Superintendents Speak

Adopted in 2013, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) provides all districts with base funding plus supplemental and concentration grants for low-income students, English learners, and foster youth. The law eliminated most categorical programs, giving local school systems resource allocation authority and requiring Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) be developed with input from parents, community members, students, and educators.

The policy intends to promote more equitable and coherent resource allocation decisions and to lead to improved and more equitable student outcomes. This report, the next in a series by the LCFF Research Collaborative (LCFFRC), presents survey responses from a statewide representative sample of California superintendents. The survey complements the LCFFRC’s four years of in-depth case study work examining the implementation of the LCFF and provides a broad picture of superintendents’ views of and experiences with the law.

As with previous LCFF research, this survey is designed to help policymakers and others better understand ways in which the LCFF is affecting resource allocation and governance in California’s K–12 education system. Results also indicate areas in which changes may be needed.

This report is based on data from 350 Superintendents who responded to the survey, which was administered between September 2017 and March 2018. The survey sample included elementary, high, and unified school districts and was stratified by district size and percent of unduplicated students. The stratification plan defined three levels of district size—small (less than 2,000 students), medium (2,000 – 9,999 students), and large (10,000 or more students)—and two proportions of unduplicated pupils—low (55% or less) and high (more than 55%).