EdSource Hosts Sacramento Convening on California Education Policy
More than 300 attend unprecedented October 19 event

Link to Video Content
Link to Policy Briefs

"Getting from Facts to Policy" was the theme of an all-day Convening hosted by EdSource near the state Capitol in October. EdSource's objectives for this Convening were to: get the attention of state policymakers this fall and raise their awareness of how important the next wave of education reforms are to California's students; provide these policymakers with a robust resource of research-based policy papers and recommendations for their consideration; and provide a vehicle for the attendees to come together in one day to share and hear education policy ideas and concerns and to identify others they may want to work with in the coming months. Invitations were extended to almost 1,200 respected individuals and groups from as wide a range of perspectives as we could find, including state policymakers, education leaders, and researchers. In addition, any individual or group who contacted us asking to attend was welcomed to do so. More than 350 registered to attend and 307 actually attended: a virtual who’s who in California's K–12 education policy community. EdSource invited organizations and individuals to submit policy briefs and asked that participants anchor their proposals in current research studies. More than 40 individuals and institutions provided 47 six-page briefs to EdSource in early October; the submitted briefs were then organized into the Convening Book, a compendium that was distributed to all attendees. EdSource arranged for the Convening Book to be hand-delivered to all members of the Legislature as well. We also mailed it to 50 key state government officials in the California departments of education and finance, the governor's office, and other departments. From the submitted briefs, EdSource organized a program for the day that included a plenary panel, keynote address, research synopsis, and 12 breakout panel presentations (with about 50 presenters and moderators) in two sessions. The day began with a keynote address from Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Association: "K–12 Education and its Vital Importance to California's Future." Guardino emphasized the crucial role of a strong California public education system in meeting the needs of the workforce and providing opportunity in California. After the keynote, participants could choose from breakout sessions that most interested them. Topics included: Infrastructure, Data Issues and Needs (two sessions), Community Priorities, Finance and Funding Issues, Finance System Principles, Teacher Capacity, Achievement Gap, High School Issues, Alignment and Accountability, District and Administrator Capacity, and Finance, Funding, and Governance Issues. Following the breakout sessions, participants heard a lunchtime update from Ted Mitchell, chair of the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence. Mitchell outlined the committee's thoughts and priorities regarding their upcoming policy recommendations to the governor. EdSource Deputy Director Mary Perry, along with Scott Joftus, president of Cross Joftus (an education strategies consulting organization that assisted EdSource with organizing the event), presented a summary of the key recommendations of all the briefs submitted. The final session of the day was a plenary panel of luminaries moderated by Ken Hall, executive in residence at the University of Southern California and a member of the EdSource board. The group commented on a wide range of questions submitted by Hall and by the audience about current issues facing California public education. Panelists included Senator Gloria Romero, Senate majority leader Rick Simpson, deputy chief of staff, Speaker Fabian Nuñez's office Scott Hill, undersecretary, Office of the Secretary of Education Rick Miller, deputy superintendent, California Department of Education Sue Burr, executive director, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (and EdSource board member) Loren Kaye, president, California Foundation for Commerce & Education Joe Nuñez, associate executive director, California Teachers Association Videotapes of the afternoon panel and of the plenary presentations by Guardino, Perry, and Joftus can be seen on the California School Finance website. All 47 policy briefs can also be found and downloaded from the California School Finance website; nearly 2,900 briefs were downloaded in the first 10 days after the convening. Why is now the time for California voters, civic activists, and state policymakers to take continued K–12 policy improvements seriously? Because California's future economy and quality of life depends on an increasingly educated citizenry. As hard as K–12 educators have been working, California is still a long way from the academic proficiency levels we'd all like to see for its students. The EdSource-hosted Education Policy Convening provided an early opportunity for many excellent policy briefs and recommendations—from a wide range of California's most respected education-affiliated groups—to be shared with state policymakers as a resource for their deliberations this winter and next spring on what policy reforms might best support the state's schools and students as they work to improve student academic outcomes. EdSource was asked to serve as the neutral host, convener, and program planner for this first-of-its-kind California Education Policy Convening in Sacramento by the California Student Success Project (www.studentsuccessproject.org), a newly formed project of CIF of the San Francisco Foundation, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Stuart Foundation. EdSource was assisted in the planning for this event by CSSP and the staff of Cross and Joftus, LLC.