The Local ControlFunding Formula  

Opportunities for Advancing STEM Learning

California STEM Summit February 4, 2014

Goals for Today’s PresentationSpecific Takeaways

What does it mean for communities? How do you participate?

How did we get here and why? How does it work?

How can LCFF and STEM come together at the local level?

What is LCFF

Get Engaged

STEM in Action

What is LCFF?

How did we get here and why? How does it work?

How we arrived at LCFF

LCFF was nearly four decades in the making

A diverse coalition of education, equity, business, parent and civic leaders, in concert with the Governor’s leadership, made LCFF a reality in 2013

From then to Now

Before LCFF With LCFFRevenue limits - varied from district to district and were based on a historical snap shot.

Base funding – which is the same for all districts and charters – differentiated by grade span.

Categorical programs - required district to establish specific programs and services with numerous and sometimes inconsistent or duplicative requirements. At one point there were over 100 separate programs. Temporary flexibility was provided for approx. 40 programs during the recent fiscal crisis.

Supplemental funding – equal to 20% of the base for the unduplicated count of English learners (EL), low-income students (LI) and foster youth (FY).

Concentration funding – additional funding of 50% of base provided for districts with 55% or more of their students English learner (EL), low-income (LI) or foster youth (FY).

What does LCFF mean for school funding?

Historic investment of in high need students: $10 billion once LCFF is fully implemented

LCFF addressed part of the school funding problem:

• Now we know how schools are funded by the state

• Local communities will have greater control over what to invest in

• We still need to invest more in public education: California is 49th in the nation in our investment

We will transition to LCFF based on available state funding

Targ

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Fundin

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ntr

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Funding increases each year depending

on how much new Prop. 98 dollars

are available until target is reached.

Current year revenue

limit funding

Categorical funding

Growth

How does the formula work?

What does LCFF mean for accountability?

• By July 1 each year districts will be

required to adopt, with community input,

a districtwide plan: The Local Control and

Accountability Plan (LCAP)

• 3-Year plan to improve

teaching/learning

• For the first time this plan will be

directly linked to the entire district

budget

Plan must meet state and local priorities 1. Providing all students access to fully credentialed teachers, instructional

materials that align with state standards and safe facilities.

2. Implementation of California’s academic standards, including the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and math, Next Generation Science Standards, English language development, history social science, visual and performing arts, health education and physical education standards.

3. Parent involvement and participation, so the local community is engaged in the decision-making process and the educational programs of students.

4. Improving student achievement and outcomes along multiple measures, including test scores, English proficiency and college and career preparedness.

5. Supporting student engagement, including whether students attend school or are chronically absent.

6. Highlighting school climate and connectedness through suspension and expulsion rates and other locally identified means.

7. Ensuring all students have access to classes that prepare them for college and careers, regardless of what school they attend or where they live.

8. Measuring other important student outcomes related to required areas of study, including physical education and the arts.

11

STEM Specific: What does the law say?

• Implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are a state priority that must be responded to.

• Academic achievement data must be reviewed and ideally included in LCAP multi-year measurable goals.

• The LCAP template creates numerous opportunities to highlight STEM and develop local expenditure/action plans to achieve student outcomes relative to STEM.

Get engaged

What does LCFF mean for communities and districts? How should you begin

planning?

Parental Involvement

There are specific points in the development of thedistrict plan that necessitate parental involvement

• Districts must establish parent advisory

committee(s) to provide advice to the district

regarding the district wide plan

• State Priority - Increasing parental involvement, including

input in decision-making and participation in their child’s education

• Districts must also establish English learner advisory committee(s) if 15% if their students are English learners

Minimum Community Engagement Requirements

• There must be alignment between school site plans and the district plan.

• The superintendent must also notify the community of opportunities to provide comments regarding the proposed plan

• The school district board must hold at least one hearing to seek recommendations and comments from members of the public prior to adopting the LCAP

• The LCAP must be adopted at a public hearing at the same time as the budget is adopted

County Offices of Education must approve district LCAPs

District Plan Adoption:Minimum Requirements of the Law

Build Relationships: Partnerships are key

Groups and local stakeholders across California are organizing to engage in LCFF planning efforts.

3 Critical Opportunities

LCFF creates a unique opportunity to:

What can districts and communities do now?

Focus on long-term, multiyear planning

Implement early, ongoing and meaningful community engagement

Leverage the requirement to link planningefforts to the entire district budget

1

2

3

LCFF provides an opportunity to set a vision. Upon full implementation of LCFF funding, what outcomes,services and support does the district community envision willbe in place for students?

The LCAP is a three year plan. What are the short term steps that can be achieved in the

next three year window to support the vision?

Each year the district has to adopt a budget aligned to the plan.What strategic investments can be made next year that arealigned and moving toward the vision?

What can districts and communities do now?

Focus on long-term, multiyear planning1

An example.This school district presented its community with about a dozen proposed goals, with over half of those—including this one—within the Student Achievement priority area

What can districts and communities do now?

Implement early, ongoing and meaningful community engagement 2

Authentic Engagement: Take the time and create the environment for all stakeholders to actively participate in the conversation.

Build Understanding: Meaningful dialogue builds understanding and support for difficult decisions about where to focus scarce resources.

Transparency: Increased transparency about budgets is essential to build or rebuild trust and increase community support for public education.

An example.This school district has identified the following community partners for LCAP engagement

What can districts and communities do now?

Implement early, ongoing and meaningful community engagement 2Below are some “best practices” that districts and communities can deploy in the near term:• Identify staff-community liaisons. For example:

• Parents (including English learners, foster youth education rights holders)

• Students • Foster Youth County Liaison• Business

• Review parent advisory committee(s) structure and function

• Determine ways to align site plans and process with district plan

What can districts and communities do now?

Implement early, ongoing and meaningful community engagement 2

Below are some “best practices” that districts and communities can deploy in the near term:

• Determine timeline and format for community wide forums and/or school site level forums

• Begin creating materials to provide information on LCFF and the LCAP and make them widely available

• Talk about what is in the law and what is still being determined in a way that is easily accessible to the public

• Offer multiple forums at times and locations that are convenient for all stakeholders

• Provide translators and childcare at forums

What can districts and communities do now?

Leverage the requirement to link planningefforts to the entire district budget3Parents and community members can be most effective by helping boards and school sites set goals and prioritize strategies

This approach gives community members the opportunity to influence resource allocation decisions IF:

• Budgets are developed around goals AND

• Districts begin budget development in the fall

STEM Specific: How does STEM fit into the planning and engagement process?

• Analyze your STEM achievement data and set multi-year goals for each student group.

• Engage district, community, business, and other partners committed to quality STEM education in your community.

• Develop a multi-year vision for STEM in your district, including how it will help close achievement and opportunity gaps.

• Identify STEM programming that serves all students, as well as STEM programming that principally benefits low-income students, English learners, and/or foster youth.

• Identify how STEM helps advance other district goals across multiple priority areas.

• Prepare to make the case for STEM investments!

STEM in Action

How can STEM and LCFF come together at the local level?

SFUSD STEM’s charge

“Overcoming the predictive power of demographics”

“72% of all students who graduate with a degree in engineering in the United States have a family member who is engineer.” Dr. Ioannis Miaoulis, President and Director of the Museum of Science, Boston

SFUSD STEM’s charge

The size of our solutions needs to be equal to the size of the problem.

We’re talking about all 56K students.

Right time, Right place

10K districts in US

Largest 100 serve 25% of the students

Largest 100 serve 40% of the students who are from historically underserved populations

Right time, Right place

Arrival of Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards has created an opportunity to define what counts as math and science

We serve the student populations with the greatest untapped potential

Questions?AB: Assembly Bill

CDE: California Department of Education 

EC: Education Code - A collection of all the laws directly related to California K-12 public schools. Ed Code sections are created or changed by the governor and legislature when they make laws. (Ed Source).

EL - English Learner

ELD: Early Learning and Development - High Quality programs and services, such as preschool, that support the cognitive, social, emotional and physical development of children 0-5 years old.

FY: Foster Youth – A child that has been removed from their home due to suspicions of abuse or neglect, is living in an out-of-home placement and is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.  

LCAP: Local Control and Accountability Plan– A plan adopted by a district, county office of education or charter school governing board, in concert with their budget, that reflects the goals and specific actions that will be pursued based on the 8 state priorities outlined in the LCFF legislation, as well as any locally adopted priorities

LCFF: Local Control Funding Formula - California's new school finance model to allocate funding from the state to local school districts, county offices of education and charter schools

LEA: Local Education Agency - School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools

LI: Low Income - Students who are eligible to receive free and reduced price meals

SB: Senate Bill

SBE: State Board of Education