News Update

California School Boards Association to split from national organization

The California School Boards Association, which represents and lobbies on behalf of district and county office of education school board members, will sever ties with its parent organization, the National School Boards Association, which CSBA officials said doesn’t adequately represent CSBA at the federal level.

The CSBA’s board of directors voted March 26 not to renew its annual membership with the National School Boards Association, which will expire June 30, according to a recent statement from CSBA President Susan Heredia. Instead, CSBA will continue ramping up its own lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., the statement said; it has also partnered with the Association of California School Administrators to lobby at the federal level.

Heredia cited multiple reasons for the split, including NSBA’s lack of communication and coordination with CSBA, “dissatisfaction with some of NSBA’s business practices,” CSBA’s inequitable representation in NSBA’s governance structure and the organization’s “lack of support for policy issues of importance to California” — all of which have persisted for around a decade. Heredia said 21 other state school board associations also parted ways with NSBA, putting the national organization’s future in doubt. Nineteen mostly GOP-led states left or planned to leave NSBA earlier this year over political differences with the group.