State Board of Education plans to declare emergency in 1,000 schools
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/sbelivestream.aspPresident Ted Mitchell leads the State Board of Education meeting Wednesday.The California State Board of Education is expected to declare an emergency today in 1,000 public schools the state has designated as among the "lowest performing" in the state.
The emergency declaration, which is Item 32on the board's agenda today in Sacramento,suggests that students in those schools are at risk of "serious harm," and that their health, safety and "general welfare" may be threatened by remaining in those schools.
The emergency declaration is necessary because the board, whose members are all appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, wants to accelerate implementation oflegislation (SBX5 4) approved earlier this year.
The law, titled the Open Enrollment Act, will allow students in the 1,000 schools to transfer to any other higher-performing school, even to schools in other districts, something that has not been readily available to many students in California until now.
The California State PTA will challenge the board's finding of an emergency at the meeting today. "We are very concerned about the workability of the findings, the alarmist nature of the findings, without giving parents time to understand what it means, what their options are, and find an alternative for their child," said Patty Scripter, an education advocate for the state PTA.
Once the board votes, its resolution declaring an emergency goes to the Office of Administrative Law for review, a process which includes a five day public comment period (from July 15 to July 20) before the emergency goes into effect.
The law sets out a timeline allowing parents to apply to transfer their children to schools in other districts by Jan. 1 preceding the school year they wish to transfer. But the state
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