Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California on Sept. 28 signed a package of education bills designed to increase the fiscal accountability of school districts.
One closely watched piece of legislation will require districts to report the salaries of staff members at individual schools, rather than their districtwide average salaries. Backers of the measure say the new law will make it easier to track school-level disparities in teacher salaries.
“With this law, California has begun to take honest steps toward transparency on education spending,” said Russlynn Ali, the executive director of the Education Trust-West, an Oakland, Calif.-based school advocacy group that has been critical of gaps in teacher quality between schools.
Another measure signed by the Republican governor establishes a state-level program to help schools’ chief business officers acquire and maintain the skills needed to oversee district and county education budgets.
