Resources » Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)

Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)

PRIORITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The state has identified the following eight priority areas:

  • Student Achievement
  • Student Engagement
  • Other Student Outcomes
  • School Climate
  • Parent Involvement
  • Implementation of Academic Standards, including a focus on English Learners
  • Course Access
  • Basic Services, including facilities, qualified teachers, and instructional materials

Examples of measures that could be included in the LCAP to assess progress in these areas are: graduation rates, drop-out rates, performance on state and local assessments, English learner reclassification rate, percentage of students passing AP and IB exams, SAT participation and scores, attendance rates, suspension and expulsion rates, levels of parent participation and satisfaction, reports on facilities and availability of instructional materials, rate of teacher mis-assignment, level of implementation of CCSS, and student access and enrollment in college prep classes.

LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA

Have you heard? There's a new school funding law called the LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula). It's a new way for schools to focus on student success.

LCFF requires school districts to involve parents in planning and decision making.

California's 2013-14 budget replaced most of California's complex formulas for funding public education with a weighted student formula. When fully implemented (as projected over the next 8 years), the new formula will allocate educational funds based on specific student needs and will allow maximum flexibility at the local level. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) provides supplemental funding and concentration grants for each pupil classified as at least one of the following categories: English learner, foster youth or eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Along with the local control comes a new accountability structure. The LCFF requires each district to develop a Local Accountability and Control Plan (LCAP) in consultation with the community.

WHAT IS A LOCAL CONTROL ACCOUNTABILITY PLAN (LCAP)

As part of LCFF, school districts, county offices of education and charter schools are required to develop, adopt, and annually update a three-year Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). For 2014-15 the plan must be adopted by June 30, 2014. The LCAP is required to identify annual goals, specific actions geared toward implementing those goals, and must measure progress for student subgroups across multiple performance indicators based on eight priorities set by the State. The priorities must be aligned to the district’s spending plan. The LCAP must be approved before the annual district budget can be adopted. Once the budget and LCAP are adopted at the local level the plan will be reviewed by the County superintendent and ensure alignment of projected spending toward goals and services.

A requirement in the development of the LCAP is to solicit input from parents, teachers, students, local bargaining units, staff and other community members in regard to what they think which goals would be most effective for implementation in our schools toward reaching state priorities.

LCAP PLAN

The plan, called the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), must be adopted by each district at a board meeting after consultation with teachers, principals, school personnel, pupils, bargaining units, parents and with the advice of district-level parent advisory committees. The LCAP must include a description of:

  1. The district’s annual goals, for all students and for each subgroup, for each of the state priority areas and any additional local priorities areas; and
  2. The specific actions and strategies the district will use to achieve those goals.