May 6, 2019
EDCAL 3
When I think about
California’s 6.2 million
students, I am ecstatic
at the opportunity to make an impact
on each and every one of them by
serving the needs of school adminis-
trators. It’s why I feel called to serve
as ACSA’s Senior Director of Equity
and Diversity.
Members of the public wait to enter the Senate Education Committee meeting on April 24, where they testified on a number of bills including SB 756, which would
place a moratorium on charter schools for five years. ACSA has not taken a formal position on this measure.
SB 328
Continued from page 1
sleep and more parental guidance on the
issue.
A coalition of education groups oppose
SB 328, including ACSA, the California
School Boards Association, the California
Teachers Association, CASBO, and the
California Association of Suburban School
Districts. They have identified a number
of issues with the bill, including programs
that would be affected by a later start time
such as child care programs, afterschool
programs, athletics, academic interventions,
and transportation from home to school.
These groups contend that even a small
change to school schedules has the poten-
tial to impact an entire district’s economic
outlook.
ACSA Governmental Relations advo-
cate Cathy McBride testified against
the bill, stating later that “ACSA is not
opposed to starting school later for middle
and high school students, if the locally
elected board, school principals, teachers,
students, and parents determine a later
start time to be beneficial to the students
and communities they serve.”
Groups opposing the bill also stressed
the huge impact this change would have
on working parents. A change to school
start times would directly affect many par-
ents’ ability to ensure that their children
are in a safe environment while balancing
the demands of their work schedules,
which will likely place additional demand
on school districts to provide staffing for
supervision prior to the start of the school
day.
Additionally, the issue of whether or
not the bill aligns with a policy of local
control is an issue. McBride stressed that
ACSA strongly opposes any legislation
that interferes with local control, saying,
“ACSA must oppose a top-down, statewide
mandate that is counter to local control
and does not allow any discretion for local
decision makers.”
The bill passed out of committee and
will go to the Senate Appropriations
Committee next, which is chaired by Sen.
Anthony Portantino, the author of SB 328.
“ACSA must oppose a
top-down, statewide
mandate that is count-
er to local control and
does not allow any dis-
cretion for local deci-
sion makers.”
Cathy McBride
ACSA Governmental Relations Advocate
Bills to Watch
ACSA’s Governmental Relations team is
currently monitoring hundreds of bills in
the California Legislature. The following
are some of the significant measures.
Funding/LCFF
AB 39 (Muratsuchi): Local Control
Funding Formula Targets – The bill
would establish new funding targets for
the LCFF formula which would increase
the level of base grants which correlates
into increases in the supplemental and
concentration grants. (SUPPORT)
SCA 5 (Hill): Parcel Taxes – Seeks to
reduce the vote threshold to 55% for a
local school parcel tax. (SUPPORT)
SB 729 (Portantino): Local Control
Funding Formula – This bill dedicates
additional funding to the LCFF by
increasing the applicable cost-of-living
adjustment for the LCFF in 2019-20.
(WATCH)
Early Childhood Education
AB 123 (McCarty): State Preschool
Access – A comprehensive proposal
that modifies the eligibility criteria for
the State Preschool Program to increase
access to low-income 4-year-old chil-
dren and increases quality standards
and requirements of teachers while
improving the state reimbursement rate.
(SUPPORT)
SB 443 (Rubio): Transitional Kindergar-
ten – Allows a district to generate aver-
age daily attendance funding for pupils
admitted to a transitional kindergarten
who have their birthday after December
2. (WATCH)
Charter Schools
AB 1505 (O’Donnell, Bonta, McCa-
rthy & Smith): Charter school Peti-
tions – Proposes to keep charter school
authorizing at the local level by providing
school district “may” authorize rather
than “shall” authorize, limits the current
charter appeal process, and revokes the
authority of the State Board of Educa-
tion to approve charter schools. This bill
also requires the chartering authority
to consider whether the charter school
maintains sound management of its
business and financial operations during
renewal. (WATCH)
AB 1506 (McCarty): Charter school
cap – Establishes a statewide cap on
the number of charter schools autho-
rized, as of January 1, 2020. Further, the
bill prohibits school districts and county
offices of education from authorizing
more charter schools beyond the num-
ber authorized on January 1, 2020. In the
future, after one charter school closes in
a school district or county office of ed-
ucation, one new charter school can be
authorized, so that the number of charter
schools operating does not increase.
(WATCH)
AB 1507 (Smith): Charter schools:
location – Would delete the authority
of a charter school to locate outside the
geographic boundaries of the chartering
school district either temporarily or by
stating that a lack of facilities are avail-
able. (SUPPORT)
Special Education
AB 428 (Medina): Special Education
Equalization – Requires Special Edu-
cation funding rates be equalized to the
95th percentile and establishes a fund-
ing formula within SB 602 for programs
serving preschoolers with disabilities. AB
428 also establishes a high-cost service
allowance to provide additional funding
for students with severe disabilities and
allows school districts to calculate a de-
clining enrollment adjustment based on
individual school district ADA rather than
SELPA enrollment. (SUPPORT)
SB 217 (Portantino): Early Intervention
– Creates the Early Intervention Grant
Program, which would be designed
to increase inclusive access to early
education programs for children with
exceptional needs and expand eligibility
for transitional kindergarten to include
children with exceptional needs turning
5 years old at any time during the school
year. (WATCH)
Mental Health
AB 1546 (Kiley & O’Donnell): Pupil
Mental Health – Permits LEAs to make
direct claims for Medi-Cal Early and
Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and
Treatment funds. (SUPPORT)
SB 582 (Beall): Pupil Mental Health –
Restores $15 million in funding for Prop-
osition 63 mental health triage grants to
support Local Education Agency’ ability
to offer preventative, early intervention,
and direct mental health services to
youth. (SUPPORT)
Miscellaneous
AB 48 (O’Donnell): School Facilities
Bond – K-Community College school
facility bond for the March 2020 and
November 2022 ballots. The amount of
the bond has not yet been determined.
(SUPPORT)
SB 419 (Skinner): Willful Defiance –
Expands the permanent elimination of
suspensions for “willful defiance” from
K-3 to K-8 and eliminates 9-12 grade will-
ful defiance suspensions until January 1,
2025. (SUPPORT)
My drive to lead this work stems from
my own childhood in Mississippi. I
grew up in a home where my mother
and father loved my brothers and me
deeply; they provided the best for us
in every aspect of our lives. However,
their limited education, resources,
and socioeconomic status hindered
their ability to guide me on my path
to higher education. Mom and dad
were my biggest cheerleaders, they
shaped who I am today. My drive to
succeed propelled me in my pursuit
of a life where I can influence policies
and systems so that all students,
regardless of their parents’ education,
background or social status, have the
right to a high-quality education.
Over the last nine months, I have held
many listening sessions and attended
meetings with members and equity
partners to understand the needs
of our school leaders. It has been
rewarding to see the countless efforts
to promote an equity-related vision,
nurture the hearts and minds of
educators, and take intentional steps
toward reimagining how we lead.
We can all agree that it takes a team
effort to lead this work. The ACSA
Equity Office is positioned and ready
to support members across the state.
The ACSA Equity Office, in conjunc-
tion with equity partners, are posi-
tioned to support you in leading this
equity work in your district. Our web-
site, www.acsa.org/equity, is a source
of information related to professional
development opportunities, resourc-
es, and equity-related tools that will
help support you in your work. Our of-
fice has developed several profession-
al learning opportunities in the form of
two equity conferences with Los An-
geles County Office of Education and
Solano County Office of Education.
We have created two Social Justice
Courses for educators in partnership
with University of California, River-
side. Unconscious Bias Training will
be provided over the next two years,
and we will build the capacity of new
and aspiring equity leaders through
the Equity Administrator Academy and
iLead Equity Team Lab.
Another new event is our Sisterhood
Leadership Symposium, co-sponsored
by ACSA, CAAASA and CALSA, on
May 18. It will be an inclusive space
that brings together women in the
education profession, women in lead-
ership positions, and women leaders
seeking to advance their career for a
one-day event focusing on leadership,
diversity and empowerment. It is
designed to honor and value the di-
verse and rich strengths that make us
bold and courageous leaders for the
students and communities we serve.
I hope to see you at this amazing
event.
As one school year nears its end,
administrators are making plans for a
new year with high hopes of closing
the opportunity gap for our neediest
students. I look forward to serving
you to accomplish this goal in my role
here at ACSA.
– Marguerite Williams