Local Control Funding Can Transform Schools

With the support of the Schwab Foundation, ERS is working with the California Collaborative on District Reform and other California organizations to help districts transform how they use resources to meet student needs. Under the new Local Control Funding Formula, the state is reinvesting in public education after years of cuts, and providing districts with much greater autonomy over their budgets. In exchange, districts must create accountability plans (called LCAPs) which detail how they will use their funds—specifically focusing on high-needs students. ERS has adapted several of our most popular online tools to the specific California context, and we will share those widely to help district leaders, principals, and communities re-imagine and redesign their school districts to seize this moment of opportunity.

In this blog post from the On California blog on Education Week, ERS Executive Director Karen Hawley Miles provides concrete examples of how school systems can transform their use of resources under LCFF. We hope other education leaders find these ideas inspiring as well.