Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/515703
a c h i e ve m e n t ." ( R e a d m o re about how QEIA is viewed in books by education research- ers on page 29.) H ow did QEIA get its chance to cultivate these roots of change? I t a l l b e g a n w h e n C TA a n d t h e C a l i f o r n i a D e p a r t - ment of E d u c a t i o n s u e d G o v. A r n o l d S c hwa r z e n e g ge r ove r h i s w i t h h o l d i n g education funds mandated by the vot- e r - a p p r o v e d P r o p o s i t i o n 9 8 , w h i c h guarantees minimum K-14 school and community college funding levels. With the green light of Barbara Kerr, then CTA president, the reform plan was fast-tracked. (Listen to an audio record- ing of Kerr proudly calling QEIA "my most important legacy" at www.cta.org/ oralhistory.) State Sen. Tom Torlakson — now Cal- ifornia's state superintendent of public instruction — quickly authored legislation ( S B 1 1 3 3 ) s p o n s o re d by CTA , w h i c h gave birth to QEIA. Over eight years, the program allocated $2.7 billion from the settlement of the CTA lawsuit in one-time Proposition 98 funding. Enacted in the f all of 2006, the law mandated that 500 of the state's lowest-per- forming schools serving about 400,000 students would get funding for reforms like reducing class sizes, improving teacher and principal training, hiring more high school counselors, and providing addi- tional resources to support local programs that best fit the needs of students. The law also increased funding to expand career and vocational education programs offered by community colleges. The impact on achievement was almost immediate. On average, the QEIA-sup- ported schools scored five points higher than similar schools in the state's Academic Performance Index (API) for the 2008-09 school year, which was the first full year of extra QEIA resources. Also, 351 of the 499 QEIA schools met state schoolwide targets for API academic growth. The trend contin- ued, especially in elementary schools. The state's old API accountability sys- tem used standardized test scores to gauge progress and set an API target of 800 for every public school. Currently, the state has suspended the API program as it looks at devising a new system that uses multiple measures for student assessment — with the final API scores coming out in the spring of 2013. C TA created a valuable network of site contacts at about 400 QEIA schools, which was also unprec- edented, notes a February 2015 research report by Vital Research of Los Angeles. This is the fourth of five planned reports by the independent firm. "CTA's ability to reach directly into schools to make a difference through the site contact resulted in major gains for both schools and CTA," the report notes. "Rather than feeling restricted by internal networks, CTA staff were empowered to interface directly with school sites to build capacity and create change." In the Bay Area, teacher Sharon Abri hopes that QEIA momentum will continue at her school, Marylin Avenue Elemen- tary in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. The school of mostly low-income students and English learn- ers had an API score of 833 in 2013, and staff last year greatly benefited from two writing coaches that QEIA paid for, Abri s ays . " We d i d l a b s . We d i d c l a s s ro o m Additional annual state funding of $500 per pupil in grades K-3, $900 per pupil in grades 4-8, and $1,000 per pupil in grades 9-12, for these targeted schools. A credentialed counselor for every 300 students in high schools. The statewide ratio is now more like 1:1,000, the worst in the nation. Highly qualified teachers in all core academic subjects at the end of the third year of the program. Establishing California's first teacher quality index to ensure the average teacher's ex- perience at these schools is equal to or exceeds the district average. Flexibility for school districts to encourage school-level innovations to advance learning excellence. Shared responsibility for mon- itoring and support by the superintendent of public instruc- tion, the California Department of Education, county offices of education, local school districts, and local schools. In QEIA-supported schools over the years, the program required: 26 www.cta.org Feature