Uniformly praising how school districts have created plans to comply with California’s new school improvement and accountability system, members of the State Board of Education agreed to move ahead with modest changes in regulations while counseling patience before making more.
“Trust the process, be patient and thoughtful, not precipitous,” said board member Patricia Rucker.
After showing up for four rounds of meetings at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing – and sending 866 letters of opposition to Sacramento last month alone – physical education teachers lost the fight to prevent military instructors from being able to earn a new special teaching authorization in physical education.
The shift to local control has given school districts much leeway in adopting the Common Core State Standards, the challenging math and English language arts standards that California and 41 other states have adopted. But that flexibility may also create disparities in implementation that the state should reduce, concludes a new report by researchers from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.
California’s new school funding system is driving districts in diverse regions of the state to shift their resources to achieve one of the key goals laid out in the sweeping financial reform effort – graduating students so they are ready for college or careers.
The State Board of Education this week could revise the process that districts use to create their funding and accountability plans. At a hearing in Sacramento on Thursday, critics will argue that the proposed changes don’t go far enough.
As California focuses on education reforms intended to ensure that students graduate from high school with the skills to succeed in college and careers, some highlight a gap in the pipeline – middle school.
Vergara v. State of California, in which a Superior Court judge struck down California’s teacher tenure, layoff and dismissal laws, may be headed for a lengthy appeals process. A clue to how long may lie in another far-from-resolved education lawsuit.
