Report on 34 th Annual PTA ADVOCACY DAY Friday February 7, 2014 David A. Sanan, Legislation Chair, Parkmead Elementary PTA Las Trampas Creek and San Ramon Valley Councils of PTAs San Ramon Community Center EDUCATION IN TRANSITION

Welcome by Robin Klau, PTA Advocacy Day Chair 2014.

Keynote Speaker: Patty Scripter, California State PTA VP of Education. Patti’s Main Points follow…..

Common Core State Standards 21 st Century skills – Communication; Creativity; Critical Thinking; Collaboration. English: English Language Arts (ELA) More non-fiction; evidence-based operations; academic language. Mathematics: more structured; interrelationships with other disciplines; concept comprehension; mechanism (how); reason (why); communication; coherence; cross- grade connectivity; depth as opposed to breadth

TESTING STAR testing sunsets July CAASPP replaces it Smarter Balanced Testing adopted by 30 states. AB484 mandates transition. SB Field Testing starts March 18, 2014 ends June 6.

Local Control Funding Formula LCFF Concentration Grants for at risk pupils Supplemental Grants if >55% are at risk LCFF linked to Local Control Accountability Plan. LCAP mandates that districts must address the 8 priorities – (listed next slide) Also mandates that all schools must be included and allowed to participate. Superintendents must implement by law. This the meaning of local control.

Eight Mandated Priority Areas to be Addressed for LCAP 1.Provide all students with credentialed teachers, instructional materials aligned with CCSS, and safe facilities. 2.Implement California’s academic standards: CCSS, Next Generation Science Standards, English language development, history, social science, visual and performing arts, health education and physical education standards. 3.Involve parents and encourage participation (local control) 4.Improve student achievement and outcomes using multiple measures. 5.Support student engagement, attendance; address chronic absenteeism 6.Improve School Climate and connectedness. Address suspension and expulsion rates. 7. College and career readiness; provide appropriate classes 8.Measure other student outcomes like Physical Education and the Arts.

Problems with LCAP Frequent Comment: “Parents just don’t have time for the work involved!” Answer – “Find the time if you are serious about your school and your child.” “Take ownership!” California State PTA (CAPTA) has great resources are on their website

State Legislator Panel Joan Buchanan Susan Bonilla Assemblymember Assemblymember 16 th District 14 th District Mark De Saulnier State Senator 7 th District

Bonilla The most important change in education has been commitment to teachers, which is one of values, not money. We feel energy, higher morale and excitement at having averted cuts and reached an inflexion point in the downward funding curve. Passage of Proposition 30 has not solved the Education funding crisis – it has only averted cuts and allowed payback of the deferrals. There is still no adequate sustainable funding source for schools in California. That will take revision of the entire system of taxation in CA – something no-one wants to address during re-election times. Public perception, or rather misperception, is that Prop 30 has solved the funding crisis. Until voters are re-educated, the issue is political suicide for any incumbent.

Buchanan Governor Brown has done a good job with LCFF and LCAP. Senator Steinberg: Career-readiness means Linked-Learning. Steinberg went to Switzerland to check out their system of apprenticeship and education- job linkage. His legislation to create the “California Career Pathways Trust” was approved last year. Adult Education: Moved from K12 schools to community colleges. Difficult for parents to physically get to fewer and more remote community colleges, but easier to reach schools because they are nearer. This is a problem needing attention. Regional Occupational Program provides education and training in career technical courses. Amendments of existing Bills AB 1214 and AB200 Adequacy: Revamp the tax system. Consider an oil severance tax; increase vehicle license fees; increase property taxes for corporations – ablate tricks of selling partial properties to keep below the taxation threshold. Translate request for more Dollars into clear statement of what exactly we want to see in our schools. In other words, what valuable services do we want to provide for our kids? Then do the costing. Thus we motivate the voters Don’t ask for money. Explain the value first. Remember that CA has 38 million people! So asking for dollars is dangerous. There is little political will operating right now. We have to create it. The size of the money pie must increase. There can be no adequacy otherwise. Increasing the slice for education at the expense of other services (like roads) just degrades our state. Transitional Kindergarten (KG Readiness Act SB1381). Although she supports the concept, Joan voted against extending it because it excluded eligible kids on basis of birthday cutoff dates. So some kids would get 13 years of schooling, but others only 12! The $700 million required should be spent on more basic education until the bill expands to cover all 4 year-olds. Bonilla interjected: Is this the year for KG bill? Probably not. New funding is needed for Early KG Education.

PTA Response Nancy Vandell: 32 nd District PTA President Delivered a clear exposition of possible sources of adequate funding. The following slide explores this area (I was unable to get a copy of her Powerpoint presentation but will try again.)

What Does Adequacy Actually Mean? March 6 Sacramento Bee Representatives of the Education Coalition told a state Senate budget subcommittee Thursday that despite increases in school spending in the current state budget and promises of more in the next one, California still needs to spend much more money on education..Education How much more would be needed to meet its goal? Steve Henderson of the California School Employees Association, representing the Ed Coalition, told the committee that its aim, implied in Proposition 98, is to raise spending to the per pupil average of the nation’s 10 highest-spending states on education. Steve HendersonProposition 98, No number was mentioned, but Census Bureau data indicate that reaching that goal for six million K-12 students would cost about $36 billion more a year.Census Bureau data The latest data Census Bureau report on school spending is three years old, and pegs California’s per pupil spending from all sources at $9,139 per pupil in 2011 and the national average at $10,560. Individual states ranged from a high of $19,076 in New York to $6,824 in Idaho.Census BureauNew York The average for the 10 highest-spending states was $15,181, $6,042 above California, and raising it to that level would translate into $36.3 billion more a year. Since 2011, California has increased spending substantially - to at least $10,000 per pupil from all funds - but other states have done so as well, so the California’s relative standing probably hasn’t materially changed. The Education Coalition cites Education Week magazine’s rankings, which count only state and local funds and omit federal funds, that peg California’s spending at $8,341 per pupil, $3,523 under the average of $11,864 for all states. Raising California school spending to that level would cost about $20 billion more a year.

FEDERAL LEGISLATOR Congressman Eric Swalwell, 15 th District Credentials. Serves on Committee on Science, Space and Technology which oversees National Institution of Standards and Technology, NASA, National Science foundation, and National Weather Service. Democratic Assistant Whip. School Safety. Discussed efforts to ban assault rifles and military-style weapons at the Federal level like CA has done at the state level. Since Sandy Hook in 2012 there have been about 26 school shootings and many deaths. He also discussed the lack of facilities for the mentally deranged in the USA. Huge cuts since the 80s have effectively left a very large number of mentally ill people without support. Most school shootings are perpetrated by individuals with mental illnesses. We need legislative efforts to limit their access to guns. Supports early childhood education Question on Science – what is the perception of science by our legislators? Swalwell described the cookie-cutter disbelief language of about 40 members of the Science committee that global warming has been precipitated by human activities. They fail to add the massive greenhouse gas contributions by 250 years of industrialization to the “naturally” occurring ones like vulcanism, solar output fluctuations. Most of these people do not understand atmospheric and earth science; they cannot assess global warming. They have been coached.

District Superintendent Panel Discussion Patty Wool: Walnut Creek John Nickerson: Acalanes Rachel Zinn: Lafayette Most discussion and questions orbited around LCFF and LCAP. The most significant change in California public school finance since the 1970s was implemented this school year. The new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) radically changed the State K-12 funding allocation method (Funding Formula), and greatly reduced restrictions on State funds allowing local decision making and priorities to drive district budget development (Local Control). Under the LCFF, most State funding coming to the districts and schools will have limited restrictions. No longer does the State direct money for some of the specific programs that had been historically funded (i.e., textbooks, counseling, deferred maintenance, GATE, safety, adult education). The use of LCFF funds will decided locally, by each school district. Superintendents will be seeking input through a variety of forums over the next two months to assist the governing boards to make the best decisions and reflect the interests of our school stakeholders. The input gathered will help shape each school district's Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), a planning document required by law that will drive efforts for continuous improvement and influence the budget development of each district. (edited from John Nickerson)

10 steps to Implementing LCAP 1.Create a Timeline of Events 2.Educate Learning Community on LCFF and LCAP 3.Establish District-wide Committees 4.Analyze Achievement Data 5.Consult with Groups 6.Establish LCAP Goals ) 7.Align LCAP with Budget 8.Write LCAP 9.Post on Website; Invite Public Input 10.Board Hearing/Adoption From Patti Wool

The End Based on this Powerpoint and other inputs, please frame some questions and issues for discussion at our Legislation “Soiree”, Tuesday March 11, 2014 Thank you for your attention. (This informational Powerpoint is intended to be read without a speaker; hence its wordiness.)