Category Archives: Governor Brown

Law helps with Solano special education center project – Daily Republic

Posted on by

By Daily Republic Staff

The Solano County Office of Education is one step closer to building a new special education campus at the site of Irene Larsen Educational Center in Vacaville.

“The current plan is to tear down the current buildings and build a new building at the (site),” said Tommy Welch, associate superintendent of administrative services and operations for the county agency.

All the special education classrooms will be placed in a single building with one entry point for added security, Welch said. The plans will be submitted to the Division of the State Architect for review, after which a pre-bid budget for the project will be established.

Source: Law helps with Solano special education center project

Brown signs Frazier bill allowing juvenile court students to earn diploma – The Reporter

Posted on by

By Richard Bammer

The possibility of juvenile court youths to receive a high school diploma got a littler easier Thursday, when Gov. Brown signed into law AB 2306 by Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D Solano.

The new law requires school districts to exempt a student from local high school graduation requirements once the student transfers to the district from a juvenile court school.

“By allowing these students to earn a diploma after meeting statewide graduation requirements, this bill increases their likelihood of continuing their education and getting ready for the workforce while simultaneously decreasing their chances of recidivism,” Frazier said in a press release.

Existing law authorizes local school districts to establish graduation requirements in addition to statewide requirements.

 

Source: Brown signs Frazier bill allowing juvenile court students to earn diploma

Governor signs measures benefitting Solano County – The Reporter

Posted on by

Governor Jerry Brown Thursday signed into law legislation by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Solano, to protect public agencies from fraud and enable the Solano County Office of Education to modernize and construct new facilities at a local special education center.

Wolk’s Senate Bill 441 responded to a shortcoming in current law that resulted in the City of Dixon falling victim to a scheme attempting to defraud the city of $1.3 million, an intended payment to a legitimate vendor with which the city contracts.

“This measure balances the public’s right to information about the contractors, vendors, and their affiliates hired by public agencies with the need to prevent the misuse of those entities’ identification information to defraud public agencies,” said Wolk.

Investigations of the scam targeting the City of Dixon revealed that the perpetrators developed their scheme using public information available online — including the unique identification number the city used for the vendor.

 

Source: Governor signs measures benefitting Solano County

CPR Training Now Mandatory In High School Health Classes In California – Dixon, CA Patch

Posted on by

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Saturday AB 1719, a law that requires hands-on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instruction, along with Automated External Defibrillator awareness in high school health classes, an American Heart Association spokeswoman said.

California is the 35th state to provide CPR training in schools, along with Washington, D.C., spokeswoman Robin Swanson said. State Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona) authored the bill.

Source: CPR Training Now Mandatory In High School Health Classes In California – Dixon, CA Patch

Governor signs emergency allergy medicine legislation but rebukes Epi-Pen price hikes | EdSource

Posted on by

Gov. Jerry Brown berated the manufacturer of a life-saving emergency allergy treatment on Friday for price gouging, even as he signed legislation to make it easier for afterschool programs, daycare centers, colleges and businesses to obtain the treatment.

The pharmaceutical company Mylan raised the price of a two-pack of Epi-Pen epinephrine auto-injectors from $100 in 2008 to more than $600 today, Brown wrote in his signing message. Epi-Pens, which reportedly face little competition in the market, deliver a dose of epinephrine to counteract anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that includes difficulty breathing.

“State government cannot stop unconscionable price increases but it can shed light on such rapacious corporate behavior,” Brown’s message said.

Source: Governor signs emergency allergy medicine legislation but rebukes Epi-Pen price hikes | EdSource

Law to increase charter school accountability awaits governor’s signature – The Reporter

Posted on by

By Richard Bammer

Lack of accountability and transparency at California charter schools is hurting students, a group of state officials, educators, civil rights leaders said Thursday, noting that a new law awaits Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature that will require all charter schools to be open to greater public scrutiny.

In a national media teleconference, Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, the author of Assembly Bill 709, said some of the state’s 1,200 charter schools fail to make financial and administrative records open to the public, in violation of the law.

“They cannot be excused from accountability,” he said.

The bill would increase transparency and accountability to parents and to disclose how the schools spend taxpayer money, including budgets and contracts. Additionally, it prohibits charter school board members and their families from profiting from their schools, and requires charter schools to comply with California’s open meetings, open records and conflict-of-interest laws.

Source: Law to increase charter school accountability awaits governor’s signature – The Reporter

 

Key education bills still alive – and some that aren’t | EdSource

Posted on by

The Legislature has less than three weeks to act on important remaining education bills. Many of the major education bills that were introduced at the start of the year, such as teacher evaluation reforms, either have died or, like more money for college preparatory courses, been incorporated into next year’s state budget. Of a dozen noteworthy bills still alive when the Legislature went on vacation in July, several were killed without explanation by the Assembly and Senate Appropriations committees in a crush of activity last week. Here’s a status report on nine of the survivors and three of the deceased.

Updated on Aug. 16 with a correction for AB 1426.

Ban on for-profit virtual charter schools

AB 1084, by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, would ban for-profit companies from operating online charter schools. In an effort to also ban for-profit online companies from setting up nonprofit affiliates, the bill also would prevent a nonprofit online charter school from contracting with a for-profit entity that provides instructional services.

Source: Key education bills still alive – and some that aren’t | EdSource

As deadline looms, California struggles to finalize new school accountability system | EdSource

Posted on by

By Louis Freedberg

California is on the verge of finalizing what leading educators believe is the most ambitious attempt in the nation to use multiple dimensions to measure how well – or poorly – a school or district is doing, rather than focusing primarily on test scores.

“All across the country people are paying attention to what California is doing,” Linda Darling-Hammond, the president of the Learning Policy Institute, said at a recent California School Boards Association conference.

The deadline for approving the plan is barely two months away, as required by a state law championed by Gov. Jerry Brown that implemented the Local Control Funding Formula, which reformed both the way schools are funded and how progress will be measured.

The state’s goal has been to come up with a system that will require schools and districts to measure how they are doing on eight “priority areas“ ranging from test scores to less definable measures such as school climate.

Source: As deadline looms, California struggles to finalize new school accountability system | EdSource

Brown signs 2016-17 state budget intact | EdSource

Posted on by

By John Fensterwald

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed the $171 billion state budget for the year starting July 1 without deleting any spending items. The budget, which the Legislature passed on June 15, directs an additional $3 billion into the state’s rainy-day reserve – one of the governor’s top priorities. The reserve will rise to $6.7 billion by June 2017.

The Sacramento Bee reported that the last time a governor signed an intact budget, without penciling out spending, was 1982, during Brown’s second term as governor.

The budget includes $71.9 billion through Proposition 98, the main source of money for K-12 and community colleges. That’s $3.5 billion more than the Legislature approved last year and is a 4 percent increase. The budget also commits to increasing the number of slots for state preschool by nearly 9,000 over the next four years, a victory for advocates of early education and their ally, the Legislative Women’s Caucus.

Source: Brown signs 2016-17 state budget intact | EdSource

Gov. Brown agrees to add money for child care, preschool in budget | EdSource

Posted on by

By John Fensterwald

Advocates for expanding early childhood education and for better preparing low-income high school students for state universities wrested substantial money in the compromise state budget, announced Thursday, that legislative leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown have negotiated. The Legislature will vote next week on the $122 billion plan for the fiscal year starting July 1.

Although less than they wanted, members of the Legislative Women’s Caucus got a down payment on a half-billion dollar increase for child care and state-funded preschools over the next four years. By 2019-20, that will include ramping up to an additional 8,877 slots for full-day state preschool and increases in reimbursement rates for child-care providers to reflect increases in the state minimum wage. The first 2,969 preschool slots will open up in March 2017.

“This is going to be the biggest appropriation in a decade,” Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens,vice chairwoman of the Women’s Caucus, told the Los Angeles Times, referring to the increased costs in future years. “We’re trying to be progressive and think about the future.”

Source: Gov. Brown agrees to add money for child care, preschool in budget | EdSource

Governor’s budget proposal may affect future of transitional kindergarten | EdSource

Posted on by

By Susan Frey

After years of effort to implement transitional kindergarten, Gov. Jerry Brown wants to eliminate the requirement that school districts offer the program, which provides an extra year of public school for 4-year-olds with fall birthdays. His proposal would also allow districts that offer it to charge enrollment fees for parents who aren’t low-income.

The proposal, which is part of the 2016-17 state budget, creates uncertainty for the future of transitional kindergarten. Many early education advocates saw it as a first step toward establishing a publicly funded program for all 4-year-olds. Just this past year, legislators allowed districts to expand the program to younger 4-year-olds, with some funding restrictions. And a recent research report found the program was effective in preparing students for kindergarten.

“The governor’s proposal comes squarely in the face of a fully implemented program that no one wants to give up,” said Erin Gabel, deputy director of external and governmental affairs at First 5 California. “Eliminating it as an entitlement with a stable funding source is a step backwards.”

Source: Governor’s budget proposal may affect future of transitional kindergarten | EdSource

Bold action needed on early childhood education | EdSource

Posted on by

By Andrea Ball

This is a year of unexpected opportunity to strengthen early childhood programs and policy in California. The new federal education law, Governor Jerry Brown’s surprising early education budget proposal and the continued commitment of the Legislature to early childhood programs together offer a unique chance for state policymakers and local educators to deepen support for early learning programs and address achievement gaps.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, the title of the federal law, contains new recognition of the importance of early childhood education. There is new language encouraging the use of federal education funds at the local level to help children successfully transition from pre-kindergarten programs into elementary school. School districts will also have to address these transitions in federally required local plans. State agencies will have to outline how they will support local efforts in early childhood education. And for the first time, federal professional development funds will include preschool administrators and teachers, including those who work with pre-kindergarten dual-language children.

via Bold action needed on early childhood education | EdSource.

Governor’s 2016-17 budget on TUSD agenda tonight – The Reporter

Posted on by

By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, will hear how latest state budget numbers may affect the 5,100-student district with two elementary campuses in Vacaville.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s new budget, at $122.6 billion and due for revision in May, sets aside $1.2 billion in discretionary, one-time use for California schools, equal to $214 per ADA. That translates to nearly $1.1 million for the Fairfield district’s schools.

The five-member governing board must adopt its 2016-17 budget on or before June 30.

Some state education officials believe Brown’s budget underestimates Proposition 98 revenues for the current and coming fiscal years, but it was unclear from agenda documents if Ken Forrest, the district’s chief business official, would make that case.

via Governor’s 2016-17 budget on TUSD agenda tonight.

Brown praises return to local control in State of the State | EdSource

Posted on by

By John Fensterwald

Gov. Jerry Brown pointed to significant increases in K-12 spending over the past four years and the state’s leadership in returning schools to local control during his annual State of the State address Thursday in which he emphasized the need for frugality and a continued attention to “how we pay for the commitments we have already made.” (Go here for full text of the address.)

With education a relatively small theme in his 20-minute speech, Brown called on legislators to direct their attention to repairing “our deteriorating infrastructure,” taking further action to confront the state’s water shortage and paying for escalating costs and increased health-care coverage under the state’s Medi-Cal program. He has submitted proposals for all three issues.

In a section on education, Brown credited a strong economy and the passage of temporary taxes under Proposition 30 for a 51 percent overall increase in spending on public schools and community colleges over the last four years. Spending would rise from post-recession low point of $47 billion to $72 billion in the proposed 2016-17 budget. Brown has directed most of the money to the Local Control Funding Formula, which channels extra money to English learners and low-income children “to enable educators to overcome the barriers” that these children face,%

via Brown praises return to local control in State of the State | EdSource.

Brown says it’s time to abandon API to judge schools’ performance | EdSource

Posted on by

By John Fensterwald

Members of the State Board of Education who favor replacing the three-digit Academic Performance Index with a “dashboard” of measurements highlighting school performance can count on the backing of Gov. Jerry Brown.

The K-12 summary (pages 22-23) of Brown’s proposed 2016-17 state budget, released last week, stated, “The state system should include a concise set of performance measures, rather than a single index.” Brown said the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act creates the opportunity to design a “more accurate picture of school performance and progress” than in the past.

But whether the state should or even can switch, under the new federal law, from a single index like the API to a more complex school improvement system will be a potentially contentious issue this year. Both approaches to accountability, the dashboard with multiple measures – such as test scores, high school graduation rates and an indicator of student readiness for college and jobs – and a single index compiled from a mix of factors, have strong advocates.

via Brown says it’s time to abandon API to judge schools’ performance | EdSource.

Reissued state list of subpar schools confounds local educators – The Reporter

Posted on by

By Richard Bammer

The recent reissuing of a list of California’s lowest-achieving schools, including 10 in Solano County, has left Vacaville-area educators scratching their heads because the list uses 2013 data that is based on a test no longer in use.

The list — re-released Monday by the state Department of Education after a prominent Republican state senator threatened a lawsuit late last year — identifies 1,000 “open enrollment schools,” named after a state law passed in 2010, and makes it easier for students to transfer from their neighborhood school to another with a higher academic ratings. The best-known provision of the Open Enrollment Act is the so-called “parent trigger,” which allows parents of children in low-performing schools to intervene.

State education officials reluctantly reissued the list under pressure from state Sen. Bob Huff of San Dimas, most recently the Republican Senate leader, and school improvement groups.

via Reissued state list of subpar schools confounds local educators.

California Faces School Renovation Needs, Tight Budget – Education News

Posted on by

By Grace Smith

California’s system of school construction and maintenance is subpar and unfair, with low-income districts often under-funding construction but overspending on patching facilities that need major restorations, according to a study by Jeffrey Vincent, deputy director of the Center for Cities + Schools in the Institute of Urban and Regional Development at U.C. Berkeley.

  • “California must bolster – not recede from – its role in the state-local funding partnership for K-12 school facilities. Moving forward, the state should ensure that all school districts can reasonably meet both maintenance and capital investment needs” by combining local dollars with “stable and predictable state funding.”

The study was published as new data has been released showing inequality in facilities funding in the state. It is possible that school construction could be a controversial issue in the Legislature next year, writes John Fensterwald of EdSource.

via California Faces School Renovation Needs, Tight Budget.

Brown urged to ‘reaffirm the vision’ of funding law | EdSource

Posted on by

By John Fensterwald

A team of researchers found that, two years into the state’s new school financing law, “nagging concerns” are tempering the enthusiasm that school districts and county offices of education have for the Local Control Funding Formula.

In their final report, due out in several weeks, they will urge Gov. Jerry Brown and the State Board of Education to “reaffirm the vision” of the new funding law – shifting decisions to the local level, closer to the classroom – or risk losing the opportunity “if we don’t get it right.”

via Brown urged to ‘reaffirm the vision’ of funding law | EdSource.

Governor signs bill to help schools hire more school nurses – The Reporter

Posted on by

By Reporter Staff

Last week Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law legislation by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Davis, to help schools take a lead role in managing chronic childhood diseases and hire more school nurses.

“One of the leading causes of absenteeism in our schools is chronic illness,” Wolk said. “Increasing the number of nurses in our schools will positively affect attendance, graduation rates, and academic performance, particularly in California’s most needy school districts.”

Senate Bill 276, signed last Thursday, allows school districts, County Offices of Educations, and other Local Education Agency Medi-Cal providers (LEAs) to receive reimbursement for services provided to all Medi-Cal eligible students. LEAs currently cannot bill Medi-Cal for health services provided to special education students if those services are also provided to regular education students.

via Governor signs bill to help schools hire more school nurses.

California Governor Signs Health for All Kids Bill – New America Media

Posted on by

By Viji Sundaram

In May 2016, California will become the fifth state to allow undocumented children from low-income families to enroll in comprehensive health care.

Gov. Brown signed legislation Friday that will allow 170,000 undocumented children to smoothly transition from restricted scope Emergency Medi-Cal (the state’s name for Medicaid) to full-scope coverage, by removing barriers to re-applying or re-enrolling. It will also let children with severe and chronic illnesses stay in specialty care.

Once undocumented children enroll in comprehensive Medi-Cal, they will be able to take advantage of preventive services and not have to wait until a medical emergency to seek care.

via California Governor Signs Health for All Kids Bill – New America Media.