Immediate Release: May 23, 2017
Contact: Gerald Cantu, Ph.D.
Civic Engagement Director
gcantu@doloreshuerta.org
O: 661-322-3033 ext. 1209, C: 661-249-0219
Kern Education Justice Collaborative offers LCAP workshops and encourages community to get involved in school budget process
Who: Kern Education Justice Collaborative, Dolores Huerta Foundation and Faith in Kern
What: Press Conference to announce free LCAP involvement training sessions and to encourage community participation in the LCAP Process
Where: Bakersfield High School, Corner of 14th and G Street, Bakersfield, CA (Across the street from BHS Harvey Auditorium)
When: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.
Bakersfield, CA – Kern High School District’s proposed 2017 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) has been released. LCAP plans will soon be released by all local school districts. At its core, the LCAP is designed to ensure that everyone has a voice in determining how funds can best support students. The Kern Education Justice Collaborative is holding a press conference to encourage the community to get involved and to announce a series of free workshops designed to train parents, students, and community members on how to provide valuable input to their respective districts on how to best allocate available resources to meet students’ needs. Parent engagement makes a significant difference in a child’s relationship to school and success. Studies show that students exhibit stronger attendance, pass more classes, earn more credits, are more likely to graduate on time, and less likely to drop-out. Students earn higher grade point averages and score higher on standardized tests. Students also improve behavior both at home and school.
In 2013, the state dramatically changed the way it funds school districts across the state by adopting the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). In addition to reversing cuts made during the Great Recession, the new law directs added resources to higher-need school districts, by giving them Supplemental and Concentration grant funding – equity-based dollars – tied to the number of low income, foster youth, and English learner students in each district. LCFF also gives districts more flexibility than they’d had in the past by replacing a host of “categorical” funding programs, which had strict requirements on what state dollars must be spent on, with more flexible grants that can be allocated to meet local needs.
To ensure that districts used their new flexibility wisely, the state also required them to meet new transparency and accountability standards. In particular, districts are required to publish a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) each year, which lays out their priorities and lists the specific actions and funding the district will leverage to accomplish those goals. Districts are required to consult with the community, including students, parents, and teachers, while developing their LCAPs.
The result of these changes is that districts are seeing increased investment from the state, and are also being called upon to more effectively match resources to student need. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is the formula for determining the level of state funding provided to districts across California. The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) is LCFF’s vehicle for transparency and engagement. It is the way that school districts are expected to share and collect data, needs, actions and anticipated outcomes that guide the use of available funding. The intent of the legislation behind the LCFF is “equity” meaning the LCAP budget should reflect an increase and improved services for the neediest students: low Income, English Language Learners and Foster Youth.
*In the proposed LCAP, more than half of KHSD’s equity-based dollars will go to district-wide expenditures (55%), rather than being targeted to specific. Of the $48 million KHSD receives for high-need students, only $15.7 million, or 32%, is allocated by school site. While many of the District’s campuses are likely to need the services and programs set out in the “All Sites” category, it nonetheless appears that KHSD can be more aggressive about ensuring that more dollars go to the specific schools with the highest need.
*Only 32% of Kern High graduates meet the A-G eligibility requirements with a C or better, allowing them to enter a four-year public university – this is more than 10 points below the state average of 43%. This overall level reflects considerable disparities: white students fare the best at 38%, Latina/o students at 29%, and Black students at 25%. The socioeconomically disadvantaged are only passing A-G courses at 21%. Only 1.5% of English language learners are UC/CSU eligible.
*Kern High School District has high suspension rates with 5,471 out-of-school suspensions, with 22% of suspensions for willful defiance, plus 2,760 in-school suspensions with 90% being attributed to willful defiance. African Americans represent 16% of all school suspensions even though they represent only 5.9% of the population. For health indicators, only 20% of students are scoring in the healthy fitness zone for 9th graders for body composition and 11.7% for aerobic capacity. School disciplinary policies and parent engagement are two significant factors that not only impact a student’s educational outcome but also their health.
Harsh disciplinary school practices, such as suspension and expulsion, have a negative correlation with student health. They push students away from having a strong level of connectedness with school, which is an important protective factor for preventing tobacco, alcohol and other drug use. Increased parent engagement is another protective factor to prevent these behaviors, and improve positive academic achievement. It is crucial that the community get involved in the LCAP process to address these disparities and make recommendations to help Kern High School District take advantage of the changes created by LCFF to improve the health and educational outcomes of its.
*Information derived from the Advancement Project Policy Brief 2017. The full text is available upon request.
Trainings are as follows:
BAKERSFIELD WORKSHOPS – KHSD/BCSD
Session 1: General LCAP Overview
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
5:30 PM – 8 PM
Access Building
1330 Truxtun Ave.
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Session 2: LCAP Analysis and Recommendations
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
5:30 PM – 8 PM
506 E. Brundage Lane
Bakersfield, CA 93307
SOUTH KERN /GREENFIELD WORKSHOPS – AUSD/LESD/VSD/GUSD
Session 1: General LCAP Overview
Thursday, May 18, 2017
5:30 PM – 8 PM
Session 2: LCAP Analysis
Monday, May 22, 2017
5:30 PM – 8 PM
Session 3: Identify LCAP Priorities
Thursday, May 25, 2017
5:30 PM – 8 PM
Session 4: Determine LCAP Recommendations
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
5:30 PM – 8 PM
141 N. A. St., Suite E
Arvin, CA 93203
Dinner and childcare will be provided at all trainings.
Training based on A Parent’s Guide to School Funding: Learning the Fundamentals About LCFF and LCAP, produced by Families in Schools: Building Partnerships for Student Success. Full text available upon request.
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