This week Louis Freedberg and John Fensterwald discuss a new USC Rossier/PACE poll that shows voters are far more positive than negative about the state’s new California School Dashboard that measures student performance on a range of indicators. (read story)
They’re joined by Sean Tanner, a senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) to discuss the findings of a study he co-authored with Rucker Johnson, an economist at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. The study, Money and Freedom: The Impact of California’s School Finance Reform, found that extra funds received by school districts through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) resulted in higher graduation rates and improving math and reading outcomes. (read story)
Louis and John also talk about Gov. Brown’s response to criticisms that there is not enough transparency in how school districts spend. Brown is proposing that districts be required to include in their budgets a clear a summary of the funds they plan to spend on high-needs students in their annual budgets, linked to what they way they say they will be doing in their Local Control and Accountability Plans. But the proposal has raised concerns that the document Brown has in mind is unnecessary, and will only be another bureaucratic burden for districts. (read story)
And John and Louis discuss a new PPIC poll that indicates that Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are running neck and neck at this stage of the gubernatorial campaign.
Produced by Sarah Tan