Recently, AUSD attended the 2018 California State Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Legislation Conference, which was held in Sacramento. The group that represented Arcadia was comprised of Board of Education members, teachers, parents, staff, and students, who all had a chance to promote the funding of Arcadia Unified schools, as well as spotlight other critical issues within the district.

The conference posed as a golden opportunity for community members across the state to voice their opinions directly to California lawmakers. This communication is a vital component in maintaining educational infrastructure; with California ranking at 46 out of 50 on the scale of highest to lowest funded states in the country, legislators must gain a mutual understanding with their constituents if they are to instigate any sort of political change.

Arcadia Unified has taken at least one AHS student to the conference in the past few years as a representative of the student body— which feels the bulk of the impact when it comes to education legislation. One of the students present at the event this year, junior Aaron Wu, attested to the positive outcome of reaching out to policymakers. “Before the conference, statewide education policy was something I was not too familiar with nor had I ever talked directly to state senators,” he remarked. “Through this experience, however, I’ve become much more educated on the entire realm of education and grown as a person.” He adds later on that “A motif at the conference was the importance of student testimonies to legislators. Often, legislators take what a student says to heart much more than what an adult says, so it’s critical for students to have opinions.”

When asked for the highlights of the conversation, Aaron recounts that “The conference discussed a plethora of issues including funding, safe school climates, teen suicide prevention, and mental health.” Out of these issues, he found that ”The most pertinent at the conference was the promotion of a better climate at schools both financially and emotionally. Financially, the PTA stressed the state’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Currently, the state fulfills LCFF, meaning the state pays districts a certain amount of money per student… the LCCF is set to 2008 levels, so the money spent on education is heavily deflated. Conference speakers emphasized the importance of raising that level of LCFF to more adequately fit today’s financial demands.” As for the emotional aspect, “PTA highlighted promoting a better climate for students— less competitive, more focus on mental health, and more encouragement from teachers to students.”

Broaching on the subject of students, AUSD boasts a more stable environment than some of its surrounding districts. Therefore, the fight for fair funding comes as a surprise to many students. When questioned on whether students should be more aware of how different aspects of their education should be funded, Aaron wholeheartedly agreed, reasoning that “There’s definitely a misconception that our school district is extremely rich… but only because our district has used our state funding in a highly efficient manner… We’ve had to press for bills like Measure A… and have had to cut programs and teachers in the past. Understanding this helps us appreciate what we have even more.”

With the annual PTA conference gathering individuals from numerous districts, there were many different situations in each community. “For example,” Aaron mentions, “El Monte representatives discussed a domestic violence problem in the city. Things like that put a lot of our problems in perspective with theirs. That’s not necessarily good or bad, but highlight the need for education reform.”

In terms of reform, the AUSD Board of Education had a unanimous 5-0 vote to sign Resolution 1361, declaring “full and fair funding of California’s public schools.” The Resolution “urges State Legislature to fund California public schools at the national average or higher by the year 2020, and at a level that is equal to or above the average of the top 10 states nationally by 2025 and to maintain, at a minimum, this level of funding until otherwise decreed.” When inquired about when the results of the Resolution would take effect, Aaron forecasted that “although [it] was signed by the Arcadia Board… we’ll have to wait for Sacramento for any progress or changes… but our advocacy now is only beneficial.”