News Briefs | FYI
March 17, 2025
Wings of kindness
Mentone Elementary School in the Redlands Unified School District held its Great Kindness Challenge in January. Counselors helped students spread their “wings of kindness” through student-made feathers that were inspired by what kindness means to them.
Report: Sexual assault claims paid by LEAs top $2 billion
A new report estimates that local educational agencies have paid between $2 billion and $3 billion in claims brought due to a law that expanded the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault.
The report from California’s Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team attempts to analyze the fiscal impacts to public agencies in the state from AB 218, a law passed in 2019 that increased the time limit for beginning action to recover damages resulting from childhood sexual assault. Under AB 218, plaintiffs now have until age 40 to file a claim. Previously, they had until age 26.
The report states that extending the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault claims will have a significant impact on local educational agencies, with some districts being more impacted than others.
“California’s system of elementary and secondary public education and basic services through local public agencies will survive the challenge presented by the claims of childhood sexual assault. But individual school districts, charter schools and other agencies may not,” the report reads.
Although public agencies have liability coverage through risk pools, the report notes that childhood sexual assault and misconduct cases have “significantly altered” the liability insurance marketplace. Fewer commercial insurers are willing to accept the risks, which has resulted in fewer insurance providers and has driven up the cost of products.
“The cost and decreasing availability of liability insurance or other risk sharing programs affects current educational and public services, because more of today’s tax dollars are being used to pay for yesterday’s offenses,” the report states.
The report states that AB 218 and similar laws have not provided added prevention measures against childhood sexual assault, nor have they given local public agencies financial resources to address the effects of the change in state policy.
The report includes spotlights on districts that have been impacted by the law. One elementary district with 350 students reports a single uninsured AB 218 claim with three victim allegations stemming from the late 1970s to early 1980s. Although the district had commercial liability insurance coverage at that time, the insurance carrier has gone out of business, leaving the district fully responsible for all settlement and/or judgment costs, currently estimated at more than $20 million — more than the district’s unrestricted general fund budget of $16.7 million.
The report makes 22 recommendations for the Legislature to consider, including mandated childhood sexual assault claim reporting and amended timelines for public agencies to pay a judgment to facilitate public financing of all or part of the judgment. The report also recommends studying the creation of a victims’ compensation fund option to provide “a more compassionate and timely remedy than litigation,” as well as more consistent and expanded statutes focused on prevention of childhood sexual assaults.
Read the full report at content.acsa.org/childhood-sexual-assault-fiscal-implications-for-california-public-agencies.
NCTQ article explores best practices for teacher evaluation
The National Council on Teacher Quality explores research-based strategies for teacher evaluation and approaches that can ease the workload of evaluators in a recent article.
In the Feb. 13 District Trendline, author Hanah Putman draws from data in NCTQ’s Teacher Contract Database to analyze the teacher evaluation policies of large districts across the country and determine whether they align with the research on what will likely make for effective and impactful evaluation systems.
The article explores these strategies, such as using multiple and frequent measures of performance and making evaluations meaningful by tying them to incentives or customized professional learning.
The article also suggests strategies that consider the time and capacity of evaluators, often site administrators who have multiple other responsibilities. The article suggests allowing other teachers or subject matter experts to observe classrooms. However, districts do not widely incorporate peer observations into evaluations.
“Allowing teachers to observe and provide feedback to their peers can be a necessary step in establishing leadership roles for teachers as part of strategic staffing,” the article states.
The article also says allowing third-party observers from varied backgrounds may help to mitigate bias in observation ratings — studies have shown bias in evaluations based on the race of the teacher and the race of students in their classroom.
Other time-saving strategies include using video observations and shorter observations, although only 17 of 148 districts across the country explicitly allow formal observations that are 15 to 20 minutes for tenured teachers.
Read the full District Trendline at www.nctq.org/blog/Districts-are-facing-hard-choices:-How-can-teacher-evaluation-help.
Decision will pause funding cut to K-12 prep programs
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has secured a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s unlawful termination of K-12 teacher preparation pipeline grants while the states seek a preliminary injunction. Bonta led a coalition of eight attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the termination of this funding earlier this month.
“The Trump administration recklessly and unlawfully terminated grants that had been awarded and obligated to K-12 teacher preparation programs in California and across the country — without any regard for the teachers and students who would pay the price,” said Bonta, in a March 10 news release. “Today’s decision is a crucial early victory to ensure these grant dollars continue to flow and our kids get the passionate, qualified, good teachers they deserve.”
To address the nationwide teacher shortage, Congress established and allocated funding pursuant to the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development grant programs to train teachers, create a new teacher pipeline, and improve teacher quality. The U.S. Department of Education subsequently awarded and obligated funds to states’ public universities and associated nonprofits.
Beginning Feb. 7, the Department of Education terminated, with immediate effect, grants awarded to K-12 teacher preparation programs in California and nationwide. In California alone, the department provided notice of termination of grants with a total value of at least $148 million.
In a Feb. 17 press release, the Department of Education said it was cutting more than $600 million in grants that train teachers in what it said were “divisive ideologies,” such as critical race theory, DEI and anti-racism.
FYI
ACSA seeks nominations for woman in ed award
Nominations are now being accepted for ACSA’s Exemplary Woman in Education Award, which will be presented at the 2025 Women in School Leadership Forum, which will be held Sept. 17-19 in Santa Rosa. ACSA is seeking nominations for outstanding women in educational leadership who serve as a role model for other women. Nominees should demonstrate a passion for the profession, a commitment to grow and develop others, a demonstrated desire to give back, advocacy for the value of school administrators and effective crisis leadership during unprecedented times. Nominee must be an ACSA member to qualify. Visit acsa.org/womensaward to submit your nomination by April 30.
Teacher of the Year program invites COEs to participate
The CDE, in partnership with the California Teachers of the Year Foundation, is pleased to invite county offices of education to participate in the 2026 California Teachers of the Year Program. The program highlights educational innovation, student learning, and the rewards of teaching. The purpose of the CA TOY Program is to honor the teaching profession and to heighten interest in teaching as a career by spotlighting teachers who successfully employ skills and strategies to increase academic outcomes and narrow the opportunity gap. Candidates for the CA TOY Program compete in the state program as nominees of COEs. Most COEs have a TOY coordinator. Districts and counties are encouraged to hold local competitions in the spring. The state deadline for submission of candidates by COEs is July 9. Read more www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/ct/ and submit any questions via email to the CDE Awards Unit at awards@cde.ca.gov.