How CA Districts Respond to Fiscal Flexibility?

Since 2009 the Department of Education has allowed local school boards to reallocate $4.5 billion in previously regulated categorical aid, now folded into the Tier 3 ‘block grant,"  A University of California–RAND Corporation research team reported earlier on case studies of 10 districts’ response to flexibility.

This PACE seminar will feature the results of their statewide survey of district chief financial officers and their analysis of statewide expenditure data.

To what extent were Tier 3 dollars swept into district general funds? Which programs were hit hardest as re-allocations occurred? Did district leaders share fiscal flexibility with their principals during tough budget times? How did a district’s fiscal health condition their decisions?

These are the questions addressed by the research team’s final report at the end of their two-year study.