Discussion Questions
Who's in Charge? Reallocating Education Responsibilities of the Governor and Others
The draft Plan says state-level lines of responsibility are not clear now. It describes the present responsibilities and the proposed changes for the governor - who would be accountable for pre-kindergarten through postsecondary education (this section also summarizes changes for the State Board and Department of Education) and the Superintendent of Public Instruction - who would still be elected, but with new responsibilities for monitoring accountability.
Community College Governance
The draft Plan recommends (see "Background") that the Community College Board of Governors should be responsible for overall governance of community colleges, just as the California State University Board of Trustees and the University of California Board of Regents are for their respective systems. This is intended to decrease fragmentation and, among other things including cost efficiencies, to make it easier to transfer between colleges.
Consolidation/Unification of School Districts
The draft Plan recommends (see "Background") locally-determined consolidation and/or unification of school districts to achieve a more integrated education system - one in which the courses offered in districts are more comparable and aligned - and save money.
Non-salary Employment Benefits: At What Level should Negotiation with Employee Organizations Take Place?
Negotiations with employee organizations regarding non-salary employment benefits are now carried out separately by each local school and college district. The draft Plan suggests (see "Background") the State itself should negotiate with statewide employee organizations, and fund the employer share.
Background for the Discussion
Present Situation. The draft Master Plan states that California's state-level K-12 governance "has no clear lines of accountability due to multiple entities having overlapping responsibilities. Key players include: (1) the Governor, who appoints all members of the State Board of Education, promulgates an annual budget that sets forth priorities and nearly always is the final arbiter of differences of opinion about education policy due to his line-item veto authority; (2) the State Board of Education, which is by law the policy setting body for public schools but which has very little staff of its own; (3) the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is an elected constitutional officer and manages the Department of Education (CDE) staff, but has little policy-setting authority; and (4) the Secretary for Education, with a small complement of staff whose duties are largely duplicative of those in the Department of Education." Recommendations 31 and 32 address this situation.
The governor. In brief, number 31 makes the Governor accountable for P-12 education, stating that "Authority over the operations of California's K-12 public education system at large, and ultimate responsibility for the delivery of education to California's K-12 public education students in particular, should both reside within the Office of the Governor" and detailing the functions involved. A cabinet-level Chief Education Officer appointed by the Governor would be the Director of the Department of Education. The Governor would continue to appoint the State Board of Education, whose members would represent geographical regions; their functions would be limited to state governance and policy matters. The separate executive director and staff of the State Board within the Department of Education would be eliminated.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction. Recommendation 32 covers the position of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It would maintain the elected position, but assign new functions to the position. The Superintendent would act as an Inspector General for public education, to hold the Governor and the system accountable for student achievement, including monitoring governance/policy instruments intended to ensure adequate and equitable provision of education, and implementation of state and federal programs.
Recommendation 37 addresses community colleges, stating "The California Community College Board of Governors should be reconstituted as a public trust responsible for overall governance, setting system policy priorities, budget advocacy, and accountability for a multi-campus system." (See also 37.1-37.4.) This is intended to decrease fragmentation in the Community College system, by establishing clear functions and authority for the Board of Governors and the local boards of trustees. (Concern for the number of local districts - 72 - is addressed in Recommendation 37.5.)
Recommendation 35 states "To enhance efficiency and educational effectiveness of public schools, the smallest one-third of public school districts, as defined by Average Daily Attendance (ADA), should be eliminated through locally-determined consolidation and/or unification within a prescribed time period. The State should initiate an examination of effective incentives to encourage remaining school districts to adopt a unified K-12 district structure. Based on this inquiry, the State should provide the recommended incentives for all school districts to adopt unified structures throughout the state."
Unification is intended to help lead to a more cohesive education system. At present small districts cannot provide the same breadth of programs and curriculum as larger districts; unification would make similar offerings more available to students across the state. This should increase "course alignment" across grade levels - that is, students at the same level and in similar programs could be expected to have completed similar course work and be similarly prepared for success at the next grade level. In addition, there should be cost efficiencies.
At present each local school and college district carries out separate negotiations with employee organizations. Recommendation 7.3 states "To achieve equity as well as reduced provider charges through the use of collective purchasing power, the State itself should negotiate with statewide employee organizations, and fund the employer share of, uniform non-salary employment benefits for all local school employees." (Recommendation 11 also relates to compensation.)
Selected Governance Resources
Links to many online resources related to governance are available on this site.
Related Issues
Governance is related to many of the topics in the Master Plan; the links below lead to pages on this site that give more information in selected areas.
Working Group Report and Recommendations
Governance of K-12 and postsecondary education systems was addressed by one of the Working Groups convened by the Joint Committee to develop a Master Plan for Education.
Links
Results
Major recommendations of the Working Group include:Goals Addressed
The Framework document of the Joint Committee identified specific objectives that were to be examined regarding Governance: