In this seminar, Pivot Learning will discuss two case studies aimed at better understanding the ways in which California districts’ budget challenges impact their ability to serve students. The cases explore this impact in two unique locations: the Sacramento City Unified School District and the Marin County Unified School District. These reports find that, in Sacramento, increasing health care costs and poor business practices have led to deficit spending and cuts to programs and services.

Join us for a seminar in which Getting Down to Facts II Researcher Paul Bruno, will present his PACE report on the challenges of employee and retiree health benefit costs for California districts. Sac City Unified Superintendent Jorge Aguilar will discuss the particular situation in Sacramento City, and CEO Michael Fine of FCMAT, will provide a broader perspective on districts across the state and what some possible approaches are to solving the financial pressures facing school districts as a result of escalating health care costs.

Over the past 10 years, California's PreK-12 public school system has seen transformative changes in almost every arena, from academic standards and accountability to resource allocation through the funding formula. The Getting Down to Facts II project brought together over 100 of the country's top education scholars to examine these changes and assess our progress. The project's 36 studies focused on student success, governance systems, personnel issues, and school finance, and together, they can help build a common understanding of where we are that can be used to guide further improvements.

Since the adoption of the LCFF, CA’s public school funding structures have become more straightforward, transparent. Additionally, per pupil spending has increased, but remains below the national average. Comparisons between CA and other states in terms of funding levels and policy put CA’s public school spending in context and help to identify opportunities for improved funding measures. PACE researchers summarize findings on CA’s funding structures and trends, detailing gaps between current and adequate spending.

In 2014, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1469 requiring teachers and school districts, along with the state government to substantially increase their respective contributions to the California State Teachers' Retirement System. The state has accrued significant pension debt for an extended time totaling approximately $107 billion, and there is no short-term solution to solving this problem. In this seminar Cory Koedel provides the background for how and why CalSTRS finds itself in this situation and discusses potential policy options for reform moving forward.

Public school funding is a complex but vital area of interest in CA. In this seminar, the challenges of financing public education are highlighted in two areas: funding for facility maintenance and modernization, and special education for students with disabilities. CA’s vast inventory of school facilities vary widely in age and condition, and estimates for CA school facility maintenance and modernization over the next 10 years top $100 billion. With the advent of the LCFF, there has been increased focus on helping students with disabilities succeed in school but many districts lack funding.

Governor Brown’s landmark finance reform —the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) —has shifted large quantities of new revenue to school districts that serve large concentrations of poor children, but less is known about how districts are distributing resources to local schools. Are the schools that educate large numbers of poor children receiving additional resources in proportion to the share of kids who generate the new revenues? Can we detect organizational improvements in these schools? Are the financial and organizational changes supported by LCFF making teachers’ working conditions

PACE’s inaugural conference is the premier event for policymakers, researchers, advocates and other leaders working to define and sustain a long-term strategy for comprehensive policy reform and continuous improvement of California’s education system. Our full-day conference will engage with three key education policy issues: school funding adequacy, teacher policies and cross-system-alignment. Registered participants will learn about the key policy debates and research based best-practices through conference plenaries and workshops.

In this seminar, PACE researchers will present findings from a study of the second-year of LCFF implementation, focusing on how local leaders are adapting to California’s new finance and accountability systems, identifying some promising approaches to LCFF implementation, and providing implications of the findings for adjustments to the LCFF. The report is based on case studies of LCFF implementation in 7 to 9 California school districts, along with LCAP reviews of over 50 districts and interviews with over 25 County Office of Education leaders.

The Local Control Funding Formula represents the first significant change in 40 years to the way California funds education. It gives school districts greatly expanded flexibility to allocate dollars in ways they believe make the most educational sense for their students. It requires districts to engage parents, community members, and other stakeholders in discussion and deliberation about district services, programs, and priorities. This seminar explores the results of a study of early implementation of LCFF.

CA adopted Common Core State Standards and state and local leaders are now engaged in the implementation process. PACE has organized this conference to review the current state of CCSS implementation in California, what we have learned, and what challenges we will have to face going forward. The conference will feature presentations from state officials who are guiding the implementation effort from Sacramento, local leaders who are wrestling with the challenge of implementing CCSS in their schools and classrooms, and researchers who are monitoring the progress of CCSS in districts across CA.

PACE, in partnership with EdSource, invite you to attend a webinar featuring California's Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor on Governor Brown's May Revision of the 2014-15 state budget, what it means for schools and the fiscal outlook for education funding generally. Join us for a thoughtful, information-rich discussion on the state budget in the wake of Prop. 30 and the Local Control Funding Formula, as well as the forecast for Prop. 98 funding and the implications for schools as they implement the Common Core standards and assessments.

PACE, in partnership with EdSource, invite you to attend a webinar featuring CA's Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor on Governor Brown's May Revision of the 2015-16 state budget, what it means for schools and the fiscal outlook for education funding generally. Currently it looks like schools will be the big winners when it comes to revenues they will receive as a result of the state's surging economy. But just how big a winner? And will the schools' windfall come at the expense of other parts of the state budget, including possibly non-education services that are important to a child's well-being?

School districts across California have begun working to implement the Common Core State Standards and to prepare for California’s new assessments. Policy Analysis for California Education and California County Superintendents Educational Services Association are pleased to sponsor six regional leadership sessions on CCSS Systems Implementation. These meetings will introduce you to a variety of strategies, tools and resources that your district can use to support successful implementation of the CCSS.

The QEIA, one of California’s most ambitious intervention programs for low-performing schools, is now in its sixth year of full implementation in nearly 400 schools across the state. In this seminar, Jane Robb and Courtney Malloy will share findings that examine the extent of QEIA program implementation, explain why QEIA works in some schools while other schools continue to struggle, investigate the various impacts of QEIA and uncover promising practices that can be shared with all schools.

Policy Analysis for California Education presents a panel discussion on the state and future of higher education in California with a focus on the issues of cost and quality.

Research consistently shows teacher quality is a powerful determinant of student achievement gains, yet urban school districts often struggle to staff schools with qualified teachers. In this seminar, Susanna Loeb explores changes in teacher recruitment in one urban school district as a result of a salary increase. Studying a policy in SFUSD, Loeb finds a differential salary increase can improve a school district’s attractiveness within the local teacher labor market and increase both the size and quality of teacher applicant pools, having the potential to increase the quality of new-hires.

Recent news headlines have drawn attention to budget cuts that districts pursue in response to the state’s revenue shortfalls. But policymakers and state agencies need to consider more than episodic revenue declines or relative rankings of districts. This seminar reviews evidence from a 2010-11 survey that provides a snapshot of district responses to unpredictable state aid. The speaker suggests ways that policymakers can account for the revenue instability a district has faced when evaluating district fiscal and academic performance.

This second 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.

To improve the preparation of California high school students for postsecondary education and careers, in 2006 the James Irvine Foundation launched a major initiative to develop what is now called the Linked Learning approach. The Foundation asked PACE to inform this effort by gathering evidence on the cost of Linked Learning programs. David Stern of the University of California, Berkeley, will present results from the new study of CPAs and from the PACE study of costs.

In this seminar, Patricia Gándara, Gary Orfield, and Kimberly King present research findings on a series of reports designed to analyze the impact of fiscal cutbacks on opportunity for higher education in the CSU system. CSUs educate a greater number of Latino and African American students, enroll a much larger undergraduate student body than the University of California system overall, and many CSU students are first-generation college students struggling to get an education in difficult times.

The RAND Corporation, in collaboration with the University of California and San Diego State University, is conducting a study that explores district and school leader responses to the Tier 3 initiative and federal stimulus dollars. In this seminar, the study team discussed qualitative data collected at 10 districts during the spring of 2010. Initial findings suggest that after one year, the Tier 3 flexibility is playing a critical role in helping districts to backfill budget gaps as the state crisis continues.

Since 2009, AIR and Pivot Learning have successfully formed partnerships with the Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Twin Rivers Unified School Districts. This team has made a great deal of progress in initiating the activities necessary to implement the basic policy elements of Strategic School Funding for Results at the local level. At this briefing, representatives from each district will discuss the partnership’s progress and the challenges, and offered recommendations for state policy and other districts.

Since 2008, Fresno and Long Beach Unified School Districts have been engaged in a formal district partnership designed to help the districts achieve a common a set of goals. With the generous support of the Hewlett Foundation and Stuart Foundation, the American Institutes for Research, in collaboration with Pivot Learning Partners, has been documenting the districts’ work together. This panel featured the leaders of these two districts who discussed their Partnership and its implications for policy and practice.

Lifting early school achievement depends on the quality of early learning environments—but what do we know about these environments that most effectively stimulate young children’s growth? How can we enrich children’s daily activities? In this seminar, Alison Gropnik and Bruce Fuller discuss key findings on quality, including play, close interactions with caregivers, and exploration—all which have been shown to have lasting effects on children’s development.