Intradistrict Distribution of Resources Under California's Local Control Funding Formula

• In Event: 25.056 - Resources Allocation in Pre-K–16 Education

Abstract

This paper uses document analysis to explore how unified districts in California are using fiscal flexibility to address within-district variability in student needs––examining their approaches to distributing funds to school sites and how their resource allocation strategies have shifted since the early days of California’s finance reform. I explore resource allocation strategies identified in districts’ accountability plans and find that, for the 2017-18 school year, a large majority directed a portion of their supplemental and concentration grant funds directly to school sites, a shift from 2015-16 academic year when districts tended to distribute resources centrally. Districts may have been influenced by legal and political pressures to increase transparency regarding their approaches to serving students targeted by the reform.

Author

• Laura Tobben, University of California - Berkeley