Implementing California’s Historic Investment in Community Schools
Update: On May 18, the California State Board of Education approved the first round of grants out of the $3B California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) our alliance pushed to win! Learn more about Racially Just, Relationship-Centered Community Schools.
In an enormous victory for low-income students, English learners, students of color, and their families, the California Budget Act of 2021 included an historic $3 billion investment for the Community Schools Partnership Program (CSPP). California now has a unique opportunity to rebuild and reimagine public education through the development of racially- just and relationship-centered community schools that provide wrap-around academic, health, and social-emotional supports, expanded and culturally responsive learning opportunities, and robust family and community engagement.
The legislation gives the California Department of Education significant latitude for implementing the program. With our allies in the California Partnership for the Future of Learning and the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, a statewide network of more than 200 advocacy organizations and community leaders, we are advocating to ensure the implementation of CSPP includes the voices of families, students, and community stakeholders and is shaped to maximize the transformation of the recipient schools and the system as a whole.
Resources:
- Six Key Commitments (1 page, PDF) for state-wide community school transformation lifted by students, families and educators from the CA Partnership for the Future of Learning and the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color.
- San Francisco Bay Area version – Six Key Commitments (2 pages, PDF in English & Spanish) for community school transformation lifted by students, families and educators from the Californians for Justice, Faith in Action East Bay, Public Advocates, Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and the CA Partnership for the Future of Learning.
- Central Coast version
- Central Valley version
- Inland Empire version
- Los Angeles / Southern California version
- Orange County / Southern California version
- Sacramento version
- True North version
- Letter signed by 27 community and advocacy organizations urging the California Department of Education to create a Community Schools Framework inclusive of families and communities who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color; other underrepresented and marginalized communities, including English learners; students who are in foster care, experiencing homelessness, or from low-income households; students with disabilities; LGBTQ+ youth; and the educators and school leaders serving these students throughout the K–12 system.
