This episode we’re bringing attention to an important but still under-examined subject: the need for schools and school systems to better attend to the intersection of language and disability for young multilingual learners. Focusing on multilingualism and disability offers insight into a larger and more persistent question we’ve dug into throughout this series—that is, how can district leaders, including superintendents and school business officials, make decisions and take acti...

The Equity Multiplier -- a new $300 million component to California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) -- is rolling out this school year. Guests Natalie Wheatfall-Lum and Sara Pietrowski join Jason Willis to describe how the Equity Multiplier works, how it came about, and related changes to the state’s accountability system, including what districts must now report in their Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs). Along the way, they consider broader policy iss...

Closing or consolidating neighborhood schools is a painful decision that no school district or community ever wishes to face, but increasingly it may be on the table due to declining enrollment trends and budgetary pressures. In this episode, host Jason Willis and school finance and policy veteran Carrie Hahnel deepen our understanding about school closures and consolidations. They delve into current factors that could lead to more closures and data showing how closures have disproporti...

California's Local Control Funding Formula or LCFF took a major step towards advancing equity. But as LCFF came into existence 10 years ago, education and community leaders in the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, recognized this new formula might not go far enough in helping to address deeply rooted inequities within its student population. Through a unique partnership between the local community and school district, the groundbreaking Student Equity Need Inde...

Tatia Davenport, CEO of the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) sits down with Jason for a compelling discussion about the size, scope and future of school business in California. Tatia shares what was learned from the first comprehensive survey of California school business executives in nearly 25 years, including where professional development is headed, the changing face and vital voice of CBOs, and how school business leaders can work more to advance equity...

In this episode, dig into ways schools can advance equity by expanding "whole child" services that are available to students at sites. Dr. Chaun Powell, Senior Chief of Student Services for the Alameda County Office of Education, helps identify key approaches for maximizing funding sources for these services -- with a particular focus on behavioral and mental health supports -- and seizing new opportunities to partner with other agencies that serve children. *Be sure to check out the Compan...

What does it take to implement major new initiatives in our school systems? In Part Two of our episode about implementing initiatives such as Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) and Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK), we dive into this question with lots of hands-on, practical advice from a local school district perspective with Maria Ceballos, executive director of the early learning department at Fresno USD. Maria shares how her district, Fresno Unified, has been working to expand acc...

Two years ago, California’s state budget agreement included an ambitious new initiative to fund and implement Universal Transitional Kindergarten (or UTK), so that all 4-year-olds in the state have access to it by 2025-26. It’s part of a larger long-term goal the state and school districts have been working towards to expand early education and also provide access to Universal Pre-Kindergarten, or UPK, for all students. In this first of a two-part episode, Sarah Neville Morgan, Deputy S...

Lindsay Unified School District in California’s Central Valley reinvented its approach to education by launching a Performance Based System in 2007, following an extensive community engagement process. It’s an approach that fundamentally changed experiences for the community’s learners, families and educators -- and led to impressive outcomes that have been highlighted in multiple studies and reports. Two dynamic leaders from Lindsey USD – Grant Schimelpfening, Assistant Superintendent of Ad...

In this first episode of our new season, we gain the perspective of someone who has had her finger on the pulse of school business and resource equity for a long time, both from a local and a statewide perspective – Nina Boyd. Nina is a school business official, administrator and statewide leader who has seen a lot transpire during her nearly 40 years in public education – and she is still on the frontlines impacting change. Nina shares insight and perspectives related to:...

Host Jason Willis provides a quick update on our upcoming new season. Plus, we replay our initial episode featuring several guests as a way to re-establish the context for the new episodes and help you get your "resource equity bearings." Guests on the replay include: Christopher Edley, Jr., J.D., interim dean, U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Education; co-founder and president emeritus of The Opportunity Institute; professor and dean emeritus, U.C. Berkeley School of Law; former profe...

Education leaders, school business officials and practitioners continue to confront a full plate of difficult and time-sensitive decisions. How can we reflect on and improve practices and approaches for making those decisions to better serve students? In this episode, host Jason Willis and special guest Alex Jacobson from WestEd explore how good decisions in our school systems that lead to successful outcomes for all students are in part contingent on the ways in which people make those decis...

COVID-19 and other crises have put extreme operational pressures on public school systems. And these pressures, as Dr. Rosanna Mucetti, Superintendent of Napa Valley USD says, can break or make organizations. In this episode, Rosanna and Rabinder "Rob" Mangewala, NVUSD’s Assistant Superintendent and Chief Business Official, describe how their district actually leveraged challenges during the crisis to accelerate their focus on resource equity and school improvement. “All of a sudden, wo...

How has California's shift to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) impacted equitable resource allocation? In part two of our focus on LCFF, host Jason Willis and special guests consider this and other vital questions, including: How do we best strike a balance between local autonomy, innovation, compliance and accountability?How effective are Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) that all districts must adopt with stakeholder input? What role can school boards in particular...

The Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, ushered in a new era of school funding in California when it was adopted in 2013. It's regarded by many as the most significant resource equity reform the state has ever enacted. But how has the LCFF worked? Has it accomplished what it was intended to? And how are inherent tensions between local and state decision making authority, oversight and accountability being navigated? In this episode, host Jason Willis and special guests explore key eleme...

We hope you've been enjoying the series so far and taking away a lot of useful information. This is a quick update to let you know we are busy working on several new episodes that will start posting in a few weeks. We also wanted to make you aware of the companion briefs that are now available online. To describe these more, host Jason Willis introduces John Diaz, a financial analyst at WestEd, who has been leading the work in developing the companion briefs. The briefs se...

Each person’s equity journey is unique, including the one taken by Marguerite Williams, Ed.D. After serving as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent for academic services, she became increasingly interested in the business side of schools and completed the CASBO CBO Certification program. That helped lead to her recent appointment as assistant superintendent/CBO for a charter management organization in Vallejo that operates four schools and serves approximately 1,400 students. In ...

School districts face extreme urgency to safely return students to in-person environments and help them recover from a pandemic that has not yet ended. At the same time, leaders and practitioners are pressing to expeditiously but thoughtfully allocate a windfall of new state and federal dollars – all the while trying to leverage the unique opportunity created by these circumstances to bring about transformative changes to our public school systems. How can school communities make the most o...

In this episode, Sanger Unified School District Superintendent Adela Madrigal Jones highlights approaches and actions her district has taken to advance equity. It’s chock-full of practical guidance, real-life experiences and candid reflections from a lifelong educator who has helped lead successful work in this Central Valley district. One of the key strategies Sanger USD utilizes are “Principal Summits.” These summits engage school site leaders in reviewing data, collectively exploring how d...

Veteran school district CBO Jayne Christakos joins us to help build our practical understanding of equity and resource allocation in educational systems, and to identify some good places to start. She emphasizes the crucial importance of embracing a districtwide culture that is comfortable using data, asking questions and "listening to the whole system." Throughout our series, we’re sharing specific experiences and examples of leaders and practitioners who are doing the work of ensuring a mo...