Local Control Funding Formula

A refresher on the California School Dashboard | Quick Guide

December 15, 2023

After a three-year hiatus, the color-coded accountability tool offers multiple measures of performance for all student groups in every school, district, and county office of education.

John Fensterwald

Commentary

It’s time to fix the fatal flaw in California education funding formula

December 12, 2023

If we don't fix the LCFF now, schools are likely to end up with the worst of both the old and new school finance systems.

Arun Ramanathan

Commentary

On California funding formula’s 10th anniversary, celebrate progress but double down on fairness

November 29, 2023

Local control funding operates like a dump truck, unloading extra dollars to the district — it’s not a backpack, where targeted dollars follow the child.

Bruce Fuller and Julien Lafortune

Districts groan as state board sets in motion Newsom’s big changes to funding formula

November 15, 2023

Gov. Gavin Newsom is requiring more focus and funding for the lowest scoring students in hundreds of schools. Superintendents complain strategic plans will become unreadable.

John Fensterwald

Commentary

California's public charter schools — and their students — deserve equitable funding

September 19, 2023

Under the Local Control Funding Formula, public charters are penalized for serving a greater share of high-need students than their district.

Mala Batra

Research finds California's funding overhaul worked as designed for those getting the most money

September 1, 2023

U.C. professor Rucker Johnson concluded equity-based funding caused big jumps in student performance in the highest-poverty school districts.

John Fensterwald

Author of bill to tie school employees' raises to funding formula increases makes big concession

May 15, 2023

Assembly Education Committee Chair Al Muratsuchi agrees to drop language explicitly calling for raising school workers' wages by 50% over seven years.

John Fensterwald

Two dozen views on LCFF: Is California's funding law working and what could improve it?

May 9, 2023

Educators and advocates, parents and political leaders across the spectrum agree that the funding formula had great promise — and still does. But they widely disagree on what’s hindering the potential to unravel inequities.

John Fensterwald

Commentary

The clock is ticking on community schools

April 4, 2023

All schools should be community schools. Districts must act proactively to ensure the long-term sustainability of their programs once the initial state investment in community schools runs out.

Michael Matsuda

Does California's landmark school funding formula need 10th year makeover?

April 4, 2023

Public Advocates and ACLU join Gov. Gavin Newsom in calling for major changes to the funding formula's mandate for equitable and effective spending through the LCAP.

John Fensterwald

Newsom’s big bet on fixing California's poorest schools and narrowing achievement gaps

February 16, 2023

Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing the biggest changes in a decade to the state system of funding and governing schools.

John Fensterwald, Emma Gallegos, And Daniel J. Willis

Commentary

We need stronger accountability to fulfill the equity promise of California’s school funding system

February 13, 2023

Ten years into California's new Local Control Funding Formula, students are still not getting the resources and support promised by the law.

Guillermo Mayer and Christopher J. Nellum

California’s school finance ratings: D for adequacy, B for equity, F for effort — but on the upswing

January 4, 2023

California ranks 33rd in 2019-20, adjusted for its cost of living, spending $13,686 per student in state and local funding. Its method of funding poor districts is one of the nation's most equitable.

John Fensterwald

New biography examines Michael Kirst's impact on public education in California and beyond

November 7, 2022

Kirst , who was president of the State Board of Education for all four of Jerry Brown’s terms as governor, co-authored the Local Control Funding Formula.

John Fensterwald

Commentary

California's accountability system is failing English learners

November 1, 2022

The California School Dashboard masks the needs of English learners, leading to low expectations for these students and resulting in many districts not planning for their support and success.

Martha Hernandez