Budgeting for Educational Equity

In this episode, Sanger Unified School District Superintendent Adela Madrigal Jones highlights approaches and actions her district has taken to advance equity. It’s chock-full of practical guidance, real-life experiences and candid reflections from a lifelong educator who has helped lead successful work in this Central Valley district.

One of the key strategies Sanger USD utilizes are “Principal Summits.” These summits engage school site leaders in reviewing data, collectively exploring how dollars are invested (including LCFF-LCAP funds), developing plans and actions to meet the needs of all students, and regularly monitoring those plans.

Superintendent Madrigal Jones shares further insights into the mechanics of budgeting for equity, including describing how some recent allocation models called for distributing dollars equally, and some equitably. In addition, she takes us inside some of her district’s recent discussions about how best to utilize newly available one-time state and federal dollars to accelerate recovery from the pandemic.

Later in this episode, Sanger USD Chief Business Official Marsha Alfving joins Adela to discuss the key importance of superintendents and chief business officials working together and with their teams to support resource equity. CBO Alfving describes several ways that school business officials can deepen their engagement in their district's conversations around equity and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to best meet the needs of all students.

Finally, Superintendent Madrigal Jones looks back on a key success in her district that improved early literacy. Plus, she recommends a few things that all educational leaders should consider bringing along as they prepare to embark on their own resource equity and "cultural shift" journeys.

Guests

Adela Madrigal Jones has served as superintendent of Sanger USD since July 2018. Prior to that, she served as associate superintendent, as a principal and a teacher, all in the district. She has also worked extensively with English Learners. In total, she has spent more than 37 years in public education.

Marsha Alfving has served in Sanger USD for more than a decade, including as Chief Financial Officer since 2013. She’s also a Certified Public Accountant and prior to joining Sanger, served for several years in public accounting.

Sanger USD is located in California’s Central Valley. The district serves about 11,000 students, nearly 70% who qualify for free and reduced price meals and 15% who are English Learners. The district has been recognized in research literature, such as the 2019 Learning Policy Institute brief, for its promising practices and outcomes, especially for students of color.
Download the Interactive Companion Brief for this episode.
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Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO), in partnership with WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for providing additional support.
Engage with us on Twitter at @Budget4EdEquity
Budgeting for Educational Equity is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music, mixing and sound by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd develops our related written materials.

In part two of our focus on California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), we examine more closely the concept of local control, especially as it relates to educational equity. Host Jason Willis and special guests consider vital questions, including:

• How does the State’s shift to local control impact equity? 
• How do we strike a balance between local autonomy, innovation, compliance and accountability?
• How effective are Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) that all districts must adopt with stakeholder input? 
• What role can school boards in particular play in the LCFF-LCAP process? 

Plus, we delve into the practical, hands-on experiences of a veteran chief school business official who has implemented LCFF in her small, rural school district. She shares valuable strategies that school district leaders and business officials can draw on when implementing LCFF.

Guests:

• Heather Naylor has served as CBO in Gridley USD in Butte County for 17 years. The district serves approximately 2,100 students, 75% who qualify in the “unduplicated" student count. Gridley USD was recognized in a 2019 Learning Policy Institute study as a "Positive Outlier" for its promising practices and outcomes in closing opportunity gaps for students of color and all students.
• Christopher Edley, Jr., J.D., serves as interim dean for the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Education, and as professor and dean emeritus at the U.C. Berkeley School of Law. 
• Maria Echaveste, J.D., serves as president and CEO of The Opportunity Institute. She previously served as White House deputy chief of staff.
• Mike Kirst is a former State Board of Education President and current Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. He was the chief architect of the LCFF under Gov. Jerry Brown.
• Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez serves as a school board member in Azusa USD, and as Deputy Director for Californians Together, a statewide advocacy group. She is immediate past president of the California School Boards Association.

More resources

• "What's Next for the LCFF," report by PACE, Nov., 2021
• "Targeted K-12 Funding and Student Outcomes," PPIC Policy Brief, Oct., 2021
• "Why the LCFF? California's Landmark Move to an Equity-Based School Funding Formula," from the "Adventures in Ed Funding" podcast, March, 2020. 

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO) and WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for additional support. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music and editing by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd develops our companion written briefs.
Follow us at @Budget4EdEquity.

The Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, ushered in a new era of school funding in California when it was adopted in 2013. It's regarded by many as the most significant resource equity reform the state has ever enacted. But how has the LCFF worked? Has it accomplished what it was intended to? And how are inherent tensions between local and state decision making authority, oversight and accountability being navigated?

In this episode, host Jason Willis and special guests explore key elements of the LCFF.

Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez provides a review of the law, based on her unique perspective both as a locally elected school board member in Azusa USD and as Deputy Director for Californians Together, a statewide group that advocates on behalf of English Learner students.  Xilonin also serves as immediate past president of the California School Boards Association.

Richard De Nava, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services at San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, shares insights about the policy and practical implications of the LCFF. Richard also serves as president of CASBO.

And Mike Kirst, former State Board of Education President, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, and chief architect of the LCFF under Gov. Jerry Brown, offers a remarkable glimpse into the development of the formula, including some of the difficult choices, innovative thinking and pragmatic considerations that went into creating the new law.

Additional Background

As part of the LCFF, all Local Education Agencies receive a per-student funding allocation known as a base grant, plus targeted additional funding depending on the needs of certain students (known as supplemental and concentration grants). Districts must also engage stakeholders before adopting a Local Control and Accountability Plan. While the new law has shifted more discretion for budgetary decisions to local school districts, it has also brought to the surface inherent tensions between local and state decision making authority. 

More resources

• NEW: "What's Next for the LCFF," report by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), November 2021
• NEW: "Targeted K-12 Funding and Student Outcomes," PPIC Policy Brief, October 2021
• "Why the LCFF? California's Landmark Move to an Equity-Based School Funding Formula," from the Adventures in Ed Funding CASBO podcast, March, 2020. 
• "The LCFF After Four Years: What Do We Know?" brief summarizing four Getting Down To Facts II technical reports related to LCFF implementation.

About our series

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO) and WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for additional support. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music, mixing and sound by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd  develops the written briefs that go along with each episode.

Follow us on Twitter at @Budget4EdEquity to keep up to date on the series and share your thoughts, ideas, questions and feedback. 

In part two of our focus on California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), we examine more closely the concept of local control, especially as it relates to educational equity. Host Jason Willis and special guests consider vital questions, including:

• How does the State’s shift to local control impact equity? 
• How do we strike a balance between local autonomy, innovation, compliance and accountability?
• How effective are the Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) that all districts must adopt with stakeholder input? 
• What role can school boards in particular play in the LCFF-LCAP process? 

Plus, in our final segment, we delve into the practical, hands-on experiences of Heather Naylor, a veteran chief school business official who has implemented LCFF in her small, rural school district. She shares valuable strategies that school district leaders and business officials can draw on when implementing LCFF.

Guests:

• Heather Naylor has served as CBO in Gridley USD in Butte County for 17 years. The district serves approximately 2,100 students, 75% who qualify in the “unduplicated" student count. Gridley USD was recognized in a 2019 Learning Policy Institute study as a "Positive Outlier" for its promising practices and outcomes in closing opportunity gaps for students of color and all students.
• Christopher Edley, Jr., J.D., serves as interim dean for the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Education, and as professor and dean emeritus at the U.C. Berkeley School of Law. 
• Maria Echaveste, J.D., serves as president and CEO of The Opportunity Institute. She previously served as White House deputy chief of staff.
• Mike Kirst is a former State Board of Education President and current Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. He was the chief architect of the LCFF under Gov. Jerry Brown.
• Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez serves as a school board member in Azusa USD, and as Deputy Director for Californians Together, a statewide advocacy group. She is immediate past president of the California School Boards Association.

More resources

• "What's Next for the LCFF," report by PACE, Nov., 2021
• "Targeted K-12 Funding and Student Outcomes," PPIC Policy Brief, Oct., 2021
• "Why the LCFF? California's Landmark Move to an Equity-Based School Funding Formula," from the "Adventures in Ed Funding" podcast, March, 2020. 

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO) and WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for additional support. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music and editing by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd develops our companion written briefs.
Follow us at @Budget4EdEquity.

School districts face extreme urgency to safely return students to in-person environments and help them recover from a pandemic that has not yet ended. At the same time, leaders and practitioners are pressing to expeditiously but thoughtfully allocate a windfall of new state and federal dollars – all the while trying to leverage the unique opportunity created by these circumstances to bring about transformative changes to our public school systems.
How can school communities make the most of this moment to innovate towards a greater equality of outcomes for all students? That's the question we explore in this episode. Education reform experts Michael Fullan and Joanne Quinn share powerful ideas and insights from their work. Both have advised school systems in California and throughout the world. They’ve co-authored many books and papers, including their latest, “Right Drivers for Whole System Success.”
Fullan and Quinn help us to look through the lens of equity and learning, emphasizing that education leaders should prioritize engaging all of their students.
The possibilities for investing this influx of new, one-time funding to address inequities is truly exciting. But not so simple. School business officials especially may find themselves caught in a tension, on the one hand focused on fulfilling their important, traditional role of ensuring fiscal health and responsible accounting (including spending down Covid-recovery funds within prescribed timelines) while also being presented an opportunity to help their districts think and act in new ways that can be sustained over time.
CASBO CEO and executive director Tatia Davenport also re-joins Jason to put some of Michael and Joanne’s ideas through a school business “reality check.” Tatia describes why focusing on increasing the long-term yield of our public school investments is so critical, plus she highlights why district leaders need more time and space to plan, so they can develop a cohesive strategy with their communities for effectively spending their funds and improving outcomes.
Download the Episode 4 Companion Brief here.

Guests

Joanne Quinn is an international consultant and author on system change, leadership, and learning. As co-founder and Global Director of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning, she leads partnership work across eight countries focused on transforming learning. Joanne has provided leadership at all levels of education as a superintendent, implementation advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Education, and Director of Continuing Education at the University of Toronto.

Michael Fullan, O.C., is the Global Leadership Director of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning and a worldwide authority on educational reform with a mandate of helping to achieve the moral purpose of all children learning. A former Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto, Michael advises policymakers and local leaders around the world to provide leadership in education.
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Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO), in partnership with WestEd. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music, mixing and sound by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd develops our related written materials. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for providing additional support.
@Budget4edequity