Dr. Michael Kirst, President
California State Board of Education
1430 N Street, Suite #5111
July 8, 2016
Dear President Kirst,
We represent a diverse group of civil rights, education, community-based, and parent organizations
from throughout the state of California. While our specific focuses vary, we write to you with one clear
message. We urge you to do everything in your power to design a new accountability system that helps
close opportunity and achievement gaps with the urgency that our state and our students deserve.
The 2015-16 school year just ended and millions of California’s students are still struggling. More than
1.5 million Black and Latino students are not meeting standards in English or Math. Fewer than half of
our Black and Latino students are proficient in Science. Only a third of California’s low-income high
school graduates have taken the college preparatory courses necessary to be eligible for the University
of California or California State Universities. And while English learners made the greatest progress from
2014 to 2015, they are still the furthest behind – nearly a third of English learner students do not
graduate with their class.
Clearly Focusing on Equity
We know that the hard work of educators is the most important factor in closing these gaps. Strong
accountability systems address the seriousness of gap closure by first publicly and accessibly providing
data that parents and educators alike can use. When education leaders have timely, relevant data, they
can more quickly identify what’s working and what’s not for their students. And when the data shows
that a subgroup of students isn’t progressing, a school or district should be required to take action
quickly to address these gaps. If we allow schools to languish in the purgatory of wide gaps without
requiring action, we fail not only our students and families but our educators as well.
Setting Ambitious Goals
Our accountability system must include ambitious goals for student achievement – coupled with
requiring action and providing supports and interventions when needed – to ensure all students have
the opportunity to graduate college and career ready. The state should not only encourage steady
improvement toward ambitious, long-term goals but also include gap-closing expectations with specific
subgroup goals that make sure we’re not only raising achievement for all students but doing all we can
to eliminate gaps between groups as well.
Prioritizing College and Career Readiness
Without a distinct, robust measure of college and career readiness, we send a message that merely
graduating students, regardless of their knowledge and skills gained, is the goal of our education system.
To ensure every student has the opportunity to learn, go to college, and excel in a career, we must
include a thorough college and career readiness indicator in the accountability system. This
measurement should recognize multiple approaches to college and career readiness, including highquality Career Technical Education pathways, and should evolve over time with additional research and
data.
Providing Crucial Supports and Assistance
Our accountability system should ensure we focus on improvement in all schools, not just the bottom
few schools. The system should build on what we know works to close gaps and raise achievement
levels by leveraging the expertise of effective, equity-minded educators. Schools and districts should be
provided data that helps them think about the root causes of disparities and collectively work together
to decide what to do differently. If a school or district continues to struggle after taking these steps, the
state should provide additional supports and interventions. This support system should clearly identify
what prompts additional assistance, and should then rely on information from all 8 state priorities to
tailor that assistance to the local level.
If we truly want to close these gaps, we must throw the entire weight of our collective will, energy, and
resources behind our schools, our educators, and our students. The future of our state depends on the
students in our schools now – the future doctors, teachers, engineers, and leaders that will tackle
challenges for decades to come. We stand ready to do this work with you and ensure that all students
are not only learning but achieving at the highest level possible.
Advancement Project
After-School All-Stars
Alliance for a Better
Community
Asian Americans Advancing
Justice – Asian Law Caucus
Asian Americans Advancing
Justice –
Los Angeles
Attendance Works
Bay Area Tutoring Association
The BlackBoard of West Contra Brown Issues – Sacramento City
Costa
College
Brown Issues – Sacramento
State University
Building Blocks for Kids –
Richmond Collaborative
CADRE
California Alliance of African
American Educators
California Charter Schools
Association
California Latino School Boards
Association
California League of United
Latin American Citizens
California Science Teachers
Association
California State Parent Teacher
Association
Camino Nuevo Charter
Academy
Center for Ecoliteracy
Center on Race, Poverty, and
the Environment
Central California
Environmental Justice Network
Cesar Chavez Foundation
Children Now
Chicano Latino State Employees
Association
Coaching Corps
Coalition for Humane
Immigrant Rights of Los
Angeles (CHIRLA)
Coleman Advocates
College Track
Communities United for
Restorative Youth Justice
(CURYJ)
DELAC of San
Bernardino City Unified
School District
Community Development
Technologies
Congregations Organized for
Prophetic Engagement (COPE)
District English Language
Advisory Committee of San
Bernardino City Unified School
District
Del Sol Group
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Educators for Excellence
EdVoice
Faith in Action
GEMAS Consulting
Gender & Sexualities Alliance
Network
GO Public Schools
GO Public Schools
Oakland
GO Public Schools West Contra
Costa
Growing Up in Santa Cruz
Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA)
Hmong Innovating Politics
Inland Congregations United
for Change (ICUC)
Inland Empire Immigrant Youth
Coalition
LA Voice
La Comadre Network
Latino and Latina Roundtable of
San Gabriel and Pomona Valley
Lawyers Committee for Civil
Rights of the San Francisco Bay
Area
Los Angeles Education
Partnership
LULAC of the Inland Empire
LULAC of Riverside
Mothers’ Club Family Learning
Center
National Center for Youth Law
National Council of La Raza
Orange County Congregation
Community Organization
Parent Institute for Quality
Education (PIQE)
Parent Organization Network
Parent Revolution
Partnership for Los Angeles
Schools
Promesa Boyle Heights
Reading and Beyond
Reinvent South Stockton
Roberts Family Development
Center
Sacramento Area Congregations
Together (SacACT)
San Bernardino City Unified
School District AfricanAmerican Advisory Council
San Diego Association of
African American Educators
Somos Mayfair
South Stockton Schools
Initiative
Student Success
California
Stand Up
Student Success California
Students Matter
Teach Plus
The Avalos Foundation
The Black Board of West
Contra Costa
The Campaign for College
Opportunity
The Education Trust–West
The Village Method
Umoja Community
United Way of Greater Los
Angeles
United Ways of California
Urban Strategy Group
Western Center on Law and
Poverty
Youth Action Project Inc.
CC: Members, California State Board of Education
Karen Stapf Walters, Executive Director, California State Board of Education
Judy Cias, Chief Counsel, California State Board of Education
Dave Sapp, Deputy Policy Director and Assistant Legal Counsel, California State Board of Education
Nancy Brownell, Senior Fellow, Local Control and Accountability
Michelle Magyar, Project Manager, Local Control Funding Formula
Jeff Bell, Program Budget Manager, Department of Finance
Cathy McBride, Deputy Legislative Secretary, Governor’s Office
Jannelle Kubinec, Director of National, State and Special Projects, WestEd