About 1,600 people attended community forums on the Local Control Funding Formula, like this one in Kern County, organized by The California Endowment. Credit: EdSource file photo
Gov. Jerry Brown’s belief in the principle of local decision-making will be put to the test with the state’s new school finance system known as theLocal Control Funding Formula.
But at a dozen forums in low-income neighborhoods across the state, parents said that while they’re enthusiastic about the new funding formula, they “had little trust in current processes aimed at involving them in decision making,” according to feedback collected by The California Endowment,* which hosted the forums.
“Many (parents) who served on school site councils and other advisory committees felt they were expected to serve as a rubber stamp rather than as true partners,” the Endowment wrote in a report summarizing comments received on its School Success Express bus tour, held at 12 cities throughout California. The report will be shared with the State Board of Education, which is finalizing guidelines for districts on the funding law.
The new system gives school districts more control over spending decisions and requires them to include parents and other community members in deciding how to prioritize spending. Schools that
Stories of the first Thanksgiving in the New World are the stuff of legend. School children generally learn that the first feast was a three-day harvest festival held in 1621 between Plymouth’s surviving Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. Virginians challenge that version, laying claim to a religious Thanksgiving observance in 1619 ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today
