Strengthening Student Voices
Public Advocates is a founding member of the Campaign for Quality Education (CQE), a statewide alliance of 25 grassroots organizations dedicated to ensuring that all students have access to a high-quality education regardless of their family’s income, ethnicity, nationality or language. Public Advocates works in Sacramento for statewide policies and regulations on behalf of the CQE, and also filed the CQE v. California lawsuit challenging the state’s system of school finance as unconstitutional. We are a member of CQE’s Coordinating Committee, which also includes Californians for Justice (CFJ), Youth Together, Asian Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership (AYPAL) and the Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network (PLAN).
The CQE’s “100% Prepared” campaign seeks to increase college and career preparation among the most under-served populations in California by ensuring that California provides qualified teachers, challenging and meaningful curricula, and the adequate, equitable funding necessary to prepare all students for higher education and careers.
As part of its “100% Prepared Campaign,” the CQE sponsored and built support for AB 8 (Brownley) (2009), a bill that would have required a bipartisan governmental working group to propose a new school funding structure to the Legislature by December 2010. Among other things, the bill sought to make the system equitable, rational and based on the costs of educating students. The Legislature passed AB 8 with wide bipartisan support (79-0 in the Assembly; 31-6 in the Senate), but the bill was vetoed by then-Governor Schwarzenegger.
In the aftermath of the AB 8 veto, the CQE rallied support for AB 18 (also sponsored by Assembly Member Brownley), a two-year bill that continues the school finance reform battle. The bill would start the hard work of reforming the school finance system by giving school districts control over billions of dollars through categorical block grants, including an expanded equity grant to address the needs of low-income students and English learners.
Additionally, the coalition is heavily involved in advocating for Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to implement a weighted student formula. Brown’s proposal hinges on giving school districts a base amount per student, with significant extra funding for English learner and low-income students — as well as the flexibility for districts to spend that amount however they like. Although the coalition has concerns about the proposal, it is in favor of acting now to repair the finance system’s inequities. CQE students have contributed to media stories and shown up in force in 2012 at hearings on the governor’s plan, sharing their experiences with legislators to inspire action.
Indeed, advocating in Sacramento has been central to the CQE’s agenda since 2003. By scheduling visits with legislators and raising our voices in the Capitol, the CQE is one of the few coalitions consistently shining a light on those most affected by our public education system — the students served by it and their parents.
