April 15, 2019
EDCAL 1
Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 49 | Number 24 | April 15, 2019
Educators
rally to
support
AB 39
Teachers, administrators, classified
employees, school board members, stu-
dents, parents and elected officials gathered
Wednesday, April 3, on the steps of the
state Capitol to rally for one thing: full and
fair funding for education.
Wearing red and hoisting signs that
read “Our Students Deserve More,” the
East Bay Coalition for Public Education
descended on Sacramento to demand that
California invest more in its students and
its future.
“We’re tired of fighting for
crumbs,” said Dan Bellino,
chief of staff, Alameda County
Office of Education. “This is
not a teacher thing, a super-
intendent thing or a classified
Muratsuchi
thing — all of us are saying
we’ve got to fund our schools.”
While some politicians like to position
the state as a leader, California sits in the
bottom 10 when it comes to school funding
and staffing.
“A lot of people in this building behind
me like to say that the budget is a reflection
of our values,” Assemblymember Al Murat-
suchi told the crowd on the south steps of
the Capitol. “I believe that there’s nothing
more important, there’s no greater priority
than investing in our children and investing
in our schools.”
Muratsuchi has authored Assembly
Bill 39, which is supported by ACSA, that
would increase LCFF target base grant
amounts starting in the 2020-21 school
year. The new funding targets would put
California in the top 10 in per-pupil spend-
ing and make our state’s education system a
home for equity and innovation.
See RALLY, page 8
Mental health symposium.
California State Assemblymember Vince Fong greets ACSA members during Legislative Action Day at
the state Capitol on April 8.
Members advocate for
education at state Capitol
ACSA members shared their stories
with state legislators on April 8 during
Legislative Action Day.
More than 400 members walked the
halls of the state Capitol to advocate for
ACSA’s key issues for 2019: increased
LCFF base funding, mental health, and
equitable funding for special education
students.
The two-day event kicked off Sunday
at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Ball-
room with opening remarks from ACSA
Executive Director Wes Smith urging
members to go out and tell their stories
to legislators.
“They don’t do this daily — you do,”
he said.
Keynote speaker for the afternoon,
Assemblymember Christy Smith,
D-Santa Clarita, continued that theme,
sharing her own story. A former analyst
with the U.S. Department of Education
during the Clinton administration, she
returned to her homestate of California
to raise a family. As a mother, she was
“that mom” — active in the PTA, direct-
ing talent shows and volunteering as an
art docent. She was prompted to run for
school board after launching a technolo-
gy education foundation.
“I was so incensed that we had tech
standards that were mandated and no
funding to put
the equipment
in the class-
room,” she said
Photos from
to a round of
Legislative Action
applause.
Day: Page 6.
She urged
members to
speak their truths, knowing full well that
education might not be the top priority
for the legislators they will be meeting
with.
“How you tell a compelling story is
what’s going to convince people like
me that we need to really take a deeper
look,” Smith said.
ACSA Governmental Relations
Inside
See LAD, page 7
Report gives guidance on ethics education
in wake of college admissions scandal
As the nation turned its attention to a
college admissions scandal that swept up
celebrities and other wealthy parents who
paid for their kids to get into elite schools,
the Harvard Graduate School of Education
released a report explaining how the high-
stakes pressure to get into college leads to
a culture that condones a whole host of
unethical practices.
The report, titled “Turning the Tide II:
How Parents and High Schools Can Culti-
vate Ethical Character and Reduce Distress
in The College Admissions Process,” makes
the case that an intense focus on academ-
ic achievement has squeezed out serious
attention to ethical character in many high
schools and families, especially in middle-
and upper-income communities.
With a narrow focus on high achieve-
ment and admission to selective colleges,
parents in these communities often fail to
help their teens develop the critical cogni-
tive, social and ethical capacities that are
at the heart of both doing good and doing
well in college and beyond. Many parents
also fail to be ethical role models to their
children by allowing a range of transgres-
sions — from exaggerating achievements
to outright cheating — in the admissions
process.
Published by the college’s Making
Caring Common project, the report builds
upon a 2016 report that sought changes
at the college level. This follow-up report
shifts the focus to the role of families and
The first annual National Alliance on
Mental Illness California Youth Sym-
posium, Youth Leaders: Creating Life
Long Advocates, will be held April
30 in Sacramento. This conference is
co-sponsored by NAMI California and
the California Mental Health Services
Authority in partnership with the Cal-
ifornia Department of Education. The
principal focus of the symposium is to
convene educators and high school stu-
dents to discuss the impact of mental
health awareness and stigma on youth.
The symposium is free and space is
limited. All school administrators, staff
and students are encouraged to attend.
For more information, visit namica.
org/nami-california-youth-symposium/.
To register, contact Zuleima Flores,
Program Manager, NAMI California, at
916-567-0163 or [email protected].
CAASPP workshops. Registration
is now open for this year’s CAASPP
post-test workshops, themed “The
Results Are In — Now What? Ana-
lyzing Assessment Results to Inform
Teaching and Learning.” These work-
shops will be hosted at eight locations
across California in May and June,
offering support in accessing, analyz-
ing, and building meaningful, collab-
orative discussions focused on 2019
CAASPP data. These workshops are
best suited for LEA CAASPP coordi-
nators, curriculum instruction leaders,
and professional development leaders.
LEA or site teams of educators are
strongly encouraged to attend. Early
online registration is recommended.
More information can be found on the
CAASPP Portal at www.caaspp.org/
training/caaspp/workshops.html.
CAST video. The new video “Califor-
nia Science Test and the Next Gener-
ation Science Standards” provides an
overview of the CAST and describes
how it aligns with the California Next
Generation Science Standards. This
video geared toward teachers, parents
and students explains how the CAST is
designed not only to measure student
progress, but also to encourage innova-
tive ways in which science is taught in
classrooms throughout the state. View
the video at http://bit.ly/2H8hrLS.
See ETHICS, page 3
2019-2020 Leadership themes announced
Periodicals
Dated Material
ACSA is now accepting submissions
for the 2019-2020 editions of Leadership
magazine, which is published five times
annually and read by more than 20,000
educators nationwide.
“The longevity of Leadership magazine
is a testament to our focus on student advo-
cacy and strengthening the next generation
of education leaders,” said ACSA Executive
Director Wes Smith. “The themes selected
for this upcoming year show that our orga-
nization is focusing on the important issues
of our work and service to students.”
Leadership magazine is written by
ACSA members for ACSA members. For
more than 48 years, Leadership magazine
has provided a platform for educators and
thought leaders to publish their studies,
experiences, tips and tricks of the trade on
myriad issues.
Themes and suggested topics for the
2019-2020 editions are as follows:
September/October 2019:
Management
Teacher hiring and retention – Labor
relations – Equity in hiring practices –
Evaluations – Staff development – Tech-
nology for effective management – Work/
life balance – Conflict resolution – Having
tough conversations – Goal setting – Con-
See MAGAZINE, page 2