California has taken steps to increase its parent and family engagement in a formal way—by including them in their schools’ funding process and adding them to schools’ accountability priorities.
But the state’s districts have faced challenges in awareness and outreach to get parents truly involved in the Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF.
In Education Week‘s “On California” blog, author Devin Corrigan explored this issue by looking at two recent studies done on the topic: “Ready or Not: How California School Districts are Reimagining Parent Engagement in the Era of Local Control Funding Formula,” by the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Families in Schools, and “Two Years of California’s Local Control Funding Formula: Time to Reaffirm the Grand Vision,” a brief by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
“Both reports stress the importance of partnerships, professional development, and a diversity of voices, as well as the point of view that effective parent and family engagement is worth the effort,” Corrigan wrote Feb. 9.
With such an emphasis on getting parents involved, what have California parents seen in their schools? Is there more say, especially on funding issues? Or are parents left in the dark about priorities? Please let us know your thoughts.