The California State Lottery failed to give public schools $36 million in funds in the 2017-18 fiscal year, according to a report from the state auditor’s office.  State Auditor Elaine Howle’s office conducted an audit at the direction of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and released its findings Feb. 25. Among the findings were that the Lottery has not followed state law, which requires it to increase funding to education in proportion to its net revenue.   “The Lottery cannot demonstrate that its current prize payout rate is optimal for maximizing funding for education, leaving it unable to know whether it is diverting too much funding to prize payments,” Howle wrote in a letter to legislative leaders.   The most recent study on optimal prize payout rates is 10 years old, and the Lottery has not adhered to that study in its most recent budgets, according to the auditor.  The audit also cast doubt on the agency responsible for oversight of the Lottery — the State Controller’s Office. Among the findings, the audit said the Controller’s Office inappropriately removed a finding from an April 2019 audit report, which questioned costs of $720,000 related to trade shows, after the Lottery requested that change. The audit also found inadequate evidence the Lottery follows competitive bidding practices, further reducing funding to education.  The audit recommends the Legislature require the Lottery to pay the $36 million it owes to education and that the Lottery have regular audits of their procurement processes. 

San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Ted Alejandre has been appointed by California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to the K-12 High Speed Network Advisory Board. Alejandre’s appointment to the board is effective immediately through June 30, 2022.  The K-12 High Speed Network is a state program funded by the California Department of Education to provide the California K-12 community with network connectivity, teaching and learning application coordination, and videoconferencing support. The mission of the K-12 High Speed Network advisory board is to enable educators, students and staff across the state to have access to reliable high-speed networks that have the capacity to deliver high quality online resources to support teaching and learning, and promote academic achievement.  “This is an exciting time of transformation in K-12 education,” said Alejandre. “The impact new technologies are having on education across the state is tremendous-particularly as we shift to distance learning. I look forward to helping our public schools stay on the forefront of these exciting innovations.” 

A new Virtual Parent Support Circle hosted by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond debuted April 29 with a panel discussion by California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and partners from the California Parent Teacher Association and the Parent Institute for Quality Education.  The panel highlighted the diverse challenges parents are encountering. According to Thurmond, the Virtual Parent Support Circle seeks to reach out and hear directly from parents across California and encourage them to do their best while sharing resources and supports as they cope with distance learning and economic challenges.  “Through this virtual support group, I felt compelled to provide a space to let California parents know they are not alone as this pandemic affects parents differently,” Thurmond said, in a news release. “Some parents work and don’t have access to reliable child care, or there may be technology limitations and language barriers to consider. Other parents are also teachers, who have poured their hearts into supporting both their own children and their students. As a father of two daughters in public schools, I am committed to ensuring resources — and, yes, emotional support — are reaching parents as they deal with so much uncertainty. The California Department of Education is committed to providing clarity during this unprecedented time.”  The event featured video testimony from parents across the state about their respective challenges and an overview of academic, bilingual, and mental health resources. Dr. Burke Harris spoke about dealing with stress and the importance of daily exercise, and encouraged parents to take care of themselves and reach out to others for support.    Organizers plan to hold additional online events for the Virtual Parent Support Circle series.  

California could lose 13.8 percent of its teaching force ­— or 49,197 teachers — due to the impact of a COVID-19 recession on school district finances, according to analysis from the Learning Policy Institute.  Reflecting on what was learned during the Great Recession, LPI Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst Michael Griffiths estimates the financial challenges districts may soon face in a blog post from April 30.  “While predictions are wide-ranging, most suggest that our current economic downturn, plus the extraordinary costs for health care and unemployment, could produce a reduction in state education revenue of at least 10 percent this year and 20 percent or more in 2020–21,” Griffiths writes. “If these projections are correct, the resulting hit to education spending would be two and a half times worse than the lowest point of the last recession.”  Assuming districts continue their current spending patterns, which are made up largely of salaries and benefits, and assuming teacher layoffs will be mostly based on seniority, Griffiths estimated that a 15 percent reduction in state education funding could lead to the loss of more than 300,000 teaching positions nationwide. Again reflecting on the last recession, Griffiths warns that teacher cuts will disproportionately impact districts and schools serving students of color and students from low-income families. He urges states and districts to create policies that would protect these schools as much as possible from layoffs.  Read the full blog entry at .