After passage of school finance plan, focus shifts to implementation - by Louis Freedberg
by Louis Freedberg
Less than a week after the state Legislature approved a sweeping school finance reform plan that will funnel additional funds to low-income students and English learners, the state’s finance chief says school districts will have to spend the extra funds in a way “that shows improved outcomes” among their students.
Ana Matosantos, the director of the Department of Finance, was speaking during a telephone briefing with nearly 450 participants from around the state, including journalists, school officials, finance experts and parent advocates.
To listen to the hour-long briefing, go here.
The turnout for the briefing, convened by EdSource and New America Media, reflected the intense interest generated by the passage of the most far-reaching reform of California’s school financing system in decades. Its central feature is a local control funding formula which provides a base level of funding for all districts, with additional funds for high-needs students to take into account the higher costs of educating them.
“The law is very clear that the dollars that are being provided through supplemental and concentration grants have to be spent on supplemental services for the students for which they are being provided,” Matosantos said.
But details of the plan and its implementation must still be worked out for the nearly 1000 districts
Task force recommends including mental health training in teacher credential - by Jane Meredith Adams
by Jane Meredith Adams
Sweeping national reforms in children’s mental health care have yet to materialize in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings, but a group of high-profile educators and policy analysts in California is mapping a plan to transform student mental health services in the state. Tens of thousands of students with emotional disorders, including clinical depression, chronic anxiety and...
