Adventures in Ed Funding

On the last night of August, the California State Legislature wrapped up its 2019-2020 legislative session in a flurry. Many bills were passed and sent to the Governor, but several difficult issues were left unresolved. In this episode, CASBO’s dynamic team of advocates Sara Bachez and Elizabeth Esquivel share highlights. What were some of the legislature’s final actions (or inactions)? What are potential education budget and fiscal implications? And what is a frenzied last night of session in Sacramento really like, especially during this time of physical distancing?

Plus, Palm Springs USD Nutrition Services Director Stephanie Bruce joins us again to describe some recent good news out of Washington D.C. related to school meals.

KEY RESOURCES

• For details about education and budget bills that were (or were not) passed out of the legislature, read CASBO's "End of the 2019-20 Legislative Session NewsBreak." This NewsBreak also includes details about Gov. Newsom's new  “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” released on Aug. 28. 
• Additional information about budget and finance bills discussed on this episode:
  • SB 115 -- Makes technical amendments to K-12 education and early education associated with the Budget Act of 2020.
  • SB 820 -- Makes clarifying changes to education programs adopted as part of the Budget Act of 2020. These changes are described in more detail in the CASBO Newsbreak: New Education Budget Changes are Released in SB 820
• "Legislature fixes funding problem for growing districts and some charter schools," Sept. 2 EdSource article by John Fensterwald
• "USDA Extends Free Meals for Kids Through Dec. 31, 2020" press release from USDA

OUR GUESTS:

• Sara Bachez, CASBO Chief Government Relations Officer 
• Elizabeth Esquivel, CASBO Senior Director of Policy and Governance
• Stephanie Bruce, Nutrition Services Director, Palm Springs USD. Learn more about Stephanie on our March episode, "The Meals Must Go On"
• Plus a cameo appearance by Jeff Vaca, Chief Governmental Relations Officer, Riverside County Office of Education

ABOUT CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officialsis the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO.


YOUR SERIES GUIDE
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. [email protected] and @pjr100

Veteran local school board member Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez helps us explore the education landscape during and after COVID-19 from a local governance perspective. What has worked well? What big challenges remain? How are local school boards navigating safety and instructional guidelines and finding new ways to engage their communities in a physical-distance environment? Plus, given the natural push and pull that exists between local and state decision-making authority, we pose the question: Has California been striking the right balance during this crisis to best meet the needs of our students and communities?

Recently on the podcast we’ve highlighted important lessons learned by students, teachers, superintendents, chief business officials, state leaders and more. Xilonin, who also serves as President of the California School Boards Association, adds her insight from the local governing board perspective. She offers cautious optimism that, despite the current moment, California can ultimately achieve full and fair school funding for students. Xilonin also emphasizes the importance for boards of transparency, constant and clear communication and involving all stakeholders – plus, making decisions using an equity frame.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez has served as a school board member since 2001 in Azusa USD in Los Angeles County. She currently serves as CSBA President and has served as past president of the California Latino School Boards Association. In addition, she is the Deputy Director for Californians Together, a statewide coalition focused on the goal of better educating California’s 1.1 million English Learners by improving schools and promoting equitable educational policy. Xilonin is proud to be both a fifth-generation Azusa resident and the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. Read more about Xilonin in this interview.

MORE RESOURCES

• CASBO webinars and resources related to COVID-19
• Other Adventures in Ed Funding episodes:
  • Back to School Planning: A View From the CBO’s Chair
  • Checking In with State Board President Linda Darling Hammond
  • A Student, Teacher and Principal Reflect on Going Back to School
• CDPH Re-Opening In-Person Learning Framework, July
• “Unprecedented times call for sharing our best work," CSBA blog article by Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez
• Coronavirus Response and School Reopening Guidance website, CDE
• CSBA Distance Learning and Reopening Schools webinars: medium and large districts and small districts and county offices

ABOUT CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO.

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Share your feedback at [email protected]. Follow at @pj

As California school districts work to safely reopen schools during COVID-19, the alarming specter of costly litigation looms, even as districts follow all state and local health and safety guidelines.

In this episode, Santa Clara USD Chief Business Official Eric Dill helps us wade through the murky liability waters brought on by the pandemic. We explore some basics about school district insurance and risk management, and the implications for students, educators and taxpayers of potential COVID-19 litigation. Plus, we'll hear how Assembly Bill 1384, introduced by Assembly Education Committee Chair Patrick O'Donnell, could provide much-needed, temporary legal protection for school districts during this most perilous time.

It's a matter of urgency, Eric explains, for legislators to act on AB 1384 before the legislative session ends.

"In public education, insurance dollars are public dollars. That same LCFF funding that goes to school districts to hire teachers, buy mobile devices, buy textbooks -- it's the same funding that we have to carve out for insurance," Eric says. "When our losses go up, our premiums go up, and that means fewer dollars are left for our core mission of preparing students for college, careers and the community. This is why everyone needs to be concerned when we are exposed to liability for doing what is a constitutional requirement."

MORE INFO and VALUABLE RESOURCES

• Reopening California's Schools: A SISC and Kern CSS Discussion on Liability Issues to Consider, CASBO Summer Series Webinar
• Coalition Letter from 230-plus organizations in Support of AB 1384
• Letter signed by 40+ legislators urging a hearing for AB 1384
• COVID-19 lawsuits: a school district worry, EdSource podcast episode
• California Department of Public Health COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Schools and School-Based Programs, June 5, 2020

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Eric Dill is the Chief Business Official in Santa Clara USD; he'll begin a new role as CBO at Santa Clara COE next month. Previously Eric served for more than 16 years in San Dieguito Union HSD in several positions, including superintendent, associate superintendent of business services, director of risk management and as a loss control analyst. He began his career in private sector risk management. He is a proud graduate of San Diego State University. He also serves on the CASBO Board of Directors. Learn more about Eric in the CASBO Career Chronicle.

ABOUT CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officialsis the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO.

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Share your feedback at [email protected]. Follow at @pjr100

What are some of the vital operational elements that school business leaders must keep moving forward and aligned as their districts implement school safety and back to school plans? In this episode, Lafayette School District Chief Business Official and CASBO Vice President Diane Deshler helps us explore the ongoing work of a school business office during these days of pandemic and economic crisis. 

How has her school district approached planning and navigated changing circumstances? What types of health and safety protocols are being put in place and what guidance is available if a new outbreak occurs? What are some implications for human resources and collective bargaining? And what keeps CBOs like Diane awake at night? 

This insightful journey will help illuminate these and other timely topics. Plus, we'll discuss new Learning Loss and Mitigation Funds and learn about Diane's somewhat unusual (and tasty) pathway into public education and becoming a CBO. 

KEY RESOURCE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Reopening California's Schools: A FCMAT Discussion on Understanding & Planning for Federal Funding -- CASBO Webinar with Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team CEO Michael Fine

OTHER VALUABLE LINKS:

• Reopening California's Schools: A Discussion on Political Insights for 2020-21 -- Webinar with CASBO's Governmental Relations team, Sara Bachez and Elizabeth Esquivel
• California Department of Education's Coronavirus Response and School Reopening Guidance webpage

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Diane Deshler is the Chief Business Official (CBO) at Lafayette School District, which serves about 3,500 Kindergarten through eighth-grade students in Contra Costa County in Northern California. She also serves as CASBO Vice President and has been a member of CASBO for 24 years. She is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego. Following college and working at a publishing company, Diane changed her career focus and attended professional chef school in California and Paris, France. Diane worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley as the Pastry Chef, and at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County as Head Chef. Her path to serving students started with her interest in student nutrition and school lunch. From working in school lunch to a variety of school business areas, Diane graduated from the CASBO/FCMAT CBO Mentor Program and is in her 6th year as a school district CBO. 

Diane grew up in the Bay Area. She currently lives in the East Bay and has two children in college; both will attend classes through distance learning as they begin the new school year. If Diane had the opportunity for vacation, she would be spending her free time in the mountains or at the beach with her family.

ABOUT CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO. Discover the many critical resources, advocacy updates and professional development opportunities at www.casbo.org.

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Share your feedback at [email protected]. Follow at @pjr100

She serves as President of the California State Board of Education, President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, and is one of the nation’s leading education researchers...In this episode Dr. Linda Darling Hammond shares what’s on her mind as plans for the new school year continue to take shape. How is distance learning going? What have other countries done to re-open their campuses safely and what else should our federal government do to support efforts here? Plus, we explore the role everyone in schools plays in providing social-emotional supports to students; key objectives for the new Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans that districts must adopt before October – and fact-checking presidential tweets about education.

With back to school season upon us, local and state leaders are working tirelessly to ensure as Gov. Newsom has said, “learning is non-negotiable” while prioritizing the health and safety of students and staff during this time of COVID-19.


In a recent Forbes article, “The Urgency of Reopening Schools Safely,” Linda discussed what other countries are doing to re-open their school campuses. She makes the compelling case that “where these re-openings have succeeded, governments have been responsive to addressing the significant financial needs.” Yet, with nearly $2.8 trillion in federal aid dedicated to the recovery so far in the U.S., less than half of one percent of the total funding has been allocated specifically for K-12 education.

MORE RESOURCES

• Reopening California's Schools: A Discussion on Political Insights for 2020-21, CASBO webinar
• Reopening California's Schools: A FCMAT Discussion on Understanding & Planning for Federal Funding, CASBO Webinar
• CDE's Coronavirus Response and School Reopening Guidance webpage

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Dr. Linda Darling Hammond was appointed by Gov. Newsom to the State Board of Education in February 2019, and currently serves as President. She is President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), an organization that conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve educational policy and practice. Linda is also the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University where she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as the faculty sponsor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She is past president of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, and Research-to-Policy. Full bio here.

ABOUT CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow at @p

With so much information, guidance and politics swirling about how the new school year will begin due to COVID-19, it can feel stressful, overwhelming or in the words of one district superintendent, as if we are often “scrambling remotely.” In this episode, we invite you to – breathe in deeply and exhale slowly – as we "recenter" ourselves and connect with three truly inspiring individuals: a student, teacher and principal. Each shares unique and powerful experiences about what they are learning during the crisis and how can we build on it. Our guests also help explore how to stay focused on what matters most as this unique back to school season gets underway.

MEET OUR SPECIAL GUESTS

• Rosie Reid, National board-certified English and English language development teacher at Ygnacio High School in Mt. Diablo USD and 2019 California Teacher of the Year -- [email protected], @msreidenglish;
• Amy Rovai Gregory, Principal at Greer Elementary School in San Juan USD -- [email protected]; and 
• Angel, a high school student in Northern California

Watch more about Rosie Reid on this episode of the public TV series Inside California Education.

About CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. CASBO is dedicated to promoting excellence and professionalism in all aspects of school business. Founded in 1928, CASBO serves more than 23,000 members by providing certifications and training, promoting business best practices and creating opportunities for professional collaboration. CASBO members represent every facet of school business management and operations. The association offers public school leaders an entire career's worth of growth opportunities. Follow at @CASBO.

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant.  Follow him at @pjr100.

We value your feedback! Share your comments and ideas at [email protected]. 

Proposition 15 on the November 3, 2020 statewide ballot would generate billions in new funding for schools and other local services by changing the way commercial and industrial property taxes are assessed. How would Proposition 15 work? And how is the campaign shaping up?

In this episode, guests David Goldberg, Vice-President of the 310,000-member California Teachers Association (CTA); Saa’un Bell, Strategy Director for Californians for Justice; and Tim Gage, longtime fiscal policy expert and former director of the State Department of Finance take us on a journey into the heart of Schools and Communities First.

A broad-based coalition of organizations have been driving this effort. Proponents say the initiative would revise Proposition 13 (passed in 1978) to require larger, older corporate and commercial property owners to pay their fair share in property taxes. When fully implemented, the measure would generate about $11.5 billion in new revenues for education and community services, with public schools receiving about 40 percent of those new dollars. 

Throughout our series, we’ve examined how California, which once ranked among the top states in per-student funding prior to Proposition 13, slid into a decades-long school funding decline. We repeatedly pose the question: What will it take for California to get back among the top-spending states, so we can provide the level of resources that research shows all students need to succeed? Proposition 15 may be a critical component of that answer.

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

An educator for more than 20 years, CTA Vice President David B. Goldberg has spent most of his career as a bilingual teacher at Murchison Elementary in the Los Angeles USD. In addition to serving two terms on the CTA Board, he also served as treasurer of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) and was the youngest executive officer to ever hold office in that union.

As a former English Language Learner student from Long Beach USD and first generation college graduate, Saa’un Bell is committed to building a public education infrastructure where all students have opportunities to fulfill their highest aspirations. Saa’un joined CFJ in 2009; currently, she oversees all communications & narrative strategy for regional and statewide campaigns. Listen to more from Saa'un about LCFF.

Principal and co-founder of Blue Sky Consulting, Tim Gage is a highly regarded public servant, having spent over 24 years as a top fiscal advisor in both houses of the California Legislature and as the Director of the California Department of Finance from 1999-2003. He specializes in state-local relations and tax policy.

About CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO.

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Contact him at [email protected]. We value your feedback! Follow at @pjr100

The new state budget agreement will include up to $11.1 billion in K-12 payment "deferrals." But what exactly are deferrals? How do they help the state balance its budget? And what are the implications for local school districts?

In this special “explainer” episode, guest Matt Phillips, director of management consulting services at School Services of California, is back to describe everything you need to know about this highly significant but seldom understood fiscal mechanism. 

Matt provides clear examples that will help finance-minded and non-finance-minded folks alike gain a solid grasp of the ins and outs of payment deferrals, including how they differ from budget cuts. Deferrals, Matt says, are the "lesser of two evils," but they pose their own significant complications for school districts.

Given the pending adoption of a new California State Budget, this is an episode you won’t want to postpone listening to.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What is a payment deferral?
• How do deferrals help the state to balance its budget? 
• Are deferrals similar to budget cuts?
• What are the implications of deferrals for school districts?
• Why do school districts need to pay such close attention to their "cash positions"?
• What options do school districts have to mitigate the impact of deferrals?

Latest state budget information:

• CASBO Newsbreak: "Governor Newsom and Legislature Reach Budget Agreement"
• "In California budget deal, no cuts for K-12 but billions in pate payments to schools" by John Fensterwald in EdSource, June 23, 2020

About Our Guest

Matt Phillips, CPA, serves as Director of Management Consulting Services at School Services. In this role, he provides support to school districts for fiscal-related matters including budget reviews, salary schedule analyses, organizational reviews, and negotiations. He also presents workshops across the state on a variety of topics including the Local Control and Accountability Plan, collective bargaining, district budgeting, and auditing. His background as a Certified Public Accountant, experience working in a school district, and completion of the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team Chief Business Official (CBO) Mentor Program that resulted in the CASBO CBO certificate provide the foundation for these areas. Matt graduated from California State University, Chico, with a degree in business administration with emphasis in accounting.

About CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO and @CASBOGR

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Contact him at [email protected]. We value your feedback! Follow him at @pjr100

When schools start up again, we do not have to go back to business as usual in our educational system. Instead, the disruption caused by COVID-19 provides an opportunity for us all to see, engage and act differently to produce success for all students in the system, not just some. That's the call to action brought forward in this episode by our special guest Hugh Vasquez, senior associate with the National Equity Project. He says, "The crucial question confronting us at the moment, is not can we prepare to come back differently, but will we?"

Hugh illuminates key points from his recent article, “What If We…Don’t Return To Business As Usual,” including strategies for encouraging collaborative inquiry across the district, and practical tips for pumping up those strategic equity leadership muscles. 

Who or what exactly is the “system” and how does it perpetuate inequities among students? Can the disturbance caused by COVID-19 actually push us to innovate and make change?  And what are the biggest challenges to bringing about the monumental culture shift to a more equitable system? 

We also explore more deeply what business NOT as usual might look like in a classroom or in a district, including a shift to organizing around how students engage and project based learning.

About Our Guest

Hugh Vasquez joined the National Equity Project as a Senior Associate in 2010 with responsibility for developing and expanding their Leading for Equity projects. He works with a range of school district and nonprofit partners to plan and implement racial equity initiatives. Previously, Hugh served as Executive Director of the San Francisco Education Fund, a non-profit working to bring educational equity to public schools. Hugh is also a partner with the Center for Diversity Leadership and the founder of the Todos Institute in Oakland, whose mission is to help individuals and groups heal from the effects of oppression, build cross-cultural alliances, and create environments where youths and adults from all cultures are honored, valued, and respected. Hugh has worked with hundreds of organizations to establish diversity initiatives and has provided training to thousands of individuals. He is a presenter with Speak Out, a national organization providing top speakers on social justice topics, and a primary cast member in the award-winning film The Color of Fear. He has co-authored the books No Boundaries: Unlearning Oppression and Building Multicultural Alliances and Making Allies Making Friends: A Curriculum For Middle Schools, as well as published various articles on strengthening cultural roots and eliminating privileged systems. Hugh has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. [email protected]; @hughjvasquez.

About CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders. Follow at @CASBO and @CASBOGR

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Contact him at [email protected]. We value your feedback! Follow him at @pjr100

What will school bus service look like when schools re-open? What will it take to get those yellow buses we all miss back on the roads?

In this episode, two California school transportation experts lead us on an adventure into “Bus World.” We explore how school districts are planning to meet the many challenges posed by COVID-19 so that California students can be safely transported to and from their school campuses.  

Guests Matt Sanchez, Director of Transportation for Elk Grove USD and Kevin Sellstrom, Transportation Specialist in the El Dorado Union High School District, illuminate key issues and considerations for school communities, including: 

• How new safety guidelines could dramatically impact bus service and routes 
• Options and strategies being considered to re-start bus service
• Prioritizing the needs of those who depend most on buses
• Scheduling and routing in a time of uncertainty
• Keeping buses clean and disinfected
• Collaborating with all departments
• Special challenges for rural communities, and
• Navigating the difficult funding crossroads (trying to do more with less).

Bus drivers are the most visible and integral part of the school transportation team. We discuss whether the role of drivers will change during the pandemic. Plus, many districts in the state and nation face a serious school bus driver shortage. Matt describes the training and support drivers may need to help their students adjust to changes in school bus services -- and he offers an impromptu call to those who may be interested in a rewarding career as a school bus driver.

We also explore essential operations that school district transportation departments have carried out during the time of campus closures, including the vital role of mechanics. All along the route, Matt reminds us to embrace a mindset of flexibility during these difficult and uncertain times.

We also include a brief "explainer" to help you gain a better understanding about key elements of California's school bus system, including what school districts are required to provide for students.

Coronavirus Response and School Reopening Guidance from California Department of Education

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Matt Sanchez has led the Elk Grove USD transportation department since 2018; he also served in the district previously between 1988-2002. In addition, he served as a Transportation Consultant for the California Department of Education for 11 years, and also as Director of Transportation for Rocklin USD. Matt is currently the CASBO State Chair for Transportation, and also serves on the Communications, Advocacy and Public Relations Subcommittee for STARTS, the Student Transportation Aligned for Return to School, which includes collaboration between the National Association for Pupil Transportation, National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services and the National School Transportation Association. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in business form CSU Sacramento. ([email protected])

Kevin Sellstrom began his career in education as a special education instructional assistant. He has also served as a bus driver, scheduling technician, MOT supervisor and transportation specialist in multiple California School districts. ([email protected])

About CASBO

The California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) is the premier resource for professional development and business best practices for California's school business leaders.

About your series guide
Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Contact him at [email protected]. We value your feedback!