Bill would protect adult ed, career tech while extending local control - by John Fensterwald
by John Fensterwald
School districts would keep discretion to spend billions of dollars of “categorical” funding however they want for five more years under a Senate bill that passed its first hurdle in the Legislature on Wednesday.
Sen. Carol Liu
SB 223‘s provisions on local spending control are similar to Gov. Jerry Brown’s sweeping plan for school finance reform. Both approaches would require that districts show how they used the money, freed from state restrictions, to improve student achievement. But there are important differences, too, between the bill, authored by Sen. Carol Liu, D-Pasadena, who chairs the Education Committee, and the governor’s Local Control Funding Formula.
Four years ago, to try to soften the impact of severe K-12 budget cuts, the Legislature temporarily removed restrictions on 40 categorical programs getting $4.5 billion in state funding. They include money for textbooks and materials, physical education, arts and music, teacher training, education technology and deferred maintenance on buildings.
Liu’s bill, as amended, would reimpose protections on at least one of the categorical programs, adult education, and, during the committee hearing, she said she was open to reinstating spending restrictions for other programs. An EdSource survey of the 30 largest school districts revealed that several have
Teacher dismissal bill off and running with committee approval - by John Fensterwald
Teacher dismissal bill off and running with committee approval - by John Fensterwald
by John Fensterwald
A bill intended to make it quicker and less costly to dismiss teachers received a 7-0 approval from the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday, and its author – the chair of the committee, Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo – received much praise from her colleagues for taking on a contentious issue. Unanimous passage of AB 375, without opposition in public testimony, does not necessarily mean the bill...