Statewide Government Groups

California is a big state. The public education system in California has 988 school districts and serves about 5.8 million students - one out of every eight school-age children in the United States.

State-level leadership of K-12 education in California is divided among state lawmakers, the Governors office, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.

You can contact the following offices for information about education-related statewide laws, polices, organizations and initiatives. You can also find out about public hearing dates and other opportunities to express your opinion about schools to the appropriate public officials.

California Department of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction. This office should be able to answer questions about the following: curriculum guidelines, requirements and frameworks; ways to earn a high school diploma in California; statewide testing programs; rankings of California compared with other states; annual reports on high school performance; school safety statistics; how state education legislation will be implemented; enrollment figures; financial data about schools; state categorical programs; state education budgets; federal programs in California; court cases related to education. You can contact this office in any of the following ways:
In person: 721 Capitol Mall, Sacramento CA 95814
By mail: P.O. Box 944272, Sacramento, CA 94244-2720
By telephone: 916-657-2451
By fax: 916-657-4975
By internet: www.cde.ca.gov

State Board of Education. This office should be able to answer questions about the names of State Board members and how to contract them; positions on ballot measures and legislation; schedules and agendas for meetings; approval process for curriculum frameworks, textbook adoptions, academic standards and student assessments; statewide education policies and regulations; waivers from the Education Code; changing school district boundaries. You can contact this office in the following ways:
In person or by mail: 721 Capitol Mall, Room 532, Sacramento, CA 95814
By telephone: 916-657-5478
By fax: 916-653-7016
By Internet: www.cde.ca.gov/board/board.html

State Assembly and Senate Education Committees: These committees can tell you about the status of bills under consideration by the Assembly and /or Senate that affect education in California; the names of committee members and how to contact them; the schedule of hearings for education measures; the legislative calendar - when the Assembly and Senate will be meeting as a whole, when committees will meet, etc. You can contact these committees in the following ways:
In person or by mail: The Senate committee is headquartered in Room 2083 of the State Capitol and the Assembly committee in Room 3123. The address of the State Capitol is Sacramento, CA 95814.
By telephone: 916-445-2522 (Senate committee) and 916-445-9431 (Assembly committee).
By internet: www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html

Governors Office: Here you can find out about the proposed state education budget; the Governors education policy; appointments to statewide commissions and boards affecting education in California. You can contact this office:
By mail: State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814
By phone: 916-445-2841
By fax: 916-445-4633
By internet: www.ca.gov/s/governor

Legislative Analysts Office: This office produces an annual analysis of the governors budget, as well as non-partisan analysis of education legislation and state ballot measures. To contact this office:
By mail: 925 L Street, Suite 1000, Sacramento, CA 95814
By phone: 916-445-4656
By fax: 916-324-4281
By internet: www.lao.ca.gov

Commission on Teacher Credentialing: This office can provide information on what credentials are required for teachers in California; professional standards for California teachers dates and results of proficiency tests given to teachers; approval of college training programs for teachers; regulations about teachers seniority and tenure. Contact the office:
By mail: 1812 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-7000
By phone: 916-445-7254
By fax: 916-327-3166
By internet: www.ctc.ca.gov


STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT GROUPS
California is fortunate to have a number of excellent organizations tracking, analyzing and commenting on the states public education system. These groups are not funded by the government. Most groups try to maintain a non-political stance, focusing instead on financial and test data. Some groups, however, may receive funding from interests that encourage the groups to adopt a particular political agenda (e.g. for or against charter schools, for or against school vouchers, for or against certain instructional programs). Citizens are encouraged to look critically at all information provided by these groups and to form their own opinions based on accurate data.

ED-DATA Partnership: This web site provides financial and demographic information on individual schools, school districts and the California school system, as well as links to STAR test data. Contact this organization:
By internet: www.ed-data.k12.ca.us

WestEd: This organization offers research-based information and analysis on a variety of California education issues. The organization also provides planning guides, publications and videos on learning, instruction and how to improve schools. Contact WestEd:
By phone: 415-565-3000
By fax: 415-565-3012
By internet: www.wested.org

EdSource: This independent, non-partisan organization provides information in non-technical language about statewide school policy and school improvement issues; school finance and budgeting; education-related ballot initiatives. The format and much of the information in [the Target Success] booklet was provided by EdSource. EdSource also publishes reports, fact sheets, school involvement guides, an annual school finance report and a handbook titled "Understanding Californias School Improvement Issues." Contact EdSource:
By mail: 4151 Middlefield Road, Suite 100, Palo Alto, CA 94303-4743
By phone: 650-857-9604
By fax: 650-857-9618
By internet: www.edsource.org

California Tomorrow: This organization prepares publications with a focus on Californias ethnically, linguistically, economically and culturally diverse student population. Contact them:
By mail: Fort Mason Center, Building B, San Francisco, CA 94123
By phone: 415-441-7631
By fax: 415-441-7635
By internet: www.californiatomorrow.org

Children Now: Contact this organization for publications and statistics about the conditions of children in California. They can be reached:
By mail: 1212 Broadway, 5th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612
By phone: 510-763-2444
By fax: 510-763-1974
By internet: www.childrennow.org

Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE): This group provides independent analysis of state education policy issues, technical support, advice to policymakers, publications and evaluation of proposed and implemented educational reforms. Contact them:
By mail: School of Education, University of California, 3653 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1670
By phone: 510-642-7223
By fax 510-642-9148

California State PTA: At the sate and national level, PTA publishes parent involvement materials and advocates for student and parent interests. The state and national organizations provide numerous publications and referrals to resources that support child-related issues, schools, school improvement and parental involvement. Contact the California PTA:
By mail: 9301 Gerorga Street, P.O. Box 15015, Los Angeles, CA 90015
By phone: 213-620-1100
By fax: 213-620-1411
By internet: www.capta.org

Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE): This community-based organization works with school districts to increase parent involvement in the educational process. The group is particularly interested in helping low-income, ethnically diverse parents participate in their childrens education. Contact PIQEs corporate office, and they will refer you to an office in your area:
By mail: 4010 Morena Boulevard, #200, San Diego, CA 92117
By phone: 619-483-4499

National Council of La Raza (NCLR): NCLRs Center for Community Educational Excellence works to increase collaboration between schools and communities, to strengthen the quality of education for Latinos, and to effectively involve Latino families in the education of their children. Contact the Councils Western Regional Office:
By mail: 523 W. 6th Street, Suite 301, Los Angeles, CA 90014
By phone: 213-489-3428
By fax: 213-489-1167
By internet: www.nclr.org

Schoolwise Press: This web site states its purpose as " helping parents get smart about California schools." The site offers information about school laws and reform efforts. It also presents statistics about individual schools and school districts and compares schools with others in the state and across the nation. In addition, Schoolwise offers a question-and-answer chat line for parents looking for information they cannot find elsewhere. Contact this site:
By internet: www.schoolwisepress.com

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Many organizations promote parental involvement in school issues nationwide. A few of these organizations are mentioned below. As with state-wide independent organizations, users are encouraged to investigate all sources of funding and political leanings of these groups. At the same time, these groups can offer valuable suggestions on becoming involved in your students education and on improving the public education available to children. Parents will also find a treasure trove of information about public schools on the internet. If you dont have a computer or access to the internet at home, go to the local library and ask for help to find these, as well as any of the sites listed in [the Target Success] directory: National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Hand-in-Hand or U.S. Department of Education.

 

Information from A Parent's Guide to Woodside High School, 2000, prepared by the Target Success Program