Brown commits $1 billion for Common Core, sticks with funding formula | EdSource Today

Brown commits $1 billion for Common Core, sticks with funding formula | EdSource Today:

Brown commits $1 billion for Common Core, sticks with funding formula - by John Fensterwald

by John Fensterwald

Gov. Brown explains how the Local Control Funding Formula would work during a press conference in Sacramento on the May revision of the state budget

Gov. Jerry Brown proposed Tuesday to direct all ofthe extra $2.8 billion in revenue that the state expects to receive this year to K-12 schools and community colleges, mostly for one-time uses, including $1 billion to implement the Common Core standards.

There had been projections of even more money this year, but in a news conference releasing hisMay budget revise, Gov. Jerry Brown tempered expectations; the drag of federal tax changes, sequestration of federal spending and new payroll projections had led the administration to lower its bottom-line estimates in the May revision of the state budget. Administration officials warned that the minimum guarantee for school spending, after rising to $56.5 billion in 2012-13, is projected to fall nearly $1 billion next year.

Brown is not suggesting any changes to the basic design of his Local Control Funding Formula, as suburban districts had hoped and Senate Democrats had proposed.Instead, he defended his sweeping school finance reform, which would direct significantly more money to low-income students and English learners, as “just.” And he juxtaposed the “moral power” of his plan, treating “unequals in a more equal way,” with the “political power” of the opponents.

Advocates for high-needs students praised