In October 2007, EdSource hosted a policy convening in response to findings from the "Getting Down to Facts" research project. These four briefs were prepared by a working group of district Collaborative members to inform the dialogue of this "Getting from Facts to Policy" conference. They advocate for new state policy in the areas of (1) governance and finance, (2) standards based funding and accountability systems, (3) accessible and informative data, and (4) teacher preparation and development. These four briefs are: (1) The Importance of Systems Alignment: Developing a Coherent Approach to Educational Governance and Finance Reform in California (Richard Alonzo, Art Delgado, Geno Flores, Juan Garza, Mike Hanson, Maggie Mejia, Ruthie Quinto, Laura Schwalm, Brad Stam, Chris Steinhauser, Dale Vigil, Judy White, Jennifer O'Day, and Jim Brown.); (2) From Compliance to Getting the Job Done: Excessive Regulations vs. Accountability for Results (Richard Alonzo, Art Delgado, Geno Flores, Juan Garza, Mike Hanson, Maggie Mejia, Ruthie Quinto, Laura Schwalm, Brad Stam, Chris Steinhauser, Dale Vigil, Judy White, Jennifer O'Day, and Jim Brown); (3) Addressing California's Data Needs: Implementing Comprehensive, Longitudinal Systems at the Local and State Levels (Richard Alonzo, Art Delgado, Geno Flores, Juan Garza, Mike Hanson, Maggie Mejia, Ruthie Quinto, Laura Schwalm, Brad Stam, Chris Steinhauser, Dale Vigil, Judy White, Jennifer O'Day, and Jim Brown); and (4) Improving Teacher Quality: Redesigning Personnel Policies to Support Student Achievement (Richard Alonzo, Art Delgado, Geno Flores, Juan Garza, Mike Hanson, Maggie Mejia, Ruthie Quinto, Laura Schwalm, Brad Stam, Chris Steinhauser, Dale Vigil, Judy White, Jennifer O'Day, and Jim Brown). Individual briefs contain footnotes and references.

Despite the development of challenging education standards & attention to school improvement over the past decade, Calif. continues to lag behind other states in achievement scores. On many different measures of achievement, Calif.żs students in every group, not just minorities, fall far behind those in other states. Improvement of Calif.żs school finance & governance structures could enable its schools to be more effective & reverse the harmful ramifications that will certainly result from continuing on the current path. This project brought together scholars from 32 institutions with diverse expertise & policy orientations in an attempt to synthesize what we know as a basis for convening the necessary public conversations on what we should do. Illus.

The Commission's official statement of position in a letter (dated Dec. 5, 1986) to California Governor George Deukmejian and the California State Legislature