Progress report on California’s universal prekindergarten initiative

California has committed to providing universal prekindergarten (UPK) for all 4-year-olds and expanding access for income-eligible 3-year-olds by the 2025–26 school year. California UPK includes transitional kindergarten (TK), the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Head Start and locally funded early learning programs. Since 2021, this […]

Placing English learners in dual language immersion courses should be priority for state

California schools are making significant progress in providing dual language immersion pathways for students, chipping away at a lapse in programs from 1998–2016, when voters approved Proposition 227, requiring English-only instruction for all students in the state. This served to shut down most bilingual programs, […]

Business Partner post: Innovative approaches to support migrant students in California

In the heart of California’s agricultural region, Coachella Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) is tackling one of education’s most persistent challenges: ensuring academic success for migrant students. With a large population of families following crop cycles throughout the school year, CVUSD has implemented creative solutions to address the unique needs of these students, offering valuable lessons for districts facing similar challenges.

Commission on Teacher Credentialing provides updates on Literacy Performance Assessment

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing had a  meeting Aug. 29-30, with the second day spent in closed session to discuss a pending legal case. Much of the Aug. 29 agenda focused on progress related to pilot testing and other items associated with the upcoming […]

Education sector sees decrease in cyberattacks, increase in ransomware payments

A new report from the British cybersecurity company Sophos finds that cyberattacks in the education sector decreased in 2023; however, they remain higher than the average across industries. Sophos surveyed 5,000 IT/cybersecurity leaders across 14 countries to collect information and 600 respondents were from the […]

CSBA leads panel on education workforce housing at CDE housing summit

On Aug. 14, CSBA led a breakout session at the California Department of Education’s (CDE) Housing Summit: Policy Solutions to Address the Affordability Crisis, where leaders in the building trades and commerce sectors joined with education leaders to discuss opportunities and barriers to creating education […]

U.S. Surgeon General declares firearm violence a public health crisis

For the first time in the nation’s history, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory declaring firearm violence a public health crisis. The advisory outlines the urgent threat firearm violence poses to the health and well-being of Americans. The Surgeon General’s advisory lays […]