By CHRISTINE ARMARIO Associated Press from the San Diego UT
| http://bit.ly/1KTJXMe
12:25 p.m. June 15, 2015
:: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new
stream of state funds intended to provide greater educational equity for
at-risk students in Los Angeles is largely going for other purposes, a study
released Monday found.
The study by University of California, Berkeley researchers
looked at implementation of the new local control funding formula by the Los
Angeles Unified School District.
It found that most of those dollars seeped into the
district's base budget, largely to offset special education costs. Priority was
placed on restoring staff positions — a decision the researchers found somewhat
reasonable given the deep budget cuts schools endured during the recession.
Still, the first full year of implementation "has been
dedicated largely to rebuilding the status quo" rather than devising a new
strategy, the study authors wrote.
Local control funding was signed into law by Gov. Jerry
Brown in 2013 and is considered one of the nation's largest public undertakings
to equalize educational opportunities. Districts with higher numbers of
low-income, foster care and English language learner students are provided
additional funds.
Los Angeles Unified, the state's largest public school
district, is slated to receive an additional $1.1 billion in local control
funding for the upcoming school year.
In 2014, the district passed a resolution requiring the
creation of an index identifying the neediest schools as a way to determine how
funds should be distributed.
University of California researchers found money was
allocated for foster care student supports, new instructional aides for English
learners and toward implementing restorative justice and decriminalizing
student discipline.
But the bulk of the money intended to aid disadvantaged
students wasn't distributed according to any transparent needs index.
"Fiscal priority was placed on restoring adult staff
positions often not directly tied to instruction, especially the dollars
allocated to elementary schools," the study noted.
Bruce Fuller, a professor at UC Berkeley and one of the
study authors, said a handful of surveys analyzing other California districts
indicate Los Angeles Unified isn't the only one using the governor's new
funding in ways that aren't directly related to disadvantaged students.
"What's important about LAUSD is that it's so
big," Fuller said.
One of the intentions of local control is to let districts
decide how best to use the money, but there are still some accountability
measures in place. Districts are required to provide an updated accountability
plan each year.
While the dollars do not have to directly follow each
at-risk student, there is a clause that states districts must show funds are
proportionately spent in support for the children whose numbers help determine
the revenue received from the state.
"In terms of accountability, the fact that the district
staff ignored the equity resolution when it allocated dollars in elementary and
middle schools, that raises a sticky question around whether the district has
violated the so-called 'proportionality clause,'" Fuller said.
Districts are required to disclose how the funds will be
spent each year, but Fuller said there is concern that there isn't a mechanism
in place at Los Angeles Unified to determine whether those investments are
helping close achievement gaps and lift the most disadvantaged students.
"They're undertaking a lot of virtuous
initiatives," Fuller said, "but there's no single strategy for
evaluating what works and what doesn't work."
________________
Also see:Update: LAUSD FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE
DOLLARS TO THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR - 3 stories & smf’s
2¢x2 | http://bit.ly/1IfHTZY
No comments:
Post a Comment