Both CalSTRS and CalPERS had strong investment returns for the 2016-17 fiscal year. CalSTRS closed the year with a return of 13.4%, while CalPERS earned a return of 11.2%. Unfortunately, the strong returns will have no immediate impact on school employer pension contribution rates.

The Governor recently signed ACSA supported AB 170 (O’Donnell) to allow universities to design education majors for prospective teachers. AB 170 will become law on January 1, 2018.

On August 11, the CDE released a document in tracked changes format that shows the revisions made to the May 2017 draft of the ESSA State Plan that shows exactly how the State Plan has changed based on stakeholder input and direction from the SBE.

With the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, SPI, election on the horizon (June 2018), ACSA staff and executive committee members have started moving forward with the endorsement planning process.

ACSA’s Accountability and Continuous Improvement Task Force, chaired by Ralph Porras, met on August 2 in Sacramento to continue discussions with the State Board of Education, California Department of Education and California Collaborative for Educational Excellence staff on various topics.