We're Rich. We're Not Rich

We’re rich!

We’re not rich.

The schools I mean.

The voters passed Proposition 30. That funneled money to California schools and greatly enhanced Governor Brown’s political influence.

This paved the way for the Governor to achieve something that most sensible people said was impossible. He asked the legislature to trash the way schools were funded in this state and create a brand new system that would make Robin Hood proud.

Formerly the legislature wrote provisions in most spending bills that laid out exactly how the cash should be spent. Now the local school board is going to have the final say over these financial decisions.

When you contrive an entirely new political system you, of course, set yourself up for a thousand problems. Which is where we are now. The legislature acceded to the Governor’s wishes and passed something called LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula).

LCFF gives more money to school districts with students deemed especially needy:  poor kids, students learning English (EL’s), and foster youth.

If a school district has more than 55% of these high need children then they get extra money beginning next year. (No one has calculated exactly how many of these students San Leandro has but it is almost certainly more than 55%, probably between 65 and 70 percent.)

The problem is that no one has tried this LCFF thing before. There are a thousand unanswered questions. The lawyers are going to have a field day.

Who decides whether the money is being spent wisely? What happens if a district is judged to have spent the money in the wrong way(s)?  What does it mean to spend money for the benefit of a select group of students?

And most importantly, how much money will there be?

The money will come in two chunks:  first, a base grant, which can be spent any way the district desires. (Remember the Governor named this a local control funding formula. He wanted to free up school district from the cumbersome paperwork that went into justifying how money should be spent.)

            San Leandro will get a bigger base amount than in recent years. But the increase isn’t as much as you might think.  In past years the state sent “categorical” money that could only be used for certain specific purposes. That categorical money no longer exists. 

            Then there is that “supplemental” money we will get because we have so many needy kids.

            But that money has strings attached. It can only be spent to assist foster youth, English language learners, and low-income children.

            The state seemed to suggest that this money shouldn’t be spent on teacher salaries, for instance.

            California has an odd arrangement whereby each local school district must finalize a budget in June, just before the legislature decides on the state budget.

            This year district knew they were about to get some additional money. Teachers had been without raises for several years.

            The result has been a rash of salary boosts for Bay Area teachers.

The San Leandro Teachers Association announced that the district had agreed to give teachers a three percent raise.

            All this is happening at a time when no one knows exactly how much money districts will receive. And no one has a clear understanding of what rules will govern the spending of this money.

            The legislature is supposed to clear up some of this confusion this summer. But some of this will have to be worked out district by district over the next few years as the education establishment tries to make Jerry Brown’s idealistic notions into enduring policy.

            It isn’t going to be pretty.