There is a looming crisis in public education if the ongoing budget cuts continue as they are with little input from educators, parents and other community members. Critics who support the budget cutbacks state this is a necessity due to the national economic recession, however, such reasoning has been shut down by educators who are calling upon leaders to make informed decisions that will strengthen the public education system rather than dismantle the progress that has been made. Schools are funded based on what the legislature provides and most of the time this is not adequate ( Augenblick, Myers & Anderson, 1997). It is time that the lawmakers determine the real costs required to provide each child with a clean and safe school with proper equipment, qualified teachers so as to have top of the line schools
A TED talk given by Bill Gates shows the effects of state budgets in damaging schools in the United States where cuts in the education funds are being directed to medical funds and other sectors. When the lawmakers and policy makers do not solve the crisis in health care and instead takes from a core department like education, it results in de-investment of the future generation and the present state of education. Budget cuts in education will translate to increased class sizes; laid off teachers, increased in tuition at universities and community colleges hence a large number of students will not be in a position to further their education beyond the high school level ( Gates, 2011).
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One way of controlling the budget cuts and spending by schools in the state of California is the adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula ( Gates, 2011). During the 2013-14 budget act, the state of California introduced this financial system to bring about change in the way the state funded the local education agencies. Over the last 50 years or so, California relied on a system of general purpose funding in which limits were placed on nearly 50 state programs in existence at the time ( Kirst, 2006). Establishment of the LCFF not only separates the funding for instructional programs and oversight activities, it also adopts a policy that requires accountability, transparency, and performance ( California States Board of Education’s LCFF Channel, 2014).
The LCFF will give more power to school districts that get to have to say on how the money allocated to them is spent and in this way, the school authorities are held accountable should they not post the required results. Each school district in the state of California is to receive a certain amount of money based on the student attendance and the percentage of high-needs students. These are placed in categories of low-income children, English learners, homeless and foster children. The funding will be allocated to the school district and not an individual school and will have a base grant that will be adjusted each year to reflect the cost of living ( Bersin, Kirst, & Liu, 2008).
The LCFF requires that the school districts provide a detailed account of how they have to spend the money under a control and accountability act. The money should reflect student progress, district improvement, raised student achievement and well-rounded students who are qualified to enroll in institutions of higher education ( California States Board of Education’s LCFF Channel, 2014).
Districts that do not show any improvement will have the intervention of the state board and an assessment is conducted to determine the strengths and weaknesses and assign expert help should it be necessary ( Bache, 2003). The improvement in performance of school district are not solely in the hands of the educators but the entire community must work together, parents, guardians, school personnel, and other community leaders need to be provided with the opportunity to give their input as to the spending of the allocated funds. The current state budget cuts are disastrous to the state of education and by extension the economic welfare of the country ( California States Board of Education’s LCFF Channel, 2014).
References
Augenblick, J. G., Myers, J. L., & Anderson, A. B. (1997). Equity and adequacy in school funding. The Future of Children , 63-78.
Bache, I. (2003). Governing through governance: Education policy control under new labor. Political Studies , 51 (2), 300-314.
Bersin, A., Kirst, M. W., & Liu, G. (2008). Getting beyond the facts: reforming California school finance . University of California.
California States Board of Education’s LCFF Channel. (Producer). (2014, January 29). What is the Local Control Funding Formula 1 (Episode 1). Lodiusd Technology . Video Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgIPT2R7M6I
Gates, B. (2011, March 4). How state budgets are breaking US schools. TedTalks . Video Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiUKpX09zo4
Kirst, M. W., Goertz, M., & Odden, A. (2006). Evolution of California state school finance with implications from other states . Governor's Committee on Education Excellence.
