Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: School Reformers Win Major Skirmish
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 5 years ago on
August 6, 2020

Share

The huge Los Angeles Unified School District is ground zero in California’s perpetual political war over educating millions of children on the short end of the state’s chronic “achievement gap.”

LA Unified, the nation’s second largest school system, has nearly 10% of the state’s 6 million public school students, the vast majority of whom are considered to be “at risk” due to poverty, lack of English language skills or foster child status.

Dan Walters

Opinion

Each year, California taxpayers give LA Unified more than $1 billion in extra financial aid to help those kids increase their academic achievement under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) that former Gov. Jerry Brown considers one of his finest achievements.

However, Brown always resisted strict accountability for how LA Unified and other local systems spent the extra money, saying he trusted local education officials to do the right thing.

The official guide for spending the extra aid is the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) that each district must adopt each year. However, education reform advocates have long complained that LCAPs tend to be written in almost undecipherable educational jargon that fails to specify how the money upgrades educations of the targeted kids — with LA Unified depicted as a model of obfuscation.

Reformers scored a win last week when the state Department of Education, which has tended to be an enabler of LA Unified and other recalcitrant systems, declared the district’s 2019-20 LCAP to be seriously deficient.

Failing to Report How School-Level Appropriation Would Be Spent

Public Advocates, a public interest law firm based in San Francisco, and Covington & Burling, a Los Angeles law firm, had challenged the LCAP, saying it was vague in reporting how extra state aid was being spent and what improved outcomes would result.

The Department of Education rejected some allegations, but upheld the most important ones about the lack of specificity, such as bundling $800 million in different types of services into one category, or failing to report how school-level appropriations would be spent.

“At the heart of LCFF is the requirement that (the) district be fully transparent about how they are spending their money so that community stakeholders can provide input into decisions and hold districts accountable for using funding equitably and effectively,” Laura Muschamp, a Covington & Burling attorney, said in statement. “This decision vindicates those values and provides clear guidelines to LAUSD and districts across the state on what spending plan transparency looks like and why it is essential for community accountability.”

The decision’s newly required transparency empowers parents and outside monitors, such as Public Advocates, in their efforts to compel local school systems to be more specific on how they spend tens of billions of dollars each year.

Those Kids Are in Grave Danger of Falling Even Further Behind

It also implies that the state schools superintendent, Tony Thurmond, may be a tougher overseer than predecessor Tom Torlakson, who often sided with districts and powerful school unions. At one point, Torlakson countermanded his own department and declared that LCFF funds could be used for general salary increases.

The LA Unified ruling was issued on the final day of the 2019-20 fiscal year, and there will be no LCAPs issued for 2020-21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, districts are writing Learning Continuity Plans to spell out how distance learning classes will be conducted, including how at-risk children will be served.

Those kids are in grave danger of falling even further behind during the public health crisis so it’s even more important that LCFF spending be monitored closely. The LA Unified case tells local school systems that they should no longer play word games.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

[activecampaign form=19]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California School Awards Dinner at Disneyland Comes With Hefty Price Tag

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Release Video of Officer-Involved Shooting

DON'T MISS

Hamas Says It Is Still Reviewing a US Proposal for a Gaza Ceasefire

DON'T MISS

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

DON'T MISS

Oreo Maker Mondelez Sues Aldi, Alleging Grocery Chain Copies Its Packaging to Confuse Customers

DON'T MISS

FAA Demands an Accident Investigation Into SpaceX’s Latest Out-of-Control Starship Flight

DON'T MISS

In Marseille, a Shadow Becomes Art in Banksy’s Latest Street Mural

DON'T MISS

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

DON'T MISS

Ray Appleton Set to Resume His KMJ Show. E Curtis Johnson Retires

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Communications Boss on Leave After AI-Generated FTA Dossier Debacle

UP NEXT

California’s War Over Charter Schools Rages On in Court

UP NEXT

Why Did the California Senate Shunt a Cost-Cutting Housing Bill?

UP NEXT

Fresno’s Crime Beat Didn’t Prepare Me for What I Saw on a Ride Along

UP NEXT

The MAGA Revolution Threatens America’s Most Innovative Place

UP NEXT

California’s High Living Costs and Rampant Poverty Sharpen Its Economic Divide

UP NEXT

Three Well-Tested Ways to Undermine an Autocrat

UP NEXT

Test Your Memorial Day Knowledge With This Quiz

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom’s Off-the-Mark Budget Numbers Undermine His Credibility Again

UP NEXT

The Trump-Supporting Christians Accusing Jews of Antisemitism

UP NEXT

Congress Debates Two Issues With Big CA Implications: EVs, Taxes

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

43 minutes ago

Oreo Maker Mondelez Sues Aldi, Alleging Grocery Chain Copies Its Packaging to Confuse Customers

51 minutes ago

FAA Demands an Accident Investigation Into SpaceX’s Latest Out-of-Control Starship Flight

55 minutes ago

In Marseille, a Shadow Becomes Art in Banksy’s Latest Street Mural

1 hour ago

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

1 hour ago

Ray Appleton Set to Resume His KMJ Show. E Curtis Johnson Retires

1 hour ago

Fresno Unified Communications Boss on Leave After AI-Generated FTA Dossier Debacle

2 hours ago

Visalia Teen Takes Second Place in Dramatic Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals

2 hours ago

Newsom Tussles With Local Officials Over Homelessness

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Two Women Suspected in Targeted Shootings

3 hours ago

California School Awards Dinner at Disneyland Comes With Hefty Price Tag

California schools that have significantly improved student achievement will be honored in a ceremony hosted by the California Department of...

16 minutes ago

16 minutes ago

California School Awards Dinner at Disneyland Comes With Hefty Price Tag

22 minutes ago

Fresno Police Release Video of Officer-Involved Shooting

24 minutes ago

Hamas Says It Is Still Reviewing a US Proposal for a Gaza Ceasefire

43 minutes ago

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

51 minutes ago

Oreo Maker Mondelez Sues Aldi, Alleging Grocery Chain Copies Its Packaging to Confuse Customers

55 minutes ago

FAA Demands an Accident Investigation Into SpaceX’s Latest Out-of-Control Starship Flight

1 hour ago

In Marseille, a Shadow Becomes Art in Banksy’s Latest Street Mural

1 hour ago

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend