News Update

Ed Trust-West calls for more state funding to help Black students

Black students need more from Gov. Newsom’s latest proposal to close California’s achievement gap, said Ed Trust–West, a nonprofit that advocates for justice in education.

The group’s analysis praised the governor’s budget proposal that will send an additional $300 million annually to the state’s poorest schools and revamp the state’s accountability system to target racial disparities statewide. But Ed Trust–West said that more could be done to target Black student success.

“We’re encouraged that the governor’s proposal sends more money to schools with high concentrations of poverty and uplifts accountability changes that focus on closing equity gaps for marginalized students,” according to the Ed Trust–West report. “However, much more can be done to center Black students in these solutions.”

The Ed Trust–West analysis estimates that about 6% of all California students and 7% of Black students in the state attend the schools that would receive $300 million set aside under the proposal the governor calls an “equity multiplier.” It found that it would increase funding for students in these schools by an estimated $887 per student.

This mirrors an EdSource analysis showing that the equity multiplier schools would serve only 6.6% of California’s Black students. The Newsom administration and the Black Legislative Caucus said that equity multiplier schools would reach nearly 10% of the state’s 299,000 Black students.

The report outlined four recommendations for targeting Black student success in California through the state’s formula for funding schools, the process for holding them accountable and the support schools receive from the state to improve.

It urges a more targeted approach to improvement and accountability, given that the last decade under the Local Control Funding Formula has witnessed only “marginal” increases for Black students, followed by a steep decline in the wake of the pandemic.

“Year after year, students, parents, community members, and advocates have demanded that California address Black students’ needs. Now is the time to finally take bold and effective action,” said the report.

As a group, Black students trail every other race or ethnicity on measures of academic achievement, including performance on state tests and graduation rates. However, unlike other groups, such as English learners and low-income students, school districts do not receive any extra funding to address Black students’ specific needs. Ed Trust–West recommends the Local Control Funding Formula be adjusted to directly address California’s yawning and persistent racial achievement gap. The governor’s proposal directs school districts to use the yearly state funding to help all student groups improve academic achievement.

A bill that would directly fund the lowest-performing racial or ethnic group, AB 2774, was written by Assemblymember Akilah Weber, D-La Mesa, and then pulled during the last session. The governor’s advisers warned it could go up against Proposition 209, California’s ban on affirmative action.

Ed Trust–West said it recognizes the limitations proposed by the measure and other laws such as Proposition 209. The nonprofit added:  “We also acknowledge that legality in the United States has often masked what is right or just.”

Ed Trust–West also made a series of recommendations to improve the accountability and support systems for school districts as they create and implement their Local Control Accountability Plans. This includes requiring Black students and families to be at the table during the LCAP process, and also requiring that districts’ goals and actions targeting Black students be “grounded in research.”

Ed Trust–West recommends that the  California Department of Education and the California Collaborative for Education Excellence become a hub of state expertise for supporting Black students, such as those outlined by the Los Angeles County Office of Education.