California Youth & Families Speak: The Schools Students Need to Learn and Thrive
In 2024, the California Partnership for the Future of Learning (CA PFL) launched a statewide Listening Campaign to understand what California communities need most during major political and social shifts affecting public education and the rights of students and families. More than 1,840 Californians across 12 counties participated through surveys, interviews, and community conversations led by 23 community-based organizations and networks. The listening campaign revealed their hopes and dreams for public education, what makes them feel safe and supported, and the barriers limiting their future potential.
CA PFL Policy Priorities
Our work together centers equity, elevates the voices of students and families of color in partnership with educators, focuses on long-term systemic change, and connects to a larger national effort to strengthen public education systems. It seeks to build on the important work of a broad cross-section of organizations and coalitions to advance a transformational, racially just education system built for us all.
Beacons of Hope: Stories of Transformation and Equity in California Schools
In the midst of the difficulties and uncertainties during the COVID-19 pandemic, students, educators, and families have adapted—taking on new, bigger roles in their homes and communities, mastering new technology, and expanding how and where they teach and learn. In the coming pages we describe and celebrate their resilience, dedication to community, and commitment to racial justice, and start to reimagine a system where schools like this are the norm.
Community Needs Assessment
The California Partnership for the Future of Learning conducted a needs assessment based on feedback from more than 20 grassroots education and racial justice organizations to capture top concerns from over 600 students and families from low-income communities of color in more than 20 school districts.
Every School, Every Community: Funding the Future of Learning
The California Partnership for the Future of Learning takes a look at the past and present of school funding in California to shine a light on the path forward towards an education system that works for all. The stories, history, and solutions we outline clearly demonstrate that this time of pandemic and uprising are not the time to cut funds for education. In fact, we need to double down on an education system that works for us all by investing fully in schools to be hubs of opportunity and healing.
Community Schools Forum
In response to successful organizing by students and families of color in 2021, state leaders approved a historic $3 billion for the California Community Schools Partnership Program, the largest investment of its kind in the nation. Racially just, relationship-centered schools—where power and decision-making is shared with students, families, educators, and community—are the foundation of a transformational education system built by and for us all.
