National data shines light on challenges surrounding staffing shortages

Schools across the country continue to face challenges related to teacher vacancies, supply chain issues and more — particularly those in low-income areas serving more minority students, according to data released Dec. 6 by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). […]

Survey finds most adults support teaching controversial topics in high school

Lawmakers across 37 states introduced nearly 150 bills in 2022 designed to limit educators’ latitude to address racism, inequity, bias, structural injustices, and gender and sexuality issues in school. At least 20 states enacted laws or executive orders to prevent civic learning and discussion of […]

More federal coordination needed on cybersecurity; State recommendations for LEAs

With K-12 schools becoming increasingly common targets of cyberattacks including phishing attempts, ransomware, distributed denial-of-service and video conferencing disruptions, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published the report Critical Infrastructure Protection: Additional Federal Coordination Is Needed to Enhance K-12 Cybersecurity in October. The impacts of […]

Resources for COVID relief fund spending and beyond

CSBA is following up on its recently released COVID relief funding reports, Beyond the spreadsheets: Insights from California education leaders on utilizing COVID-19 relief funding and Unprecedented times, unprecedented responses: An analysis of federal COVID-19 relief fund spending in California public schools, with resources that […]

Understaffing in schools is a major concern nationwide, survey shows

More than half of school leaders reported starting the 2022–23 school year understaffed, according to recently released survey data of 904 schools from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Overall, 53 percent of public school leaders reporting feeling understaffed entering the […]

Workforce housing momentum builds as CSBA launches workshop with UCLA and UC Berkeley

By Andrew Keller Teams from a select cohort of four school districts in rent-burdened communities around the state met at Selma Community Housing in Los Angeles Oct. 13 for the launch of a pilot CSBA workshop series designed to help convert existing school property into […]

School leaders share the inside scoop on COVID-19 relief aid in new report

The state and federal government have provided local educational agencies in California with historic sums of funding to help address the most critical challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This money continues to be essential for school districts and county offices of education to address health […]