Projections are NOT necessarily Reality

Recently, the Governor and his staff have proposed a new school funding model with is generally referred to as LCF or LCFF.  This past week he released projections on how that would affect individual school districts across – which is different in different school districts.  We are supportive of the Governor and his efforts to reform the California funding system for public schools.

	Free/Reduced Eligibility	English Learners	2011-12 funding	2019-20 funding
RUSD	63.5%	16.3%	$6,165	$10,637

However, it should be pointed out that these are all projections – and it sometimes can be difficult to move from the projections to REALITY.  So we need to exercise some degree of caution, until we see the projections move closer to implementation.

As an example:

• It is a projection that this Legislation (LCFF) and budget passes in its current form – which is not a sure thing.
• It is a projection regarding the number of dollars that are to be allocated to school districts, as released last week – which is based on a number of assumptions
• It is a projection of the number of students designated as English Learner and Free & Reduced eligible individually versus how many are actually duplicated through these two groups (and they can only be counted once) – obviously the outcome of this projection dramatically impacts the funding for each school district
• It is a projection of what the future looks like 7 years from now including BOTH funding and demographic configuration (which could change)
• It is a projection of impact on students in the classroom – which is based on more theory than actual best practice.

Obviously, there is LOTS of work to be done on all of this.  We believe it is THE best option and funding model that has been presented.  We are excited and optimistic about the Governor’s plan, but we aren't quite there yet.