Senate version of school funding restructuring moves to Assembly
By Tom Chorneau
Friday, May 31, 2013
The state Senate Thursday set the stage for a confrontation with Gov. Jerry Brown by moving an alternative to his school funding plan on a bipartisan vote of 30 to six.
SB 69 would enact many of the same goals contained in Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula except that it would increase the base grant given to all districts and broadens the pot of additional money aimed at educationally disadvantaged students.
(A link below provides a preview of what districts can expect from the Senate version compared to the governor’s plan).
“The governor proposes that poor kids in poor school districts ought to get a boost to help them achieve success, and we agree,” Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said in a statement.
“There’s no doubt about it,” he said. “But we also have to give that same boost to all disadvantaged students, no matter which school they attend. They deserve equal resources and equal attention, and our formula does just that.”
The governor’s Local Control Funding Formula – which enjoys support of the California Teachers Association – would also grant local boards much more authority over how education money gets spent.
But the Legislature’s Democratic leadership has wanted to make some changes to the proposal – a move that Brown