It’s hard enough meeting the needs of California’s 58 varied and diverse counties. It’s why the idea of moving more control from acramento to the local level where the people are more familiar with their own unique needs and therefore better suited to make the decisions that affect them most is catching on throughout the state.
The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is one massive experiment in the notion of bringing government closer to the people in the realm of education, which comprises the lion’s share of state general fund expenditure. The California School Board Association has gathered together 15 school districts and 2 boards of education, along with the help of California Forward, in order to navigate a law that affords each district much more control over how they spend their funding.
“The LCFF Collaborative Working Group will serve as a ‘living laboratory’ for participants to share their challenges, opportunities and ideas in the governance, management and implementation of the LCFF,” said CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy in a release. “Our efforts will benefit all school districts and county offices of education, helping them improve academic outcomes for all students, regardless of background or geography.”
The LCAP is the three-year plan designed by school districts to identify goals and measure progress of student subgroups. It’s a key part of LCFF in that the success or failure of the formula hinges on the LCAP. In fact, the entire concept of LCFF is based in custom-tailored responses to the unique challenges school districts face.
“The Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control Accountability Plans serve as models for ‘government closer to the people,’ empowering communities to improve services and deliver better” results for students,” said Jim Mayer, CEO of CA Fwd.
The Collaborative first met on October 29 and will meet quarterly, if not more. Watch the above video to get a feel for how the first meeting went, and what the hopes and aspirations are for this important collaborative.
Superintendents and school board trustees from the following school districts and county offices will serve on the LCFF Collaborative:
- Antioch Unified School District
- Bakersfield City School District
- Butte County Office of Education
- Calaveras Unified School District
- Corona-Norco Unified School District
- Cupertino Union School District
- Delano Joint Union High School District
- Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District
- Long Beach Unified School District
- Los Angeles County Office of Education
- Modesto City Schools
- Oakland Unified School District
- Riverside Unified School District
- Robla Elementary School District
- San Diego Unified School District
- San Francisco Unified School District
- Shasta Union High School District
Earlier this year, CSBA and CA Fwd partnered on a 10-city LCFF tour to assist governing school boards and local education agencies in the effective implementation of the LCFF and development of LCAP plans.
