Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rules Committee advances two State Board of Education nominees amid debate over curriculum, reading and enrollment
Summary
The Rules Committee advanced reappointments of Allison Yoshimoto Tauri and Sharon Oken to the State Board of Education after a hearing that covered ethnic studies, parental rights litigation, reading instruction and local school funding.
The California State Senate Rules Committee voted to advance the reappointments of Allison Yoshimoto Tauri and Sharon Oken to the State Board of Education to the Senate floor after a June 25 hearing that included testimony from both nominees, committee questioning and statements from education associations.
Allison Yoshimoto Tauri introduced herself to the committee and said she comes from a multigenerational California family and a background in K‑12 education. “I take this appointment very seriously and it’s truly, truly an honor,” she said during three minutes of opening remarks.
The other nominee spoke of a long career in education and described the State Board’s work as focused on implementing law and supporting schools. “Our role on the state board is really to, you know, once the laws have been determined and once litigation has been settled to, implement and help schools, fulfill those requirements as well as possible,” a board member said during questioning.
Committee members asked about several high‑profile and ongoing issues, including litigation over parental rights and school policy, the status of AB 1955 (referenced during questioning as in litigation), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Title IX overlaps, and concerns about the State Board’s ethnic studies model curriculum and whether it could be implemented in a way that alienates Jewish families. Board members said the model curriculum is not a required graduation requirement absent appropriation and that districts were advised to use the revised model curriculum. The nominees also discussed the board’s work on literacy and reading instruction: board members described state efforts including dyslexia guidelines, an English learner roadmap, a literacy coach/reading specialist program and references to an evidence base for reading instruction that includes systematic phonics as part of foundational skills.
Discussion also covered the State Dashboard, the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) template and career‑technical education. Nominees and board members described steps to better connect spending to outcomes, changes to the LCAP template to clarify the link between strategies and dollars, and planned updates to career/college indicators on the state dashboard.
Public comment included support from the California Association of School Business Officials, the California County Superintendents, the Association of California School Administrators and other education groups. A committee motion to advance the reappointments to the Senate floor was moved by Senator Laird; an initial roll call produced a 2–2 result when a member briefly stepped out, and the committee later recorded a final vote of 3–2 to advance the nominees.
The reappointments will now be considered by the full Senate.
