A non-profit lawfirm this week threatened to file lawsuits against Fremont Unified and nine other school districts for failing to meet the Feb. 1 deadline to publish “their School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs) and continue to make gains in accountability reporting in the wake of four years of private investigation and enforcement by Public Advocates Inc., a nonprofit law firm and advocacy group.”

The online report cards provide info on district performance. The district is closed for Spring Break and our education/Union City reporter is off this week.

For the entire press release, click where it says to click

SAN FRANCISCO - A just-released report finds that the majority of California schools met a new February 1 deadline for publishing their School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs) and continue to make gains in accountability reporting in the wake of four years of private investigation and enforcement by Public Advocates Inc., a nonprofit law firm and advocacy group.

Since the organization’s efforts began, compliance rates have jumped from 50% the first year to nearly 9 in 10 schools now publishing their SARCs on time. In particular, this year’s report points to a significant jump in compliance with the requirement to translate SARCs into multiple languages.

This is the fifth annual investigation on SARC compliance led by Public Advocates. Attorneys and paralegals from the San Francisco office of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP conducted the bulk of this year’s investigation on a pro bono basis, reviewing more than 650 schools in 26 districts.

“We’re encouraged to see school officials take this responsibility seriously, even with the earlier deadline,” said Guillermo Mayer, Staff Attorney with Public Advocates. Stephen Walters, a partner at Allen Matkins, agreed. “The increase in translations is especially heartening given California’s diverse population.”

While the overall results of the audit were positive, some schools continue to disregard their duty to disclose key data on school conditions, and many non-English-speaking parents continue to lack timely access to SARCs in their primary language. As a result, Public Advocates is warning ten school districts of possible legal action if they fail to comply fully with their SARC obligations within thirty days:

1.      Fremont Unified School District (Alameda County)
2.      ABC Unified School District (Los Angeles)
3.      Burbank Unified School District (Los Angeles County)
4.      Natomas Unified School District (Sacramento County)
5.      River Delta Unified School District (Sacramento County)
6.      Twin Rivers Unified School District (Sacramento County)
7.      South Bay Union School District (San Diego County)
8.      Encinitas Union School District (San Diego County)
9.      Escondido Union School District (San Diego County)
10.     Carlsbad Unified School District (San Diego County)

The SARC is parents’ and the public’s only official source of comprehensive information about academic performance and key conditions at individual school sites. The SARC originated with Proposition 98, passed by California voters in 1988, and has been strengthened several times by the Legislature. The school report cards must be updated fully each year and posted online, and also translated by districts where more than 15 percent of a school’s student population speaks a primary language other than English.

“”Between these results and the move toward a comprehensive pre-K to workforce data system for California, there is reason to be optimistic,” said Corina Vasaure from the grassroots group California ACORN. “For now, parents need to know this information is out there. For any future system, parents need to be involved during the design process to make sure it meets their needs.”

A summary of the report’s findings follows. For a copy of the full report, visit www.publicadvocates.org/ourwork/education/index.html#sarc.

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Public Advocates Inc. is a non-profit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing and transit equity. For more information, see www.publicadvocates.org.

2009 SARC Investigation Summary

       
TOTALS

        

        

       
School districts investigated

        26

        

       
Schools investigated

        652

        

       
Schools with translation requirement

        476

        73%

       

        

        

       
SARC REQUIREMENTS

        # of schools in compliance

         % of schools in compliance

       
SARC publication

        568

        87%

       
Translation*

        384

        81%

       
Needed facility repair **

        545

        96%

       
Textbooks & instructional materials **

        533

        94%

       
Teacher misassignments **

        519

        91%

       
Teacher vacancies **

        518

        91%

       
School-level per pupil expenditures **

        493

        87%

       
School-level average teacher salaries **

        490

        86%

       

        

        

        

       

* Percentage based on the 476 schools meeting the 15% translation threshold

** Percentage based on the total number of schools with current SARCs (568), not the

    total number of schools inspected (652).