This episode we’re bringing attention to an important but still under-examined subject: the need for schools and school systems to better attend to the intersection of language and disability for young multilingual learners. Focusing on multi

What You Need To Know about California’s New Equity Multiplier – And Related School Accountability System Changes

Mar 7th, 2024 57m 49s

The Equity Multiplier -- a new $300 million component to California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) -- is rolling out this school year. Guests Natalie Wheatfall-Lum and Sara Pietrowski join Jason Willis to describe how the Equity Multip

School Closures and Consolidations in California: Deepening Our Understanding

Feb 20th, 2024 46m 6s

Closing or consolidating neighborhood schools is a painful decision that no school district or community ever wishes to face, but increasingly it may be on the table due to declining enrollment trends and budgetary pressures. In this episode, h

Advancing Equity Through Locally-Driven School Funding Formulas: Los Angeles USD's Groundbreaking Student Equity Need Index (the "SENI")

Nov 7th, 2023 1h 3m

California's Local Control Funding Formula or LCFF took a major step towards advancing equity. But as LCFF came into existence 10 years ago, education and community leaders in the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, recognize

A New Era of School Business in California: Innovative Thinking About Where We're Headed -- with CASBO CEO Tatia Davenport

Oct 24th, 2023 46m 17s

Tatia Davenport, CEO of the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) sits down with Jason for a compelling discussion about the size, scope and future of school business in California. Tatia shares what was learned from the

Expanding Access to Behavioral Health and Other Services for Students and Maximizing Interagency Collaboration

Oct 3rd, 2023 54m 34s

In this episode, dig into ways schools can advance equity by expanding "whole child" services that are available to students at sites. Dr. Chaun Powell, Senior Chief of Student Services for the Alameda County Office of Education, helps identify

Implementing Major New Initiatives Like Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK): Resource Equity and Other Considerations (Part Two -- A School District Perspective )

Sep 14th, 2023 45m 28s

What does it take to implement major new initiatives in our school systems? In Part Two of our episode about implementing initiatives such as Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) and Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK), we dive into this ques

Implementing Major New Initiatives Like Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK): Resource Equity and Other Key Considerations (Part One -- A Statewide Perspective)

Sep 12th, 2023 33m 35s

Two years ago, California’s state budget agreement included an ambitious new initiative to fund and implement Universal Transitional Kindergarten (or UTK), so that all 4-year-olds in the state have access to it by 2025-26. It’s part of a larger

Building Systems Alignment and Coherence to Meet Students’ Needs: Personalized Learning in Lindsay USD

Aug 24th, 2023 55m 9s

Lindsay Unified School District in California’s Central Valley reinvented its approach to education by launching a Performance Based System in 2007, following an extensive community engagement process. It’s an approach that fundamentally change

Scoping Out the Current Educational Equity Landscape with Veteran School Business Leader Nina Boyd

Aug 10th, 2023 36m 1s

In this first episode of our new season, we gain the perspective of someone who has had her finger on the pulse of school business and resource equity for a long time, both from a local and a statewide perspective – Nina Boyd. Nina is a school

Trailer

COMING SOON: All new episodes of Budgeting for Educational Equity

Jul 28th, 2023 23m 14s

Host Jason Willis provides a quick update on our upcoming new season. Plus, we replay our initial episode featuring several guests as a way to re-establish the context for the new episodes and help you get your "resource equity bearings."Guests

Key Ingredients For Making Good Decisions – Especially When You’re In The Pressure Cooker

Feb 11th, 2022 27m 29s

Education leaders, school business officials and practitioners continue to confront a full plate of difficult and time-sensitive decisions. How can we reflect on and improve practices and approaches for making those decisions to better serve st

One School District’s Approach to System Improvement and Equity During the Pandemic: Don’t Just Navigate, Accelerate

Feb 2nd, 2022 50m 17s

COVID-19 and other crises have put extreme operational pressures on public school systems. And these pressures, as Dr. Rosanna Mucetti, Superintendent of Napa Valley USD says, can break or make organizations. In this episode, Rosanna and Rabind

The Locus of Local Control: Revisiting the LCFF (Part Two)

Dec 3rd, 2021 48m 26s

How has California's shift to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) impacted equitable resource allocation? In part two of our focus on LCFF, host Jason Willis and special guests consider this and other vital questions, including:How do we b

Revisiting the LCFF (Part One): California's Landmark School Funding Reform

Nov 2nd, 2021 58m 33s

The Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, ushered in a new era of school funding in California when it was adopted in 2013. It's regarded by many as the most significant resource equity reform the state has ever enacted. But how has the LCFF

Updates -- Plus, Be Sure To Check Out Our Companion Briefs

Oct 7th, 2021 5m 10s

We hope you've been enjoying the series so far and taking away a lot of useful information. This is a quick update to let you know we are busy working on several new episodes that will start posting in a few weeks. We also wanted to make you

Connecting Student Learning and School Business Through an Equity Lens: One Instructional Leader's Journey to Becoming a Chief School Business Official

Sep 16th, 2021 41m 17s

Each person’s equity journey is unique, including the one taken by Marguerite Williams, Ed.D. After serving as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent for academic services, she became increasingly interested in the business side of s

The Time and Space to Innovate Toward Equitable School Systems

Aug 31st, 2021 38m 12s

School districts face extreme urgency to safely return students to in-person environments and help them recover from a pandemic that has not yet ended. At the same time, leaders and practitioners are pressing to expeditiously but thoughtfully a

Collaborating and Planning for Change: Resource Equity Learnings From a School District Leader Advancing the Work

Aug 24th, 2021 47m 44s

In this episode, Sanger Unified School District Superintendent Adela Madrigal Jones highlights approaches and actions her district has taken to advance equity. It’s chock-full of practical guidance, real-life experiences and candid reflections

It Starts With Data and Listening to the System – Practical Ways to Approach Equitable Resource Allocation

Aug 17th, 2021 21m 7s

Veteran school district CBO Jayne Christakos joins us to help build our practical understanding of equity and resource allocation in educational systems, and to identify some good places to start. She emphasizes the crucial importance of embrac

Introduction: Getting Our Resource and Educational Equity Bearings

Jul 24th, 2021 21m 50s

Advancing equity continues to be a major focus for California public education at all levels of the system. Yet, as education leaders and school business officials, it's not always easy to press your way forward into the noisy, bustling, someti

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