Rules — 2026-05-13 (partial)

I'll entertain a motion.

Limon?

Grove?

Laird?

Ochoa-Bogue?

Reyes?

Limon?

Grove?

Laird?

Ochoa Bogue?

Reyes?

I'll entertain a motion.

Go ahead.

Limon? Aye.

Grove, aye. Laird? Aye.

Ochoa-Bogue, aye. Reyes? Aye.

Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the Senate. I am honored to appear before you today for my appointment to a third term as General Counsel of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and I thank Governor Newsom for appointing me once again. With me today in the audience is my husband, Thomas, my 17-year-old daughter, Miranda, my 14-year-old son, Julian, and several of my wonderful colleagues at the ALRB. My parents, Fran and Jim Montgomery, are also present online. I am incredibly grateful for the support of my family, friends, and colleagues without whom I would not be able to do this important work. I have dedicated my career of nearly 30 years to serving rural Californians living and working in the agricultural industry. I have lived in both the Central Valley and the Central Coast and have worked on matters in all major agricultural areas throughout the state. I have gotten to know workers and employers producing numerous commodities, including strawberries, vegetable row crops, fruit and nut orchards, wine grapes, dairies, and more. I am humbled by the incredibly hard work and dedication of those who work in this industry, and I am grateful that I've been able to help fulfill the ALRB's mission to achieve justice for all agricultural workers through peace in the fields and stability in labor relations, which is in our founding statute. To me, this means supporting farm workers to be the agents of change in their workplaces by protecting their right to come together and raise concerns about working conditions or just to ask for improvements without retaliation. It means supporting workers freely and deciding whether to have a union to represent them without coercion and fostering fair bargaining processes between employers and unions, which provides stability in this industry that is the backbone of California's economy. It means working to ensure fairness in ALRB's processes and supporting employers who want to do the right thing and follow the law. It also means continually working to ensure that all our stakeholders, workers, employers, and unions are aware of the rights we protect and can easily access the resources we provide. I am fortunate to work with an excellent team at the ALRB that works each day to uphold our critically important mission in the face of mounting challenges. I look forward to continuing to help lead the way to strengthen the ALRB to better serve all our stakeholders. Thank you so much for the opportunity to appear before you today, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for being here again. So I have a couple of questions regarding AB 113, the mandatory card check or support petition for card check processes. That obviously allows individuals to unionize just based on a signature. There's been a lot of complaints that come to my office regarding the guardrails that are available and not available. Some farm workers say they never sign the petition. So specifically on your office, on the general counsel, what is in place to make sure that farm workers are not pressured, misled, somebody else signs their name,

Does your office independently verify the authenticity of the signatures? How did the signatures get verified?

And how is this communicated to the farm worker themselves that is, you know, that they have this process of availability to file a claim or they don't have to sign the card if they don't want to? primarily when, I don't know, 95% of them are Spanish-speaking only?

What is this card check process? How does it work?

What does outreach look like to you?

You mentioned trusted advocates for farmworkers that you guys trust. Who are some of those advocates?

You guys reach out to them and they reach out to the farmworker because you trust them. Who do you trust?

Just off the top of your head, and then you mentioned social media. What's the social media site that you put stuff out on?

What's the Instagram page?

And that's how you communicate for outreach to the employees?

And do the ALRB as well?

Okay. I just want to know what it was. I'm going to look at it. And then the recent union certification disputes that have been litigated, recently litigated, it does raise concerns because you are getting cases that people are saying, you know, there are concerns with the way the process is going and there's no other guardrails that you can put on the process from the council's office or the council's perspective to make sure that people who want to unionize can unionize and those who don't want to unionize are not being not forced or whatever.

So I was curious about your outreach and I'm also curious about the cases you're already handling and what we can do for authentication of the signatures. that are supposed to be these farm workers' signatures. You compare them with like a, I don't know, you don't sign a D6 form, but like a name on a D6 form that's turned in quarterly by the employers. And, you know, I don't even know how you would do it. You're the council. I'm not, right? So how would you authenticate signatures to make sure that you're certifying what people have actually wanted?

It's basically similar. Sure, sure. And I would say that we, like, if there were a claim, I mean,

And you haven't had any of those allegations based on the lawsuits that have been challenging in this SB 113, AB 113?

No signatures?

So I guess the problem that I have is that I represent the top three food-producing counties in the world. I have more farm workers than any other senator that sits on this dais or in the chamber that work for us to bring the crops to the table that we eat every day. And their biggest issue that they bring to my office is they don't know what they're signing, and it's not their signature. and they don't know that there's an appeals process. They're not following the ALRB on Instagram or Facebook. They don't have the outreach. So whatever your outreach is, it's not working. So you should probably look on a different plan because it's not working. And then were you in office, were you part of the general counsel when the ground farm workers issue came up and you guys locked up the ballots, or excuse me, Governor Brown locked up the ballots for five years?

Okay, then that's the end of my questions. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you, Vice Chair Grove. Then we will go to Senator Reyes.

Thank you.

Thank you for that question. Unfortunately, in a lot of these make-hole cases, they do go on for quite a long while, and they're the result of appeals. and they can drag on for years with appeals, which of course is the right of the parties to appeal if they disagree with an order. But I mean we have diligently pursued make relief We recently did get a board order upholding make against a grower It was a rather large workforce just very recently. Now, there have been some instances in which companies have closed down when there is a large make-hole order, and we can't always control that or do a whole lot about that. But we do pursue remedies when we can. For example, there was a case in which a few years ago where an employer went into bankruptcy and we had a make-whole order and we did file a claim in bankruptcy court. We have a claim pending to get paid out of that bankruptcy proceeding for the workers and we're actively pursuing that. So I do feel like we are taking measures to get payments for workers when we can. It's just unfortunately sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control that delay the cases and delay relief or result in the employer closing operations, and then there's not a lot left over.

Thank you. Yes, I mean, as I detailed in my written responses, of course, which you mentioned, we have worked really hard to try and resolve and settle cases as expeditiously as we can. And I find that when we can settle a case before a hearing, then the likelihood of workers getting money soon or a lot sooner goes way up because you're not going to have the case stuck in years of appeals. And the sad reality is when that does happen, people disappear and it's hard to find people, right? Or in financial circumstances of an employer can change over time as well. But so by settling cases and really working hard to resolve those cases, I do believe we have really increased the amount of remedies we've been able to actually pay out to farm workers and get to farm workers. and just continually working to find ways to streamline and improve our investigations and our processes so that we can finish cases more quickly and remove those barriers that workers may face. So just I think also making sure that we can actively pursue judgment enforcement measures as well when there's a need to do that. And just making sure our staff has the capacity to do that as well is another way in which we can help increase the remedies to farm workers and get them paid more quickly.

Thank you. Well, I will just mention that that case is ongoing, so there is no judgment. There's no judgment on that, and so I don't have the ability to get any money out of any party until there's a final judgment saying that they owe that money.

So, yeah, and one reason I'll just point out why it's been going on longer than I've been at the ALRB is because the company has appealed the case. You know, there's been multiple appeals that took many years, and it went all the way to the California Supreme Court and back. And so during that time period, you know, we really couldn't do anything. We just had to wait for the appeals courts to do their thing, right? And then they sent it back. And and there was a hearing held on that case that concluded last year. And then administrative law judge came out with a decision. I believe he ordered over seven million dollars in May coal to the workers. And our board came out with a decision very recently upholding the judge's decision, but asking for a revision in the calculation of that money. but it was only as to the interest, I think. So they left the rest of it intact. And so that board decision just came out within the last month, I believe. It's very recent. And so the staff in the regional offices is working on the board directive to recalculate part of the interest calculation. And then once that is done, the employer will have an opportunity to, and the union, they'll have an opportunity to weigh in on that as well, and then the board will review that and issue a decision. And then after that, there will be an appeal right for any of the parties. And then so at some point I'm hoping it will become a final decision and a final judgment, and then we can enforce that. But while the case is pending, I have no authority to get money from anybody on that.

Thank you very much, and thank you for the meeting today. I appreciated it.

Yes, thank you for that question. I'll just say recruitment is always ongoing. And although recruitment and retention do have their challenges at the ALRB, given that we have offices in rural locations throughout the state, and it's very important for our staff to be physically present in the communities where we have offices so that they can be available to the workers and employers and stakeholders. So we absolutely need people to be in these areas and there's just not a high number, for example, attorneys in some of these Central Valley towns and other areas. And then the cost of living in some of our areas is very high as well, which is another challenge. So we've always faced those challenges, however. And we also do endeavor to hire Spanish-speaking staff, right? All of our investigators speak Spanish, and three of them speak mixteco. And so that just is another requirement of the job that we have to find somebody with that skill set. But we are certainly doing whatever we can to recruit, which includes going to local organizations, local law schools, bar associations, using our own connections that we have in communities throughout the state to spread the word and posting on social media and actively working with our HR to get people through the pipeline, so to speak, and screened and all of that. So we are actively working on that. And then for retention, I would say we regularly train our staff and do a lot of skills building. We have monthly trainings of the general counsel staff on both skills as well as just the law and updates. and really try to help people with their professional development, which I think helps with.

Yes. So if we have a staff member who speaks the language, we certainly will try to connect them if possible. If not, because, of course, like you mentioned, Senator, there are so many different languages that people speak. So we do have an interpretation service that we use, and so we will avail ourselves of that service when we need to.

Yes, thank you for that question. Yeah, I mean, the ALRB is more relevant than ever, I would say. And we regularly receive claims from workers who are organizing themselves at their own workplaces or just getting together. It can just be a couple of people. It doesn't even have to be a big group or the whole workforce, but just workers who want to affect change in their workplace. They want to improve their working conditions. We get claims of like it can be we don't have water, we don't have shade, we're being sexually harassed. It can be a variety of things that might violate a law that they're complaining about. But we also get people who just say, well, I want the foreman to treat us with more respect and stop yelling at us. We don't like to be yelled at. And there are people who will raise those issues and then they get laid off first or not called back the next season or just flat out fired. and they come to us when that happens and then we investigate. And if we find that the motive for that action was in fact a retaliatory motive that violates the law, then we'll take action. So we are day in and day out throughout the state supporting workers in being able to raise issues in their workplace and better their working conditions, which I believe is really for the better, it's in the best interest of everyone. Because if we can get workers and employers to talk to one another directly, they can often resolve those issues themselves without involving us or some other entity, right? And that's really the most efficient and expeditious way, I think, for us to improve working conditions. But having the ALRB as support and this law is allowing people to feel safe enough to do that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

by, for example, going in and getting a court order, for example, if somebody is fired for exercising their rights under the act and the season is still going on and the work is still going on and we have clear evidence of that violation, we will prioritize cases like that too and we'll go and seek a court order. And I would say a lot of the time we will tell the employer we're going to seek a court order and then they'll say, oh, never mind, I'll hire them back, right? And so we are able to get that remedy more quickly. And so if there's a really blatant unfair labor practice that happens and we're able to get a quick remedy, we'll prioritize those. I mean, we prioritize all of our cases, I'll just say, but in terms of what would be more urgent, if we want to get somebody back to work while the season is still ongoing, then that might it might have a faster timeline because we want to make sure people get back to work while workers are still there. Because that's one really important way to remedy an unfair labor practice. Because if people are exercising their rights, for example, they're complaining about a condition at work, and the people in their crew see that they've been fired because they took that action, then that sends a strong message to the crew that, well, you better keep your mouth shut and you don't say anything. Right. And that's really, really damaging to and it's chilling all of their rights. So the one of the ways we can remedy that is those same workers who saw this see those people that complain coming back to work. And then we'll do like we notice the crews and talk to them and everything when when there's a resolution of a charge. So if we can do that while the work's still ongoing, we'll prioritize that. But we really do, we seek to get our investigations done as quickly as we can. We really, like, the benchmark is between four and six months, depending on the complexity. However, a lot of investigations do take longer than that to complete, and there's a lot of reasons for that, including sometimes it's hard to find workers and witnesses, especially a lot of times people come to us at the end of a season. And so then we have to wait for the season to come back around again and people to come back to be able to find the witnesses and get the information. We also face obstruction by parties where they will not provide the requested information. And we have to go into court and seek orders from the court to get them to give us the information that we need to be able to complete our investigation. And sometimes we get stuck in the court's backlog, right, where it can be months and months and months before the court will even look at our case or set it for hearing. And we have no control over that. So that does also delay our processes. And then to the extent that there's, yeah, just other, you know, other problems that, I mean, they, you know, can range from, yeah, just workers being reluctant to talk to us, being afraid to come forward. Sometimes our staff has to do a lot of work to try and build trust to get that information. it can take some time. Thank you. Thank you. We are now going to turn it to members of the public.

Madam Chair, I would move that we advance this appointment to the floor of the Senate.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Well, good afternoon. I would like to say I am very honored and blessed to be able to be before you this afternoon. I'm quite excited and very grateful for the opportunity to be considered for confirmation as a member of the State Board of Education. My passion in education really echoes both sides of my life. I would say my professional as well as my personal. As a professional, I've been in the field for almost 40 years now. Actually, it's been 40 years. I started as an instructional assistant in Long Beach Unified and have served as a teacher, a principal, a district administrator, a county office administrator, and have had the opportunity to serve on the California State Board of Education in this realm. But I will say the part of my life that I think has shaped me the most and has made me most passionate for the work that the State Board of Education is called to do has been my personal life. I am a product of college and career. My mother is a high school or was. She's a retired high school English teacher. My father decided to go straight into the field of career. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, retired Master Gunnery Sergeant, and then went on for a second career in the private sector. So I see how both tracks can lead to a thriving life and a very thriving family. I'm a product of California Public Education System. I did my K-12 bringing up, if you will, and I thank the educators in Fresno Unified as well as Oceanside Unified for giving me just the skills that are necessary to be successful. as well as our state universities. And I will conclude by saying I think the largest aspect of my personal life has been a mom I have a wonderful husband who is listening right now and we had the opportunity to raise children as he was a lieutenant for a Los Angeles County Sheriff Department and I was working in the field of education And we had wonderful children to bring forward as well. And I've had children who have graduated from traditional public high schools as well as private Christian high schools. And what I have learned is that there are many tracks for our children, and what's most important is that we provide all opportunities in all different realms for children to be able to thrive in the space that works well for them. As I conclude, and thank you for the opportunity to respond to any questions you may have, I do want to give a shout-out to my mother who is listening. Today is her 87th birthday, and I'm not sure which camera she may see me from, but I want to say happy birthday, Mom. Thank you so much for loving me and bringing me into this world.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and distinguished members of the Senate Rules Committee. First of all, thank you for allowing me this time to introduce myself. I first want to give you a little background about myself, and the first thing I want to tell you is that I am the proud mother of two adult children, Courtney and Adam, and an even prouder Gigi to my two-year-old grandson, Zachary, and they are all the joys of my life. I am the tenth of eleven children born to my parents in a small town in Oklahoma. My parents were a housekeeper and a janitor. who instilled a love for God and faith and family in me and my siblings and taught us to be hard workers and good people. My love for education began when I had the opportunity to work in college in a summer program called Upward Bound, servicing socioeconomically disadvantaged high school students. I decided after the first summer that I wanted to be an educator. And throughout my educational career, I've witnessed firsthand the meaning of the mantra that education is an equalizer. And that brings me to my why for being in education for over 30 years as a teacher, coach, site, and district administrator. And it is still after retirement my why and what makes me want to stay in the game. Education was an equalizer, but in reality it gave me more than I expected. As I said, I was an educator for over 30 years, and I was able to see new teachers flourish. I was able to see students flourish in academics and in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I was able to witness them graduate, go to college, or go straight into the military or into the workforce, and I see a lot of them in doctor's offices and other places that I go today. And I still have a wonderful relationship with many of the athletes that I coached. What I wanted to instill in my students and in my children is that the successes that I've been blessed to experience in my life, personal life and career, did not happen because of the zip code that I came from. It happened because, or what my parents did for a living, It happened because of the encouragement I received from my family and also the encouragement of teachers, high school, both middle school and high school, and coaches who noticed my abilities and encouraged me in and out of the classroom. And in every position. In the position that I've held in school system, my motivation has been to give back what I received. And serving on the State Board of Education has given me an extended platform to positively impact the lives of students from this level and the educators who serve them. I want to thank Governor Newsom for reappointing me for a second term on the State Board of Education. And I want to thank each of you for your time and your consideration today.

Thank you.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam President, Pro Temp Limon, and members of the committee. My name is Gabriela Orozco-Gonzalez, and I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I also would like to acknowledge my husband, Hyman, an elementary school teacher, and my sons, Joaquin and Benjamín, my mother and my brothers who are watching from home, and my second-grade students who are watching in Montebello Unified and who remind me every day of the why this work matters so much. I'm deeply grateful to Governor Newsom for the trust he has placed in me through this appointment. Public education has shaped every chapter of my life. I was born and raised in Los Angeles by immigrant parents who believe deeply in the power of education. My mother worked in a preschool teaching children for over 35 years, and my father who loved mathematics and science, earned several engineering degrees. This example taught me the education creates opportunity, purpose, and hope. As a child growing up in Los Angeles and entering school as an English learner, I experienced firsthand the impact teachers can have on a student's life. I can still remember gathering neighborhood kids in my backyard with a small chalkboard and pretending to teach lessons. Later, as a high school literacy tutor and bilingual instructional assistant, I realized teaching was not simply something I loved, but it was also a calling. For the past 26 years, I've served in California public schools. I still walk into my classroom every morning with a strong sense of purpose. Teaching has never been a stepping stone for me. It has been the work I've committed my life to. Every day I see policies impact students and families, not in theory, but in practice. This is why I want to serve on the state board, and this is why I continue to do this work. I believe classroom teachers need to have a voice in the educational decision-making. We know our students by name. We understand that the realities of families and educators face every day, and we see firsthand what students need to be successful. I wanted to help bridge the space between policy and practice so the decisions that are made at the state level remain connected to the experiences of students, educators, and communities. And through my work as a teacher, a curriculum writer, a professional learning facilitator, an assessment contributor, I have always had the opportunity to support educators across California remaining grounded in the realities of the classroom. serving on the board has allowed me to continue advocating for students through the lens of a practitioner, a practicing educator. As someone who grew up in California public schools and has dedicated her career in serving them, this work is deeply personal to me. I carry my students and their families with me in every conversation and every vote. Thank you for your time and consideration. I'm just delighted to be here in front of you. Thank you. Thank you. All right,

Yes, sir. I think it goes back to my why, and I think that may be a selfish reason, but I look back on the impact that education has had on my life. I look back on the things that I tried to do as a teacher, as a coach, and as administrator to impact the lives of my students, to improve instruction and help teachers flourish in the classroom, to help mentor up-and-coming administrators, and all of us were working together to make things better for kids. So upon retirement, you know, the nomination came and I was very grateful for it because it allowed me the opportunity to continue to do what I want to do, and that's make an impact in the lives of students, of teachers, and families. And this platform gives me that opportunity to do so. Thank you.

And I would like to say that I'm a lifelong learner. I'm, you know, from being the daughter of a preschool teacher to working and really in public education for over 30 years, but it didn't count the aid job and the tutoring. And for 26 years, I feel that being a lifelong learner and being in front of educators constantly from professional learning to guiding them to being a curriculum writer and a former assessment writer, I always believe that giving teacher voice. I think that every time that we have a policy that comes up to the state board, when I look at the tools for teachers that we have at the CDE level and our websites, and when we have something really exciting like the Atlas, which is science instruction, I can't wait to come back and relay that to my colleagues. I can't wait to have a professional learning at my school site, to my district, to sometimes at the state level or even at universities where I sometimes give talks about improvement and curriculum. And I can't wait to share that because I think that that's who I am, not only a learner but also a teacher. So I think that's my why because I just learn so much from the position and I can't wait to share. Thank you.

Last question, Dr. Clover. When you were at Riverside County Office of Education, did you serve with Dr. Judy White?

How lucky are you?

So do I. So do I. Thank you, Madam PT. Thank you. Any additional questions? Oh, sorry. Senator. Good afternoon. It's incredible to see these amazing and beautiful, strong women. And obviously beautiful on the inside as well as on the outside. Just based on your testimonies today, it's incredible. and I think would be incredible friends outside of this committee. I am, that sounded a little self-serving. That's not what I meant. I meant like you have what I would absolutely just be called to know personally. That's what I meant.

It just didn't come out right. So education, I've been passionate about education. I was able to teach as a young adult, and I am also a product of these schools of being a child of immigrant parents who are not familiar with the educational system, but new and valued education. Part of my childhood was spent in Mexico and in the U.S. going back and forth. So I have a perspective of both the educational system in Mexico as it has been and as well as, you know, the U.S. I can tell you where I have suffered from systems that haven't been very conducive to the fact that I was an English language learner as a child. I was eight when I began to learn English. A little bit when I was in kindergarten, but mostly for a month maybe. And then it's been pretty much all Spanish until the age of eight. That created a lot of academic lacked opportunities at the time, especially when we lived in Hawaii at the time. So I'm very, very cognizant about the importance of having educational opportunities for all students. And I also understand that schools don't always, not every school has all of the tools or the capacity to be able to meet every child, which is why I'm a huge advocate of ensuring that our public schools have what they need in order to teach, but also having educational opportunities outside of public school for parents. So I'm also very much pro-choice as far as school goes, school choice. so I know let me rephrase that as well on that end but where I'm going to head right now is in the six years that I've been here I've worked quite a bit with understanding our math curriculum in California and understanding where we are and I think we had conversations I believe with Dr Woods on your previous I think we might have been we have touched bases before on this subject matter but I going to be a little passionate about this So, as you know, the board took a position to remove Algebra 1 as one of the components or, you know, being as a mandatory class, not a mandatory, but a class that would be offered in middle school. The number one concern behind that when I asked in our committee on education as to why we would remove Algebra I as being offered in middle school was that it was disproportionately impacting our black and brown community members or students and their ability to attain higher education. What we learned is that San Francisco had done that previously. previously, they removed that, and there was quite a decline of math performance for these students. Needless to say, the parents with the knowledge, the know-how, and the means ensured that their children had access to tutors in classes that offered Algebra I in middle school in order for them to be able to get the pathway. So one of the things that we noticed on that, when the evaluation for the math curriculum was coming before the board, there was opposition for about 1,200 professors of math, science, and so forth that came in and objected to this math framework because it would not actually prepare the students for the math rigor when it came to heading to universities after they were done with with high school. The Department of Defense also in 2023 also asked that there be a major initiative by government to ensure that we had an initiative to support education in science, technology, education, and math or STEM as because there were eight times as many college graduates in these disciplines in China and four times as many engineers in Russia as in the United States. So when they were looking at the future, the quote here goes that the advances in technology that are going to drive where the world goes in the next 50 years are going to come from other countries because the intellectual capital, because they have the intellectual capital and we don't. This is by Jim Stigler, a psychology professor at the University of California, L.A., who made this department. They also stated that this was also posing a huge, sorry, a huge national threat. So when we look at our academic scores in math and science in comparison to the rest of the nation, we are towards the bottom. And even though we've increased about 1%, just over 1% in our scores, we're still at the very bottom. So having said that... In hindsight, when you supported the changing in the curriculum, would you have changed your vote or would you have continued with the same vote that you did back in 20, I don't have the date here when you folks took that vote on. But when you voted to remove Algebra 1 as a required course?

I believe when you folks voted originally for, or when the curriculum was being processed or deliberated at first with the math, it was removing the requirement from offering Algebra 1 in 8th grade or in middle school. The new framework right now, it recommends, or not recommends, but it allows for the possibility to be reintroduced and offered.

So that's where I'm coming. I just wanted to make sure I had clarity on that end. So not on the new one, but the previous one. And that where my concern is that as members of the board you know I have here that you folks all voted in support of that curriculum even though there were 1 UC and CSU professors in math science and chemistry and computer science and parents who wanted to adopt a more rigorous standard for children So I just wanted you to have an opportunity to explain as to why you folks moved forward with that vote, rather than listening to what the concerns were from the UC and CSU professors. Do you remember the year of that vote?

I'm referring to the one previously that was coming before you as the curriculum was being developed.

So I understand your concerns, and I think that one of the main things that I continuously advocate on the state board

That's what I thought, but I just wanted to confirm my number. So just to give your perspective, this is why I always wanted to ensure that you folks had an opportunity to discuss. because I believe I met with Dr. Wood prior to that happening, and we discussed the math curriculum. And so I was a little surprised, disappointed, quite frankly, when the vote came and it was supported by the three of you on that end. So that's why I wanted to give you an opportunity to follow up on that and explain your position on that. And then looking at retrospectively, would you have voted differently?

So the article that I just quoted in the Department of Defense came out literally probably in September right after that vote happened. And so it brought it to my attention. And I've been speaking on it, especially as a woman of color, you know, considered a woman of color or viewed by or identified as a woman of color. I was very disappointed to see that because the rationale behind that was that our black and brown community members, our students, were being disproportionately. And I'm all about, I don't believe that we should be forcing students to take it, but at least offering the opportunity is definitely of importance. The last question I have for you both, it was the math and then this particular version. Right now we're reviewing and discussing the proposed changes to the state's education governance structure by the governor. And we've had some feedback that I was unbeknownst to me. We had Senator, we had Superintendent Thurman come and speak to us in committee and give his perspective on that. He mentioned in committee that he had not been consulted about the government, the new governance structure. So it caught us off guard not expecting his feedback But as far as board members have you folks reviewed the new governance structure and do you have any thoughts on the new proposed governor structure for the role of the superintendent of instruction

I just was still thinking of the math vote. I'm sorry, Senator Ochoa, but I really don't believe that I ever voted on that. I mean, of course we voted on the framework, but I just want to make sure that I go on the record that the mathematics framework that adopts instructional practices that enhance success, like those used in the high performing. So I have here that the framework both encourages students to launch into high school mathematics, algebra one, or mathematics, but by eighth grade, if they are ready to do so, it suggests as teaching strategies to support algebra, that they are able to take those courses, as Dr. Lewis mentioned, that if they are ready to. And that is what we voted on in 2023. 23. I'm sorry, I respectfully disagree that we did vote for them to take those courses. They might look a little different through integrated math, and I know that, and I will say this, because I actually asked that question as a mother. I was very concerned, I remember, when I saw the word integrated math in my son's eighth grade enrollment, and then I thought to myself, what is this, and what does that look like? And then when I understood that it was Algebra I mixed with geometry, and it was at the eighth grade level. So I think one of the things that I think needs to be transparency in education for parents, maybe more professional learning, just as we get it as educators, is also in the community to understand that these courses are available for our students to take.

2023. Yes.

Understood.

I understand.

Yes, ma'am.

I will say as it relates to the governance proposal, that is not anything that has come before the board as an information item or discussion item or action item. So as far as the details and those who are involved in the conversations, That is not something that I personally, as a board member, has been involved with. I will say as an answer or response that I feel very confident that with the governor and the legislature and all those who are going to have conversation and make decisions in that space, that when the final decision is made, it's going to be done with the heart and the knowledge that it's to benefit California students.

I have the same response. We have not been involved in any discussions regarding the policy, and I, too, believe, like my colleague here, that whatever comes down from the legislature and the governor, that as a board member will continue to do the work that we've been charged to do, regardless of what the structure is. Okay. Same response.

Senator Laird, Senator Grove.

Ms. Lewis.

We are the fourth largest economy, and we are 43rd in the nation for our education in mathematics, student achievement.

Ms. Woods, I mean, and we're 43rd, like, last. Like, there's only three other states that are behind us, if that makes sense. Or excuse me, seven other states that are behind us. I apologize. So is 43rd in the nation good for California?

And so we need to continue to work to do better and to strive more. Thank you, Ms. Gonzalez.

And thank you. Thank you.

So when you guys first came on the board, when all three of you first came on the board, math was at 34.6, almost 35% of proficiency for all of our students in the states, not just particular schools. And then now it is 37. So it went up a little bit. Science was at 30, and it's 30.2, and now it's at 33. English Language Arts was at 47, and it's still at 47. And so you guys are in charge or on a board, and you sit on a board to make sure that education is advanced and that our students are successful and our students are failing. And I'm not trying to be critical. I'm just giving you the facts that our students are failing. And I know you're only three members of the board, but the bottom line is that our students are failing. Like we're 43rd in the nation, and our math proficiency is at 37, science is at 33, and English language arts is at 47. And that's just a few percentage points, single digits, in the low single digits, above what it was in 2022. So what can you do as board members to make that better?

Yes. Sure. Yes.

Yes. I have children who graduated from private schools, so I support private schools as well.

So I will say I'm going to put it into two contexts, if you will, Senator Grove. As we think about the years that you mentioned for the data, one part that was, I think, an important piece to keep in mind, not as an excuse, but as an understanding, is that during that time we did have a pivot of students and we had the pandemic and we had a lot of things happening at home and families and in our schools during that period of time. from 2020 until about 2022 2023 when schools fully came back on board And many of our students and families decided to homeschool and that was okay as well So that provided a little bit of a slowdown, I would say, in the trajectory of what was happening in instruction.

It's 2026.

So, yes, we are.

Well, one of the very key things, and I'll pivot back to an answer that I gave a little while ago, is putting into the hands of schools instructional materials that are aligned to the standards. This is the adoption that just took place, was the first adoption since prior to the years that you had mentioned. So this coming year, schools and teachers are going to have in hands instructional materials that are going to be better aligned, that are going to better address standards, standards and as I shared before, they also are going to have professional learning on how to teach that to children. So I appreciate the question, Senator Grove, and I appreciate really the bluntness of this is not okay.

And I do feel very confident with those two pieces moving forward, as well as the revised differentiated assistance criteria, so that we can really focus on schools that are having a difficult time serving their students well and really narrowing it down so that they receive the resources that they need. Those three things, amongst many others, are going to allow for us to see a big jump in performance. I do believe that very strongly.

Now, I just want to add to what Dr. Glover-Woods has already said with regards to the professional development piece, because that's a really important part to what she said, because you put the tools in the hands of the teachers, but you want to give them all the support they need to do that. And I don't know if you're aware, but Kern, our Kern County Office of Education, was awarded, I think the first award was like $30 million and then $20 million to provide those. So I think the help is coming to support the new framework and the instructional materials that have been given to the teachers. So I think, again, I know we're always saying time, time, but as the interruption that occurred that Dr. Glover Woods spoke about, now as we needed time to recover from the pandemic now, we're on track. We've got this new curriculum, new framework. or let's give it a chance for the teachers to receive the professional development, to be able to utilize the tools, and then the school sites to put in those intervention measures to help those students who are falling behind in their progress. And I just believe in time we'll continue to see this number rise. That is our hope.

Ms. Gonzalez?

Thank you. Full disclosure, I know I voted for all three of you last year. I've asked the pretend to separate the vote because I have direct access to Ms. Lewis all the time if I want it, and she's always available. And so just that's a procedural thing, but I just wanted to know that although I supported all three of you before in the past, I won't be supporting all three of you today. So thank you.

When Senator Grove says she's being blunt, don't encourage her. Thank you for meeting with me. I really appreciated it. It was a good conversation, and I feel like most of the things I was going to ask have been discussed. So let me just do one question that we talked about, and it's actually a variation a little bit on what Senator Grove asked. And that is that everybody seems to focus on our level of spending. And, geez, are we paying off to settle up money? And is there enough in Proposition 98? But then the question is, is it being effective? Are we feeling like we're getting results for the investment? And we talked about that in the meeting, and I just thought it would be good for each of you to sort of put your views on the record. And maybe we'll start in the reverse order this time.

My question is, how do you assess that we're making results with all the investments we're making so that we don't just focus on the amount of money we're spending? We're focusing on whether we've really dented math or reading or other things. Well, we have our LCAP, right? So I think it's the way that we report the local control accountability.

Thank you. But it's just our accountability plan for our school districts to report and to reflect on what they have currently in place and what's working. It's a three-year plan. and they allocate funding through what they designate through their budget. So I think that that's a way that we then get interned at the state level and we see how districts are allocating their budgets, what's working, their reflection piece, and it gives them time because it's three years. I know that that's what sometimes there's also sometimes complaints about it because it's so long and it could be a very long document depending on the size of the school district. But I think that it's the best way for school districts to see how they can best allocate their funding and to meet the needs of the diverse population they currently have. Thank you very much.

I'll just echo what my colleague has said about the reflection piece. I think on the local level, that's how districts make sure that what they're doing is working and have the time to reflect. But I also remember reading a little research piece that says 10 years or more after LCFF funding has been in effect, it's showing that there are gains in student achievement. So I believe that it is working on that level. but I think the most important research is the research and reflection that the districts do because that gives them the opportunity to see firsthand what's working, what's not working, collaborate with teachers and parents and others to see how they need to redirect and go forward. So I think I believe in the LCAP and I just, excuse me, in the local control accountability plan, and I believe that also over time we see that it is working. I believe I said that my first time around, that it takes time, and I do believe that the research that I've read says that it is working.

And I will only add to say that I know within our local control accountability plan that there have been additional areas that have been added to provide transparency to the community on how dollars are spent to meet specific needs of students and the outcomes that are outlined in that particular plan. Moving forward, I think it requires continual refinement. The plan can sometimes start to be a lot of pages in it, and it makes it sometimes difficult for community and others to engage in, are we really getting the best for our money? And I think as we continue from the state board level, continue to support how do we refine the plan template itself so that at the local level they can have the conversations they need and be sure that the dollars reflect what their communities want those dollars to reflect and ultimately student achievement. We will be able to move in a positive trajectory there. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you for the question. I'll start with the pressing challenges, if that's okay, and go to what I'm most proud of. As far as the pressing challenges are concerned, It's increasing academic achievement in language arts, math, and English learner proficiency. I believe that our challenge will be really bringing alignment and coherence to the many wonderful actions that are happening We bringing children in at a younger age through transitional kindergarten We are revising differentiated assistance criteria to allow for more support and targeted support to the neediest schools. So all of those things bring within themselves challenges on how can we be more coherent as a state that is as diverse as California is and meet the needs for all of those students. As far as what I am most proud of during my tenure, I appreciate the question, and I will say what I'm most proud of is the support that we have provided to the classroom level, the recognition, again, that we need to provide additional support for our students that are the youngest and try to provide to ensure that they are able to get a good first step. So as I think about our English language arts ELD follow-up adoption process that we're engaged in now, for the first time ever, we're going to have programs specifically for transitional kindergarten. I believe that's going to be a game changer because there are times that we are intervening because students have gaps, but to be able to get in front of it makes a big difference. So I'm very proud of that recognition as well as putting in the hands of teachers materials and professional development that's going to help them with our current standards and the current needs for our world.

Okay, I'll go to the most proud. In addition to the things that Dr. Glover-Woods has said, I think those are great things to be proud of. But I'm going to be, I want to focus on, I think, the community schools, the framework we developed for the community schools, as well as the planning and implementation grants, because the power of community schools has the ability to affect families, total families, and really look at all the barriers that are impeding student progress. And, you know, when you look at the students, sometimes you think about the students' progress depends on their actual performance in school, but we don't think about what's happening at home, what's happening with the parents and the things that they have to go through at home that might be impeding the student's success when they come to school. So I think that the community schools are a benefit to our families, and I think we have over 2,500, I think, community schools across the state now, and I believe that as they continue to grow and maybe more funding comes along, we can be able to provide that whole child support to all students because we not only does it encompass school staff, but you also work with community partners in terms of mental health, all the provisions that families might need. So I think just the community schools and knowing we had some input in providing the framework for those schools and approving those grants, I think that's something to be proud of. I think the challenges, I think there are many. The challenge is to continue, I think, to listen to the stakeholders, the people who are in the field who are actually doing the work and taking in all that information of what's needed to improve the outcomes for our students and being able to make the right decision based on the principles that we've established to be our guide as we make decisions about what's best for students. So I think I know that's a vague answer, but I just think the challenges are many. And to think of one great challenge I think is a little difficult right now But I think there a lot Sorry Thank you I want to build on my colleagues I think community schools but I also think of, because I'm an elementary school teacher, I think transitional universal kindergarten. I think just having universal transitional kindergarten has been a huge endeavor for California. I see it when I see the TKs going into their classrooms and getting ready for school, and I see how much they have advanced. And now I see it how they go into second grade and how prepared they are. And I also see the allocation into early childhood literacy. We have literacy coaches and a lot of allocation into students getting intervention early on so that they're more successful. And as you know, the sooner students can read and they can read proficiently by third grade, the more successful they will be in school as they continue to climb up into each grade level. So I do think that that has been a huge win. Community schools, as far as wraparound services and mental health supports, and all across from TK through 12th grade, mental health supports from having therapists on site, that has been, I think, instrumental to having our students. I know personally some of my students receiving services, it has been a shift in the way that they learn and how they succeed in school. So I think allocation to having those things in place have been very monumental. As far as challenges, there is a lot, especially I think with seeing how our students are succeeding and brought up by Senator Grove. I know that we would like for our students to have the resources, and I think that we're on the right step. I think having really high-quality instructional materials, professional learning, and resources for educators, an abundance of, especially around science and mathematics, has been, I think, a huge gain for our state. What we are rolling out with the Atlas, I think, in our dashboard, because now that science has equal weight, There will be more professional learning around that. Always there's webinars that are being offered to have education for our teachers to participate in. So I think those will be some that will help close that achievement gap. Thank you.

to further enhance transitional kindergarten opportunities for our state? I think one of the things that they're doing is actually giving not only opportunities for teachers to get credentials, because it does take a special credential to teach TK. I have a multiple subject, but I actually happen to have an associate's degree also in child development, and that is, I think, very instrumental. So I think having opportunity to give LEAs or local educational agencies or districts opportunities for teachers to go and get credentialed in that, because I think that having that expertise of teaching that early age, those four-, five-year-olds, and really four-year-olds, is going to be instrumental. So resources for that, professional learning, I think allocation.

But I do know that it is part of what we see come to the board is just resources for TKs And I already see it come to fruition Like for instance our school district has a partnership with Loyola and teachers take a lot of classes with them and get credentialed so that they can have a really high-quality instructor right in front of your child. I think of when my child went to preschool. They didn't have that level of education, and I think now what they have in front of them is the rigor, and that is exciting to me. I see it's not only whole child, but I see when they come out and they start kindergarten, they're so much more prepared. And the instruction's different, but it's still very rigorous. And so I'm excited that we have that to offer our students in California. And I will piggyback on that to say really having the instructional resources and materials that are developmentally appropriate for transitional kindergarten students is critical, as well as, as my fellow board member mentioned, the professional training for teachers, because transitional kindergarten isn't kindergarten light. And I recall when we first started phasing in transitional kindergarten back, and I believe it might have been like 2012, 2013, I happened to be at the district at the time, and we were trying to bring together teachers and trying to figure out how we were going to divide classrooms and allow for students at that age level to get what it is they needed. And fast forward to where we are now in 2026, having the assessments, the instructional materials and the instructional strategies that are appropriate for the grade level, but that are also going to springboard them in that area of early literacy and early numeracy and early science knowledge is going to be critical for our transitional kindergartners and for us to really realize the promise and the benefit that bringing children in at that age will do.

No, I don't think I need to add anything.

Good afternoon, Madam Pro Temp and members. Trevor Nelson with the California Alliance of Child and Family Services. I'm here today to support all three appointees for the State Board of Education They are collaborative leaders who are passionate about education equity for all students We represent organizations that work with the most vulnerable students foster youth youth who are experiencing or have experienced homelessness and youth who have experienced trauma. And we believe these three appointees have all students in mind when considering education policy in the state. We are pleased to support their appointments to the state board at a critical time in California, and we look forward to continuing our work with this important body. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you. And for the next few, just because we've exceeded our time for comment, we're just going to have name, affiliation, and position only. Thank you. Sounds good.

Thank you. Diana Vu on behalf of the Association of California School Administrators in strong support of Dr. Cynthia Glover-Woods, Dr. Brenda Lewis, and Ms. Gabriela Orozco-Gonzalez. Thank you.

Lindsay Tornatori on behalf of the California County Superintendents in strong support of Dr. Cynthia Glover-Woods, Dr. Brenda Lewis, and Ms. Gabriella Rosco-Gonzalez. Thank you.