Action Needed to Ensure Low-Income, English Language Learning Students Benefit
(SACRAMENTO, CA) - Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus, and Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) sent a letter to the California State Board of Education signed by nearly 30 lawmakers urging action to ensure that new regulations for education funding match the Legislature's intent in creating the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) last year. The Board's public comment period concluded today as it works to complete the final regulations for the LCFF, which will be implemented starting later this year.
"Our intentions have been clear," said Ting. "Addressing social inequity is the state's priority for education. We want schools to have flexibility in this task but this is not a free for all. State funding generated by concentrations of needy students must be spent to improve their education. Without action from the Board, the effectiveness of our education reforms is at risk."
"It is critical that these regulations are focused on student achievement and include meaningful and enforceable standards. Without safeguards ensuring that these dollars are focused on the children who need them most, we run the risk of doing what's always been done: a little bit for everybody and a whole lot for nobody. This would seriously undercut the effectiveness of public funding the Legislature set aside specifically to improve academic outcomes for low-income students, English-language learners and children in foster care. Unless this is done right, we will, once again, find ourselves failing to close the achievement gap."
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in both houses of the State Legislature signed onto the letter, which calls on the Board to ensure that LCFF regulations require local schools to:
- show how their use of state education funds will benefit low-income, English language learning students
- measure their performance in educating these underserved students in a clear and transparent way.
The goal is to ensure that billions in state education dollars are spent appropriately and to hold local schools accountable for using the LCFF as a tool for upward mobility.
Under the LCFF, K-12 school districts receive greater flexibility in their expenditure of state education funding. Areas with a high percentage of low-income students, English language learners and foster youth receive extra education funding. When the program was created by the State Legislature last year, the idea was simple. More education funding will go to school districts to confront social inequities, like persistent poverty or limited English skills, and concentrations of low academic achievement. The LCFF will be phased in gradually by 2020.
The text of the letter follows. A copy of the signed original is attached.
Dr. Michael Kirst, State Board President
State Board of Education
1430 N Street, Room 5111
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear President Kirst:
The State Legislature created the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to give California a framework for reducing historic inequities among our extremely diverse population. As the State Board of Education finalizes the permanent LCFF regulations, we urge the Board to act in order to preserve the Legislature's intent in creating this law.
In order for the LCFF to serve as a tool for upward mobility, as intended, it must close California's persistent student achievement gap for English language learners, foster care students, and low-income students. Therefore, the funding generated by concentrations of these high needs students under the LCFF must be spent to improve the education that these students receive.
Letter to the State Board of Education
Contacts: Anthony Matthews (Ting), tel. (916) 319-2019 or Joe Kocurek (Weber), tel. (916) 319-2079