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The California Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) with Parents as Stakeholders
An article by the ACLU of Northern California states that the California Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) with parents as stakeholders is an important part of the Local Control Funding Formula’s (LCFF) new system for providing monies to public schools. The organization says that, along with increasing the amount of funding for schools, LCFF provides resources to high-need students in California, such as dual language learners (DLL), foster and low-income students.
In order to meet the particular requirements, districts must set up parent advisory committees to advise schools on LCFF implementation, the ACLU added. These committees must include parents and caregivers of the children and youth eligible for reduced-price or free meals. In addition, school districts must show their LCAPs to these parent committees for comment and review, the organization said.
Stakeholder and community engagement are extremely important parts of the LCFF, a report by Public Advocates said. The way that LCFF works is that school districts are given flexibility from the state in how they spend the funds. In turn, this flexibility must then include efforts to elicit feedback from the community, which includes students, parents and other stakeholders, it added. In summary, school districts should do as much as possible to include these important stakeholder groups, Public Advocates concluded.
A February 2017 letter from the California Department of Education indicated that towards the end of that month, county treasurers received notification that $35,241,448,095 was available in aid for charter schools and elementary, high and unified school districts. It also included funding for the 2016−17 school year, monies for the 2014-15 second annual recertification, the 2015-16 annual apportionment and adjustments to apportionments in previous years, the letter stated.
Finding educational programs that support ELL students’ first language, such as The Latino Family Literacy Project, can make an enormous difference on their overall academic and language acquisition success.