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New Assembly Education chair skeptical of plan for weighted funding
Any bill to change the way that California funds its public schools will have to go through Joan Buchanan, and that could present problems for Gov. Jerry Brown. Buchanan is the new chair of the Assembly Education Committee, and, as she made clear in a lengthy interview with EdSource Today (see transcript), she’s skeptical of Brown’s weighted student formula, which he plans to reintroduce next year. Her views reflect those of suburban and demographically better off school … Read entire article »
Filed under: Charter Schools, Common Core standards, Equity issues, Evaluations, Facilities, Featured, Funding and Taxation, Getting Down To Facts studies, Reporting & Analysis, Student spending, Teacher Pay, Teacher Unions, Technology, Tests & Assessments, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula)
Move over, Sacramento, and give districts space to innovate
Five years ago, then-Governor Schwarzenegger, then-State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, and the leadership of the Assembly and Senate commissioned a comprehensive summary and analysis of California’s school finance and governance systems. The result was the 23 reports collectively known as the Getting Down to Facts Project (GDTF). A recent PACE report commemorates the fifth anniversary of the project, reviewing what has changed (and what has not) since the reports came out. Although the specific … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Data, Equity issues, Evaluations, Featured, Getting Down To Facts studies
California’s budget woes hit neediest students the hardest
(This commentary first appeared in TOP-Ed.) Californians have been hit with so much bad budget news these past three years it’s easy to assume that we’re all suffering more or less equally. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to our schools. Essentially every fiscal maneuver our policymakers have undertaken to respond to the budget crisis has delivered more pain to the neediest schools and students. Even before the traumatic $18 billion in accumulated cuts to school funding since 2009, the underlying school finance system had devolved to one that disproportionately denies low-income students and English learners an equal shot at learning the state’s academic content standards. Two constitutional challenges currently winding through the courts are confronting the fact that our districts are underfunded overall and that high-poverty districts and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Adequacy suit, Commentary, Getting Down To Facts studies, Revenue and taxes
Local-state funding should sync like a tandem bike
December 20th, 2012 | 10 Comments | By Jeff Camp / commentary
In 2013, most California education-watchers expect two policy debates about school finance. Two is not enough; there will need to be three. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Education Excellence Committee, Featured, Finance, Funding and Taxation, Parcel Tax, Revenue and taxes