A surprisingly fast economic rebound advantaging higher-income Californians will create a huge unexpected state budget surplus that will provide an unexpected $13.1 billion in one-time revenue for K-12 schools and community colleges in the fiscal year starting July 1, 2021, the Legislative Analyst’s Office reported on Wednesday. While tempering its forecast because of the pandemic’s…
November 18, 2020
With DeVos out, Biden plans series of reversals on education
President Trump tried to bully schools into opening their buildings, a hard-edge pandemic tactic that succeeded in places and backfired elsewhere. President-elect Joe Biden is hoping to pry them open with money for increased coronavirus expenses and clear guidance on how in-person schooling can resume safely, a shift that signals a new era for education…
November 18, 2020
With COVID-19 surging, schools nationwide suspend in-person education
With COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations spiking to record numbers across the U.S. and abroad, many school districts are temporarily shutting down in-person classes as holidays loom. Such decisions are complicated by a host of conflicting concerns — namely, safety versus the potential educational and economic damage from schooling children at home, in front of computers,…
EdSource’s Louis Freedberg talked with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond on Nov. 16, just hours after Gov. Newsom announced that California was pulling the “emergency brake” on reopening schools and other businesses and institutions in the face of a dramatic surge in Covid-19 infections. Click here for a transcript of the conversation…
New school bonds will help pay for computing devices and internet connectivity that schools from California to Texas to New Hampshire need to continue remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic. School-finance experts have long questioned the wisdom of districts issuing long-term debt to fund the purchase of devices and other equipment that have a short…
November 18, 2020
Updates on AB 1505, charter school petitions and renewals
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in August that an agreement had been reached with legislative leadership on Assembly Bill 1505 (O’Donnell, D-Long Beach), a bill that would make substantial changes to processes governing charter school petitions and renewals. The amended version of AB 1505 is now in print. CSBA adopted a position of “Support and Seek…
November 18, 2020
LAO Analyzes State Education Spending Plan
Four months into the fiscal year, K–12 and community college practitioners across California are intimately familiar with the most significant aspects of the 2020–21 State Budget pertaining to education as they prepare to absorb over $12 billion in deferred state payments and adjust their local spending plans in accordance with the resources available through the…
Furniture decommission seems like a straightforward process until it’s time to decide what to do with the surplus furniture. Do you try to liquidate it? Donate it? Store it? Recycle or even throw it out? Each project is different and the answer depends on your circumstances. Decisions rely on cost analysis, along with how the…
November 18, 2020
California bond election results from this month’s election
The election for CA bonds is over and CASH and SSC have created lists reporting on the results from all school districts in the state. The first list is from CASH showing districts highlighted in yellow that are too close to call and the second list is distributed by SSC. Click here for the CASH…
Linda Darling-Hammond, a leading figure in California education policy, is heading the education transition team for President-elect Joe Biden, where she is expected to emphasize support for teachers and traditional public schools. Darling-Hammond, president of the state Board of Education, has long been associated with research and advocacy in support of top-tier teacher preparation, continued…