Toward a Grand Vision: Early Implementation of California's Local Control Funding Formula

This study looks at early implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). With support from the Stuart Foundation and the Heising-Simons Foundation, a team of 12 researchers, led by Julia Koppich and Dan Humphrey, took a close look at 10 diverse districts across California. They interviewed a broad range of stakeholders, including leaders and staff from school districts, county offices of education, school board members, union representatives and parents, and state policymakers. In addition, they reviewed over 40 Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) and related documents.

The 12-page research brief, Toward a Grand Vision: Early Implementation of California's Local Control Funding Formula , offers a first look at how districts and county offices of education have addressed this new and unprecedented shift in budgeting. There is positive news -- researchers found enthusiasm for the flexibility and local control to address local community needs, and some districts, despite the short time-frame for implementation, changed their budgeting practices. Challenges included the format of the LCAP and its relationship with other requirements, identifying metrics to measure progress, and how to engage the public in goal setting and budgets. The report also notes that county offices of education and small districts were seriously stretched and need more resources to fulfill their responsibilities. Based on their research, the authors make some suggestions for next steps. We hope you find the report useful as California continues down this exciting path to a new financing system to better serve students.