Education Week - December 10, 2014 - 14

goVErNMENT & poLITIcS
Calif.'s K-12 Aid Shift Takes Root
Districts gain funds,
tighten reins on use
By Andrew Ujifusa
San Jose, Calif.
Aiming to fund its schools more efficiently
and effectively, California has
chosen an unusual, lead-from-behind
approach that provides more state
money to districts, but pushes communities
to hold their local schools
accountable for how that aid is used
and for student performance.
How this looks in practice varies
widely, as districts throughout California
put the state's Local Control Funding
Formula and new, locally driven
accountability plans into full effect this
school year.
Supporters say the new system, approved
by state lawmakers last year,
eliminates the state government's often-suffocating
and in many cases ineffective
dominance over K-12 spending.
They also argue it acknowledges and
empowers the diversity in the state's
approximately 1,000 districts and
11,000 public schools.
"It's the first time I've known that
a state is trying to intervene in this
deep way to influence the local budget
process in order to improve education,"
Michael W. Kirst, the president of the
California State Board of Education,
said in an interview here.
But local officials are quick to point
out that, even with the increased
state funding, it will take several
years for state aid just to match what
it was a half-dozen years ago, before
the Great Recession triggered drastic
cuts. It's not clear that many districts
are exploring new approaches to instruction
instead of focusing on rebuilding
prior programs and staff positions.
And some worry that districts
falling short of what they should be
accomplishing, particularly when it
comes to struggling students, won't
be identified often enough or required
to change their approaches.
"It's a lot like turning the Titanic,"
said Heather Marano, a school pTa
president in the 2,200-student Millbrae
district, south of San Francisco. "We
haven't really seen its implications yet."
Using New Resources
The new funding formula, which
began in the 2013-14 school year, increases
the state's per-student allocation
over an eight-year period, until
2020-21. It directs additional funds to
schools with high concentrations of traIn
Latest Budget Dust-Up,
Ed. Programs Minor Factor
By Lauren Camera
As the 113th, lame-duck Congress
prepares to waddle off the stage,
there's one big loose end it must tie
up: a budget-or at least a stopgap
spending bill-to keep government
agencies like the U.S. Department of
Education running.
The current funding measure was
set to expire Dec. 11, and lawmakers
in both chambers spent last week
trying to strike a deal to avert another
government shutdown.
To be sure, they have no shortage
of legislative strategies in the
likely event they aren't able to pass
individual agency spending bills,
including packaging several agency
spending bills into one, known as
an omnibus bill, or simply extending
current spending levels.
But policy debates over immigration,
including Republican resentment
of the Obama administration's
recent executive action that
enables some immigrants to stay in
the United States legally and the
president's recent veto threat to a
package of tax-break extensions,
have complicated the process.
Adding yet another layer of difficulty,
when the 114th Congress
convenes Jan. 6, Republicans will
control both chambers, setting up a
power struggle between the White
House and the newly annointed gop
congressional majority.
ditionally challenged and low-performing
populations, such as low-income
students, English-language learners,
and those in foster care.
In conjunction with the formula, the
state has also required districts to create
three-year local control accountability
plans, or Lcaps. In these plans,
in use for the first time this school
year, districts must show how they
are targeting those disadvantaged
students while also addressing eight
state educational priorities. In the process,
local leaders must demonstrate
that they are engaging and involving
the general public, not just traditional
advocates and interest groups, in fundamentally
new ways.
As part of the shift to the new system,
the state also eliminated the
majority of the categorical programs
it used to fund-and control-various
academic and other services in schools.
When Mechale Murphy, the principal
of Irene B. West Elementary
School in the 62,000-student Elk
Grove Unified district, south of Sacramento,
examined her students'
reading scores on state tests in recent
years, she was troubled that the
results for 3rd graders often lagged
behind those from other grade levels.
She also wanted to update EngPAGE
18 >
Adriana Campos teaches a 3rd grade class at Garfield Elementary
School in Menlo Park, Calif. The school is using money from California's
new education funding system to expand reading-enrichment programs.
BUDGET LINGO
In the meantime, however Congress
decides to approve this next
round of funding, federal education
programs aren't likely to see
big changes to their operating
budgets.
"Yes, there could be some modest
increase in preschool development
grants, Title I, or [the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act]-
literally a few million dollars," said
Joel Packer, the executive director
of the Committee for Education
Funding, a Washington-based group
that advocates increased funding
for education programs.
"On the flip side, there could be
more cuts, but I don't expect huge
increases or huge cuts."
Most federal education programs
are forward-funded, meaning a government
shutdown still wouldn't affect
their operations.
Major Exceptions
Two major exceptions include the
$8.6 billion Head Start program,
which provides preschool services
for low-income families, and the
$1.3 billion Impact Aid program.
Impact Aid funds go to schools located
on federal land, such as Army
bases and Native American reservations,
which are not bolstered
by local taxes because of their
location.
A short-term continuing resolu14
| EDUCATION WEEK | December 10, 2014 | www.edweek.org
In recent years, a gridlocked Congress has resorted to a bevy of legislative techniques to keep the
government funded in lieu of passing specific appropriations bills. That makeshift process comes
with its own set of buzzwords inside the Beltway.
Continuing Resolution:
A stopgap spending bill that continues
funding federal departments, agencies,
and programs at current levels. This
occurs when Congress isn't able to
pass individual appropriations bills
before the start of a new fiscal year.
Omnibus Spending Measure:
One large spending bill that combines
multiple appropriations bills and is
passed as a package with a single
vote. Another way to keep the federal
government funded without passing
appropriations bills, or before a
continuing resolution expires.
Discretionary Spending:
Spending for federal departments,
agencies, and programs, such as the
U.S. Department of Education and its
Title I program for schools with large
populations of low-income students.
The spending is subject to change
each year based on the priorities of the
current Congress.
Mandatory Spending:
Compulsory spending for entitlement
programs, such as TEACH grants for
students planning to become teachers
and the Pell Grant program that
provides tuition assistance for low- and
middle-income college students.
tion could put Impact Aid schools in
a bind, as it did two years ago when
the government operated on a stopgap
funding measure that expired
in March, explained Jocelyn Bissonnette,
the director of government
affairs for the National Association
of Federally Impacted Schools. A
short-term fix would only provide
the Education Department with the
amount of money necessary to run
through a specific date, and therefore,
the department would only be
able to fund Impact Aid schools for
part of the school year.
"So if we get into the second half
of the school year and there isn't a
decision about appropriations, the
Education Department can't get the
money out," said Ms. Bissonnette,
adding that a continuing resolution
often forces districts to borrow
money in the interim.
Competing Scenarios
At press time last week, Congress
still hadn't finalized how it plans to
avert the looming government shutdown.
The proposal gaining the most
Forward-Funded Programs:
Funding that is made available to
various programs before the start
of the fiscal year, typically by July 1.
Most federal education programs are
forward-funded, with the exception
of Impact Aid, which funds schools
located on federal land, such as Indian
reservations, and Head Start, which
provides free preschool for low-income
families.
SOURCE: Education Week
traction as of Dec. 5 was a hybrid
omnibus and continuing resolution
strategy, which quickly garnered the
nickname "cromnibus."
But getting such a package to the
floor would be a challenge.
"Leaving aside all the political
stuff on immigration, this is going
to be a thousand-page bill with trillions
of dollars," said Mr. Packer of
the Committee for Education Funding.
"You never know if one or two
things cause people to say, 'I can't
vote for that.' It's always a very complicated
piece of legislation."
Ramin Talaie for Education Week

http://www.edweek.org

Education Week - December 10, 2014

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