In this week's issue of "Leading Change," you'll read about a just-launched EdSource project to track implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula in several districts, each with different demographics and local challenges. The districts chosen, though inevitably not representative of the diversity of California, provide a snapshot of what's happening on the ground during this time of historic transformation in our schools.
You will also find an EdSource Today story by John Fensterwald about how a legislative battle over dismissing teachers accused of severe misconduct appears to have been resolved -- and we continue to follow the issue of incorporating the needs of foster youth into the Local Control and Accountability Plan.
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EdSource tracks LCFF in seven districts: "Following the School Funding Formula"
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EdSource file photo
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Following the School Funding Formula: Making School Reform Work in California EdSource is tracking how education policy reforms such as the Local Control Funding Formula are being rolled out in several districts across the state. As part of a new special initiative, EdSource Today reporters will report on how these and other districts decide to spend additional state funds they receive based on high-needs students, and how they involve parents, school staff, and community representatives. Watch our "Following the School Funding Formula" page over the coming months to learn what happens when state policy changes meet district-level realities.
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Districts develop goals for foster youth
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credit: EdSource
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Determining how to meet the needs of highly mobile students in foster care - who account for only about 42,000 of California's 6.2 million students and whose test scores and graduation rates are among the lowest of any subgroup of students - is proving to be a challenge for many districts. Click here to read more.
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 | Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan
Source: EdSource |
Signaling the resolution of an acrimonious issue, Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, introduced a bill Friday to make dismissing teachers charged with severe misconduct quicker, easier and cheaper. Buchanan praised the compromise that was reached, and said that Gov. Jerry Brown, who vetoed her version of the bill last year, would sign it. Brown spokesman Jim Evans confirmed in an email, "As introduced, the Administration supports Assemblymember Buchanan's approach." Click here to read more.
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L.A. Unified wins $7 million in grants for career tech programs
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South City officials hope to use new funding model to add middle school care
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The Los Angeles Unified School District will receive $7 million in federal grant funding to expand career programs at three high schools in the fields of healthcare, technology and business and finance.
L.A. Unified was one of 24 winners selected from 275 applicants nationwide for the Youth CareerConnect grant, a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor. Click here to read more from the Los Angeles Times.
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Parents and school board members in the South San Francisco Unified School District want to use no longer earmarked state funding to fill a hole they see in the district - after-school programs for middle schoolers.
Some parents say they are stressed out over how they are going to pick up their kids from school and get them home safely when there is no after-care program offered in any of the district's middle schools.
Click here to read more from the Daily Journal of the Peninsula.
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Southern California researchers are alleging that local education foundations are reintroducing funding inequality that was supposed to be eliminated back in the 1970s. "The court said spending needs to be equitable between school districts, you can't have Beverly Hills spending twice as much as the other guys, per pupil, because a child's education should not be dependent on the wealth of the area in which they happen to live," said Cal State Fullerton professor Sarah Hill. Click here to read more from KPCC.
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New Tool
"Track Prop 30" tool from state controller's office
A new online transparency tool tracks funds raised for K-12 and community college agencies through Proposition 30: where money was allocated, how it will be spent, and whether it was used in accordance with the law. It's a clean, user-friendly interface, and allows multiple ways of viewing data.
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Symposium in Los Angeles on "The New Accountability: Testing Students and Evaluating Schools in the Age of the Common Core." Featured speakers include Michael Fullan and Linda Darling-Hammond. Register now! |
Traditional allies on opposite side of the debate, from Politico
A summary of opposition to Common Core standards in more than a dozen states, from MSNBC
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Tweet of the Week
Eduardo Aguilar
Children Now
The #LCFF is an incredible opportunity to rebuild the trust between schools and our families. Let's not drop the ball.
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