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By Tom Chorneau
Friday, October 04, 2013
More than $2 billion in new state funding targeting educationally disadvantaged students arrived at California schools in August. But sources in the field said this week that more than a few school administrators have been reluctant to spend any of the money just yet.
The Local Control Funding Formula, a ground-breaking restructuring of state support for K-12 services, was put into law as part of the 2013-14 budget although key accountability elements – including regulations governing spending – have yet to be developed by the California State Board of Education.
Some school officials have expressed concern that state regulators could raise compliance questions tomorrow about spending done today given that the rules won’t be published for months – some not until March, 2014.
Others have pointed to the risk of lawsuits – especially by civil rights groups – that may have been given new opportunity to challenge district decisions through the Uniform Complaint Procedures.
Asked to respond to such fears – officials at the California Department of Education issued a clear statement urging schools to use the money and use it now.
“While full funding of LCFF is predicted to take up to eight years, the time to start implementation is now,” said Erin