These two districts in Fresno County earned California’s ‘Distinguished Schools Award’
Know someone who also cares about these important education issues?
Forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague - and they can sign up.
• • •
Hey Bee readers! It’s Lasherica with the Education Lab, and this is the Jan. 25 edition of our weekly newsletter.
In California, public school funding is based largely on the students a district serves. The more targeted students a district has, the more funding it gets. Targeted students are those living in poverty or are English learners, foster youth or homeless.
Simply put, the districts receive more funding because it takes more to educate those students.
Thanks to that funding formula, California districts in high poverty get 12% more funding than low-poverty/high-income districts, according to a recent finding.
That’s not the case for many school districts across the country.
The Education Trust, a national nonprofit working to close gaps for students of color and from low-income families, identified funding gaps between schools within states and across the nation.
“There are 37 states where districts that serve the highest concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds are not receiving substantially more funding than their more affluent counterparts,” Ed Trust found.
Ed Trust also determined that:
Across the country, districts with the most students of color, on average, receive 16% less state and local revenue than districts with the fewest students of color, equating to approximately $13.5 million for a 5,000-student district
The districts with the most English learners receive 14% less state and local revenue, compared with districts with the fewest English learners.
High-poverty/low-income districts receive, on average, 5% less (about $800 per student) in state and local funding than low-poverty/high-income districts.
With even $800 more per student, according to Ed Trust’s research, a 500-student school could have hired at least three more teachers, bought a laptop for each student or offered targeted intensive tutoring.
When such funding gaps exist, it leaves districts with a higher need for resources without the funding to provide the needed services.
“Inequities in funding are foundational to inequities in student experiences,” Ed Trust CEO Denise Forte said. “We shouldn’t be surprised that students who attend underfunded schools don’t perform as well as their peers on national and state assessments.”
The lack of adequate funding in schools with high percentages of students from low-income backgrounds, students of color and English learners can prevent an investment in proven solutions to improve student outcomes, Ed Trust said.
CalMatters recently reported on a school funding proposal to achieve equity among students. Last year, a bill would have directed more funding to the student group with the lowest standardized test scores, which would have been Black students. Instead, the governor is proposing extra money for high-poverty schools, not Black students specifically.
But California districts serving the most students of color already receive 8.6% more funding than districts with the fewest students of color, according to Ed Trust.
Still, one student group struggles.
The Education Lab has covered how students, superintendents and school board members from across Fresno called out California’s failure to specifically fund the state’s lowest performing students — Black students. Last year’s bill was the third failed attempt to change that.
The proposed legislation said the lowest performing student group would receive additional funding until the group’s academic scores met or exceeded the highest performing student group. If another student group slipped to the bottom, that student group would also be eligible for the added funding.
So will the governor’s proposal be enough, CalMatters asked. Or will there be another legislative effort to make millions available annually for the state’s lowest performing students, which are currently and have historically been Black students?
HERE’S THE LATEST FROM THE EDUCATION LAB
Clovis schools begin search for new superintendent but is the deadline ‘too fast?’
While some districts use national searches lasting up to a year, Clovis Unified is looking to pick its next leader by March.
More chefs? Tapatío? Fresno Unified looks to make school cafeteria lunches better
The school district recently discussed how to improve the quality of meals and reduce food waste in the district — a concern that’s top of mind for many students and their families.
Fight brewing: Teachers say Fresno County school district owes them thousands of dollars
When is an independent-study class overcrowded?
Clovis Unified superintendent is retiring. ‘The greatest privilege of my life’
“We acknowledge that she needs to make the decisions that are right for her and for her family. She will be leaving with our full support and our encouragement.”
MORE FRESNO-AREA EDUCATION NEWS
Two Fresno County schools were named 2023 California Distinguished Schools, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced.
Out of over 6,000 elementary schools statewide, Dry Creek Elementary in Clovis Unified and Kingsburg Elementary in Charter Lincoln Elementary School District were among the 356 distinguished schools.
“Since its inception in 1985, the California Distinguished Schools Award remains one of the important ways to celebrate exceptional schools, districts, teachers and classified employees for their innovation, talent and success in supporting students,” the California Department of Education said in an early January media release. “The exceptional elementary schools recognized this year are illustrative of the hard work, dedication and resilience shown by educators and schools across the state after communities struggled for multiple years with urgent effects to physical and mental health and unprecedented challenges to delivering education.”
This is the first year of the award recognition since the pandemic suspended state reporting of student data.
The state identifies schools by performance data on the state’s dashboard system, which measures assessment results, chronic absenteeism, suspension rates and socioeconomic data.
The awards program recognizes schools for either closing the achievement gap or achieving exceptional student performance.
The schools hold the distinction for two years.
Madera County will hold its 2023 Academic Decathlon events in February.
The 41st Annual Academic Decathlon speech, interview and Super Quiz competitions will be Saturday, Feb. 4 at Madera South High School.
UC Merced is celebrating its 20-Year anniversary of the campus groundbreaking.
Dozens of founding faculty and staff and hundreds from the UC Merced community are expected to be at the Wednesday morning celebration, where Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz will discuss the state of the university.
The October 25, 2002, groundbreaking marked the beginning of UC Merced becoming the tenth UC campus, the university said in a media release about the event, which will be at the Dr. Vikram & Priya Lakireddy Grand Ballroom in the UC Merced conference center at 10 am.
A University of California Transitional Kindergarten Residency Program will be housed at UC Merced in a joint effort to “attract and prepare” more TK teachers for classrooms in the Central Valley and across the state, a media release from the college said.
The state intends to expand universal pre-k to 4-year olds by 2026.
“The governor will deliver for children and families only if we produce additional high-quality, pre-K teachers,” UC Merced Extension Director of Education Programs Mari Harris said. “The University of California can help lead this effort and assess what innovative forms of teacher training prove most effective.”
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing awarded the Merced County Office of Education $1.5 million to implement the program in partnership with the Merced, LA and Berkeley UC campuses. Los Angeles Unified and Oakland Unified will collaborate with the respective UC campuses to provide mentors and support during the yearlong residency.
Once approved by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the program plans to enroll about 20 candidates from each of the three focus areas of Merced, LA and Oakland every year, starting in summer 2024.
After being placed at a school site and teaching around 20 hours a week, the teacher residents will have the opportunity to become employed if they meet the additional program requirements.
“The hope is that experienced pre-K teachers, including those with years of experience in Head Start and other community-based programs, will also enroll to help advance their careers and receive better wages and benefits,” the UC Merced media release detailed.
The UC President’s Office also contributed $300,000 for fellowships for graduate-level teacher trainees, including students with DACA status.
STILL WANT MORE EDUCATION NEWS? HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Opinion: Kevin McCarthy learned the power of a loud minority. It happens in Clovis Unified, too
Here in Clovis, now part of McCarthy’s newly redistricted territory, we know all about loud voices in the minority who throw their weight around to get what they want — no matter who it impacts. | The Fresno Bee
Muzzled by DeSantis, Critical Race Theory Professors Cancel Courses or Modify Their Teaching
As fewer faculty members are protected by tenure, they’re finding it harder to resist laws that ban certain racial topics. Their students suffer the consequences. | ProPublica
If you’ve made it to this point in the newsletter – the end – I hope you’ve enjoyed it. So forward it to someone else!
