CATESOL ADVOCACY
Education Board Works to Implement Local Control Funding Formula
By Jeff Frost
CATESOL Legislative Advocate
N
ow that the governor has signed the local control funding formula (LCFF) into law, there is a very tight timeline for the
State Board of Education (SBE) to approve emergency regulations
and to adopt the legislatively required “template” that will guide
school districts and county offices of education in their local planning. One of the most critical local requirements is the development of, and annual revision to, the Local Control Accountability
Plan (LCAP), under which school districts will need to develop
a comprehensive plan for addressing the academic needs of their
students and tying their funding directly to the strategies designed
to implement the plan.
The implementing legislation (AB 97) requires each school
district to develop an annual LCAP. The plan must establish goals
for all pupils and for each subgroup of pupils (English language
learners, pupils with disabilities, ethnic subgroups, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and foster youth). Additionally, the LCAP
must fully document how the district will implement the academic
content standards, including how EL students will access the Common Core Standards, ensure parental involvement, and outline the
percentage of pupils who have successfully completed courses that
satisfy the entrance requirements for institutions of higher education. The bill also establishes a process for county offices to review
and submit recommendations to the district and adopt the LCAP
to ensure that the local plan adheres to the SBE template and includes “expenditures sufficient to implement the specific actions
and strategies included in the LCAP.”
The new law requires the state board to adopt regulations that
specifically require that districts prioritize the expansion of crucial
academic programs that have been reduced or that need to be expanded to ensure the academic progress of English learners, students on free/reduced lunch,
and/or foster youth. The new law also requires
the State Board of Education to develop the
template. Based on the specific language in the
bill, the SBE will need to reinforce to districts
that the LCFF funds are required to be directed
for the purposes outlined in Section 422238.07.
This section states that the regulations shall require a school district “to increase or improve
Jeff Frost
services for unduplicated pupils.”
The state board will be finalizing the regulations for LCFF by
December of this year and is required to finalize the template by
March 31, 2014. CATESOL will continue to work to ensure that
local districts will need to consider not only the academic needs
of English language learners but the full array of services that students in poverty will need to improve academic performance.
CATESOL leaders will continue to monitor both the regulatory and legislative processes and work to support the needs of
EL students and the teachers of English to those speakers of other
languages. The passage of the new funding formula is a real opportunity for CATESOL members to work collaboratively with
administrator ̰