California schools chief wants your input to improve how schools report where money's being

A new online survey is seeking input from parents, teachers and other interested parties about the template schools are supposed to be using to report how they're spending new money under the Local Control Funding formula.

The plans are known as Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), and they are key tools for setting goals to improve student achievement and to match spending decisions with those goals.

The survey will let anyone who is interested – students, parents, educators, community members and others – help make the plans easier to use, understand, and review.

The survey will be open until 5 p.m. March 25. The California State Board of Education will be considering input from the public about how to improve the LCAP template this fall.

“The LCAPs should allow everyone to find out how well their local school district is doing,” California Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson said in a statement. “The system is new and still evolving. Please use the survey and we can work together to make the system better.”

The Legislature and Governor Jerry Brown created the new school funding system three years ago, and it shifts decision making to local districts and schools and gives greater resources for programs and services for students with the greatest needs. The new legislation also laid out the framework for LCAPs. State law requires school districts to involve teachers, parents, and community members in developing their LCAPs.

You can find the survey here. The information from the survey will help guide the redesign the template.

Nifty web page tells you how much districts will get with new funding formula

Fresh off the press: the folks at EdSource have just published a nifty page that explains everything you need to know about the Local Control Funding Formula. The LCFF is designed to give more money to schools that educate low income, English learners, and children in foster care.

(As an aside, I know editors hate acronyms, and I don't really like them either. But school wonks live by them, so I feel an obligation to repeat them so at least the common folk know what's being talked about. I feel for you, parents out there)

This page also has a tool for you to find out how much your district will get under the LFCC. What's best, you can put districts side by side so you can compare them.

Since we locals like to compare MPUSD with Carmel, I decided to try them first.

MPUSD is supposed to be getting $7,028 this year per student. Under LCFF, funding is supposed to increase every year, until the new formula is completed. By then, MPUSD will get $11,412. MPUSD's percent population of needy children is 77 percent.

Carmel's needy population is pegged at 17 percent, and is receiving $17,196 per child under current rules. Since its needy population is not significant, the funding will not change.

Check it out and tell me what you think.