Change in California Education Funding to Focus on Achievement Gap
By Michael Higham | 01/05/2013 | Budget, California, Education, Education, Issues
California Governor Jerry Brown is proposing a shift in how the state funds K-12 education. In hopes of closing the achievement gap, a larger portion of California education funding would be allocated to schools with low-income and English learning students. The plan also includes increased autonomy for local school districts to decide how their state funding is spent. These changes are expected to appear in Governor Brown’s budget that is to be released on Jan. 10 and take effect on Jul. 1.
The achievement gap is the disparity in student performance among different demographics. Governor Brown intends to focus the budget reallocation on low-income school districts, which may positively affect their performance. Education Week describes the achievement gap regarding low-income students as follows:
Often means having fewer educational resources at home, in addition to poor health care and nutrition. At the same time, studies have also found that children in poverty whose parents provide engaging learning environments at home do not start school with the same academic readiness gaps seen among poor children generally.