Assembly: Yes, fix school funding
Brownley's AB 18 gets strong support, for now
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A bill that would become the foundation for restructuring the state’s K-12 funding system passed the Assembly this week with near unanimity (a vote of 74-2) – a sign that legislators agree with the concept and are willing to let important details be worked out in coming months.
AB 18, sponsored by Julia Brownley, a Santa Monica Democrat who chairs the Assembly Education Committee, would begin to fix a system that study after study has concluded is complex, confusing, irrational, and, by ignoring the high cost of educating the poor and English learners, inequitable.
It is also underfunded, although the bill itself neither provides additional funding overall nor