Support growing for school finance reform
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A recent effort to reform California public school financing has stalled, but key players say there’s a growing consensus that the system needs to be simplified and made more equitable.
A bill by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, sailed through the state Assembly but faced problems in the Senate last month. Amid concerns about opposition from teachers unions and questions about a lack of specificity, Brownley pulled her legislation and converted it into a two-year bill, meaning it will be revisited in January. The bill would place fewer restrictions on how school districts can spend state money.
“I have commitments from all the stakeholder groups that they will work with me on it,” Brownley said. “I think everyone agrees that we need to reform the system. Where the concerns lie is ensuring that this is a system
Plastics industry edited environmental textbook
José Luis Girarte/istockphoto.com
Under pressure from the American Chemistry Council, a lobbying group for the plastics industry, schools officials in California edited a new environmental curriculum to include positive messages about plastic shopping bags, interviews and documents show.
The rewritten textbooks and teachers’ guides coincided with a public relations and lobbying effort by the chemistry council to fight proposed plastic bag bans throughout the country. But despite the positive message, activists say there is no debate: Plastic bags kill marine animals, leech toxic chemicals and take an estimated 1,000 years to decompose in landfills.
In 2009, a private consultant hired by California school officials added a new section to the 11th-grade teachers’
React & Act: How to join the environmental curriculum debate
In “Plastics industry edited environmental textbook,” California Watch reporter Susanne Rust details how, under pressure from a lobbying group for plastics manufacturers, state public school officials have edited a new environmental curriculum to include positive messages about plastic shopping bags. We’ve created a list of key players you can reach out to ifyou would like to weigh in on the issue.
Gov. Jerry Brow
Phone: 916-445-2841
Write: State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814