The year 2020 marks the official start of the 2020 Census, and California needs help from educators to ensure as many children as possible are counted this year. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla leads the statewide California Complete Count Committee, which noted children are historically undercounted in the Census. Padilla said educators should also realize that an accurate count determines fair share and federal funding for the next 10 years. “Representation depends on a complete count,” Padilla said at the October ACSA Leadership Assembly in Orange County. “We don’t get a second chance to get it right.” The census requires “all hands on deck,” Padilla said. Several school boards, including those governing Los Angeles Unified School District and San Bernardino City Unified School District, have passed resolutions declaring support for the census and encouraging all families and students to participate. Padilla said immigrants are harder to count than other populations, which will be even more difficult given recent anti-immigrant actions. Though there will not be a question on citizenship status, immigrants may still be reluctant to participate.  “The immigrant population is more distrustful and the current environment hasn’t been welcoming or reassuring,” Padilla said. He said information California collects from its citizens is private under federal law and can’t be shared with other agencies. “California can participate with confidence,” he said. Other “hard-to-count” communities include people of color, low-income populations and young people. Ten years ago, Padilla said the largest group considered hard-to-count was children under the age of 5 — that’s notable for schools assessing future funding needs as children age into the public school system. When it comes to census outreach strategies to those communities, each district is different, Padilla said. “We’re asking education leaders what they think works best in their community,” he said. “What works in Los Angeles won’t work in other places, and local leaders have a better idea of what makes better sense in their communities.”                     

The state’s census website, , features a with maps of hard-to-count tracts, information on the U.S. Census schedule and how to count young children.