Districts face challenge of prioritizing public input on school spending | EdSource Today

Districts face challenge of prioritizing public input on school spending | EdSource Today:

Districts face challenge of prioritizing public input on school spending

April 15th, 2014 | Add a Comment | 
By Louis Freedberg

California’s school funding reform laws have triggered a burst of outreach efforts to solicit parent and community input – along with a plethora of suggestions about how to spend the additional funds districts will receive.

But what is not clear is how these multiple recommendations – in some districts running into the thousands – will be prioritized so that they will be useful to school officials and school boards as they draw up their Local Control and Accountability Plans before the rapidly approaching deadline of July 1.

California’s new school funding reform law requires parents and other key stakeholders, such as school personnel and community representatives, to provide input into the draft accountability plan. But the law is silent on how they should provide that input. That is in line with the spirit of the new law, which is intended to shift decision-making from Sacramento to individual districts. 

But some parent advocates worry that districts may have generated so much input it may not be focused enough to provide guidance to school boards and superintendents as they come up with their accountability plans.

San Diego Unified, for example, has sponsored five meetings to review its Vision 20/20 strategic plan, and is currently in the process of holding 16 smaller meetings to discuss the district’s LCAP. Lisa Berlanga, president of San Diego United Parents for Education, attended a meeting on March 20 at Patrick Henry High School  – the same school where her son is enrolled.  Berlanga said that