Standards. It was a long time coming, though it hasn’t quite come yet. The Common Core standards are national academic standards that will replace the often shoddy and substandard standards (if that’s not an oxymoron) of the 45 states and…

Success comes from grit – and plenty of helping hands along the way

By Emily Hanford / commentary

| October 21, 2012

“Grit” is getting a lot of attention these days, due in large part to an excellent new book by Paul Tough, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Power of Character. Psychologists define grit as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” Research suggests that when it comes to high achievement, grit may be as essential as intelligence. That’s an exciting finding because while the…

Cartoonist Tom Meyer on pending school funding vote

By Tom Meyer

| October 19, 2012

Commentary

If voters fail to pass Proposition 30 on November 6, $5.4 billion of “trigger cuts” on schools and community colleges are due to go into effect. Below is cartoonist Tom Meyer’s take.

Deschooling California: Postmodern theory meets Props 30 & 38

By Benjamin Riley

| October 18, 2012

Commentary

People who care about California’s children watched in horror this week as the battle between Governor Brown and Molly Munger over their dueling education initiatives descended into a Hobbesian war of all against all (with most of the “all” firmly in the governor’s camp). Brown’s Proposition 30, already barely above 50 percent in the polls, now faces $30 million in “funded opposition” from Munger…

Prop 30 challenge: Voters back money for schools not Sacramento

By David Plank / commentary

| October 15, 2012

California voters understand that their schools are in trouble. Forty-two percent of voters give the state’s schools a grade of D or F, while fewer than 15 percent give them an A or B. Fifty-seven percent of voters believe that California schools have gotten worse in the past few years, and only 7 percent believe that they have gotten better. Voters also recognize that…

Stop, or you’re getting a time out! A parent’s plea to Molly Munger and Jerry Brown

By Crystal Brown / commentary

| October 10, 2012

As a parent, I’ve learned a few effective strategies over the years for those moments when chaos reigns in my house.   Now, however, I would like to apply one of the old “effective parenting techniques” to the political circles of both Molly Munger and Gov. Jerry Brown: “TIME OUT!” Please stop poking holes in each other’s efforts! Have you forgotten for whom you are…

Undiscussed in Chicago: Recruiting the best to teach the poorest

By Benjamin Riley

| September 23, 2012

Commentary

“Our most glaring problem is still recruitment/preparation of good teachers & principals and that’s no closer to being solved.” So tweeted Seth Lavin (@SethLavin), a teacher in Chicago, in reaction to the recent settlement of the high-profile teachers strike in that same city (a strike he supported). Not only do I wholeheartedly agree with Seth, but I believe the entire political-spectacle-slash-debacle we just watched…

Post-AB 5: Focus on substantial areas of agreement on evaluations

By David Cohen

| September 9, 2012

Commentary

Last month’s legislative drama involving Assembly Bill 5 provided a snapshot of the dysfunctional politics of education policy, with distrust and division inflaming what should be worked out in a calm and straightforward manner. All stakeholders would welcome teacher evaluation improvements, but disagreements about the nature of the reform unfortunately dominated discussion, pushing aside areas of likely consensus. If the debate could be grounded…

AB 5 locks in approaches to evaluation that have failed families

By Oscar Cruz

| August 30, 2012

Commentary

Blogs have been written, editorials published, and dozens of action alerts sent to hundreds of individuals related to AB 5, the bill introduced by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes that aims to revamp teacher evaluations. Lost in all this commotion is the voice of families. Although they are the ultimate users of the public school system, their voices are typically lost in a political process that…

Continuing to collectively bargain over teacher evaluation makes sense

By Dean Vogel / commentary

| August 28, 2012

As professionals, educators practice their vocation with seriousness and dedication with the single purpose of helping students. The California Teachers Association believes it is a primary part of our mission to improve the conditions of teaching and learning and to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education. CTA supports pending legislation, AB 5 by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes, that has refocused attention…

Give parents and students a voice in teacher evaluations

By Liz Guillen / commentary

| August 15, 2012

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee will decide the fate of AB 5, a long overdue legislative proposal to reform California’s dysfunctional teacher evaluation system. Unless significant amendments are added to include the voices of students and parents in the development and implementation of this new system, the proposal risks losing the support of the critical constituency it is meant to benefit: students and…

A mind is still a terrible thing to waste

Data Story

By Michele Siquerious / commentary

| July 20, 2012

What if we told you that no matter how hard you tried, you only had a 5 percent chance of succeeding? What if it was your first day of kindergarten and we told you those were your odds of getting a college degree at a California university? We don’t tell our kindergarteners that. In fact, we tell them the opposite. “You can be anything…

Cartoonist Tom Meyer on California’s shrinking school year

By Tom Meyer

| July 11, 2012

Commentary

If voters fail to pass the tax initiative proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown on the November ballot, some school districts may have to shorten the school year to 160 days. Below is cartoonist Tom Meyer’s take.

Move over, Sacramento, and give districts space to innovate

Data Story

By Jennifer Imazeki / commentary

| July 10, 2012

Five years ago, then-Governor Schwarzenegger, then-State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, and the leadership of the Assembly and Senate commissioned a comprehensive summary and analysis of California’s school finance and governance systems. The result was the 23 reports collectively known as the Getting Down to Facts Project (GDTF). A recent PACE report commemorates the fifth anniversary of the project, reviewing what has changed…

If K-12 matters most, why doesn’t state budget reflect this?

By Robert Manwaring / commentary

| July 8, 2012

Polling data (here for example) consistently shows that K-12 education is Californians’ highest state budget priority. Indeed, Gov. Jerry Brown plans to put those beliefs to the test with a $7 billion tax initiative on the November ballot aimed at resolving the state’s chronic budget problems. This initiative will hold education funding hostage, threatening $5.5 billion in K-12 cuts if voters don’t approve the…

John Roberts on health care, Jerry Brown on NCLB: similar logic

By Benjamin Riley

| July 1, 2012

Commentary

Last week the Supreme Court issued its ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, or as I like refer to it, “Federal RomneyCare.” While the majority of coverage and interest in the case centered around the ACA’s “individual mandate,” a somewhat lesser known issue involving Medicaid has interesting implications for federal and state education policy, particularly in California. Before getting to that, a…

AP results indicate impressive gains for state’s top students

By Michael Kirst / commentary

| June 27, 2012

There is some good news in California student achievement trends. High performers, as measured by passage of the Advanced Placement exam, are increasing, and rank very high in interstate comparisons. AP is college level work in high school, and indicates that students attending California’s most selective colleges are better prepared than ever. This positive trend is obscured by national studies, like the National Assessment…

Schools, the May Revision, and the budget deficit explained

By School Services of California, Inc.

| May 14, 2012

Commentary

Governor Jerry Brown yesterday rolled out the May Revision to his 2012-13 State Budget proposal to address the now $15.7 billion deficit. He proposed to close the budget gap through a $4.1 billion increase in cuts to state employee compensation, welfare, health care, higher education, courts, and other government programs, for a total of $8.3 billion in cuts. Gov. Brown attributed the higher level…

Continuation schools close in some rural districts

By Leslie Layton / commentary

| April 23, 2012

As school districts across California struggle with budget cuts, some districts are cutting back on small schools known as continuation schools that have been a mainstay of high school instruction for more than half a century. Continuation schools are intended to help students who are struggling academically to stay in school and graduate, but haven’t succeeded in a regular high school setting. But especially in…

Go for Race to the Top’s next round; all students would be winners

By George Miller / commentary

| November 10, 2011

After 37 years in education policy, I can recognize a golden opportunity for our schools when I see one. California is staring at one right now, and it should take it. Earlier this year U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the third phase in the Race to the Top competition. Race to the Top is a grant program born out of the stimulus…

Digital “badges” proposed as alternative way to assess skills

By Alison Moodie / commentary

| October 25, 2011

The concept of measuring talents and accomplishments in the form of online “badges” is gaining steam. And a California university is poised to play a key role in their development. The badge idea, which U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last month called a “game changing strategy,” gives weight and legitimacy to the notion that learning often takes place outside traditional classroom settings. A digital badge…

Seventh grade is key to balancing California’s math equation

By Mary Perry / commentary

| September 8, 2011

During years of focusing on how many 8th graders take Algebra I, Californians have often overlooked a measure of student performance that is crucial to students’ long-term success in math and science—their mastery of the state’s 7th grade math standards. A new EdSource issue brief, California’s Math Pipeline: The Grade 7 Pivot Point, documents the many ways that students’ understanding of 7th grade math…

Dealing with back-to-school anxiety

By Kate Kelly / commentary

| August 25, 2011

Is your child anxious about starting school? Are you? Here are some tips to get through the annual child-parent rite of fall from Kate Kelly, a therapist who specializes in treating childhood anxiety and runs courses that help girls learn coping skills for anxiety and stress, Kelly, a longtime resident of San Francisco, now lives in Washington D.C. 1) Are you anxious too? It’s…

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