Understanding schoolfunding and how it impactsyour childCalifornia’s school funding law, the Local Control Funding

Formula (LCFF), is the way schools focus on student success.

The LCFF requires all school districts to involve parents inplanning, decision-making, developing and reviewing LocalControl and Accountability Plans (LCAPs). It also:

l Requires school districts to focus on eight key areas that helpall students succeed.

l Provides extra funding for students with greater challenges. l Gives school districts more flexibility in spending money to

improve local schools.

Now is the time to speak up for your child’s education.

Your voice matterseverychild.onevoice.

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Basic ServicesProviding all students with access to fullycredentialed teachers in their subjectareas, as well as instructional materialsthat align with state standards and safe,properly maintained school facilities.

Implementation of State StandardsEnsuring school programs and servicesenable all students, including Englishlearners, to access California’s academiccontent and performance standards,including California’s State Standards for English language arts and math, NextGeneration Science Standards and EnglishLanguage Development Standards.

Student AchievementImproving achievement and outcomesfor all students as measured in multipleways such as test scores, Englishproficiency and college- and career-preparedness.

Course Access Ensuring all students have access to abroad course of study in all required subjectareas including math, social science,science, visual and performing arts, health,physical education, career and technicaleducation and others, that prepares themfor college and careers, regardless of whatschool they attend or where they live.

Other Student OutcomesMeasuring other important indicators ofstudent performance in all required areasof study.

CONDITIONS OF LEARNING

PUPIL OUTCOMES

As a critical component of the LCFF law, every school district must engageparents and the community to create a

Local Control and Accountability Plan(LCAP). The LCAP is intended to be acomprehensive planning tool.

Each plan must describe:

l District-wide and school-wide goals, as well as specific actions to be taken to achieve the goals for all students,including specific subgroups of students, in each of the eight statepriority areas, plus any locallyidentified priority areas.

l Expected progress toward meeting thegoals—and as part of a district’srequired annual update of the plan, thedistrict must describe actual progressmade toward meeting the goals anddescribe any adjustments to be made.

l Expenditures required to implementeach of the goals and actions, includinga description of how additional fundsprovided for low-income students,English learners and foster youth will be used to increase or improveservices for these students.

l The process used to involve parents,students, community members, schoolemployees and other stakeholders indeveloping, reviewing and supportingimplementation of the LCAP.

Calendar for Adopting PlansEvery school district must involve parents,students and school employees in thedevelopment and review of its LocalControl and Accountability Plan (LCAP).

As part of the process, every district mustconvene a parent advisory committee anddistrict governing boards must:

l Share a draft of the district’s initialthree-year LCAP at a public boardmeeting and provide opportunities forparents and others to give feedback;

l Respond to any feedback on the plan;l Hold a separate public board meeting

to discuss and adopt the plan.The LCAP and district budget must be adopted and submitted to the County Office of Education prior to July 1.

As a next level of oversight, county officesof education are required to review andapprove each school district’s plan. Schooldistricts must then review progress andupdate their plans annually.

Each school district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) must focus oneight priority areas that help all students succeed. These eight priority areasreflect PTA’s belief that many factors – both inside and outside the classroom –positively impact student success.

The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP): The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP):

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Want to dig deeper?Learn more about how you can provide input into each of these areas bychecking with your school district or visiting www.capta.org/lcff todownload our LCAP Quick Guides.

Student EngagementProviding students with engagingprograms and course work that keepsthem in school, as measured in part by attendance rates, dropout rates andgraduation rates.

School ClimateFactors both inside and outside theclassroom that impact student successsuch as health, safety, studentdiscipline and school connectedness,as measured in part by suspensionand expulsion rates, and surveys ofstudents, teachers and parents.

Parent InvolvementEfforts by the school district and schoolsto seek input from all parents, and toengage parents in decision-making, aswell as promoting parent participation inprograms that meet the needs of theirstudents and all students. (See the PTANational Standards for Family-SchoolPartnerships Assessment Guide forsuggested ways to measure progress.)

ENGAGEMENT

The LCFF changes the waythe state provides money toschool districts. Under thissystem, school districts receivea uniform base grant for everystudent, adjusted by gradelevel. School districts receiveadditional supplementalgrants for students withgreater challenges, defined aslow-income students, Englishlearners and foster youth.Districts receive additionalconcentration grant fundingwhen the numbers of thesestudents enrolled in a districtmake up more than 55 percentof a district’s total enrollment.

Eight priority areas to help all students succeed Eight priority areas to help all students succeedKey questions to askyour school leadersabout the LCAPEach school district’s Local Control andAccountability Plan (LCAP) must bedeveloped with input from parents,students and school employees. The plansmust address the eight state priority areas.Here is a sampling of questions you canask your school principal, districtadministrators and school board members:

l Where can I find my school district’sLCAP?

l How, when and where can I give inputon our LCAP?

l What are our school and schooldistrict doing to engage all parents inthe process of developing andreviewing our LCAP? How canparents, staff and community partnerswork together to support studentsuccess at home and at school?

l What are we doing to ensure that allstudents are motivated to come toschool?

l Do all of our students have textbooksand materials that are up-to-date? Areschool facilities safe? Are weproviding instruction by credentialedteachers in all subject areas?

l What are we doing to prepare and trainour staff on the state standards andassessments?

l How is our school district improvingor increasing services for low-incomestudents, English learners and fosteryouth?

l Do all of our students have access to acomplete education that includes thearts, physical education and otherrequired courses?

l In what ways does school climateimpact student achievement? What isbeing done to improve school climateso all students have a positive schoolexperience?

l In what different ways is our districtmeasuring student achievement?

l How are we increasing our graduationrates and reducing the number of dropouts?

+ = $

How does the Local Control Funding Formula work?

ADJUSTMENTS

Grade Level

Demographics(Low income, English Learner

and/or foster Youth)

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When parents and families take an active role in theirchildren’s education both at home and in thecommunity, children perform better in school

and have a better chance of furthering their education.

Get the facts!l Find out what your school district is doing to

engage you and all parents. l Talk with your children’s teachers and principal.l Share your ideas directly with administrators

and school board members. Attend a meeting orvolunteer to serve on a committee.

l Talk with other parents and connect with your local PTA.

l Learn more about the eight priority areas of the Local Control andAccountability Plan (LCAP) and how they can help your child succeed.

Your voice matters – join the conversation!

Learn more – get engaged!Here are a number of other great resources to learn more and to get engaged:l Your local school district’s website – A good

place to start to learn more about programs andservices at your school. Be sure to also look at theSchool Accountability Report Cards (SARCs) that must be posted for each school.

l California State PTA – Informational videos, fliers and more in multiple languages available to PTAs and all parents at www.capta.org.

l EdSource.org – Offers a guide to the LCFF along with news and information about California K-12 finance system.

More great resources, videos, comprehensive information and tools are available at:l WestEd.orgl cde.ca.govl EdTrust.org/west and FairShare4Kids.orgl Ed100.orgl ChildrenNow.orgl Ed-Data.org

The California St

ate PTA

website is your “

go-to” place

for the latest info

rmation and

resources on the

LCFF and family

engagement! Materials are available

in multiple languages.

• Videos • Prese

ntations • Fliers

• Handouts • Ne

ws • Articles

• Links • And m

ore!