Alliance Blog

This week’s Sacramento policy news highlights the California Department of Education’s (CDE) guidance for districts as they navigate the uncharted waters of LCAP and budget processes during COVID-19, and the work of legislators as they focus their attention on the state budget and a small set of bills related to the COVID-19 crisis.

Join us Wednesday May 13 at 1pm PST for the 4th installment of Linked Learning Alliance Virtual Conversations: Master Scheduling for Equity. RSVP today for this interactive workshop!

State policy will continue to be critical as we all navigate the realities of COVID-19, and we’ll no doubt be tracking on California’s “May Revise” to the state budget once it’s available. We share news of a recommendation to waive administrative requirements for Perkins, competitive grants that State educational agencies may apply for, and Secretary DeVos’ response to inquiries about IDEA requirements. We also have one California-specific update on the CDE’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) FAQs.

This week’s update focuses on California’s ongoing efforts to address the technological and connectivity issues creating barriers for school districts. We also share the latest on Governor Newsom’s executive order detailing how districts can meet requirements in Local Control and Accountability Plans amid COVID-19, as well as new information on federal funding relief for states and teacher-directed professional development opportunities.

Last week the Alliance convened its second virtual conversation with Linked Learning educators and administrators to better understand how schools are moving from planning to implementation in delivering integrated, high-quality college and career experiences remotely.

As the world adjusts to a new normal, policies related to funding, accountability, and other student and family supports continue to evolve. This week’s update draws attention to movement on several key federal and state initiatives that have direct impacts on funding at the local level.

To further support pathway success in the months ahead, the Linked Learning Alliance will provide weekly updates and insights on timely policy issues that are relevant to the Linked Learning community.

The Alliance has been curating resources and online learning opportunities to help support Linked Learning educators as you continue to provide students with high-quality, integrated college and career readiness educational experiences amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On April 1, 2020, the Linked Learning Alliance held the first in what will be a series of facilitated online conversations for Linked Learning educators and district leaders across the state to discuss, listen, and collaborate on the circumstances they are dealing with in the face of school closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

I hope this finds everyone well and coping as best you can with this new reality—which, honestly, feels anything but real. Most importantly, I hope each and every one of you has found a way to navigate the demands of caring for your loved ones while supporting your work families—your fellow educators, schools, districts and, most importantly, the students and communities you serve so passionately and well every day in Linked Learning pathways. It is a challenging time to say the least, and we are all trying to get through it together.