lcap

The Equity Multiplier -- a new $300 million component to California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) -- is rolling out this  school year. 

Guests Natalie Wheatfall-Lum and Sara Pietrowski join Jason Willis to describe how the Equity Multiplier works, how it came about, and related changes to the state’s accountability system, including what districts must now report in their Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs). 

Along the way, they consider broader policy issues and implications for targeting LCFF funds directly to the school sites whose student populations generate them; helping LEAs better identify and address the needs of all of their students; and the importance of focusing on Black student achievement in particular.

 The Equity Multiplier is one piece of a larger set of changes to California’s accountability system that were enacted as part of the 2023-24 state budget. Eligibility for the additional funding is based on two indicators at school sites: prior year non-stability rates of greater than 25 percent and prior year socioeconomically disadvantaged pupil rates greater than 70 percent. Similar to LCFF, the funds flow from the state to school districts or other local education agencies; however, in a shift from LCFF, Equity Multiplier funds are required to be used at the school sites that generate them. 

About Our Guests

Natalie Wheatfall-Lum, J.D., serves as Director of TK-12 Policy at The Education Trust-West, where since 2014 she has supported the organization’s policy research, analysis, and position development, primarily in K-12 equitable funding and accountability. Before working in education policy, Natalie practiced law, gaining experience in various civil rights issues, including LGBTQ equal rights, fair housing, and immigration.

Sara Pietrowski serves as Policy Director for the California State Board of Education, where she has supported the board’s work of developing an accountability and continuous improvement system for more than six years, including the LCAP, California School Dashboard, and Statewide System of Support. She previously served  in Sacramento City USD where she led development of the district’s data dashboard and coordinated LCAP and improvement science efforts.

About Our Host

Jason Willis serves as  Director of Strategic Resource Planning and Implementation for WestEd, and he is a former chief business official in several California school districts.

Related Resourcess

• Equity Multiplier page, CDE website and 2023-24 First Principal Apportionment of EM funds
• Supporting the African-American Learner: Guide for Transforming Beliefs, Systems and Practices for Black Students 
• Evaluation of California’s Differentiated Assistance, WestEd 
• More To Be Done: California’s LCFF After A Decade, Education Trust-West

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by CASBO and WestEd.  The series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music and sound by Tommy Dunbar.  Alyssa Perez and Hannah Jarmolowski at WestEd provides research and develop the written briefs that go along with each episode.

Get ready! It’s time to get some deeper insights about the role of youth voice in our schools and the community from our expert guest for this episode. We sit down with homeless youth advocate Allyson Baptiste from the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office to discuss the importance of championing student voices in schools and community agency programs.  Like us, she is passionate about lifting up youth voices as an instrument of change, but how can schools and agencies ensure that the voices of all students are heard? What does authentic student voice mean?  What does it sound like?

Allyson provides insight to research around the positive impact of youth voice on student learning and program improvement.  She also shares examples, ideas, and resources to help you inject youth voice into your schools, programs, and equity work. Listen to get all your questions answered!

Find helpful resources mentioned in this podcast episode.

Visit the KCSOS Student Voice Website at kern.org/hip

Additional Resources:

• Fernandez, Maria-Paz, Sy Doan, and Elizabeth D. Steiner, Use, Capture, and Value of Student Voice in Schools: Findings from the 2021 Learn Together Surveys. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA827-4.html
• Mitra, Dana and Steven Jay Gross. “Increasing Student Voice in High School Reform.” Educational Management Administration & Leadership 37 (2009): 522 - 543. 

Connect with Youth Voice Amplified

• Youth Voice Amplified Podcast
• Instagram – @youthvoiceamplifiedpodcast
• Youth Voice Amplified on Facebook 

If you would like to ask us a question, recommend a topic, or suggest a guest, please email us at youthvoiceamplified@gmail.com.

Credits:

Producers: Brian Johnson, Gennessa Fisher, Kim Silva and Allyson Baptiste
Production Partners: Kern Education Television Network, the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office and Liam Silva
Theme Song: “Beatitude” by Mountaineer 

How has California's shift to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) impacted equitable resource allocation? In part two of our focus on LCFF, host Jason Willis and special guests consider this and other vital questions, including:

• How do we best strike a balance between local autonomy, innovation, compliance and accountability?
• How effective are Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) that all districts must adopt with stakeholder input? 
• What role can school boards in particular play in the LCFF-LCAP process? 

Plus, we delve into the practical, hands-on experiences of a veteran chief school business official who has implemented LCFF in her small, rural school district. She shares valuable strategies that school district leaders and business officials can draw on when implementing LCFF.

Guests:

• Heather Naylor has served as CBO in Gridley USD in Butte County for 17 years. The district serves approximately 2,100 students, 75% who qualify in the “unduplicated" student count. Gridley USD was recognized in a 2019 Learning Policy Institute study as a "Positive Outlier" for its promising practices and outcomes in closing opportunity gaps for students of color and all students.
• Christopher Edley, Jr., J.D., serves as interim dean for the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Education, and as professor and dean emeritus at the U.C. Berkeley School of Law. 
• Maria Echaveste, J.D., serves as president and CEO of The Opportunity Institute. She previously served as White House deputy chief of staff.
• Mike Kirst is a former State Board of Education President and current Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. He was the chief architect of the LCFF under Gov. Jerry Brown.
• Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez serves as a school board member in Azusa USD, and as Deputy Director for Californians Together, a statewide advocacy group. She is immediate past president of the California School Boards Association.

More resources

• "What's Next for the LCFF," report by PACE, Nov., 2021
• "Targeted K-12 Funding and Student Outcomes," PPIC Policy Brief, Oct., 2021
• "Why the LCFF? California's Landmark Move to an Equity-Based School Funding Formula," from the "Adventures in Ed Funding" podcast, March, 2020. 

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO) and WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for additional support. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music and editing by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd develops our companion written briefs.
Follow us at @Budget4EdEquity.

Have you had a chance yet to check out the Budgeting for Educational Equity podcast? We're sharing the latest episode here because it delves into a subject near and dear to anyone interested in California education funding: the Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, which was adopted in 2013.

The LCFF is regarded by many as the most significant resource equity reform the state has ever enacted. It definitely ushered in a new era of school funding for school districts. But how has the LCFF actually worked? Has it accomplished what it was intended to? And how are some of the inherent tensions between local and state decision making authority, oversight and accountability being navigated?

In this episode, series host Jason Willis and special guests explore key elements of the LCFF:

Mike Kirst, former State Board of Education President, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, and chief architect of the LCFF under Gov. Jerry Brown, offers a remarkable glimpse into the development of the formula, including some of the difficult choices, innovative thinking and pragmatic considerations that went into creating the new law.

Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez provides a review of the law, based on her unique perspective both as a locally elected school board member in Azusa USD and as Deputy Director for Californians Together, a statewide group that advocates on behalf of English Learner students.  Xilonin also serves as immediate past president of the California School Boards Association.

And Richard De Nava, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services at San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, shares insights about the policy and practical implications of the LCFF. Richard also serves as president of CASBO.

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More resources

• NEW: "What's Next for the LCFF," report by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), November 2021
• NEW: "Targeted K-12 Funding and Student Outcomes," PPIC Policy Brief, October 2021
• "Why the LCFF? California's Landmark Move to an Equity-Based School Funding Formula," from the Adventures in Ed Funding CASBO podcast, March, 2020. 
• "Here's How LCFF Works," Ed100.org lesson on the Local Control Funding Formula.

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Subscribe to the Budgeting for Educational Equity series at:

• Apple podcasts 
• Spotify
• Google
• CASBO podcasts
• WestEd podcasts
• More...

Follow the Budgeting for Ed Equity podcast on Twitter at: @budget4edequity

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO) and WestEd. The series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music, mixing and sound by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd  develops the written briefs that go along with each episode.

The Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, ushered in a new era of school funding in California when it was adopted in 2013. It's regarded by many as the most significant resource equity reform the state has ever enacted. But how has the LCFF worked? Has it accomplished what it was intended to? And how are inherent tensions between local and state decision making authority, oversight and accountability being navigated?

In this episode, host Jason Willis and special guests explore key elements of the LCFF.

Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez provides a review of the law, based on her unique perspective both as a locally elected school board member in Azusa USD and as Deputy Director for Californians Together, a statewide group that advocates on behalf of English Learner students.  Xilonin also serves as immediate past president of the California School Boards Association.

Richard De Nava, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services at San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, shares insights about the policy and practical implications of the LCFF. Richard also serves as president of CASBO.

And Mike Kirst, former State Board of Education President, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, and chief architect of the LCFF under Gov. Jerry Brown, offers a remarkable glimpse into the development of the formula, including some of the difficult choices, innovative thinking and pragmatic considerations that went into creating the new law.

Additional Background

As part of the LCFF, all Local Education Agencies receive a per-student funding allocation known as a base grant, plus targeted additional funding depending on the needs of certain students (known as supplemental and concentration grants). Districts must also engage stakeholders before adopting a Local Control and Accountability Plan. While the new law has shifted more discretion for budgetary decisions to local school districts, it has also brought to the surface inherent tensions between local and state decision making authority. 

More resources

• NEW: "What's Next for the LCFF," report by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), November 2021
• NEW: "Targeted K-12 Funding and Student Outcomes," PPIC Policy Brief, October 2021
• "Why the LCFF? California's Landmark Move to an Equity-Based School Funding Formula," from the Adventures in Ed Funding CASBO podcast, March, 2020. 
• "The LCFF After Four Years: What Do We Know?" brief summarizing four Getting Down To Facts II technical reports related to LCFF implementation.

About our series

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by the California Association of School Business Official (CASBO) and WestEd. We are grateful to the Sobrato Family Foundation for additional support. Our series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music, mixing and sound by Tommy Dunbar. John Diaz at WestEd  develops the written briefs that go along with each episode.

Follow us on Twitter at @Budget4EdEquity to keep up to date on the series and share your thoughts, ideas, questions and feedback. 

In this episode of “Ed Influencers,” ISTE Chief Learning Officer Joseph South sits down with Frances Gipson, Ph.D., chief academic officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District, to discuss her career path in the nation’s second largest school district, student-centered learning, digital equity and technology as a learning accelerator. Along the way, she explains how LAUSD adopted and operationalized the ISTE Standards, and provided professional development to support their implementation. Gipson also shares how the district remains focused on leading with learning as it transforms its educational program with technology.