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Finally, 13 years after the Local Control Funding Formula came into being, its shortcomings in accountability have been recognized in a massive study of California’s public school system, titled Getting Down to Facts, issued this month by Stanford University.
It explored many aspects of the system other than Brown’s handiwork, but it leaves no doubt that subsidiarity hasn’t worked well.
“California has many accountability tools and data systems, but they are not well connected to one another or to clear guidance and support” for schools and educators, Susanna Loeb, director of the study, says in her summary.
“Governance structures are fragmented and policies have proliferated over time, often creating disconnected, contradictory, and burdensome guidance to schools,” she wrote. “The system produces information without consistently turning that information into action.”
School districts face a lot of ambiguity about “what constitutes effective practice” and have heavy administrative burdens, she added: “In areas such as math instruction, tutoring, and curriculum, local leaders must navigate consequential decisions with limited clear guidance and heavy compliance demands, even where the research base is strong.”
The state dashboard and local improvement plans Brown touted are singled out for criticism in the report, essentially validating concerns that reformers had voiced but were ignored.
Loeb notes that California’s schools are at “an inflection point” on many levels. Maybe the study will persuade those in the Capitol to pay attention this time.