We believe that the education system was not designed to serve all children, and that the biggest barrier to all children having access to an excellent school is a lack of political will to improve the system. This blog will take you through Innovate’s first legislative advocacy day on March 15th and outline the progress and the work that is ahead to ensure that Black student achievement, language accessibility, and high quality tutoring remain priorities. 

“We, the parent leaders, are here to uplift parent voice and the needs parents have for our children,” Carmen Rodriguez, Innovate Parent Leader, San Francisco 

Note: on March 14th, Innovate parent leaders and staff also participated in the 19th Annual 2023 California Afterschool and Summer Challenge. We would like to thank all of the organizers and sponsors of that incredible event, particularly the California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC), Partnership for Children and Youth (PCY), California Afterschool Network (CAN), and the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance (CA3) for their leadership and continued advocacy in the afterschool, expanded learning, and out-of-school time field. 

A mother of three children in the Bay Area region, she is advocating not only for her children but all children to have a high quality education. In the months leading up to the historic trip to Sacramento, Rodriguez and other parent leaders extensively researched a wide variety of education issues, ultimately voting on three they wanted to pursue advocacy around at the statewide level: Black student achievement, language accessibility for parents and guardians during the IEP process, and high-quality tutoring. They prepared to present their priorities to o a number of legislators including Speaker Anthony Rendon, Senator Portantino, and Assembly member Tina McKinnor. In addition, they met with key staff members from many more legislative offices, as well as advocacy organizations and representatives from the California Department of Education, Department of Finance, Senate education subcommittee, and more. Real conversations were had, ideas were shared, questions were asked, and next steps were established. 

Black Student Achievement

Parent leaders believe Black student achievement must become more than a slogan, not only by increasingly investing in Black students but also by developing evidence-based, comprehensive plans for how those investments will be used and providing ongoing transparency and accountability around those plans.

Education Trust West reports that in the past 10 years of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), we saw a marginal improvement for Black students in math and English language arts before the pandemic, and sharp declines since. Using the wealth of knowledge on Black student support in California, a roadmap to promote equity and access for Black students in the southernmost region of the Los Angeles Unified School District, was created and is making headway. Focused on holding the district accountable for the academic and social-emotional well-being of all Black students in Local District South, the plan is committed to accelerating growth by monitoring specific metrics for Black students over the next five years. The undeniable truth is that California’s education system, like many government institutions, was not developed for Black student achievement. There are 298,733 African American students in California yet only 3 out of 10 Black students (30%) are on grade level in English, and less than 2 out of 10 (16%) are on grade level in math.There are social emotional impacts as well. Black students are less likely to report feeling connected to school than any other student group. Regardless of income, African American students in California are struggling, which is why they need direct funding and clear district-level accountability plans.(1)

Rodriguez joined parent leaders from all over the state in support of Black student achievement, showing a strong sense of solidarity. Parent leaders met with legislators in Sacramento–particularly members of the Black caucus–to ensure dedicated funding is set aside statewide specifically for Black students and engage Black students, families, and community-based organizations to design and implement an effective plan for this funding to serve Black students. Last year, parent leaders showed support of Assemblymember Akilah Weber’s bill – AB 2774, which would have given additional funding to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the student group with the lowest standardized test scores statewide. The lowest academically performing subgroup for years has been African American students. The legislative assembly suggested that the legislation would violate Prop 209, a 1996 constitutional amendment banning affirmative action in California. The concern is AB 2744 would target a racial group, in this case Black students, for funding. Because the bill focused on student performance, not race, Weber and proponents said the bill would not violate Prop. 209. But, AB 2774 was pulled by the author and Governor Newsom committed to supplemental funding. In place of AB 2774, a $300 million proposal called the “Equity Multiplier” was introduced by the Governor in his proposed budget. This funding would go to schools with highly concentrated poverty. However, according to an analysis by the Education Trust West, very few black students — only about 7% in California – attend a school that would actually qualify for this funding.(2)

On April 11, 2023 Innovate joined more than 2,000 youth and advocates led by the Black in School Coalition and Fortune School in marching and rallying for more funding that is unapologetically dedicated to Black student achievement. 

We continue to write letters and reach out to legislators we’ve formed partnerships with during our legislative meetings in 2023 to ensure that Black student achievement remains a top legislative priority.  

ADVOCATING FOR LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY-SB 445

California is home to 10 million immigrants. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 20 percent of California immigrants report that they do not speak English very well and 10 percent report that they do not speak English at all*(3). While state law requires districts and schools to provide translated Individualized Education Plan (IEP) documents, the problem occurs when they do not provide the translated IEP in a timely manner and by a qualified translator. 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are more than 773,000 students in California with IEPs. Without adequate access to translation and interpretation, parents and guardians cannot fully participate in the IEP process nor give informed consent, which may significantly delay and/or limit the services and support that their children receive. Holding LEAs accountable to providing accurate and timely translations of IEPs is crucial to ensuring that parents have the resources needed to both advocate for their child and fully participate in their child’s education. 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are more than 773,000 students in California with IEPs. Without adequate access to translation and interpretation, parents and guardians cannot fully participate in the IEP process nor give informed consent, which may significantly delay and/or limit the services and support that their children receive. Holding LEAs accountable to providing accurate and timely translations of IEPs is crucial to ensuring that parents have the resources needed to both advocate for their child and fully participate in their child’s education. 

Innovate Parent Leaders have been organizing around special education issues for many years. At the local level in San Francisco, parents like Rodriguez helped to move forward a similar proposal that can serve as a proof point for the legislature at the state level. Innovate parent leaders advocated for and worked with San Francisco Unified Commissioner Alexander to introduce and pass a policy that would ensure translation and interpretation services are provided to parents and guardians whose preferred language is not English. That policy was unanimously approved by the Board in Spring 2022. 

In January 2020, a small group of Spanish-speaking mothers, many of whom are first generation immigrants, formed a parent leader group in San José with a goal to better advocate for English learner students. English learners were one of the groups most affected by the shift to distance learning. After organizing with local service providers, the advocacy efforts led by San José Parent Leaders resulted in a $2M investment from the City of San José into expanding access to high-quality tutoring across the city in Spring 2022. In partnership with the San José Public Library Foundation, the San Jose Public Library, and local tutoring service providers, the San José Innovate team is projected to provide  free, high-quality tutoring to hundreds of low-income students in 2023. 

Conclusion

Innovate’s first statewide legislative advocacy day proved to be effective but it also showed the work that is still ahead. We continue to call on parents, community members, state officials, and school districts to join our efforts in ensuring that Black student achievement, language accessibility in the IEP process, and high-quality tutoring remain a top priority for the sake of all our children. 

1. Source: California Department of Education, “California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Test Results,” 2022, https://caaspp-elpac.ets.org/caaspp/. 
2.  Education Trust-West (2023). Equity Alert: Black students need more from California’s Equity Multiplier.
3.  Source: Public Policy Institute of California *These data points were based on survey responses collected by the U.S. Census Bureau through the 2019 American Community Survey. We believe it is important to note the complexity and nuances of any sort of measure of language proficiency and fluency.
4.  National Student Support Accelerator. High-Impact Tutoring: Equitable and Effective Learning Acceleration.
5. White, Sara, et al. Early Lessons from Implementing High-Impact Tutoring at Scale. National Student Support Accelerator, 2021.
6.  Edunomics, ESSER Expenditure Dashboard: CA ESSER III Allocation & Funds Spent, Tableau last updated February 7, 2023.