LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, Calif. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today joined with education and business leaders and elected officials at Humphreys Avenue Elementary School in East Los Angeles to call for action on his plan to direct additional resources to the state’s neediest students and restore local control over how money is spent in schools. The Governor’s plan, also known as the “Local Control Funding Formula,” increases flexibility and accountability at the local level by restoring local education agencies’ control over money previously earmarked for state-mandated programs.
The plan also strategically directs additional money above base funding to children with the greatest need—low-income students, English learners and foster youth.
“We’re here because we want to see California prosper and we prosper by how we treat and invest in our kids,” said Governor Brown. “That’s why I’m asking the Legislature to pass this formula, untie the hands of the superintendents and the teachers and give some extra money where it’s needed.”
Under the plan, 80 cents of each state education dollar will be spent on base grants for all students, 16 cents on a supplemental grant for students from low-income families, English learners and foster youth and 4 cents on concentration grants for school districts with high numbers of these targeted students.
The Governor today toured Humphreys Avenue Elementary School in East Los Angeles. Humphreys, a preschool-5th grade school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, has over 800 enrolled students. In total, 73 percent of Humphreys’ students are English-learners, children in poverty or both.
“For us to succeed, all must succeed,” said former Senator Gil Cedillo. “We must create—structurally—the circumstances and conditions for young men and women to be successful even if they’re poor, even if they don’t speak English, even if they come from neighborhoods like this where my wife attended elementary school.”
“With the Governor’s Local Control Funding Formula, students with the greatest need would receive the greatest support,” said John Deasy, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. “Now is our chance to make progress towards the promise of equal opportunity, which is why I fully support the Governor’s proposal.”
“Humphreys is honored by the Governor’s visit,” said Ricardo Tapanes, Principal of Humphreys Avenue Elementary School. “We are appreciative of the Governor’s ongoing dedication to fund our schools and admire his continuous efforts to empower our youth.”
The Governor has called for changes to how the state funds schools for more than a year and has met with education experts, educators, the Legislature and other stakeholders from throughout California. This year’s proposal, introduced with the 2013-14 Budget, builds on what was introduced in January 2012.
Governor Brown was joined today by former Senator Cedillo, Superintendent Deasy, Warren Fletcher, President of the United Teachers of Los Angeles, Principal Tapanes, Elise Buik, President and CEO of United Way Greater Los Angeles, Gary Toebben, President of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Art Delgado, Superintendent of the Los Angeles County Office of Education and David Tokofsky of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles.
The Governor’s plan is also supported by a diverse coalition of education, civil rights and business organizations, including Children Now, the Latino Community Foundation, the Asian Business Association and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
For an overview of the Governor’s plan, click here: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2013-14/pdf/Revised/BudgetSummary/Kthru12Education.pdf (PDF).
