Tag: education advocacy

It’s Time for a Renewed Focus on the Old LCAP

Posted on by CAPTA IT

This article was written by Kathleen Fay, member of the California State PTA Legislation Team.

A school district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) is an important tool that requires a district to identify goals, address priorities, allocate funds, implement actions, provide services, and measure results to improve student outcomes. The annual LCAP review should provide opportunities for robust parent involvement as a fundamental part of the planning process.  However, this LCAP process was turned on its head last year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quarantines and school closures necessitated changes in the usual LCAP planning process. First, an Executive Order extended LCAP deadlines, then legislation eliminated the annual LCAP update altogether. Taking its place was the Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan – by no coincidence also abbreviated as LCAP – to be used as a planning tool to address issues of distance learning, live student interactions, and attendance. The “new LCAP” included strategies to ensure a full curriculum, train staff, and address resources and technical support during the crisis. And it was all to have been put together with parent input and reported publicly.

As California now looks (hopefully) towards a post-pandemic school year, districts must return to the original LCAP model to examine how students were supported throughout the pandemic, what was done to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, and consider the effects of issues such as pupil learning loss; student and staff mental health and social-emotional well-being; pupil engagement and outreach; nutrition; learning continuity; attendance; infrastructure needs; and any ongoing response to COVID-19.

In short, it’s time for school districts to take an honest look at the results of the last year and then make practical plans on how to repair any damage. This is something that PTAs should strongly encourage members to take part in – through multiple public input opportunities. These meetings should be open to input from all parents and community members. It is up to us to speak for every child with one voice.

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School Reopening Advocacy: What Can Your PTA Do?

Posted on by CAPTA IT

This article was written by Shereen Walter, California State PTA’s Director of Legislation.

Now that the Governor and Legislature have come to agreement on the details surrounding the $2 billion to incentivize schools to reopen for in person learning, what can you as a PTA do?

First of all, remember that your PTA represents ALL parents – those who want their kids to return to school, those who are more cautious and those who are not ready for their children to return to school full time. You need to be speaking for “Every Child, One Voice.”

Stick to the PTA talking points outlined in the two California State PTA documents:

Some of the issues surrounding school reopening that you can advocate for are:

  • Parent Communication and Input – School Districts must prioritize strong two-way communication with parents as they prepare and execute reopening plans. The voices of parents representing the diversity of the community need to be included in decision making.
  • In-Person Attendance – Parents should be able to choose whether their child returns to school in-person depending on the health of the child and their family situation.
  • Mental Health Is Important – Schools must provide adequate resources to meet the mental health needs of students and staff to support their individual needs.
  • Expanded Learning and Learning Loss – Parents should be providing input into the types of programs needed to address learning loss and that also meet the social emotional needs of the whole child. School districts are developing their plans now to address learning loss caused by the pandemic, including after-school, summer, and child-care programs.
  • Realistic Timeline – Schools need to open as soon as practically possible while protecting the health and well-being of students, staff and families.
  • Technology Access – All students who continue on a hybrid or distance learning model need to have appropriate Wi-Fi and a computer or laptop so that they can adequately access remote learning.

…and now for a few cautions.

  1. Offer quotes to the media in writing. This prevents you being quoted out of context, incorrectly, or from accidentally stating your personal opinion rather than the stance of PTA.
  2. Stick to PTA talking points on the social media accounts of PTA.
  3. Opinion pieces can only be written with the approval of your executive board and must contain only PTA positions.
  4. PTA leaders can not use their PTA title or affiliation in speaking in opposition to a PTA position.

Last of all, PTA must remain neutral in a dispute arising from school employer-employee negotiations. For more detailed information, see this webpage.

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What is the Role of the Federal Government in Education?

Posted on by CAPTA IT

Education is primarily a state and local responsibility in the United States. It is states and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and graduation. The structure of education finance in America reflects this predominant state and local role. The result is that the Federal contribution to elementary and secondary education is just under 10%, which includes funds not only from the Department of Education (ED) but also from other Federal agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services’ Head Start program and the Department of Agriculture’s School Lunch program. These Federal programs are not affected by California’s Local Control Funding Formula.

History of Federal involvement in Education

The Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision mandated the desegregation of public schools and gave the executive branch a legal precedent for enforcing equal access to education.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was a key part of Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and has set the basic terms of the federal government’s involvement in education ever since. Rather than mandating direct federal oversight of schools, ESEA offered states funding for education programs on a conditional basis. In other words, states could receive federal funding provided they met the requirements outlined in certain sections, or titles, of the act. Every major education initiative since then has been about recalibrating the balance first struck by ESEA. Until 1980, the program was reauthorized every three years, each time with more specific guidelines about how federal funds were to be used.

In 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now IDEA) ensured that students with disabilities are provided a free appropriate public education to meet their needs.

In 1979, the Federal Department of Education was established as a separate, cabinet-level government agency that would coordinate the federal government’s various initiatives and requirements. In the years since, we have had ESEA reauthorizations such as No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Act.

In addition to ESEA, the Federal government continues to administer other programs, including two large ones that tend to get less attention; child nutrition and Head Start.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches to children each school day. This program has played an essential role during the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time of heightened food insecurity for so many families across our state and nation, this program has helped millions who may only get nutritious meals during the school day. The US Department of Agriculture recently announced the continued extension of nationwide flexibilities that allow free school meals for children throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year.

Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. This program is intended to halt the development of an achievement gap by promoting the school readiness of infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children from low-income families.

If the Federal contribution to the California public school system is less than 10% of the overall budget for schools, why is it important for PTA to spend time on this now? Due to the pandemic, a large federal investment in education is needed in order to stave off major state and local budget cuts that would disproportionately affect our most vulnerable students.

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