This story has been updated to reflect the portion of students who will remain in distance learning in Elk Grove Unified.
California school officials scratching their heads over how to roll out standardized tests this spring could soon have another option.
On Tuesday, the State Board of Education voted unanimously to seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education that would allow California school districts to use locally selected tests rather than the Smarter Balanced statewide assessments, which are required by state and federal education law.
“It has become clear that the persistent gaps that existed in our education system pre-pandemic have become chasms,” said Rachael Maves, deputy superintendent of public instruction for the Instruction and Measurement Branch of the California Department of Education. “In this context, it seems not only appropriate but necessary” to measure student learning.
Editor s note:
CVUSD Superintendent Mark McLaughlin clarified a previous comment, and said intensive school based therapists are employees directly contracted and paid for by the district on an annual basis.
The union representing school counselors in Conejo Valley Unified School District filed an unfair practice charge with the state over the district s handling of their responsibilities.
The Conejo Valley Pupil Personnel Association filed the charge on Feb. 24 with the California Public Employment Relations Board. A statement Monday from the union said the charge stems from the district shifting counselors duties to include work previously done by a separate group of workers.
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A Delta plane taxis at Los Angeles International Airport on July 12, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. | Mario Tama/Getty Images
California records reveal Maui lawmakers, other pandemic travel
Updated
California lawmakers repeatedly traveled out of state last year on interest group-funded trips despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to financial disclosures.
Legislators headed to Portland, Ore., and Seattle in the fall. Some visited a conference in Arizona days before Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California into a statewide lockdown. Lawmakers went to Japan before the coronavirus swamped California but when it was already present in China.
Documents also confirm POLITICO’s earlier reporting that more than a dozen lawmakers of both parties flew to Hawaii in November and revealed a previously undisclosed attendee: state Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita), who has since become Senate minority leader.
Healthy people under 50 who are not essential workers likely won’t get vaccinated until this summer. Counties are currently vaccinating health providers, farmworkers, teachers, law enforcement personnel and people over age 65.
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