Find out about California's new way of funding schools at upcoming meetings

Leadership from the San Diego Unified School District will be visiting Cluster Committee and other parent meetings over the next several months to discuss California's new school budget plan, called the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).

LCFF shifts the focus from funding dozens of state-mandated programs to funding based on local district control and student needs,” said Superintendent Cindy Marten, “with extra dollars allotted to low-income children, foster youth and English learners.”

According to the state Department of Education, each district creates a three-year plan not only for funding but for accountability; under the old budget system, district plans covered only funding. The California Department of Education is expected to issue guidelines in January for creation of the Local Control Accountability Plan, which ties student achievement to program funding.

“The funding formula and the local accountability plan in many ways bring the rest of the state into compliance with our district's Vision 2020,” said Dr. John Lee Evans, Board of Education President. “As we have outlined in the Vision 2020, we're making staff more accountable to ensure annual improvement in the education of our students.”

According to Vision 2020:

• Staff will develop both quantitative and qualitative measures to measure the broad range of achievement.
• Such measures will incorporate an individual growth model.
• Such measures will facilitate the improvement of instruction.
• Such measures will be readily available and understandable by students, parents and community members.
• Student achievement will also include measures of personal development and citizenship development.

The community meetings will give San Diego Unified residents the opportunity to hear about the new funding formula, its impact on the district budget and the expectations for the budget development process. If you want to learn more about the Local Control Funding Formula, visit the website at www.sandi.net/lcff or email lcff@sandi.net.

Find Out More

• Schedule of upcoming meetings on the new funding formula and the Local Control Accountability Plan»
• California Department of Education information on Local Control Funding Formula»
• Find out about your local cluster»