Now is the time for state leadership, not more local control.
The responsibility for California’s 6 million students cannot fall solely on the shoulders of a thousand local leaders. There should be state-level planning and guidance for summer learning and the safe reopening of schools in areas such as assessment, curriculum, English-learner supports, addressing trauma, school and class configuration, facilities cleaning and time management.
There must be specific proposals on how to free up district resources to support our most vulnerable students while maintaining solvency. Some ideas, such as shifting from a school funding system based on average daily attendance to annual student enrollment are no-brainers given that likely impacts of the pandemic on student attendance.
