Of course, the answer is pursuing all of the above. But what I’ve found as leader of a charter school system in a disadvantaged urban area is that another key to success is alignment. There’s no doubt that teachers are on the front lines every day, playing a pivotal role in a student’s academic journey. And there’s no doubt that schools need adequate instructional resources, fair funding and effective training. But it’s also important to take higher-level view of how teachers, grade levels, curriculums and academic focus areas are, or are not, working together coherently.

I have been focused for the last three years on alignment as a core strategy for closing the achievement gap, and I’m seeing remarkable results in the low-income, minority students who dominate the makeup of our schools in the St. Hope system.

By alignment, we mean coordination in curriculum, teacher and student expectations, and whole-child support.

When curriculum across teachers and grades is aligned, there are consistent expectations that students can adhere to. Creating vertical alignment between grades drives academic success as lesson plans are developed to not only teach at grade level, but also to ensure that students are mastering foundational skills that will be needed for the grade above and beyond. When teams are aligned, teachers are not just teaching in classrooms, or even in their schools. Instead, they teach in a network where everyone works cohesively together and focuses on how to support their scholars throughout their entire journey, from transitional kindergarten (for children who don’t meet the age cutoff for kindergarten) to 12th grade to college admission. Students can depend on consistent teaching styles, communication methods and expectations for behavior inside and outside the classroom year after year. This cohesive culture helps create an express highway for students who have fallen behind to be able to receive the support they need to close the gap and excel quickly in the classroom.

Alignment in curriculum and among teaching teams is achieved through effective professional development. This means taking the time needed with teachers to plan coherent curriculums that transition smoothly across grades and to foster a collaborative work environment with consistent expectations and support across grades and schools.

Alignment in expectations means believing that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background, family situation or previous academic or behavior challenges, are capable of success. It means instilling in students at an early age that they have the potential to go to and through college. Simply put, there are no excuses — just because a child does not have the same at-home support or resources as others does not mean that he or she should be held to lower academic expectations. What it does mean is that teachers and school administrators need to ensure that each child is supported. This may come in the form of afterschool tutoring, small-group instruction and a greater emphasis on whole-child support.

When students have poor oral health, lack proper nutrition or suffer from mental health issues, their academic success is jeopardized. That’s why wraparound services, such as mobile dental clinics and eye exams, are critical. By serving as a family extension for students, ensuring they are physically and emotionally healthy, and teaching them life skills, my network gives students the resources to handle our demands for academic excellence and our refusal to settle for mediocrity.

The data shows that alignment works. St. Hope schools have a very high percentage of minority and disadvantaged students, a population that traditionally tests below regional or state averages. Yet our standardized exam scores are higher than district averages in many categories. Our students come into our schools far below grade level but rapidly catch up. For example, our fifth-graders who tested at 9 percent in math (compared with 25 percent for the district average), were testing at 48 percent (compared with a district average of 32 percent) by eighth grade. In contrast, the overall district scores for students moving through grade levels increased only a few percentage points rather than showing dramatic or rapid improvement.

For disadvantaged students, the results are even more striking. When looking specifically at how African-American students from low socio-economic backgrounds performed on the statewide English test, St. Hope’s Sac High scholars scored 68 percent, compared with only 21 percent districtwide.

We have tripled the number of Sac High scholars on grade level in math and nearly doubled the number of scholars on grade level in English. At the same time, our suspension rates dropped significantly, going from 22.7 percent to 9 percent for our elementary school, 22.6 percent to 18.7 percent for middle school and 18 percent to 12 percent for high school. What’s more, 96 percent of Sac High students were accepted into four-year colleges in 2019.

By focusing on and prioritizing alignment, we’ve put in place systems that create consistency and cohesiveness, and provide whole-child support so we can push our scholars to do their best. Alignment has enabled us to instill in all our scholars that a propensity for classroom achievement is not something they are born with, but rather that academic excellence, college readiness and future career success is something that is learned and earned.

Kari Wehrly is chief of schools for PS7 Elementary School, PS7 Middle School and Sacramento Charter High School, part of the St. Hope system in Sacramento, California.

This article was published in partnership with The 74. Sign up for The 74’s newsletter here.

Among those joining in on the road trip are Chief Deputy Superintendent Michelle King, Chief Financial Officer Megan Reilly and board members George McKenna and Steve Zimmer. They planned to meet with Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León and “other key legislators,” according to district officials.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced plans to eliminate funding for a pre-school program serving about 13,000 four-year olds, called the School Readiness and Language Development Program. SRLDP costs about $26 million annually and is the only pre-school program financed exclusively with district general funds.

As a result, the board approved a resolution to explore the idea of expanding existing transitional kindergarten programs, which are partially paid for with state funding.

Adult education programs were among the first to be slashed throughout the the recession years, and it has yet to benefit from recent state revenue increases. Further, more cuts are planned. The district issued layoff notices to hundreds of adult education teachers in April.

The latest budget projections from the state’s legislative analysts office estimate the district will receive $710 million dollars above what it had initially expected.

Assembly member Joan Buchanan

The teacher dismissal bill awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown‘s signature includes no specific language for streamlining the process of removing teachers for sexual and physical abuse, which had been the focus of earlier bills. The final version simply creates protocols to govern any dismissal case.

Brown has until Oct. 13 to sign it.

Assembly Bill 375, which passed both houses of the legislature last week, grew out of other bills, more narrowly written, that focused on teachers who posed threats to children. Those efforts, opposed by teachers unions, evolved into a wider bill that creates overall procedures with deadlines when none were in place before, prompting some lawmakers were characterizing as too long, too expensive and too cumbersome.

Sponsored by Joan Buchanan, a northern California Democrat and new chair of the Assembly’s education committee, the final version has the strong support of the unions, in part, for maintaining a three-member panel that decides a case — two teachers and an administrative law judge — and for loosening the eligibility requirements for teachers to serve on the panel.

But critics of the bill before Brown argue that it betrays the purpose of the original legislation, denying districts an explicit pathway to removing teachers accused of immoral and illegal behavior.

“For me, I see no benefit in the bill,” John Deasy, the LA Unified superintendent, told LA School Report, referring AB 375. “It neither strengthened nor weakened the current law. In other words it does not help. I look for legislation that makes it easier for districts to dismiss teaches who harm students quickly and cost effectively.”

Bill Lucia, CEO of Ed Voice, a grassroots nonprofit group, is urging Brown to veto the new law, calling it “unsafe for children” and saying it would increase “the likelihood that perpetrators will negotiate a buyout and a hall pass to inflict child abuse again in another California public school.”

Buchanan’s bill evolved from SB 1530, which was introduced last year and never made it out of an Assembly committee, thanks to a two Democrats voting against it and four abstaining — as well as heavy lobbying by the California Teachers Association.

The bill would have given school boards the authority to suspend without pay a teacher or administrator who is notified of dismissal for conduct involving sex abuse, drugs or violence toward children. It would also have given school boards, not a panel — the final authority over dismissals.

One Assembly member who abstained from the voting was Betsy Butler, who was narrowly defeated last year by Richard Bloom, the former mayor of Santa Monica.

Running as an underdog, Bloom had blasted Butler’s abstention, telling LA School Report last year: “I’ve never done that in 13 years of being a public official. I think it’s our responsibility as elected officials to register our opinions and have discourse on them. That’s what public discourse is about.”

But this time, Assemblyman Bloom abstained from AB 375, which had been held up in committee, only to resurface and reach the Assembly floor last week in the final legislative session, a time lawmakers usually scramble to approve bills before the deadline.

“AB 375 was significantly amended and passed out of one committee, then moved on to another committee where, a day before the Assembly and Senate votes, it received a favorable vote,” said Bloom. “While advocates for the measure were certainly prepared, there was virtually no time for school boards, community activists, or anyone other than insiders to evaluate and comment on the reformulated bill.”

Bloom said he scrambled to do his own research and found mixed assessments, with some calling the measure a “modest step forward,” while others told him that “limits on depositions, time constraints on investigations and other factors, would make it harder, not easier, to discipline those accused of heinous acts like child molestation.”

In the end, Bloom simply didn’t feel comfortable voting one way or the other.

“Given that neither I nor my staff had the time to independently evaluate these conflicting views I decided that I could not support the bill, but was not comfortable, at that point, in voting “No'” he said. “My abstention had the same effect as a “no” vote.

“I remain concerned that the legislature has unwittingly passed a bill that would make it more difficult to discipline a teacher like Mark Berndt.  I think that result, if accurate, is unconscionable.“

Berndt is a former third grade teacher who is awaiting trial on charges that he molested more than 20 students over five years.

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The bill awaiting Brown’s signature has unambiguously good news for a certain category of teachers in California public schools: It codifies compliance with a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision that being a member of the Communist party cannot be grounds for dismissal.

Previous posts: Richard Bloom Criticizes Betsy Butler For SB 1530 Vote; Assemblymember Bloom Opposes Teacher Dismissal Bill; Teacher Dismissal Bill Blocked Over Seven-Month Time Limit

“I applaud Governor Brown and our legislators for their work on the compromise announced on the Local Control Funding Formula,” said Superintendent John Deasy in a written statement.

The compromise language is designed to give more money all school districts while still making sure districts like LAUSD with a large concentration of low-income and English language learning students get a big boost.

Last month, Deasy said that the original Brown plan would hand LAUSD an extra $188 million in the first school year alone. The compromise version is expected to give the district roughly the same amount of money.

Governor Brown’s initial proposal earmarked 80 percent of education funds to go directly to all school districts evenly — the “base funding.”

Meanwhile, 16 percent went to “supplemental funding,” flowing to districts with disadvantaged kids, and 4 percent to “concentration funding,” helping districts (like LAUSD) with especially high concentrations of low-income students, English language learners and foster kids.

The compromise proposal raises the base funding to 84 percent, lowers the supplemental funding to 10 percent, and then increases the concentration funding to 6 percent.

See EdSource Today‘s handy chart for a visual comparison of the original and compromise language:

Via EdSource Today

“This announcement marks the most significant overhaul of K-12 school finance since the 1978 passage of Proposition 13 shifted most school funding from property taxes to the state’s sales and income tax rolls,” said Deasy. “While we have miles to go to regain the ground we’ve lost since, with this deal, we have begun our journey toward funding equity and funding adequacy.”

To be sure, Deasy was just one of the many LA officials pushing for the funding formula, including UTLA President Warren Fletcher and LA Chamber of Commerce President Gary Toebben.

“This is one of those issues where you had everyone on board — labor, business, management,” said Zazueta. “This is a big win for LA as a whole.”

LA Unified will also get a funding boost from Proposition 39, the ballot measure passed by California voters in November to close a corporate tax loophole that benefitted out-of-state-corporations in order to build clean energy infrastructure.

The State legislature has decided that the bulk of the Prop 39 money will go to school districts, who can now apply for the money in order to, say, install solar panels on schools in order to save on energy costs.

Previous posts: Brown Soft-Sells School Formula in LA; Deasy Joins Governor’s Funding Formula Offensive; Gov’s “Weighted” Funding Formula Will Transform LAUSD; Deasy Praises Brown Budget Proposal

Santiago’s appearance with Sanchez was interpreted by some within UTLA to mean that Sanchez carried the Assembly Speaker’s stamp of approval.

“In no uncertain terms, it was made clear to us that Sanchez is protected all the way up and down the power structure of the State,” said a highly placed source within UTLA.

This was one of the reasons that UTLA endorsed Sanchez in the primary — and one of the reasons the union leadership and members may struggle tonight when the House of Representatives reconsiders the union’s District 6 endorsements.

But it is not entirely clear whether pulling Sanchez’s endorsement would have any political consequences, in Sacramento or in Los Angeles — or even how it might affect the runoff.

Eric Bauman, Chair of the LA County Democratic Party, Vice Chair of the State Party and a Senior Advisor to Speaker Perez confirms that Santiago went to the endorsement meeting, but said Santiago’s presence wasn’t a message.

“It does not reflect the Speaker’s position, and the Speaker hasn’t endorsed in that race,” he said. “It’s just coincidental that Tony Sanchez is close friend with the Speaker’s staff.”

But former State Senate Leader Gloria Romero, now director of California Democrats for School Reform, thinks the message was implicit.

“It’s definitely a message that was being sent,” she said in a recent telephone interview with LA School Report. “In the political arena, you know who the Speaker’s staff is. That was message. Cause there’s no reason for Miguel to go with Sanchez to that meeting.”

Indeed, Sanchez has many a Sacramento connection. Not only is he friends with Santiago, but also his brother-in-law is Steve Veres, State Senator Kevin de Leon’s district director.

The speculation has been that the 30-year-old Antonio Sanchez is being groomed for office as a State Assemblyman. (In this scenario, State Senator Alex Padilla would run for Secretary of State, Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra would jump over to the Senate, and Sanchez would run for Bocanegra’s seat.)

Further complicating the situation is that the UTLA leadership genuinely likes Sanchez, a former aide to the Mayor who’s also been endorsed by the LA County Democratic Party, the LA County Federation of Labor, the SEIU and the Coalition for School Reform.

“The book on him is, when he was in the Mayor’s office, he got things done,” said the UTLA source. “He’s been working extremely hard. He’s not just a politician that expects to be coronated.”

They also aren’t opposed to a moderate Board member — a consensus builder, as it were, and might hope to avoid both a costly runoff and any possible consequences in Sacramento.

SB 10, the bill to make it easier to fire teachers accused of harming children, is up for consideration again this year. In one possible scenario, stripping Sanchez of his endorsement would give powerful Sacramento lawmakers an additional reason to move the bill forward.

“The message we’ve gotten, through a back channel, is that if UTLA pulls their endorsement [for Sanchez], get ready, here comes SB 10,” said the UTLA source.

Sanchez supports SB 10. His opponent, Monica Ratliff, opposes it.

The LA County Democratic Party’s Eric Bauman thinks this idea is ludicrous.

“I can tell you that there is nobody I know of in Sacramento that would make that play,” he said. “The speaker is very close to the CTA [California Teachers Association].”

Romero agrees that there’s probably not any direct connection between the Sanchez endorsement and SB 10 — largely because SB 10 is going to pass.

“This time, there’s gonna be a lot more publicity, and a lot more pressure on the Assembly,” she said. “I think that it goes [through] this year in some form.”

In the end, the most immediate reason not to strip Sanchez of his endorsement and focus on Ratliff may be that doing so could set off a competitive runoff and UTLA is said to have little more than $100,000 left in its coffers — which UTLA leadership controls, not the House of Representatives.

Previous posts: District 6 Candidate Hardens Position on Deasy Leadership, Union Schedules Special Session To Reconsider Endorsements*, Union Endorsements Could Affect District 6 Runoff, After Election, Board Status Quo Remains Intact

• Graham wants $10 Million From District: In addition to suing former superintendent Ramon Cortines for sexual harassment, LAUSD employee Scot Graham also wants $10 million from the school district for outing him, defaming him and placing him in a false light. Graham and LAUSD were on the verge of a settlement which would have given him $200,000 and lifetime benefits, but the deal fell apart when the district, according to Graham, prematurely announced it and the identity of Graham. Daily News

• AIG Will Pay LAUSD $79 Million In Settlement: AIG had refused to pay out insurance claims on LAUSD-owned properties with costly environmental hazards. LA Unified bought the insurance in 1999, as it was beginning a $20 billion constructions spree. LA Times

More reads after the jump.

• Lawsuit, Bill Aim to Keep K-12 Education Free in California: The ACLU suit is hitting out against fees for things like sports, field trips and textbooks, even the the California constitution guarantees every kid a free education. Some of these fees are legal, some aren’t, but many districts don’t seem to care. A bill in Sacramento, AB 1575, would create a formal complaint process for the illegal fees. LA Times

• Plan to Split Carson High Into Three Schools Riles Parents, Teachers: Many in the community are worried that the split will segregate the high achievers from the low ones. There is also a “general wariness, a concern that the Los Angeles Unified School District is tinkering with a local institution from afar.” The 2,800 will stay on the same campus, but 1,000 kids will join one of two pilots: the Academy of Medical Arts or the Academies of Education and Empowerment. Long Beach Press-Telegram

• Some Schools Adopting Longer Years to Improve Learning:  Increasing time in school is one of the best ways to narrow the achievement gap between rich and poor students, education advocates say. NYT

• Meanwhile, in Sacramento, a long dormant bill that essentially state in plain (well, plainer) english what Judge Chalfant’s interpretation of the Stull Act is (i.e., it would mandate teacher evaluations include student progress), AB 5, is set to resurface. The bill is sponsored by Felipe Fuentes, who just so happens to be running for L.A. City Council. SI&A Cabinet Report

• Release of the scores for the State’s standardized tests, the so-called STARs, will be delayed two weeks, thanks to an investigation into potential cheating, after 36 questions showed up on social media websites. The scores are set to be released August 31. OC Register

• The Adelanto School Board will hold an emergency meeting at 2 PM today, where they’ll discuss the future of Desert Trails Elementary School, site of the recent and successful parent revolution. Redlands Daily Facts