School & District Management

Brown Veto Puts Calif. in Jeopardy

By Michele McNeil — August 23, 2011 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

When California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed earlier this summer the spending of $2.1 million in federal money to help build a longitudinal-data system for teacher information, he might have done more than just jeopardize that particular grant.

Indeed, the state has to return the entire $6 million State Longitudinal Data Systems grant to the U.S. Department of Education. But California may have bigger problems.

When the state took nearly $6 billion in State Fiscal Stabilization Fund aid, provided through the 2009 federal economic-stimulus package, it agreed, as did all states, to do certain things by Sept. 30. One was to have a data system that allows individual teacher information to be linked to individual students.

By giving up federal funding to implement that data system, nicknamed CALTIDES, California may be running afoul of the rules governing the stabilization fund.

Federal Education Department officials say they are in “conversations” with state officials about whether the state is in compliance. The federal officials say they’ve heard competing responses from the state about whether California will be able to satisfy the requirements and will be monitoring the state closely.

If California doesn’t find a way to show it is making progress on its data system, federal officials say, the department could take action. That could mean anything from stepped-up monitoring to a demand that the state return any or all of its $6 billion in SFSF aid. California has reported spending all but $8 million of its SFSF money.

Gov. Brown’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. But state education department officials say they are confident their existing student-data system meets federal requirements, said Keric Ashley, who directs the department’s data-management division.

The veto by Gov. Brown, a Democrat, was not a veto of the teacher-evaluation system, Mr. Ashley said, but of a second system meant to link data from different state agencies. The state still maintains its student- and teacher-data system, which already makes the student-teacher link so that evaluations based at least in part on student test scores are possible, he said.

Before returning the $6 million federal data grant, the state urged federal officials to let it use the money for parts of its existing data system. That request was denied.

A version of this article appeared in the August 24, 2011 edition of Education Week as Brown Veto Puts Calif. in Jeopardy

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Fewer of Today's Superintendents Are at Retirement Age
A new survey of superintendents adds to what we know about the people who lead the nation's school districts.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of money, salaries and data.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management 3 Tips to Help Districts Navigate Educator Layoffs
Keep cuts in line with the district's overarching goals, an expert advises.
3 min read
Illustration of scissors cutting row of paper dolls.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
School & District Management Teachers Hate All Those Meetings. Can Principals Find a Workaround?
Principals can't do away with every meeting, but they can reduce some and make others more effective.
4 min read
Image of a staff meeting.
E+/Getty
School & District Management Q&A When This Principal Talks About Mental Health, People Listen. Here's Why
The NASSP Advocacy Champion of the year said he used stories from his school and community to speak with his state’s legislators.
6 min read
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, poses for a photo in front of a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, stands in front of a Senate office building in Washington on March 13, 2024. Young was among the secondary principals to meet with legislators urging them to keep federal funding for schools stable.
Olina Banerji/Education Week