Work-life balance video on website
Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators Volume 47 | Number 23 | March 27 , 2017
ACSA ' s Wes Smith gives keynote address at CEL Institute .
Work-life balance video on website
ACSA Executive Director Wes Smith recently gave a keynote address at the Classified Educational Leaders Institute . It was on a topic that has become near and dear to his heart : work-life balance .
A year ago , Smith was getting ready to board an early morning flight to Southern California when he fell ill . He cancelled his trip , and soon found himself in a hospital bed having major heart surgery .
In July , as he was recovering from the quadruple bypass , he suffered a setback and was forced once again to reflect on the work and his wellness .
“ I have since made life changes that have benefited my wellness , my family , and ACSA members ,” Smith said .
Herculean task of tracking education bills begins
Every legislative session , the ACSA Governmental Relations Department tracks hundreds of bills that have the potential to impact education . With the recent start of another legislation session , many bills have already garnered ACSA ’ s attention .
Following is an initial look at some of the bills currently under scrutiny by ACSA ’ s legislative advocates , with a brief synopsis from leginfo . ca . gov of what each bill proposes so far . More bills are likely to surface , and the bills listed here will also likely undergo changes through the amendment process . ACSA will keep members apprised as the legislative session continues and will alert members to any critical new bills surfacing .
Periodicals Dated Material
It ’ s understandable that having a good life / work balance is something Smith prioritized in 2016 . His presentation at CEL Institute was aimed at helping others foster appropriate alignment and commit to mind-body wellness .
“ Our members have very challenging , stressful jobs . It was extremely difficult to be away from the day-to-day work at ACSA because supporting them is so important ,” he said .
Smith is back traveling statewide to advocate for California public school students . But he is embracing balance in his life now .
A video of Smith ’ s keynote address is available now on the ACSA website at www . acsa . org .
Accountability
AB 1321 , Weber : This bill intends to enact legislation that would require , for purposes of transparency , the reporting of per-pupil expenditures of federal , state , and local funds , including actual personnel expenditures and actual non-personnel expenditures of federal , state , and local funds , disaggregated by source of funds , for each local educational agency and school in the state as required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act .
AB 1661 , Limon : This bill intends to remove statutory references to the prior accountability system , Academic Performance Index ( API ), and where appropriate , replace references to the API with the current multiple indicators system based on the eight state priorities established as part of the Local Control Funding Formula ( LCFF ).
Assessment
AB 830 , Kalra : This bill intends to repeal the California high school exit examination requirement and assessment as a graduation requirement .
SB 544 , McGuire : This bill would require the California Department of Education to identify and evaluate formative assessments
ACSA award recipients announced
ACSA ’ s Awards Committee has completed the challenging task of selecting the statewide Administrator of the Year award recipients . After reviewing many nominations , the committee selected the best of the best to recognize . Five special award winners and winners from 20 job-alike categories will be honored at the 2017 Leadership Summit , Nov . 2-4 in San Jose .
2017 Award Recipients
• Ferd . Kiesel Memorial Distinguished Service Award : Sherry Skelly Griffith , executive director , California State PTA , Region 3
• Marcus Foster Memorial Award for Administrator Excellence : Terri Rufert , superintendent , Sundale Union ESD , Region 11
• Robert E . Kelly Award : Marianne Hamor , Region 15
• Partners in Educational Excellence Award : Bay Area Women ’ s Sports Initiative , Region 8
• Valuing Diversity Award : Pamela Wilson , assistant superintendent , Education al Services , Murrieta Valley USD , Region 19
• Superintendent of the Year : Mary Sieu , superintendent , ABC Unified School District , Region 14
• Secondary Principal of the Year : Deborah Rowe , principal , James C . Enochs High School , Modesto City Schools , Region 7
• Middle Grades Principal of the Year : See AOY , page 5
and locally developed assessment resources , and intends to establish regional networks for the implementation of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress system .
Attendance
SB 328 , Portantino : This bill would require the school day for middle schools and high schools to begin no earlier than 8:30 a . m .
Bonds
AB 776 , Harper : This bill would require the ballot label containing the statement of a school bond measure to include an estimate of the total cost of the bond to taxpayers and an estimate of the increase to each taxpayer ’ s annual property tax .
AB 1194 , Dababneh : This bill would require that the ballots used when voting upon a bond measure proposed by a local governing body or submitted to the voters
See BILLS , page 2
ACSA ’ s Legislative Action Day , coming up April 2-3 , will feature hundreds of ACSA members hitting the halls of the Capitol to bring the issues of importance for school leaders to the attention of legislators and policymakers . This is an opportunity for ACSA members to meet face-to-face with their political representatives to let them know how state fiscal and policy issues directly impact schools and districts .
This year LAD will focus on a number of issues , including the state budget , English Learner reform and teacher tenure .
SPI 2018 . Marshall Tuck , who sought endorsement from ACSA leaders during the 2014 state superintendent of public instruction race , has announced he will run for SPI in 2018 . He said politicians have promised to improve public schools , but failed . “ They ’ ve blocked new ideas and common-sense reforms ,” he said . “ And now the Trump Administration is trying to undermine the very promise of public schools . This is more than a policy failure – it ’ s a moral stain on the state of California . And in a globally competitive economy , it ’ s a clear threat to our future .” Tuck has headed up the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools and served as president of Green Dot Public Schools . Since 2015 , he has served as an Educator-in-Residence at the New Teacher Center .
Mini-Corps celebration . The 50th anniversary celebration of the California Mini-Corps Program is taking place this week , during the CABE 2017 conference , March 29-30 in Anaheim . Since 1967 , the CMC has positively impacted the educational lives of hundreds of thousands of migrant children and contributed to California ’ s bilingual teacher workforce . CMC alumni now hold positions as district superintendents , college presidents , school principals , central office administrators and university professors . Find out more at www . bcoe . org .
Charter schools . As charter schools become an increasingly popular public school choice for students it ’ s important for ACSA to advocate for practices and policies that protect student rights and ensure student safety regardless of the choice . ACSA must work to ensure students attend highquality schools that provide a fair and equitable opportunity for each student while being transparent and accountable to parents and communities in which they serve . At the direction of the Board , ACSA has created a Charter School Task Force that will begin meeting on April 4 to begin a thoughtful and important policy discussion that we hope will strengthen ACSA ’ s commitment to California ’ s students . For questions please contact Cathy McBride at cmcbride @ acsa . org .
ACSA Legislative Action Day coming to Capitol next week
State funding
ACSA supports the continued commitment to LCFF and the $ 744 million investment . But , school districts are experiencing increased costs such as energy and fuel costs , increased pension obligations , special education encroachment , minimum wage increases and purchase of instructional materials . This necessitates that the Legislature examine funding to consider how the base grant can keep pace with growing fixed costs once LCFF is fully funded .
See LAD , page 3