Hearing to consider Brown’s plan for new school funding formulas
By Louis Freedberg ~ EdSource Extra
At what may turn out to be a landmark hearing in Sacramento today, state senators will review a sweeping proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown to reform California’s notoriously complex school finance system that distributes funds based more on decades-old formulas than on student needs.
The simpler system Brown is proposing — explained in this briefing paper prepared for today’s hearing — would give school districts a base amount, and then additional funds based on the number of low income students and those classified as English learners.
Although Brown’s plan would be far more streamlined and transparent than the current system, it is still not one that the average Californian would easily understand. (For details, see this description by John Fensterwald.)
It would phase out 44 so-called “categorical programs” — funding streams targeted as