This month proved to be a particularly challenging one, as we navigated through the State Board of Education’s (SBE’s) last-minute decision to mandate Algebra I for all eighth graders within three years, and we formally released separate reports on 2006-07 dropout and graduation rates that were for the first time compiled using individual student-level data.
Throughout my career, I have strongly supported high standards and rigor for all of our children. I authored the legislation creating the California High School Exit Examination, voted to make Algebra I a high school graduation requirement, and supported legislation that would have made the a-g sequence the default curriculum for all students.
I will continue to stand for rigor and high expectations for all students. However, demanding that our students reach those expectations without providing the support they need to succeed is a formula for failure. All of the proposals mentioned above were based on solid data and subject to broad public discussion. The state board’s precipitous action, taken at the behest of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, stands in stark contrast—it was based on ideology alone. It will have serious and, in many cases, negative repercussions for our students and schools, and yet it was made without adequate public notice nor input from those who must implement it.
The Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools, in a clear statement by math experts specifically focused on our standards, was extraordinarily compelling to me as I reached my decision to strongly oppose the board’s action:
- It is imperative for students, whether in grade eight, grade nine, or even a later grade, to master prealgebraic skills and concepts before they enroll in a course that meets or exceeds the rigor of the content standards for Algebra I adopted by the State Board of Education.
- In reality, there are students in every community in California, many who are strong, California State University- and University of California-bound students, who are not currently prepared for success in Algebra I at the eighth-grade level. We found absolutely no proof that mandating Algebra I at eighth grade, especially within such a short time frame, ultimately leads to improved student success. I also listened to educators who deal with this issue every day and they overwhelmingly agreed that this policy is not the right decision at this time.
- I also strongly object to the Governor’s assertion that the eighth grade Algebra I mandate would end a “two-tiered system of education” that purportedly leaves poor and minority children behind. As someone who has been constantly and deeply committed to closing the achievement gap, I am highly offended by this argument. To take this argument to its logical conclusion, given our grade eight to twelve (8-12) standards sequence, all students in the ninth grade must be required to take geometry, all students in the tenth grade Algebra II, and all students in the eleventh grade calculus—otherwise we are all consciously accepting a “two-tiered system.”
- Unless the Governor is willing to put billions of dollars of new resources into teacher recruitment and hiring, deep and prolonged professional development, and substantially more and improved supports for struggling students, his Board of Education should reverse its decision. In the coming weeks I will be more fully articulating the substantial effort that would be involved in implementing the new algebra mandate.
- On a different note, this month we released statewide and local educational agency dropout and graduation rates based—for the first time—on Statewide Student Identifiers. I want to thank all of you for your hard work in making this important step happen—finally providing more accurate data about dropouts in California schools. While the numbers are sobering, we now have a much-improved method for identifying what becomes of students when they leave school. More accurate identification of dropouts should help us all focus on students at risk of dropping out and on strategies for keeping them in school.
- Tracking down students who have left school is not a simple task, and I recognize that schools and districts need staff and training to ensure quality in our data system. I continue to urge the Governor and the Legislature to approve funding to support local educational agencies in reporting accurate information based on Statewide Student Identifiers.
With the new school year just ahead of us, California’s school districts are once again in the untenable position of being unable to make firm plans and critical budget decisions. I am urging the Legislature to quickly pass and the Governor to sign a compromise state budget by the Legislative Budget Conference Committee. The plan takes a balanced approach to closing the $15.2 billion budget shortfall while still protecting California’s key priorities. It closes tax loopholes and increases revenues to protect public education and other vital services. With the additional revenues generated by the Conference Committee budget plan, $2.4 billion of the Governor’s proposed $4.3 billion in cuts to our schools would be restored. This plan includes funding to maintain important programs such as Class Size Reduction and provides a partial cost-of-living adjustment that will help attract and retain quality teachers. It will also help offset rising gasoline and transportation costs that are deeply impacting our schools.
Our neediest schools already have paid a price for the lack of action by Republicans in the Senate. By failing to approve Senate Bill 606 by Senate President pro Tempore Don Perata, $47 million in critically needed federal funds sit idle, rather than being used as intended to help improve student achievement in some of our lowest-performing school districts. Worse, without Republican support, $19 million of these funds will be permanently lost as they will soon revert to the federal government.
I urge the Senate and Assembly Republicans and the Governor not to compound this mistake. They must act now to approve a state budget that protects our schools and our students.
Honoring Teachers
Robin Perencevic is a special day class/autism teacher at Lakeview Elementary School in the Little Lake City School District and one of 16 Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year 2007-08. She was also a semi-finalist last year for the California Teachers of the Year Program.
Mrs. Perencevic has been teaching for 32 years as a teacher of the multiply handicapped, the mentally gifted, the severely handicapped, and for the last four years of prekindergarten children who have been diagnosed as autistic.
Mrs. Perencevic is a highly skilled, compassionate teacher, speaker, mentor, advocate, and liaison. She has been dubbed “Queen of Data” by her colleagues at Lakeview Elementary for her massive data collection that assesses individual instructional strategies while documenting each student’s growth.
“My personal style of teaching is organized and colorful,” she wrote in her application for the California Teachers of the Year Program. “Not only is my room environment a friendly and inviting place, but also my lessons are full of visuals, drama, and excitement. I celebrate the uniqueness in each child and do my best to provide what each child needs to make him or her part of the greater community of learners in the classroom, school, and community.”
Her students often start the school year without communication skills as they struggle to make sense of a world that is often overwhelming and frightening. “By the end of the year they are following a routine, responding to transition cues, actively engaged in learning and many are talking,” she said. “They are children first—living and learning with the challenges of autism.”
She says she is rewarded “by the ordinary miracles that happen with my students every day.”
Little Lake City School District Superintendent Phillip Pérez calls Mrs. Perencevic the “real deal.”
“One only needs to walk into her classroom to appreciate the supportive and structured learning environment she establishes for her students. Her instructional approach is a blend that is at once respectful of each child’s uniqueness and demanding of high expectations for learning,” Dr. Pérez wrote in a letter of recommendation.
Mrs. Perencevic earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech communication from California State University, Long Beach in 1975; Elementary Credential and Specialist Credentials in Learning and Severely Handicapped in 1976; a Master of Science in Special Education in 1983, and English Language Development/Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (ELD/SDAIE) Certification in 2000.
Signups for “On the Right Track Symposium” Now Being Taken
Registration for the sixth On the Right Track Symposium is now available on the WestEd Web site. This year the symposium will be held at two locations, September 29 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport and October 6 at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa. The registration deadline for both events is September 19.
At the Symposium, interactive sessions are being planned to provide an opportunity to hear from schools and districts that have been in Program Improvement (PI) and, by meeting their student achievement targets, have exited PI. You will hear their stories of success and their ongoing challenges. You will have ample opportunity to ask questions and discuss strategies with peers from throughout the state about what works and how to implement district and school reform. The focus of this symposium is schools and districts talking and interacting with other schools and districts. Additionally, there will be targeted sessions focusing on the specific requirements for each year of PI.
We encourage you to bring teams of three to five people. Teacher leaders, principals, school board members, and county and district office staff should plan to attend.
Hotel information and online registration is available on the On the Right Track 6 Web page (Outside Source). If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact Teresa Maldonado, WestEd, at 916-492-4044 or by e-mail at tmaldon@wested.org. If you have any questions regarding the Symposium, please contact Sandi Ridge, Education Programs Assistant, District and School Program Coordination Office, at 916-319-0833 or by e-mail at sridge@cde.ca.gov.
Mega-Item Transfer—Not Applicable to Cafeteria Funds
Please note that the proposed 2008-09 Budget Bill (Senate Bill 1067), which allows districts to access surplus fund balances for other district purposes (“mega item transfer”), was amended and no longer allows cafeteria funds to be transferred to the district general fund. It is important to note that while cafeteria funds cannot be used outside of Child Nutrition programs, the cafeteria account is allowed to be the recipient of additional funds from other district categorical programs.
Furthermore, federal regulations prohibit local educational agencies from using or transferring money from the cafeteria fund for non-school food service expenditures. Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 210.14(a) specifically states that “. . . all revenues must be deposited into the school cafeteria account and must be used solely for the operation or improvement of a food service program.”
Therefore, districts do not have the authority to transfer cafeteria funds to the general fund for purposes outside of school food service operations.
A Management Bulletin is forthcoming from the Nutrition Services Division that provides more detail about the purposes of SB 1067 and how the federal regulations govern cafeteria funds.
For additional information, please contact Jennifer Sheldon, Child Nutrition Consultant, Nutrition Services Division, at 916-322-3195 or by e-mail at jsheldon@cde.ca.gov.
Additional Trainings for Implementing State-Level Direct Certification
Great news about additional direct certification trainings! To follow up with last month’s information regarding Direct Certification, the California School Information Services (CSIS) has announced additional Web-based training dates available for local educational agencies (LEAs) interested in participating in the state-level matching system. The CSIS also has developed onsite regional trainings that began in July and will continue in August throughout the state for participation in the state-level matching system.
Federal law requires all public school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP) to implement a system of direct certification by Food Stamps and California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) by the start of the 2008-09 school year. LEAs may implement direct certification through either the local data match through their county department of social services or the state-level matching system available through CSIS, or they can choose to do both.
To participate in the statewide data match, your agency’s CSIS coordinator must obtain training and register for either the Web-based or an onsite regional training. The direct certification process through CSIS is free to all LEAs in California, including those using the CSIS Extended Client application. LEAs who submit student address data before September 12, 2008, will have the opportunity to be included in the state-level match occurring on September 17, 2008.
You can register for these trainings on the CSIS Training Schedule and Registration Web page (Outside Source). If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact CSIS, at 916-325-9260 or by e-mail at support@csis.k12.ca.us.
If you have any questions regarding how to implement direct certification, please contact Jennifer Sheldon, Child Nutrition Consultant, School Nutrition Programs Unit, at 916-322-3195 or by e-mail to jsheldon@cde.ca.gov; or Evonne Morrissey, School Nutrition Programs Specialist, School Nutrition Programs Unit, at 916-322-8315 or by e-mail at emorriss@cde.ca.gov.
Public Charter School Grant Program Request for Application for Dissemination Grants
The California Department of Education released the Public Charter Schools Grant Program (PCSGP) Request for Applications (RFA) for Dissemination Grants on July 11, 2008. Approximately $10 million in federal grant funds are available to successful charter schools for the dissemination of best practices used in their schools that are likely to significantly improve academic achievement in California’s kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) public education system.
Charter schools are encouraged to work with charter resource providers that have a proven track record of success and expertise in designing and delivering professional development linked to supporting academic achievement. Grant recipients are expected to provide in-depth, hands-on training that will facilitate ongoing learning and practical application of best practices strategies at charter and non-charter schools.
The grant award level for each grant recipient will be determined by the specifics of the project.
The RFA is available on the RFA Public Charter Schools Dissemination Grant Program Web page. Applications are due August 11, 2008. Grants will be awarded in November 2008 through a competitive application process. If you have questions regarding the RFA, please contact Joan Strohauer, Education Programs Consultant, Charter Schools Division, at 916-319-0233 or by e-mail at jstrohau@cde.ca.gov.
California Winners at Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference
The excitement and energy at the Awards of Excellence at the 2008 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National Leadership Conference in Atlanta was exhilarating as the winners from the California FBLA were called on stage time and again for placing in the top ten in two-thirds of the events in which they participated.
One of the most coveted awards went to recent Williams High School graduate and California FBLA President Alyssa Stalley, who took first place as Future Business Leader. Another prized award was the Entrepreneurship Team Event with the team from Homestead High School placing first. In addition, cheers resounded when the State Chapter Annual Business Report written by the California Leadership Team and edited and formatted by Alyssa Stalley garnered first place. After Georgia having won this title for six consecutive years, it was a real victory for California.
California was represented by 30 different chapters from all over the state with 184 competitors. Seventy-seven members representing 15 different chapters placed in the top ten. Among the individual, team, and chapter winnings were 9 first places, 10 second places, 10 third places, 6 fourth places, 4 fifth places, 1 sixth place, 3 eighth places, 3 ninth places, and 4 tenth places. California also won the Sweepstakes with 361 points for the 11th consecutive year.
As a state chapter, California won the following: Largest Local Chapter Membership—Professional Division—Live Oak High School with 62 members and also Largest State Chapter Membership with about 5,600.
For the Western Region, the following were awarded to California: Largest State Chapter Membership--Professional Division; Largest State Chapter Membership; and Largest Increase in State Chapter Membership.
For more information, please contact Kay Ferrier, Education Programs Consultant, Secondary, Postsecondary, and Adult Leadership Division, at 916-323-4747 or by e-mail at kferrier@cde.ca.gov.
Review of Reading/Language Art-English Language Development Instructional Materials
In mid-July, 134 teachers and content experts reviewed 20 basic programs that had been submitted for the 2008 Reading/Language Arts–English-Language Development Primary Adoption of Instructional Materials, kindergarten through grade eight. The reviewers found the materials to be aligned to the State Board of Education-adopted criteria, curriculum framework, and standards, and their report of findings is available on the Instructional Materials Web page.
During the last week of July, 67 teachers and content experts reviewed the 15 intervention programs submitted for adoption.
The review process is facilitated by members of the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, former Commissioners, and Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources (CFIR) staff and supported by the CFIR Division and CDE employees.
The Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission will meet September 26-28, 2008, to make its recommendations, and the State Board of Education is scheduled to adopt Reading/Language Art-English Language Development instructional materials on November 5-6, 2008.
For more information, please contact the CFIR Division at 916-319-0881.
California Helps Students Eat More Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Some 25 public schools will share $184,100 in Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) grants. For the list of school funded, please visit the Funding Results FFVP Web page. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-161) provided California with $184,100 to initiate the popular and highly effective FFVP. The 2008 Farm Bill enacted in March allocated additional funding for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to implement and expand the program.
The purpose of the FFVP is to provide all children in participating schools with a variety of free fresh fruit, dried fruit, or fresh vegetable snacks throughout the school day as a supplement to (and not part of) the school breakfast and school lunch programs, and to teach students about good nutrition.
Due to the enactment of the 2008 Farm Bill, California will receive an additional $2.5 million in October 2008 (in additional funding for a number of years thereafter) to fund both existing and any new FFVP grantees at a level of around $50-$55 per student during the school year. In addition, a new Request for Applications for the new funding is expected to be available in October 2008 on the Available Funding Web page.
The CDE will award grants to only elementary schools with 50 percent or more of their students eligible for free or reduced price meals. The amount of the individual school grant awards will depend upon the total enrollment of the schools participating in the program. All grants are subject to availability of funds.
For more information, please contact Elizabeth Moreno, Nutrition Education Consultant, Education and Nutrition Policy Unit, at 916-324-9749, or by e-mail at emoreno@cde.ca.gov or David Hazeleaf, Staff Services Analyst, Education and Nutrition Policy Unit, at 916-323-5757 or by e-mail at dhazeleaf@cde.ca.gov.
Update: Child Nutrition Information and Payment System
The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) is excited to announce its initial deployment of the application component of the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS). The system’s on-line application component will be available to sponsors beginning August 25, 2008.
Deployment of the reimbursement claims component will begin with your October (and not July) claim, therefore; July, August, and September claims will be submitted via the current paper process. The original deadline of August 15, 2008, to notify the CDE of your choice to submit site level data has been extended and will continue throughout the initial application approval process.
As planned, a select group of sponsors will receive access to the application component earlier than August 25, 2008, so they may validate both their sponsor and site applications in the CNIPS and the overall functionality of the system.
In order to begin submitting October claims via the CNIPS, you will be receiving additional communications from CDE over the next few weeks relating to CNIPS training, receipt of User IDs and passwords, and information pertaining to the initial submission requirements of the sponsor and site applications to begin submitting October claims via the CNIPS.
If you have any questions regarding the initial deployment of the CNIPS, please contact the CNIPS Help Desk by e-mail at CNIPS@cde.ca.gov.
State Allocation Board Approves Millions in Assistance to Build, Improve
The State Allocation Board (SAB), of which State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell is a member, in July awarded more than $21 million in joint-use funds to 15 school districts throughout California. The funding went to help fund gyms, libraries, and other facilities that can be used by both schools and the community.
These approvals exhausted all of the available funds for the joint-use program. If a future state school bond contains provisions for joint use, districts will be able to submit funding requests. The prospects for a schools bond for the November 2008 election are remote, and SAB did ask staff to investigate the ability to transfer prior bond funds the joint-use program to allow for another funding cycle. A report will be presented to the SAB in September.
For more information, please visit the About the SAB Web page (Outside Source). If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact Kathleen Moore, Director, School Facilities Planning Division, at 916-322-2470 or by e-mail at kmoore@cde.ca.gov.
