As the California Legislature considers placing a school facilities bond on the November 2024 ballot, around half of likely voters say they would vote yes on such a measure, according to a new statewide survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Likely voters are similarly divided on how they would vote on a local school district bond measure for school construction. Fifty percent say they would vote yes, 48 percent say they would vote no, and 2 percent don’t know. Views diverge along party lines (yes: 68 percent Democrats, 43 percent independents, 26 percent Republicans). Support is lower for a local ballot measure that would raise parcel taxes to increase funding for local public schools, with 42 percent of likely voters saying they would vote yes, 56 percent saying they would vote no, and 2 percent saying they don’t know. Across partisan groups, 58 percent of Democrats, 36 percent of independents, and 17 percent of Republicans would vote yes.

“Around half of likely voters would vote yes on a state school bond measure, while a similar share would vote yes on a local school bond,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC Statewide Survey director and Miller Chair in Public Policy, in a news release. “Four in 10 likely voters would vote yes on a local parcel tax increase to boost school funding.”

The new PPIC Statewide Survey also finds:

“Half of public school parents think their child fell behind during the pandemic, while most say the biggest challenge post-pandemic is catching up academically or dealing with the social-emotional impacts,” Baldassare said.

In its annual Californians and Education survey, PPIC examines California adults’ and public school parents’ perceptions of the state’s K–12 system, local public schools, post-pandemic recovery, school funding, decisions on curriculum and early childhood education.

Read more about the survey at https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-education-april-2024/.

An absent student can affect the absenteeism of their peers for up to three days, according to a working paper published in March.

Researchers examined data from 2020-21 and 2021-22 in four diverse Texas school districts to understand how classmates’ absences impact student absenteeism.

“The interactions between students, as well as the relationship between students and their teachers, can create a learning context that either encourages attendance or exacerbates absenteeism,” the authors write.

The authors compared attendance for in-person classes and virtual options that were available at the time and found that in-person absenteeism among peers significantly increases a student’s absenteeism, with effects lasting up to three days, regardless of achievement levels. Virtual absenteeism showed no similar impacts to attendance.

The California Charter Schools Association has recognized the work and achievements of two exceptional charter public schools and two innovative leaders at this year’s California Charter Schools Conference, March 18-21 in Long Beach.

The prestigious Hart Vision Equity and Innovation Awards for Schools of the Year were presented to CORE Butte Charter School (Butte County) and Magnolia Public Schools (Los Angeles). The Hart Vision Equity and Innovation Leader of the Year awards were presented to Sherry Segura, CEO, The Foundation for Hispanic Education (San Jose); and Ricardo Mireles, executive director, Academia Avance (Los Angeles).

These awards, first presented in 2023 and named after the late Sen. Gary K. Hart, are given to schools and education leaders with a demonstrated record of outstanding achievements in serving all students and furthering California’s charter public school movement.

“These four schools and education leaders are helping transform California’s public education system through their commitment to equity and innovation,” said CCSA President and CEO Myrna Castrejón, in a news release. “Not only are they fulfilling the promise of charters to improve outcomes for all students, but they are transforming their communities through their work.”

Two charter public schools were awarded for their schoolwide commitment to equity and student outcomes. Schools honored with this award have programs or practices that ensure all kids are represented, supported and included, close opportunity gaps, or teach students in innovative ways that serve as a model for the larger education community.

In videos featuring the winners, Superintendent Mary Cox explained CORE Butte’s approach to serving students.

“We are a school that is constantly asking each other, ‘But what if?’” said Cox, an ACSA member. “That, to me, is innovation. That’s what we want to see revolutionized in education. We want to see education being looked at and the question being asked, ‘But what if? How could we better? What could we do that’s different?’ And that’s kind of where we lead with a lot of our ideas and change.”

The two Hart Vision Equity and Innovation Leader of the Year awardees were recognized for furthering charter equity and innovation by uniting others, ensuring charters are represented or included in local and state opportunities, advocating for equity at systemic levels, or through leadership, mentorship and the sharing of best practices to shape the larger public charter school community positively.

In a video about Segura, she was described as a connector and mentor who challenges principals to be better leaders, creates opportunity for every student and nurtures the charter movement.

“I want our scholars to know that they truly can be anything that they want to be,” said Segura, an ACSA member. “I just can’t imagine any other thing in the world that I would rather do and spend my time on than our scholars and our community. ... I wake up every day grateful that this is what I get to do with my time.”