President’s Message By Nancy McCabe

The Jan. 31 email from AAUW California Public Policy News outlined the basic tenets of the new School Board Project. This involves monitoring local school board meetings to determine whether they are adhering to the state’s 2016 framework in history and social sciences, which requires schools to strongly emphasize student inquiry and reflects on the contributions of many diverse groups.

“Effective school boards are equity driven, making intentional governance decisions that combat institutional discrimination and bias (both explicit and implicit) and eliminate disparities in educational outcomes based on socioeconomic status, gender orientation, disability or family background.” These are a lot of governmental words that spell out problems that you basically “know them when you see them.”

We are being asked to monitor school board meetings in our area for adherence to these policies, which in common parlance are banning books, and gender or racial discrimination. We share with CHAR seven school districts in our county — Elk Grove, Folsom-Cordova, Natomas, Robla, Sacramento City, San Juan and Twin Rivers. We need a member to pick a district where you have an interest — where you live or have a child or grandchild — and attend their meetings and report issues to our contact person Sue Miller, a member of the Roseville branch.

Anne Just, who has a lot of knowledge of school boards, has agreed to chair this project, but she needs a co-chair, as she is a traveler. If you are concerned about the direction that some groups are attempting to take public schools, please read the above referenced article and contact Anne with your interest. Be assured that California AAUW has assembled a toolkit for us to use — we aren’t reinventing the wheel! You can find the latest AAUW California Public Policy News <here>.

Thank you for your interest and involvement in the education of our children. Let’s give them an equal start in their educational journey.

AAUW PRIORITIES By Kathy Papst

As Director of Priorities, I have a responsibility to make sure that our branch members really understand the mission for AAUW. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find more members to volunteer for the committees under the umbrella of PRIORITIES. I hope that some of you will take the opportunity to investigate why we are still here after 100-plus years. We can be a force for change for women and girls in California, and even the nation.

The website for AAUW California has a tremendous amount of information regarding the 2023- 25 gender equity through advocacy platform. There are four areas of interest that are priorities for change.

• Social and Racial Justice for All Members of Society
• Equal Access to Quality Public Education for All Students
• Increased Representation of Women in Leadership Roles
• Economic Security for All Women

These and other issues are on an informational card available on the website by emailing office@aauw.ca.org or you can download them <here> and print them on your home printer.

Legislation supported by AAUW is divided into four levels:

• A LEVEL Priority
• B LEVEL
• C LEVEL
• WATCH BILLS

In 2023, 19 out of 22 supported bills made it to the Governor’s desk and were SIGNED, which is an 86.3% success rate.

There are so many opportunities to become involved without going to a lot of meetings or becoming a chairperson. I want to encourage our members to keep abreast of what is going on in the branch and in California. If you have any questions about legislation or the mission, please do not hesitate to call or email. If you want to get involved, but are worried about the time involved or what you would need to do, think about pairing up with someone else and taking turns to report to the members. Please get involved, especially in this election year. Thank you.