The Locus of Local Control: Revisiting the LCFF (Part Two)

12/03/21 • 48 min

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.

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?

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.

Previous Episode

6 - Revisiting the LCFF, California's Landmark School Funding Reform

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.

Next Episode

One School District’s Approach to System Improvement and Equity During the Pandemic: Don’t Just Navigate, Accelerate

COVID-19 and other crises have put extreme operational pressures on public school systems. And these pressures, as Dr. Rosanna Mucetti, Superintendent of Napa Valley USD says, can break or make organizations. In this episode, Rosanna and Rabinder "Rob" Mangewala, NVUSD’s Assistant Superintendent and Chief Business Official, describe how their district actually leveraged challenges during the crisis to accelerate their focus on resource equity and school improvement.

“All of a sudden, work that was probably going to take us three to five years to implement as articulated in our strategic plan was in overdrive and things got adopted in months because of the pressures of the pandemic,” Rosanna says.

In addition, Rosanna and Rob share practical guidance and insights from their leadership experiences, including how their district:

Opened campuses early in the pandemic and maintained strong collaboration among the board, management team and labor partners.
Approached resource allocation equity through standardization and sustainability to guarantee a “base floor” of access for all students.
Revamped the district’s system of technology and adopted a new assessment in the midst of the pandemic.
Responded to severe fiscal challenges like declining enrollment.

About our guests

Rob and Rosanna’s professional partnership began more than two decades ago, when they were both clearing their teaching credentials.

Rosanna Mucetti, Ed. D., has served as a bilingual teacher, English Learner program specialist, assistant principal, principal, manager of Curriculum and English Learner Services, Assistant Superintendent, and Deputy Superintendent. Before her appointment as Superintendent at NVUSD in 2018, she served as the Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services in San Leandro USD for five years, where she led instructional transformations, including integrating socio-emotional learning into the curriculum. She also revamped the district’s technology platforms. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from CSU East Bay. She also completed the School Business Management program at USC and has a CASBO chief business official certificate.
Rabinder “Rob” Mangewala joined NVUSD as the Assistant Superintendent, Business Services in 2019. He serves as the Chief Business Official for the organization, ensuring the district successfully addresses its financial challenges. He also oversees technology, data management and enrollment. Rob previously served with Rosanna in San Leandro USD, where he oversaw district-wide data management, enrollment, information technology and instructional materials. He began his career in education as an elementary school teacher in Hayward where he taught for 13 years while obtaining his administrative credential and masters degree at CSU East Bay. He also holds a certificate in School Business Management from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO) and WestEd. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis, Director of Strategic Resource Planning and Implementation for WestEd. Music and editing is by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd develops our written briefs. Follow us at @Budget4EdEquity.