A teacher and students at Aspire Inskeep Academy in Los Angeles.
Courtesy: Aspire Public Schools
In times of crisis, we should be looking for ways to help, not hinder. But in California, the inequities in public school education funding are only deepening the crisis for too many students.
On top of the devastating social-emotional and academic effects of the pandemic, our communities have been dealing with widespread staffing challenges, culture wars and frequent unfair attacks on educators. And in cities across California, projections suggest that public school enrollment will continue to drop — creating a crisis for practically all schools across the state.
Public charter schools face all of these challenges and more. At Aspire Public Schools, a charter school network serving more than 15,000 students in 36 schools across the state, our student population is more than 85% Black and Latino, and the vast majority of our students are experiencing poverty. Yet since the day we were founded, we’ve been forced to get creative with limited resources: Aspire students — like all public charter school students in California — receive less funding than their peers in traditional public schools.
According to new research from the University of Arkansas, the problem remains severe. In the 2019-20 school year, Los Angeles public charter school students received $5,226 less per-pupil funding than their counterparts in traditional public schools. In Oakland, the gap is even larger, at $7,103. This is driven by a lack of public funding. In both cities, public charter schools receive less local, state and federal funding than their counterparts in traditional public schools.
Why? While both public charters and traditional public schools receive the same amount of base funding under California’s Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, that doesn’t mean the total funding is equal. One reason for this is that schools receive additional funding for higher-need student categories and for higher concentrations of students in those categories, known as “concentration grants.” However, charter school concentration grant amounts are capped based on the average student demographics for the district in which they reside. This means that public charters are, in effect, penalized for serving a greater share of high-need students than their district. There are also a number of local, state and federal funding streams that are only accessible to traditional public schools —for instance, voter-approved local funding for operations or capital projects.
I’m not writing this to complain. We are honored to serve our school communities and our wonderful, talented scholars. It’s hard work, but unequal funding makes it harder. The more time we have to spend fighting tooth and nail for basic resources, the less we can spend educating California’s next generation. Our scholars are the same students whom politicians claim to want to support, especially in the wake of the pandemic, but they are consistently left out because they and their families made the choice to attend a public charter school. Elected officials frequently speak about the importance of equity, and we at Aspire couldn’t agree more. But equity means all students getting what they need — and Aspire schools (as well as many other public charter schools) serve large numbers of historically marginalized students.
This challenge is nothing new. If you talk to charter leaders across California, they’ll all tell you a similar story. Due to this systemic funding deficit, we have had no choice but to try to raise philanthropic dollars to fill critical funding gaps. But that is often turned into an attack against us, with critics saying that public charter schools are bankrolled by private investors. That is simply untrue. Trust me — I would love nothing more than to be able to operate our schools without fundraising. But it’s just not an option.
And new challenges often emerge. Just two years ago we made the choice to go to Sacramento to advocate for all public charter students to fight against legislation that would have penalized charter schools — and not traditional public schools — for following the state’s guidelines for quarantining students who were exposed to Covid-19. While we were able to win that fight, it is illustrative of the larger issue: Charter students are treated as less than others.
But here’s the thing: Despite these challenges, charter schools have been able to accomplish so much. According to new research from the CREDO Institute at Stanford University, California charter students have gained the equivalent of 11 days of reading and four days of math compared with similar students in traditional public schools. Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty had even larger gains. At Aspire specifically, we were proud to have met CREDO’s “gap-busting” criteria in both reading and math, recognizing our ability to reduce opportunity gaps at scale.
So many of our students are carrying so much. They are talented and resilient, and they work hard to achieve their goals. We believe in them, and we tell them that every day.
But this funding gap tells them something different — that because they happen to attend a charter school, they matter less. It’s time that education leaders put childish politics aside and focus on giving all of our kids what they need. They’re all California students. They deserve to be treated as such.
•••
Mala Batra is the chief executive officer at Aspire Public Schools, a charter management organization serving 15,000 TK-12 students across 36 schools in historically underserved communities throughout California.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Yosadara Carbajal Salmerón was always a very involved parent, from the time her children were in Head Start.
She would volunteer in the classroom and sign up for parent committees throughout elementary and middle school.
But Carbajal Salmerón didn’t realize that her children, who attend school in Pomona Unified, were still considered English learners after years of school, or how that might affect them. Then one day she received notification that her son had been reclassified as fluent and English proficient when he was in eighth grade.
Her first question was, “Why hasn’t my daughter reclassified?”
Carbajal Salmerón’s daughter Mia Mirón was younger and had never learned to speak Spanish fluently, in part because she had always spoken English with her older brother.
“I couldn’t understand it,” Carbajal Salmerón said in Spanish. “My son was the first born and he only spoke Spanish when he entered school. But why would my daughter still be an English learner, if she had had a harder time learning Spanish?”
Courtesy of Yosadara Carbajal Salmerón
Yosadara Carbajal Salmerón (right) with her children Andrew and Mia Mirón at Mia’s eighth grade graduation.
Parents of English learners are often unaware of their children’s progress learning the language, according to advocates from the Parent Organization Network, based in Los Angeles.
The organization is launching a campaign to help parents learn to monitor their children’s progress and advocating for changes in how districts communicate the information to families.
Students are classified as English learners when they first enroll in school if their parents speak a language other than English at home and they do not score high enough on the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). English learners have to continue to take the test every year, until they show proficiency in English, in addition to meeting other requirements, such as meeting grade level on state standardized tests in English language arts. At that point, they are reclassified as “fluent English proficient.”
As long as students are classified as English learners, they must take English language development classes in addition to their regular classes. If they are not reclassified before middle and high school, those language classes can take up so much of their schedule that they cannot take as many electives as other students, and they may not be able to access as much academic content in other classes.
Araceli Simeón, executive director of Parent Organization Network, said that parents often rely on report cards to monitor their children’s academic progress. “If they’re getting A’s and B’s, they don’t look at anything else,” she said.
Districts have to send information to parents of English learners every year about their children’s progress on the ELPAC, but the reports are often sent in the mail, separate from a child’s report card. Even when parents do receive the scores, they do not always understand what they mean or what their children need to do in order to be reclassified.
In addition, more and more districts are using online portals to share students’ scores on state standardized tests in reading, math and English language proficiency, Simeón said. Often, those portals can be difficult to navigate for parents who don’t speak English or aren’t as comfortable with technology.
“If you don’t know how to navigate that, then essentially years go by without you receiving a note about your child’s progress on the test,” Simeón said.
Last year, staff from Parent Organization Network trained more than 80 parents in three districts – Los Angeles Unified, Long Beach Unified and Pomona Unified.
In one of those trainings, Carbajal Salmerón learned for the first time about the process for students to be reclassified.
“For the first time, someone explained to me the exam that they have to take once a year and that they have to learn how to write, listen, speak and read. The teachers had never told me that my daughter had a 3 in reading, for example, or a 2 in writing. No one had ever told me that,” said Carbajal Salmerón.
Maribel Bautista is another parent who took the training. She has 14-year-old triplets in Long Beach Unified. All three were classified as English learners when they entered kindergarten because the family speaks Spanish at home. When Bautista would receive reports on how her triplets were doing in English, she assumed it was in English language arts, rather than learning the language itself.
When Bautista took training with Parent Organization Network and began to analyze the reports she had received, she realized that one of her triplets was reclassified in second grade and another in third, but one had never been reclassified, and he was in eighth grade.
“I think the most important thing is explaining to parents what the classification of English learner means, why their kids are being placed there, and what steps they need to take to pass the exam before they go to middle school,” Bautista said in Spanish. “It’s about communication.”
Courtesy of Maribel Bautista
Triplets Nick, Jeson and Kendrick Figueroa attend school in Long Beach Unified.
Asked what steps they are taking to help parents understand the reclassification process and their children’s progress, the districts where Parent Organization Network trained parents responded in different ways.
The superintendent of Pomona Unified, Darren Knowles, said that collaborating with Parent Organization Network “led to a complete overhaul of the documents that we use to inform parents about the reclassification process.”
Knowles said over the last four years, Pomona Unified redesigned a resource page for parents about reclassification criteria in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. The district also conducts regular presentations and training for parents about what students need in order to reclassify. In addition, he said the district is printing ELPAC score reports to give to families during parent-teacher conferences. Recently, he said the district sent out information about ELPAC scores to parents and offered in-person meetings if they wanted to review their children’s progress. He said 92 parents from 18 different schools requested an in-person meeting.
Spokespersons from Los Angeles Unified and Long Beach Unified shared fewer details. “Our families have various opportunities including notification and consultation letters,” said the LAUSD statement. “The District also offers over a dozen meetings throughout the year where families can deep dive into their student’s educational journey. In addition, families are welcome to call and set up a school visit with the English learner designee or school principal.”
“LongBeach Unified is dedicated to ensuring parents of English language learners receive student progress and reclassification information,” said Long Beach Unified School District spokesperson Evelyn Somoza. “Parents of students who have not yet been reclassified receive information on their student’s English language proficiency at the start of every school year through U.S. mail and our online portal. Parents receive phone calls and emails when test scores from assessments completed during the school year become available.”
Both Bautista and Carbajal Salmerón attended universities in Mexico and want their children to go to college, too. They want their children to be able to enroll in the college preparatory classes they need in high school, which can be hard for students if they are still classified as English learners.
After understanding the process, they began to push for more help for their children and encourage them to work on their English reading and writing skills to improve their scores on the ELPAC.
Carbajal Salmerón’s daughter Mia took a summer school intensive English class, began to attend English classes on Saturdays, and started focusing on improving her reading.
Finally, in the first semester of ninth grade, she was reclassified, allowing her to stop taking English language development classes and freeing up her schedule to take more electives.
Now a sophomore, Mia hopes to go to college to study ethnic studies. She credits her eighth grade English language development teacher, who spoke with her and other English learners and explained to them that they had to pass the English proficiency test in order to be reclassified as fluent.
“She was a teacher that really wanted everybody in the class to reclassify, and she put in the energy and time to really create a connection with every single one of us,” Mia said. “I feel like personally it’s all in the teacher. If they motivate you and make you see that you personally are capable of doing and achieving and reclassifying, it’s the greatest compliment ever.”
Tina Chen, who is taking computer science courses taught in Mandarin at East Los Angeles College, speaks at a recent press conference for Assembly Bill 1096.
Courtesy of Ludwig Rodriguez
Hoping to entice more non-English speakers to enroll in community college, California is making it easier for those students to take courses in their native language.
Currently, students in California can take community college classes taught in languages other than English only if they simultaneously enroll in English as a Second Language courses.
That’s about to change, thanks to Assembly Bill 1096, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and is set to take effect Jan. 1. The law will allow community colleges to offer courses in languages other than English without requiring students to enroll in ESL.
Community college officials think the bill could be a game-changer for potential students who might otherwise have been discouraged from enrolling or staying in college because of the ESL requirement. Some students have called that requirement a burden because of the extra time commitment.
“We hope that this will create a pipeline for individuals to engage in community college,” said Gabriel Buelna, a member of the Los Angeles Community College District’s board of trustees and supporter of the bill.
“In a world of lower enrollment, do you want more Californians at your community college? Or do you not want more Californians at your community college?” he said, referring to enrollment declines that community colleges suffered during the pandemic.
There’s already some evidence that the new landscape will make a difference. The Los Angeles college district launched a pilot program this year offering courses in non-English languages and gave students the ability to opt out of enrolling in ESL. The program offered 60 classes this spring in four languages — Spanish, Mandarin, Russian and Korean. More than 1,000 students enrolled, almost half of them first-time community college students.
This fall, the district is expanding the program to 86 classes, including child development, business and computer literacy.
Before the pilot launched, the district surveyed students and found that 25% cited English proficiency as a barrier to their educational goals.
“We’ve uncovered that there’s this hidden group of individuals that have missed out on higher education opportunities,” said Nicole Albo-Lopez, the district’s vice chancellor for educational programs and institutional effectiveness.
It’s unclear how many colleges across the state will begin offering more classes in non-English languages when the law goes into effect next year. But several community college districts endorsed the bill, including Foothill-De Anza, Long Beach and San Diego. And in a state where 44% of households speak a primary language other than English, officials expect there will be interest among prospective students across California.
In the Los Angeles pilot, almost all the courses offered were in noncredit classes focused on job training, including in automotive repair, child care and health care services. The new law, however, will apply to both noncredit and credit courses.
For Tina Chen, taking computer science classes at East Los Angeles College in her native language of Mandarin has made a challenging subject more accessible.
Chen’s goal is to eventually transfer to UCLA and enter into a career in artificial intelligence, but computers are new for her, and the course material can be challenging. Being able to learn in her native language, though, has provided a solid foundation.
“It makes it easier. I can understand my teacher who speaks to me and my classmates,” she said.
Carmen Ramirez has also taken advantage of the classes offered at East LA College and enrolled in basic skills courses this year that are taught in Spanish.
Ramirez is from Guadalajara, Mexico, where she previously took college courses while pursuing a degree in psychology. She didn’t finish that degree because of economic reasons, she said, and later moved to Los Angeles.
Taking classes in Spanish “is a great way to be able to come back and renew my studies,” she said through a translator. “It’s more comfortable and lets me learn better.” Ramirez added that native language courses may also be more welcoming to undocumented students and make it more likely that they enroll.
After she’s completed her basic skills courses, Ramirez wants to start taking classes toward a credential or certification. She’s not sure yet what career she wants to pursue, but knows she wants to enter a field that allows her to help other people.
Even though the law won’t require it, Ramirez still plans to eventually take ESL courses because she sees learning English as an important skill that will benefit her career. Research backs up that premise: A 2022 report by the Public Policy Institute noted a link between English proficiency and access to high-wage jobs.
Buelna, the Los Angeles trustee, said he expects many students to follow a path similar to Ramirez’s and enroll in ESL even though they won’t be forced to do so.
“I think this law will actually increase English acquisition,” he said. “Once you get folks in an institution, and you get that curiosity going, they’re going to say, ‘Well, I do need to learn English.’”
Buelna added that the most important factor is that more students get an education and develop new skills — regardless of whether they’re learning English.
“Why does it matter so much that someone learn about caring for the elderly or phlebotomy in a specific language?” he said. “Do you want them to have the skill or not? What’s more important?”
California school superintendents have been leaving their jobs in large numbers this year. Many reached retirement age; others, tired of dealing with the aftermath of pandemic school closures, are retiring early or leaving for other jobs or business opportunities. Some are just looking for a change.
Then there are the superintendents who, having put off plans for retirement to help districts through pandemic closures, now finally feel comfortable enough to leave.
The result: a turnover of superintendents, with older, more experienced veterans being replaced by new, less experienced leaders.
EdSource interviewed five California superintendents who either recently left or are leaving their jobs, to better understand what compelled them to step down.
Covid, threats push Chris Evans to early retirement
Chris Evans retired as the superintendent of Natomas Unified after the 2022-23 school year. Credit: Jeff McPhee
Former Natomas Unified Superintendent Chris Evans has been the target of multiple personal threats in recent years, but in September 2021, the hateful rhetoric grew so intense that the school board agreed to pay for security for his home.
A school board meeting in September 2021 was abruptly canceled during public comment because of the raucous behavior of some in the audience.
Parents and members of the Sacramento community were upset about comments made by an Inderkum High School teacher who was secretly recorded claiming he kept an antifa flag in his classroom and encouraged his students to protest, according to media reports.
Evans announced at the meeting that the teacher had been put on paid leave pending an investigation.
“Following the Sept. 1 meeting, each trustee and Chris received numerous — 150-plus — disturbing emails that were forwarded, I believe, to local and federal law enforcement agencies,” said Susan Heredia, Natomas Unified board president.
“People would show up in front of my house, take pictures, speak to my children,” Evans said. “They would call the district and say they were headed to my house and would be intercepted going to my house.”
Last June, Evans stepped down from his position as superintendent at age 52, after 11 years leading the district. He had planned to retire at 55. He blames his early departure on the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For me, Covid did it,” Evans said. “Covid and everything that came from that — the politics of it. It was exhausting. That took two years off my career.”
Evans is still working in the district temporarily, helping first-time Superintendent Robyn Castillo transition to her new role. After that, he will focus on his new endeavor at Action-Oriented Leaders, an education consulting firm that focuses on helping superintendents and school boards problem-solve and troubleshoot, he said.
Brett McFadden opted for a quieter job closer to home
Brett McFadden left his job as superintendent of Nevada Joint Union High School District after the 2021-22 school year.Courtesy of the Monterey County Office of Education
Brett McFadden, 55, left his job as superintendent of Nevada Joint Union High School District in Grass Valley after the 2021-22 school year, primarily to be closer to his home in Aptos with his wife, an administrator at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.
He was superintendent at Nevada Joint Union for four years before accepting a job as a deputy superintendent at the Monterey County Office of Education.
It was difficult being a school superintendent during the Covid-19 pandemic, McFadden said. Nevada Joint Union High School District, like others in the state, had contentious school board meetings that centered on issues like masking, vaccines and the teaching of critical race theory.
“We went from board meetings that were not that well attended to board meetings that would have 300-plus people because of one particular contentious issue,” he said.
The community had a long history of treating everyone respectfully before the pandemic, but that changed within months, McFadden said.
“We lost empathy and grace,” McFadden said.
There also was a sharp increase in vitriolic comments from the community, he said.
“You know you can take those with a grain of salt, but when you hear 30 or 40 of them, and then you’re accused of not caring about kids, or destroying the education of kids or destroying kids’ lives after you’ve committed your entire career and your entire sense of being as a human being, as a professional, to fostering students’ lives and opportunities, that takes a toll on people,” McFadden said.
Despite the difficulties of the last few years, McFadden misses working at a school district. He expects he’ll return to one in some capacity someday, although he isn’t sure when.
Normalcy and ‘the sweet spot’ entice Brian Dolan to retire
Brian Dolan will retire as superintendent of Dixon Unified School District after this school year.Credit: Stewart Savage, Abaton Consulting
Dixon Unified Superintendent Brian Dolan, 62, has reached the “sweet spot” — the age where superintendents begin to reap the best retirement benefits. He’ll retire after this school year.
Although Covid-19 took the fun out of the job for a while, Dolan is glad he stayed long enough to see things almost return to normal.
“If I were at retirement age, just coming out of Covid, I would’ve needed to work another year just to put a little shine back on the apple,” he said.
Three of the six districts in Solano County had their superintendents retire in the last three years, Dolan said.
“None of us are going out early, but all of us are going out as early as we can,” he said.
Other than some discontent during Covid-19 school closures, Dixon’s school board meetings haven’t had the drama seen in many other districts, Dolan said. They haven’t been contentious and Dolan hasn’t been threatened. But he acknowledges the jobs of all school employees have become harder.
Dolan has spent a quarter-century of his 35-year career at Dixon Unified School District — 13 as its superintendent. He still finds delight in talking to students who recognize him on the street or when he answers his door on Halloween. The youngest ones pronounce his name Mr. Donut.
“Wow. I wouldn’t change a thing for myself, because there are so many good things to come out of this as well, but it’s hard work,” Dolan said.
He doesn’t plan to sit out for too long — probably just the six months required by the state. Dolan sees himself doing administrative coaching or support, or working with student teachers in the future.
Cathy Nichols-Washer pushed back retirement until things got better
Cathy Nichols-Washer was the superintendent of Lodi Unified for 15 years. Credit: Ken Sato
Cathy Nichols-Washer, 60, stayed at the helm of Lodi Unified School District in northern San Joaquin County longer than she thought she would. After 15 years, she was the longest-serving superintendent in the district’s history when she retired at the end of last school year.
Like many superintendents, Nichols-Washer didn’t have the heart to follow through with plans to retire two years earlier, because the Covid-19 pandemic changed her plans.
“I just didn’t feel right leaving the district in the midst of all that,” she said. … “So I stayed, and then, after Covid was over and we kind of got things — I’m not going to say back to normal, but back to a place that felt good and comfortable — you know, on a good track again, then I felt comfortable leaving.”
During the pandemic, superintendents had to manage the district and get their job done, while dealing with the negativity directed at them at board meetings, on social media and through emails. Nichols-Washer found it particularly difficult to explain to the community why state Covid regulations were changing weekly, if not daily.
To make matters worse, everyone had a different opinion about the dangers of Covid, she said. Some staff members were afraid to come to work and some parents were afraid to send their children. Others were fighting every regulation, refusing to wear masks, choosing not to be vaccinated, said Nichols-Washer.
“And then there was anger, because people felt so strongly about the issue that it came out, in many cases, in a very aggressive manner,” she said. “And so board meetings got very contentious, packed board meetings, people yelling and screaming, unruly.”
Nichols-Washer understands why so many superintendents leave as soon as they reach retirement age. “You can’t blame them,” she said.
Gregory Franklin moved from Tustin Unified to professor post at USC
Gregory Franklin retired as superintendent of Tustin Unified in the middle of the 2021-22 school year.Credit: Courtesy of Gregory Franklin
Gregory Franklin, 61, retired as superintendent of Tustin Unified School District in Orange County in the middle of the 2021-22 school year to be a professor of education at the University of Southern California, a position he says doesn’t come around often.
Franklin said he could have started working at the university at the beginning of the school year, but he wanted to allow the school board to find a replacement without having to get an interim superintendent.
He has nothing but good things to say about the Tustin Unified school board, which he says puts the education of children first. He was superintendent of the school district for 10 years.
“There was a position that came open, and I applied for it,” Franklin said. “I was pretty close to retirement anyway, so I probably left maybe a year or two earlier than I would have otherwise.”
Being a superintendent has always been a hard job, but it became much harder after the pandemic school closures and the “really brutal politics at the district level” that followed, he said.
Anger at school closures morphed into anger at masking and other Covid regulations.
After the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, school districts took a look at what they were doing to contribute to the inequity, Franklin said. Schools started to diversify the range of novels and authors available in school so that students could see characters in stories that had similar backgrounds and family structures as their own, but that also made some people angry, he said.
Then LGBTQ+ rights and students’ right to privacy about their gender decisions bumped up against parental rights, making more people angry, he said.
“And so we had one thing after another, really starting in May 2020, that has spun things up,” Franklin said. “The number of irate speakers who come to school board meetings now to berate the superintendent, the school board, and school leaders — it’s hard for people. “
Culturally responsive education refers to the combination of teaching, pedagogy, curriculum, theories, attitudes, practices, and instructional materials that center students’ cultures, identities, and contexts throughout educational systems. What’s more, culturally relevant education increases the sense of community and builds trust and connection between educators and students, resulting in better academic outcomes.
This is important for students because we do not live in isolation. The world is growing smaller as we connect through different types of media and are constantly introduced to different cultures, beliefs and customs. A 2019 report shows that since 2000, classrooms in our country have become increasingly diverse, with the Latino student population growing from 16% to 25%. This is especially pertinent in LAUSD classrooms.
My classroom is made up of approximately 20% African American students and 80% Latino students. As a kindergarten teacher, my focus is on the social-emotional development of my students, and I try to build a strong cultural competency, where students become familiar with aspects of other cultures. This helps to expose students to the differences and similarities that exist within their identities, and therefore within our classrooms. One age-appropriate way I do this is by focusing on different holidays and cultural celebrations. I will bring in food or showcase dances, arts and crafts that represent various cultures and allow the students to immerse themselves with their senses, trying to expand their knowledge and understanding.
Unfortunately, I do not feel supported in my culturally relevant education efforts in the classroom. There must be ways to create more welcoming classrooms and foster understanding and appreciation among students for each other’s unique identities and backgrounds. I need more support to do this, more understanding of how to embed cultural awareness and relevance into my curriculum and teaching.
That’s why I have joined a teacher action team with some of my colleagues and the help of Educators for Excellence – Los Angeles. This group allows us to come together to discuss ideas and put together a plan to help improve cultural relevancy throughout LAUSD. We’re calling for a public rubric to help the district succeed with its commitment to safe, inclusive learning environments. This rubric would list requirements for curricula to be culturally relevant and would be a way for schools to ensure that what they are teaching meets a predetermined district standard.
For example, over 50 of my colleagues and I from across LAUSD have evaluated our curriculum with a rubric developed by the New York University Steinhardt school. This process has allowed us to determine that our curriculum was satisfactory when it came to connecting the local community to the texts, but it falls short when it comes to the representation of LGBTQ+ and disabled identities, as well as in providing opportunities for students to bring their own community experiences to the classroom. If this rubric were used districtwide, we could improve our implicit-bias training, give teachers more support, and have a specific long-term vision for the type of curriculum we’re using in LAUSD, all leading to the achievement of the goals outlined in the district’s strategic plan.
Meeting these standards will not only give educators a guiding light in making their classrooms more inclusive, but it will also give students the opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding of society. As I mentioned, I already incorporate diverse practices and lessons into my classroom. In return, I see students being more understanding of one another, and I see students from all backgrounds connecting to the material we are learning. It helps me to build a love of learning and a tolerance for others’ differences.
Having a higher level of cultural relevancy in our district-approved curriculum would allow students to meet their differences with an open mind and heart, and help them to build a foundation for acceptance and inclusion. Additionally, seeing themselves represented in the classroom allows students to connect better with lessons and demonstrate more interest in their academic success.
Even in a district as diverse and progressive as LAUSD, the long-term quality and inclusiveness of classroom curriculum is under attack. Efforts to attack student learning environments are no longer just distant issues that confront other districts and other states; it is here in California. This problem is not going away. LAUSD has already committed to increasing inclusion efforts in the classroom. My colleagues and I want to help this commitment come true. By collaborating with the district to develop a rubric that contains the cultural relevancy we are demanding, we are giving the district a recommendation directly from LAUSD classroom teachers on what needs to happen to improve our classrooms and create a more robust curriculum.
Our schools need culturally relevant education to educate tolerant, understanding, knowledgeable and successful students. We need more educators on board with calling on the district to partner with us and update the curriculum in our classrooms. Speak up to your administrations, and collaborate with colleagues on a way to build more inclusive classrooms throughout LAUSD. Our students and our future generations deserve it.
●●●
Petrina Miller is a longtime educator in Los Angeles Unified, and is an active member of Educators for Excellence – Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization of more than 30,000 educators united around a common set of values and principles for improving student learning and elevating the teaching profession.
The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Shasta College serves students in Shasta, Tehama and Trinity counties.
A new study detailing how California colleges often overlook the value of students who drop out explains what colleges can do to help these students, called “comebackers,” complete their degree successfully.
“If you didn’t make it, it’s your fault. If you want to come back, good luck to you,” said Su Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes, about the convoluted process that comebackers go through to re-enroll in college.
Based on interviews with over 50 students who returned to college and successfully completed their degree at Sacramento State and Shasta College, the report released on Feb. 5 identified factors that may impede a student’s attempt to return to college, including owing for overdue library books and parking, having to redo the entire enrollment process and being disqualified for financial aid because of poor grades from years prior.
Overlooking these students has major implications, not just for students themselves but for the state’s economy, the report states. Students without a degree or certificate may not be able to make progress in the workplace, and in turn, employers won’t be able to find qualified workers. Jez said reaching these students can stimulate economic growth.
Jennifer Liberty, one of the co-researchers who helped design the study, is a comebacker herself; she is now working on a master’s degree in psychology.
Other reasons contributing to students dropping out of college are having to work, taking care of children or family members, as well as institutional barriers like a loss of financial aid or an inflexible schedule — all of which may make balancing school with other priorities a struggle.
Comebackers bring ‘so many skills’
The report urges colleges to offer more flexibility in classes, do more to encourage students to return and reframe how comebackers are viewed.
The conversation about students who stop attending college tends to be framed around their problems, said Buffy Tanner, director of innovation and special projects at Shasta College. They are discussed as students who lack recent academic experience, who have rusty math skills or have financial aid issues.
“The reality is they come to us with so many skills,” Tanner said during a webinar on the report.
People who stop coming to school typically have a lot of work experience that other kinds of students lack. They know how to work in groups and how to work for different bosses; they have professional experience; and sometimes professional development. These are all assets in college, Tanner said.
Many comebackers may give up their studies after their grades start to slip and they are put on what is often called “academic probation.” The report recommends using language that isn’t associated with criminality.
“‘Academic probation’ sounds like, ‘You are a criminal, and we are going to keep an eye on you,’” Jez said.
The report also recommends offering extra support to comebackers who struggle academically. Many of those who left on academic probation said that they were not offered help and that the term itself made them feel like they weren’t cut out for college.
Tanner said focusing on the needs of students who return to college after stopping has benefits for the broader population of students because they would also benefit from more flexible class schedules, such as classes that are offered outside the traditional workday.
Restructured academic calendars could also benefit other kinds of students. The report recommends offering shorter, more frequent classes, such as an eight-week intensive program, in contrast to a longer 16-week program, or a fall or spring term. This makes it easier for students to fit classes into their schedule and gives them more opportunities to jump into college.
Enrollment at California’s community colleges has not fully rebounded from the pandemic, Jez noted. This pool of students with some college experience but no degree or certificate is potent as the state faces its big goals around issues such as climate change and housing.
“We can’t meet our goals,” Jez said, “unless we allow marginalized people to access and complete college degrees.”
This is the second part of a special series on the recruitment and retention of Black teachers in California. The recruitment and hiring of Black educators has lagged, even as a teacher shortage has given the task new urgency.
Our series looks at the obstacles that keep Black people from becoming teachers, and the bias and lack of support some face when they join the profession.
The final story looks at what California and school districts are doing to recruit and retain Black teachers, and what still needs to be done.
California school districts have been trying to recruit and retain Black teachers for years, but the numbers don’t seem to be increasing. The cost of teacher preparation and unpaid student teaching make it difficult for Black teacher candidates to complete the work to earn a credential. Once in the classroom, a lack of support and respect sometimes makes it difficult for them to remain.
In the 2020-21 school year, the most recent year data is available, 3.8% of all teachers in California were Black, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Black students made up 5.2% of the state’s student population that year.
Research shows that having a Black teacher in the classroom has a positive impact on all students, especially students of color who, as a result, have higher test scores and graduation rates.
Krystle Goff: We constantly have to prove ourselves
Krystle Goff is a student program coordinator at 122nd Street Elementary in Los Angeles Unified.Krystle Goff
Krystle Goff worked as a special education paraeducator for four years before earning a teaching credential, and later a masters’ degree. Now, even with eight years as a credentialed teacher, she still feels she has to prove herself every day.
Black teachers aren’t given the same opportunities to make mistakes that other teachers are given, said Goff, who works in Los Angeles Unified. There is pressure every day to get it right the first time, even from other Black teachers, she said.
“There is a standard that Black educators hold toward each other,” she said. “We are harder on ourselves and harder on our students than I think is talked about.”
Goff alsospent 14 months at the Principal Leadership Institute at UCLA, which prepares educators to be social justice leaders in Los Angeles schools.
“(There was) lots of reading, lots of literature, and it just kind of pulled apart the systems that I now just can’t unsee,” Goff said. “It’s almost like I’m in the matrix. When I walk into school systems. I’m like, you guys need help.”
Goff is currently the targeted student population coordinator, responsible for the re-designation of English learners at 122nd Street Elementary Schoolin Los Angeles. She wants to be a school administrator.
“It’s important because that’s the only way we are going to shift schools,” she said. “… We need principals who are able to see the needs of the community and address them on the school campus, and not weaponize what’s happening in the community on the school campus.”
There is racial tension at 122nd Street Elementary that should be addressed, she said. The school is predominantly Latino, with Black students making up less than 20% of the population. The tension was apparent in February as teachers made decisions about whether to have Black history programs.
“It’s been very, what seems controversial,” Goff said. “… It’s very political.”
Schools should offer staff training on race and identity, or a staff retreat where colleagues can discuss the topic, Goff said.
“I think that in every layer of what makes a school run — from the parent center to the classroom, to the office — there’s this buzz about race and identity, but we don’t ever talk about it,” she said. “We don’t ever mention it. And somehow we’re supposed to all gel together and work together. I think it takes training to identify who we are and what we bring to our position to understand how we’re able to best work with one another.”
Preston Jackson: More Black mentors are needed
P.E. teacher Preston Jackson works at California Middle School at Sacramento Ct.
Being a teacher is hard, but being a Black teacher is harder, said Preston Jackson, who teaches physical education at California Middle School in Sacramento City Unified.
“Ninety percent, you probably are going to be on a site where you’re the only one there,” Jackson said. “And so you’re not going to have someone there that has gone through a similar process, because being a Black teacher is a completely different situation.”
Jackson is one of two Black teachers at the middle school. During his 19-year tenure, there have only been a few more, he said.
Having more Black mentors would have made his early years in teaching easier, Jackson said, because they would have provided guidance on difficult topics a new teacher may not feel comfortable discussing with administrators, like how to deal with parents of other races that talk down to them.
“They have to have someone they can have those types of tough conversations with, to kind of help them work through the process until they get to a point where they are confident enough on their own feet, where they can handle those things,” he said.
Jackson gets discouraged about teaching sometimes, particularly when it comes to the low expectations he feels some in education have for Black children. This is the No. 1 reason Black teachers quit, he said.
He was going over benchmark test scores with the principal and fellow members of the School Site Council in February, when he realized that no Black students were enrolled in Math 8, the highest level math course.
“So, you can tell me that, with all the Black kids we have on this campus, not one is qualified to be in Math 8?” Jackson asked.
Not even the high-achieving Black students in the school were enrolled in the class, and Jackson suspects they were not steered toward the class because teachers think it is too difficult for them.
“They’re expecting kids to fail,” he said. “They’re setting the kids up for failure instead of preparing them for success. And that’s a huge problem.”
Alicia Simba: I wanted to work with Black teachers
Alicia Simba is a transitional kindergarten teacher at Prescott Elementary School in Oakland Unified.
Alicia Simba chose to work in the Oakland Unified School District when she started as a teacher four years ago, so that she could be in a school community with other Black teachers. Her school, Prescott Elementary,also has a Black principal, and the district has a Black superintendent.
When she was looking for work, Simba went to Wikipedia and looked for cities in California with the largest populations of Black residents, and then looked up their school districts. Even those districts often didn’t have many Black teachers, she found.
“Unlike other friends and peers that I have, I’m never the only Black teacher in a professional development or at a conference in the district,” Simba said of Oakland Unified. “I think that, really, to me, helps with the retention part.”
Of her friends from her teacher preparation program, Simba, a transitional kindergarten teacher, says she works with the highest number of Black children and has the lowest salary.
“I can see how friendships might become more segregated as we get older,” Simba said. “In a couple of years, my friends and I will just not be living within the same means. They’ll want to go to Baja, and I can’t go — not because I don’t want to go to Baja. I do want to go to Baja. But because I teach in OUSD.”
Simba attended a women’s college on the East Coast as a science major and worked at the campus day care center before being accepted into the teacher preparation program at Stanford University on a full scholarship. It was the job at the day care center that made her decide to teach.
“I was like, one, this is the best job ever,” she said. “I love the kids. But two, I get to hang out with the best women in the world.”
Simba decided to take the traditional route to a credential instead of an alternative route, such as an internship, which pays teacher candidates to work as a classroom teacher while completing teacher preparation coursework. She wanted a more thorough education, she said.
While teacher interns are paid, they are more likely to leave teaching because they do not benefit from mentorship and are thrust into a classroom as the lead teacher without support or guidance, she said.
Traditional training can help teachers learn to deal with difficult situations that may lead to burnout, Simba said.
“Like when a kid throws a chair, or bites them,” she said. “Like when one peed on the floor, they actually know what to do. These are all things that happened to me.”
There are things that can be done to increase the number of Black teachers, including student loan forgiveness, paying student teachers, paying teachers more equitably across districts and offering subsidized housing, Simba said. Young teachers also need mentorship and emotional support, she added.
Black teachers may feel they have to leave (their jobs) to preserve their own emotional well-being, even if they love the kids and the community and love to teach, Simba said.
Brooke Sims: Cruel words impact Black students
Brooke Sims has always loved school. Her mother and grandmother were teachers, so she spent a lot of time in classrooms, even as a small child.
“I was joking about how much I loved school supplies, so maybe that’s why I’m a teacher — a love of school supplies,” she said. “I always played school.”
Sims had a chance to do it for real in high school when she helped out in preschool and kindergarten classrooms in Stockton as part of a career educational course called Careers with Children. It wasn’t long before Sims was certain that teaching was what she wanted to do with her life.
Having her family as role models helped Sims to visualize herself as a teacher, because she had few Black teachers during her K-12 years in Stockton. She didn’t see many Black teachers until she attended Delta College in Stockton and then later, when she began student teaching at Elk Grove Unified in Sacramento County.
Sims says that in the 16 years since she received her teaching credential, she has considered quitting many times. The work is harder; there is little support and the pay isn’t great.
She also has had to contend with colleagues who make racist and insensitive comments about people of color, including students.
“It breaks my heart because it’s like, you’re teaching Black children, you’re teaching children of color, and this is what you think, and you’ve never taken the time to reflect or maybe look at it differently.”
This sometimes plays out with Black children being punished harder than their white counterparts, even if their offenses are worse, Sims said.
“I’m not in all of these people’s classrooms, but I’ve heard the microaggressions, I’ve heard the way they speak, and I can’t imagine what happens in the classroom,” she said.
The incidents go back as far as her days as a student teacher. In one case, a white teacher candidate came back from a meeting with her consulting teacher livid. She told Sims that the consulting teacher told her not to work so hard with two students of color because “they are not going to go to college.” The candidate asked to be assigned another consulting teacher.
“She could not believe that this woman said this to her about some little kids, some little first graders,” Sims said.
Petrina Miller: Better pay would make teachers stay
Petrina Miller teaches at 116th Street School in Los Angeles.
A lot has changed since Petrina Miller began teaching at 116th Street School in Los Angeles about 26 years ago, including the demographics of the students. When she began teaching, the school had mostly Black students, and now the majority of students are Latino.
Although Miller appreciates the need for Black students to have Black teachers, she doesn’t think people should be assigned tasks, or students, solely because of their skin color. It’s not fair to the student, and it’s not fair to the teacher, she said, because sometimes, they might fare better with a younger teacher, for example.
Miller, who teaches a combined transitional kindergarten and kindergarten class at the school, is a member of Educators for Excellence, a nonprofit with the goal of elevating the teaching profession. It has more than 30,000 members.
Black teachers are being pushed out of the profession because of a lack of support, an ability to earn more at another job and a general lack of respect from the public and administrators, Miller said.
People don’t go into teaching for the high pay, Miller said. But teachers do deserve a wage that is livable or some sort of property tax adjustment or other financial help to make being a teacher more attractive.
“Then they can live where they work,” Miller said. “I know some teachers who work in San Pedro and live somewhere else. They can’t afford it, or they work in Torrance and … they can’t live there, it costs too much.”
Since the Covid pandemic, there has been less support and sometimes respect from administrators as they struggle to balance new rules and requirements from the district and state.
“I think that being 10, 15 years into this profession, you expect a certain amount of respect or professionalism from your higher-ups,” Miller said. “And I think that the trickle-down effect on all the things that happen from the district office to the (school) office, that respect is just getting lost.”
Future filmmakers brainstorming ideas at Berkeley High.
Credit: Courtesy of Allison Gamlen
In fourth grade, Nico Lee dressed up as Miss Hannigan, the heartless head of the orphanage in the classic Broadway musical “Annie,” for Halloween. He put together such a fabulous costume, bedecked in a dress, lipstick and a messy bun, that his mother worried her son might get teased. But she was also proud that he had no qualms about being playful about gender.
Nico Lee, one of the young filmmakers at Berkeley High School.Credit: Nico Lee
Now the thoughtful Berkeley 15-year-old, who grew up with two moms, digs into that formative memory and riffs on what it means to become a man today in his new short film exploring masculine tropes, “Changing Shapes.”
“One of the big ideas is finding your own identity in your own time,” Lee said. “It’s important to explore gender boundaries because if you are able to feel comfortable doing things that are outside of your gendered box, that opens up so much more freedom in how you express yourself. All that gender boundaries are is something that restricts people and separates them.”
Lee is one of seven Berkeley High School students getting their big break as part of the Future Filmmakers program, which mentors teens through the process of creating short documentary films, from the first rough cut to the red carpet premiere. This new, immersive video project culminated in a sold-out film festival at Berkeley’s Rialto Cinemas Elmwood.
“This kind of experience is rare,” said Allison Gamlen, visual and performing arts coordinator for the San Mateo County Office of Education, who helped produce the festival. “The chance for high school students to truly tell their own stories, work with real professionals, and go through every step of the creative process, from idea to finished product, is amazing for them. This program builds not only technical and career skills, but also confidence, communication, and self-awareness.”
From cinematography and sound design to editing, the students are learning the ropes of filmmaking under the tutelage of documentarian Jordan Olshansky. The class includes Lee, Madison Chau, Derrick Coney, Oliver Hufford, Camila Reyes Mendez, Keely Shaller and Madeleine Wilson.
“I’ve never had an opportunity for kids like this one, where they’ve had long, sustained, in-depth, collaborative relationships with working professionals,” said Phil Halpern, a lead teacher in the communication arts and sciences program, which includes the video program, at Berkeley High. “You could equate it to an internship where you’re the CEO and that’s really cool.”
A peek inside the film/video classroom at Berkeley High School.credit: Phil Halpern
Lee, who has always loved theater and film, jumped at the chance to make a movie of his own. It was a considerable time commitment, and he admits he had doubts about whether his story was dramatic enough, but overall he found the experience invaluable. In the end, he learned to trust his gut.
“The hardest part of making this film was that I think the whole time there was sort of a big worry that I didn’t have a story to tell,” he admits. “I learned to be comfortable with that and tell the story that I did have, and hopefully that would connect with people.”
Confronting those fears is often part and parcel of the creative process.
“My favorite part is witnessing students discover the power of their voice and find the courage to tell their stories,” Gamlen said. “That moment they see their story on screen is transformative. They realize that their perspective is not only valid, it’s needed.”
Olshansky, a father of two teenagers, had always wanted to work with adolescents, but he wasn’t sure how many kids would want to commit to early morning workshops on Mondays before school. He needn’t have worried. Many students were eager to get their foot in the door of the film industry, long a pillar of the state’s creative economy.
“The vision is not only to help them develop their storytelling skills,” said Olshansky, president of San Francisco’s True Stories production company, “but also to share their films in ways that spark meaningful conversations among other young people — about identity, family, and other issues that matter most to them.”
One of the themes Lee wanted to explore was the power of influencers, such as Andrew Tate and Joe Rogan, to shape teen boys’ coming of age amid the rise of the manosphere.
“There’s a lot of stuff about toxic masculinity right now and about what masculinity means,” Lee said. “And I felt like maybe an interesting way to look at that was through what it’s like being a boy who was raised by women.”
All seven autobiographical short films hit hard, resonating with an authenticity that’s rare in the social media age. Camila Reyes Mendez crafts a heartrending valentine to her late mother in “Corazon Espinado.” Madison Chau examines feeling caught between two worlds in “Overseas Vietnamese.”
“The students share a huge range of life experiences,” said Gamlen, “dealing with parent death, deportation, divorce and blended families, leaving the nest to go to college, yet one theme that is emerging has to do with family and its impact on their lives.”
Young filmmaker Nico Lee shoots his autobiographical film.credit: Nico Lee
Lee’s mother, Becca, also had to venture outside her comfort zone because he interviewed his parents, as well as his grandparents, for the film.
“Honestly, I just felt so proud of him for wanting to dive into this topic and tell our family story,” she said. “But the part of it was being on camera, being in the film, that was a big stretch for me.”
Hands-on learning is the secret sauce for this project, with its unique blend of funding. The school’s video program is funded through Proposition 28 and Career Technical Education (CTE) money, while the Future Filmmakers project is paid for by Olshanky’s company, True Stories.
“We know that for most students, kinesthetic experiences make learning stick, when students are doing, not just watching or listening,” Gamlen said. “They’re holding the camera, adjusting the mic, recording their own interviews. And when it’s their own story on the line, they’re invested in every detail. That kind of ownership builds real-world readiness and pride in their work.”
Lee, for one, will never forget working side by side with a professional editor, learning what to cut and what to keep, the magic of how to craft a cinematic moment that sticks with the viewer.
“It’s one of the things that I feel most grateful for about this project,” he said. “It was pretty awesome to be able to experience that kind of collaboration. That was the first really gratifying moment for me, to see this thing that’s just been in my head actually be in a movie.”
Preschool students build a structure from plastic interlocking tubes.
Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education
Author’s original hed: As Universal Preschool Access Expands to Reach More Families of Color, So Do Inequitable Practices Such as Racial Bias, Exclusionary Discipline and Lack of Cultural Representation, Leading to a Crisis for Black Boys
As California progresses toward universal preschool access, the need increases for training, hiring and retaining early childhood male educators who are racially and ethnically representative of the children in their classrooms. A study examining preschool teachers’ implicit biases and expulsion rates found that teachers spent significantly more time watching Black children, especially boys, than other-race children when anticipating problematic behaviors. Further, researchers found that public preschool teachers’ systemic use of exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions and expulsions, disproportionately impacts Black children, with Black boys being expelled more than anyone else.
In efforts to reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions, last year the California Department of Education released a bulletin announcing new requirements for the California State Preschool Program (CSPP) that no longer allowed contractors to suspend, expel, or coerce parents and guardians to pick children up early from school due to their behavior. This is a step in the right direction. However, not all California preschool programs are funded by the state program and, therefore, many do not have to abide by those guidelines.
As a Black woman and a credentialed early childhood educator for more than 15 years in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties, I’ve witnessed Black children aged 3 to 5 years old be sentenced to in-school or out-of-school suspension because a teacher lacked the necessary skills or cultural competencies to work with them. I would often be the one who other teachers would send their children to when they were struggling. Though I did not have any extra or special training, I was often able to successfully help children reset and return to their classrooms at peace. Once, I worked with a Black male teacher who was more effective than I in this aspect, especially when dealing with boys.
Overall, our success was evidence of the mutual understanding and respect that the same-race teacher-child dynamic has. Perhaps from the child’s perspective, there’s a familiarity in our looks or mannerisms. Whatever the reason, such experiences speak to why Black children need educators who they can identify with.
As it stands, in many places the public preschool curriculum, like that of the public K-12, has long ignored Black history and culture. The state preschool curriculum framework developed by the California Department of Education in alignment with the K-12 Common Core State Standards attest to this. Writers of the California Preschool Learning Foundations, Volume 3, History-Social Science admit that “the developmental research on which these foundations are based is full of studies of English-speaking, middle-class European American children” and that “fewer studies focused on children who speak other languages or come from other family, racial, or cultural backgrounds.”
Training and hiring teachers and staff who represent the racial and cultural communities they serve is beneficial because they connect better with the students through incorporating culturally relevant pedagogy, which is generally not offered in typical school curriculum. This was my approach upon opening a child care facility specifically for Black families. I found that children engaged more with the learning content when they could relate to it. For example, children expressed an increased interest in reading materials and spent more time in the classroom library browsing through books when they saw characters they could identify with. And the boys in my program took a special liking to my teenage son.
We cannot ignore the fact that Black children are disproportionately suspended and expelled from preschools. It’s also true their communities are underrepresented in the curricula and with regard to same-race educators. For better social and academic outcomes for this vulnerable group, early childhood educational spaces need more Black male teachers.
This is a call for state agencies and schools to put resources into the community by training and hiring educators who reflect the student population they serve. This is a call for families and community members to volunteer their time at local preschools and early childhood centers.
With universal preschool access becoming a reality in California, the rest of the country is sure to follow. To support all preschool children, diversifying the teaching workforce is of the utmost importance right now.
•••
Sajdah Asmau is owner of an African-centered child care facility. She is in her first year as doctoral student in education student at UC Davis and serves as a Public Voices fellow on Racial Justice in Early Childhood with the OpEd Project in partnership with the National Black Child Development Institute.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Students are heading back to school or starting school for the first time in districts across California. Parent involvement is key to student success, and many get involved by volunteering in the classroom, tutoring or chaperoning field trips. But there are also other ways for parents to get involved. State law requires that schools and districts establish several committees to ensure parent voices are heard when making policy and funding decisions.
This is a quick guide to the different committees parents can join to have a say in school governance.
School Site Council
All schools must establish a School Site Council if they receive “categorical funding” from the federal or state government for programs like Title I (designated for low-income students), Title III (for English learners and immigrant students) and others. This council is made up of parents, teachers, staff members and the principal. High schools also include students on their site councils.
The School Site Council assesses needs in the school, including analyzing student test scores, and decides on goals to meet those needs. They also develop the School Plan for Student Achievement, which includes how funding will be spent to meet the goals. A school site council might decide, for example, to hire a reading intervention teacher, if they notice that reading scores are particularly low, or they might decide to focus on professional development for teachers, or instructional aides for English learners. These plans are ultimately submitted for approval by the school district.
The council meets regularly throughout the school year to ensure the plan is being carried out and evaluates the progress made toward goals.
English Learner Advisory Committee
All schools with 21 or more English learners must establish an English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC). This committee is made up of parents, staff and community members, but parents or guardians of English learners must make up at least the same percentage of the committee as English learners represent within the student body. This committee advises the principal and staff, helps develop a school plan for English learners and reviews how well the school is serving English learners.
Parents and guardians may also be elected at their school-level ELACs to join the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) in every district with at least 51 English learners. Parents or guardians must make up at least half of the members of the DELAC. This committee helps develop a district master plan for serving English learners and ensures the district is complying with laws regarding English learners. This committee also reviews and comments on the district’s policies for deciding when students are proficient enough in English to no longer be classified as English learners.
LCAP Parent Advisory Committee
California’s local control funding formula directs money to schools based on the number of students enrolled who are low-income, English learners, foster youth or homeless. Under state law, all districts that receive local control funding from the state must get input and advice from the Parent Advisory Committee on how to spend the money for these groups. The committee reviews and gives feedback on the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan, which details how the district plans to spend the funding.
Community Advisory Committee (for special education)
Every Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) — which could be one district, a group of districts, or include a county office of education — must have a Community Advisory Committee. They are made up of parents, teachers, students and adults with disabilities, as well as representatives from agencies that work with people with disabilities. These committees are focused on making recommendations and giving feedback on how districts are serving children with disabilities.
Migrant Parent Advisory Council
All districts that receive funding for migrant education programs must also establish a Migrant Parent Advisory Council, to plan and evaluate migrant education programs. Migrant education programs serve children whose parents or guardians are migratory workers in agricultural, dairy, lumber, or fishing industries and whose family has moved during the past three years. The goal is to reduce problems caused by repeated moves.
The council members are elected by parents of children enrolled in the migrant education program, and two thirds of the members must be parents of migrant children.
In addition, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction also has a State Parent Advisory Council to evaluate the statewide migrant education program. Two thirds of this statewide council must also be made up by parents of migrant children.
Parent Teacher Association or Organization
Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), Parent Teacher Student Associations (PTSAs) and Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) are organizations based at schools that help organize volunteers for classrooms or for school events, raise funds for school supplies, field trips and extracurricular activities, and even help with communication between schools and families. PTAs and PTSAs are affiliated with the state and national PTA. PTOs are the same type of group but not affiliated with the larger organization.
