FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2022
Contact: Sumeet Bal, Communications Director, sbal@publicadvocates.org 917.647.1952
Joint Statement by Public Advocates, Californians Together, Children Now, The Education Trust-West, The Opportunity Institute and Teach Plus on the Publication of Teaching Assignment Monitoring Outcomes (TAMO) Data
Our organizations, which represent a coalition of civil rights, advocacy, community, parent, educator and other organizations concerned about equity for high-need students, are encouraged by the publication of the Teaching Assignment Monitoring Outcomes (TAMO) Data. These data represent an important first step toward enabling the public, district leaders, policymakers and other educational partners to understand the quality of California’s teacher workforce at the state, district and school level.
By releasing the TAMO Data and beginning the work on the Local Control Funding Formula’s (LCFF) Priority 1, the State sends a strong signal that access to effective, well-prepared and appropriately assigned teachers is a critical determinant of student success. Now, with greater transparency and greater accountability regarding teacher assignment and certifications, educational leaders and community partners can have essential conversations about equitable access to effective teaching, and help ensure that all students have access to fully prepared and appropriately assigned teachers.
As the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) continue to advance this important work, we encourage them to conduct an analysis of the available teacher assignment data by student subgroup and include that information on the Dashboard and in additional reports. Access to such data will enable the State to meet its equity obligations in accordance with the LCFF’s Priority 1, and facilitate the establishment of objective criteria by which to judge teacher quality and equity that was required by the Legislature at the school and district level. Moreover, the inclusion of such data on the Dashboard will contribute to a greater understanding by students, families and the public as to whether students of color, multilingual learners, students with disabilities and other historically underserved students have equitable access to fully qualified and appropriately assigned teachers.
We welcome an opportunity to collaborate with the Ad hoc Workgroup on Teacher Assignment to account for other equity measures of importance, such as teacher retention, teacher shortage by course area, teacher demographics, and the availability of teachers with a Bilingual Certification (through an added filter in the report).
We thank the CDE and the CTC for their partnership and commitment to greater equity for historically underserved students to date. We look forward to the work ahead and to reviewing the TAMO Data.
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