State Board gets to hit refresh button with more control over federal funding
For the first time in more than a decade, the California State Board of Education has the power to reshape how school districts spend about $2.5 billion in federal aid, including about $200 million it can use at its discretion.
The state board will launch a statewide discussion on how to spend the money during its bimonthly meeting on Wednesday.
California has to submit its plan by July.
The state sees an opportunity to spend some of the money on state priorities to improve schools and to fortify instruction of the state’s new academic standards in English, math, science and for English learners, according to memos written by Glen Price, chief deputy state superintendent of public instruction, and staff at the state Department of Education.
Ideas floated in the memos (here and here) include re-establishing principal and administrator training programs that were curtailed amid funding cuts during the past recession, and creating teams and networks to work together on school and district performance.
In a six-page memo to an advisory panel, California Practitioners Advisory Group, the state Department of Education suggested three possible funding ideas, which it called “starting points” for discussion:
Create a California Support Network whose primary purpose would be to strengthen teams in county offices of education to work with districts and schools identified as needing comprehensive help;
Establish a California Leadership Initiative, a revival of leadership academies the State Board gets to hit refresh button with more control over federal funding | EdSource:
