One State’s Big Bet on Community Schools: A Follow-on Conversation

The things that we do to address the physical, emotional and social needs of our children, ultimately, will support their achievement.

California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond made the above statement at the start of his discussion with CGLR Executive Fellow John Gomperts during the March 15, 2022 GLR Learning Tuesdays webinar, capturing the essence of why California is investing $3 billion dollars into the Community Schools model. This learning and engagement opportunity picked up on the February 1, 2022 session that featured José Muñoz of the Coalition for Community Schools and other leaders and explored Community Schools as a “big bet worthy” strategy that holds the potential for large-scale and sustainable changes for children and their families, especially as we emerge from the pandemic. This March session further explored how and why Thurmond and the State Board of Education decided to invest so heavily in the Community Schools model and what implementation will look like in a place as large and diverse as California.

Gomperts focused his discussion with Superintendent Thurmond on elements that informed the decision to expand the Community Schools model throughout the state of California. Gomperts then moderated a panel discussion among Community Schools experts about the significance of California’s investment, what other communities can learn from California’s big bet, and the potential for deploying the Community Schools model to create learning environments that provide transformational opportunities for whole-child education. Araceli Chavez of the California Association for Bilingual Education, Abe Fernández of the National Center for Community Schools, Hayin Kimner, Ph.D., of the California Community Schools Learning Exchange and Jeannie Oakes, Ph.D., of the Learning Policy Institute discussed the importance of learning from districts that have been successfully implementing the model while building buy-in among school leaders at all levels as well as community leaders. They dove into the standards for development, the extensive training available and the data demonstrating the model’s effectiveness, acknowledging that this big bet will take a big lift. Thankfully, there is a wealth of resources available to support communities’ work to make it successful.