Embedded Files
School Funding Initiative
Funding Adequacy Task Force's Work Is Moving Ahead
The Funding Adequacy Task Force's work is moving ahead. Here are some highlights. Interns in Senator Becker’s office are doing research on questions that came out of the task force meeting. County Office of Education staff are going to pull together information from the task force meetings, the interns’ research, and other research into a draft report, which we will share with the Task Force and get feedback at a hybrid meeting on August 25. We'll bring a draft to the Board that includes Task Force input for review and discussion at the September 3 Board meeting. We then plan to bring the report to the Board for approval by the retreat on September 17. We work with other county boards of education and the legislative delegation to build support and for the work.
On June 23, the task force met to begin developing and considering possible options for addressing funding inadequacies in high-cost counties. We had a good discussion around some of the ideas and the County Office of Education team will help us flesh those out and vet them a bit. For example, we'll want to look at the potential cost of each item, which counties or districts might be affected, and the overall impact on students. The plan is to pull together a report for the task force to review at the end of the summer.
Our work on understanding and addressing funding inadequacies in the county continued on May 19th at an in-person meeting at the County Office of Education school site in San Bruno. The focus of the meeting was on identifying and sharing the impacts of inadequate funding on state-funded school districts in the county and further building the team working on this effort. We heard how schools continue to lose staff to higher-paying districts, how students experience more teacher turnover and limited access to new curriculum and resources, and how facilities upgrades are often put off, all resulting in different student and educator experiences across the county. We also learned that San Mateo County receives the lowest per student funding in the state. Next month, we will being to explore possible solutions.
We kicked off our adequate school funding initiative on April 21, 2025, with a meeting of school board trustees and superintendents from around the county. San Mateo County Office of Education Deputy Superintendent Kevin Bultema provided a detailed overview of the history of school funding, efforts to change it over time, and where we stand today. This review was informative and helped everyone on the call arrive at a shared understanding of how funding works and possible levers for change. Executive Director Ian Bain provided an updated on pending legislation aimed at addressing funding inadequacies. These offer a starting point. The group will reconvene on May 19 to hear from districts impacted by inadequate funding.
Background
The County Board of Education is concerned about insufficient funding to meet the needs of students in some districts within our high-cost region. Specifically, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) does not take into consideration regional differences in the cost of living, so San Mateo County school districts receive the same funding as schools in areas where the cost of living is much lower. The five LCFF districts (state-funded) in San Mateo County are Bayshore, Burlingame, Jefferson Elementary, Pacifica, and San Carlos. Other districts flip between LCFF and basic aid status, which is its own destabilizing issue. A school district is considered basic aid or community funded when local property tax revenues exceed the amount needed to meet the state's minimum funding requirements. Unlike LCFF districts, they receive no general state aid and can keep all of their local property tax revenues.
The County Board of Education has established a task force to address education funding inadequacies in San Mateo County. We are partnering with our educational colleagues to study this issue and develop recommendations for our state legislators to pursue in Sacramento. We plan to hold a series of three meetings to: 1) develop a shared understanding of the issue; 2) learn about the impact of funding inadequacies on our county’s school districts; 3) develop legislative recommendations. We will add additional sessions if needed. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out.
Stand Up and Speak Out for Schools
On April 5th, I joined many from our county for an event to show our support for students, educators, and public education in the wake of policy changes coming from Washington in the last couple of months, many of which may jeopardize the health, education, and futures of our nation's children. Organized by State Senator Josh Becker and Congressman Kevin Mullin, the event provided updates on policies from both Washington and Sacramento, included inspiring speakers, celebrated our educators, and encouraged everyone to speak up for our county's children and their education.
Advocacy Subcommittee
Our Advocacy Subcommittee has met three times and covered a lot of ground. We decided to create a joint Board-Superintendent subcommittee - not just a Board subcommittee - as we are much stronger together. We are putting together an advocacy platform and have developed the start of a plan to build support in the county for addressing funding inadequacies. We will be organizing a series of meetings to help get school board members and superintendents all on the same page with respect to school funding, understand the impacts of inadequate funding on the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) districts in the county, and draft policy recommendations for consideration in Sacramento.
The Subcommittee will also be taking three bills to the full Board at its April 16th meeting. These include AB 1224 – extends the length of time substitute teachers can serve in a classroom from 30 to 60 days, AB 927 – extends the time during which the required the inspection of schools eligible for monitoring pursuant to the Williams settlement, and AB 959 – authorizes a county office of education, a school district, or a regionally accredited institution of higher education to offer a one-year internship program for candidates for a preliminary administrative credential.
Legislative Advocacy and Action
Ongoing. I was asked to join the Association of California County Boards of Education (ACCBE) Advocacy Subcommittee and have been engaged with that group. We have analyzed legislation, made recommendations, and have been developing a system for requesting that the organization support legislation and then considering those requests.
On March 31, I worked with the Association of California County Boards of Education (ACCBE) to develop criteria for assessing legislation and review specific legislation for ACCBE support. The week of March 10, I joined district Board members from the county in a series of phone calls with legislators and/or their staff. The calls were organized by the California School Boards Association and addressed key concerns around school funding, substitute teachers, educator housing, electric buses and other topics.
On March 22, I attended the San Mateo County School Boards Association's legislative meeting. We heard from Congressman Sam Liccardo who shared his concerns about funding for education and other supports for children. We also heard from State Senator Josh Becker and Assemblymembers Marc Berman and Diane Papan. I asked for their support for fully funding Proposition 98 and working with us on addressing the State's excess property tax grab from the county.
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