DFER California
From Our Blog
News from the Golden State: CA ranks dead last in digital learning
November 2, 2011
By Gloria Romero, DFER California State Director
The 6.3 million students that attend California's public schools, the second largest in the nation, have grown up with a digital divide. The age of the internet is ever-present in their life but once they step into school the technological clock rolls backward.
Children in California, like those across the nation, have increasingly become proficient in understanding the latest technological advances. Parents and educators recognize that a major factor in impacting the achievement gap that has historically existed between poor, overwhelmingly students of color, and their affluent, overwhelmingly white, counterparts is addressing what is called the "digital divide." This divide is the gap between the haves and have-nots in terms of access and fluency in communication and information technology in schools.
The national campaign Digital Learning Now! released its "Digital Learning Report Cards" at the Education in Action conference in San Francisco earlier this month and the results do not bode well for the golden state. They found that California achieved only 14 of the 72 recommended metrics, the lowest of any state.*
One area where California could improve, without having to spend major resources in budget cutting times, is to change laws that limit enrollment in virtual schools and online courses to district boundaries. Under current state law, students may enroll in virtual charter schools available in counties that are geographically adjacent to their own school district. These policies particularly impact small rural school districts, which may not have access to a plethora of Advanced Placement or world language courses.
Legislators let their consciences guide their vote in CA
September 14, 2011
It's a rare event when the CA Democratic-controlled Legislature rejects the Democratic Party Chair, its Democratic Party Executive Board, and powerful education unions to stand behind legislation that puts the interests of kids first, rather than subjugating those interests to never-ending adult struggles over power, money, and influence. It's a far too infrequent event, unfortunately, even in cases where decisions made by policymakers can be a matter of life and death.
So it's all the more notable that legislators let their consciences guide their votes as happened in California recently with SB 161, a bill which addresses the issue of whether non-medical employees are permitted to give potentially life-saving anti-seizure medication to epileptic students in California's schools.
It had been common for years in California for trained non-medical personnel - such as teachers' aides or office staff - to have the authority to administer doctor-prescribed Diastat to a student when suffering a severe and possibly life threatening seizure. However, unions representing nurses and other employee unions, who believed these non-medical staff were taking away their jobs, began to challenge this issue in 2009. SB 161 was originally drafted to codify what schools had already been doing for 10 years without legal challenge to avoid further opposition and disruption from these unions.
The proponents of SB-161, including parents of some 90,000 children affected by epilepsy in CA, medical associations, humanitarian groups, and DFER CA, stressed the need for volunteers that are trained in providing this type of medication in schools that lack support of medical staff such as nurses. During times of budget deficiencies, many schools no longer have nurses on every campus and those that do may not have the funds to pay them to work during after-school activities. Unfortunately, seizures can happen at any time, whether during the school day, at an after school sporting event, or a tutoring session. Without trained volunteers or staff on-hand to administer anti-seizure medication an uncontrolled seizure can damage a child's developing brain, thus impacting academic performance, memory, learning and result in social or emotional challenges.
Can Johnny Read? CA bill would eliminate standardized tests for 2nd grade students
August 3, 2011
By Gloria Romero, DFER CA State Director
Remember a long time ago when educators were asking why Johnny couldn't read? Well now in California, it appears that there is a major push to delay learning how well Johnny can read in the first place.
Early assessments are essential to get kids like Johnny on track to succeed in school. These assessments provide critical data that help schools identify which kids need extra help and use best practices to help them get to grade level proficiency.
SB 740, a bill pushed by the California Teachers Association, is quickly moving through the California Legislature, which would eliminate standardized second grade testing. SB 740 eliminates a valuable early assessment mechanism for teachers and parents. Without the data from the second grade assessment, we will be less likely to know exactly which students need extra help. And we will likely have more schools that fail to close achievement gaps and allow students--especially low income and minority students--to fall further behind.
Legislators and supporters of the bill argue that it makes sense to do away with second grade testing because young children face the possibility of being labeled a "failure." Does it serve California's children any better to find out in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade that they are not acquiring the reading skills they need to be academically successful? Need I remind you that the reading proficiency rates for most African American and Latino students already hovers far below basic levels of proficiency, and that the proportion of students from these groups who achieve at proficient or above is less than one in five? Our state may pride itself on what it considers high academic standards, but the truth is that the achievement gap between white and minority students in California is one of the widest and most persistent in the entire nation.
Parent Trigger Court Hearing - A Potential Hanging Chad Moment in the Making
June 24, 2011
By Gloria Romero, DFER CA State Director
Blog Notes
June 9: Notes from Superior Court Hearing on the Compton Parents and the Parent Trigger Petition
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
You've probably heard the Compton Parent Trigger story by now: over 200 parents grew tired of seeing their kids drop out and fail to learn to read at one of the chronically, lowest performing schools in California. So they banded together to use the historic new Parent Trigger Law (which I authored), only to face an all-out assault by the Compton Unified School District against their efforts to create a better future for their children.
What these parents are doing invokes the spirit of Mendez, a 1946 federal court case that challenged racial segregation in Orange County schools. In its ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in an en banc decision, held that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" was unconstitutional. Likewise, in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education the United States Supreme Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional.
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if the Compton parents are denied their petition this will be tantamount to a "hanging chad" moment in California education law
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As parents go to court to fight for their rights and the futures of their children, Democrats for Education Reform and other advocacy organizations like Parent Revolution are standing by them, side-by-side every step of the way. On June 9th, I sat in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom and watched and listened as the Compton School District - you know, the same folks who complain that they can't do much for kids because parents aren't involved enough - attempted to use every legal trick at its disposal to block the will of a majority of parents who voted to fundamentally change their children's school.
Key Player Leaves DFER CA
June 16, 2011
This Friday, DFER California will lose a vital component to its driving force in Henry Lo, a key player in the development of the California branch of Democrats for Education Reform.
Henry has been with DFER California since the office opened, and has made significant contributions in the development of our California office and its goals to improve educational quality and equity in the state that educates one out of eight children in the nation.
Following in his long history of public service, Henry leaves DFER to serve as Senior Field Representative to California State Assemblymember Mike Eng, Chair of the Committee on Banking and Finance.
DFER would like to commend Henry for his ongoing dedication and commitment public service.
DFER would like to wish Henry the best of luck in future endeavors.
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