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Lesson 7.10

The LCAP:
Annual plans for school districts

The key document for accountability in California's education system

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What's an LCAP?

The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) is a cornerstone of California’s public education system. Simplifying a little, it's a written three-year plan that school districts must update and make public each year.

School districts use the LCAP to formally document their goals and plans, organized into eight priority areas. After public comment, the district's plan must be formally approved by the school board, with oversight from their county office of education. This lesson explains how the LCAP came to be and why it matters.

What is Subsidiarity?

In 2013, a year of budget cuts, California massively decentralized accountability for public education. The change took place under the leadership of Governor Jerry Brown. Citing a philosophy he called “subsidiarity,” Brown argued that “a central authority should only perform those tasks which cannot be performed at a more immediate or local level.” In the context of education, this philosophy suggests that control of local schools ought to rest with local communities.

A less philosophical explanation for the change also works:

"Subsidiarity"
Your budget shrunk. Here's what's left.
Use it as you think best!

Decentralizing power was an important reversal. In 1978, the passage of Proposition 13 centralized budgetary power in Sacramento. Centralizing power wasn't really the point of the initiative; it just worked out that way. Legislators, doing their best for their constituents, used their power to direct education money toward specific programs. Over time, these categorical programs became increasingly important, and education resources flowed from Sacramento with growing limitations and program requirements. Districts learned to comply with these program requirements in order to get the funding they needed. This arrangement, though irritating and often inefficient, was sustainable so long as tax revenues continued to flow and grow. They didn't.

A good outcome from bad times

When the Great Recession crimped the budget in 2008, something had to give. Governor Brown and the legislature used the moment to substantially dismantle the categorical funding system that had directed state funds toward specific purposes. Because there was not enough money to run schools without dipping into restricted categorical funding, the legislature made the remaining funding “flexible,” essentially saying: “Use it for whatever you think best” rather than specifying a purpose for it.

Districts received a new level of control over their (smaller) budgets, and the legislators avoided the perhaps-impossible political task of choosing which programs to prune. That unwelcome task was left to local control. The new system was dubbed (drumroll please!) the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).

Is Accountability Possible With Local Control?

LCFF placed a new degree of power in the hands of California's local districts and school boards. Would their decisions tend to benefit the students in most need of help, or the students whose parents had the strongest voice? Or, perhaps, neither? As discussed in Lesson 7.1, constitutional responsibility for education falls to the state, not to districts. Subsidiarity is a governing principle, not a constitutional promise.

A bunch of things changed at more or less the same time:

  • The standards. California's academic standards changed with the shift to Common Core standards.
  • The tests. Tests had to change to reflect the new standards.
  • The scoring system. The old system was replaced with the California School Dashboard.
  • Reporting of results. The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) was developed to provide public transparency about district plans and results.

There are two general options for holding an organization accountable. It can be held accountable for inputs (what it spends and how) or outcomes (what it accomplishes). California has tried to use both. How would districts be held accountable?

State Tests and State Accountability

Until 2013, the annual state tests mandated by federal law served as the primary outcome-based accountability measure for schools and districts. For all their flaws, these tests at least provided a modicum of transparency. Virtually every student took them. Wherever groups of students bombed the tests, the problem stood out at every level, from the student, to the parent, to the school, to the district, to Sacramento, to Washington. California used the scores to create a measure for accountability under state law, the Academic Performance Index (API). The API was also used as evidence of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

In this system, the state and federal government were the designated scolds. District, school, and teacher leaders were left to interpret and explain the results, which were sometimes contradictory.

Local Control Requires Local Accountability

The local control funding system turned the accountability system on its head: Don’t look at Washington or Sacramento to make schools succeed. Don't expect Washington or Sacramento to scold or praise your teachers and students. Under the principle of subsidiarity, local communities are expected to make choices to safeguard the vulnerable and achieve good results for all kids.

This theory deeply worries many civil rights advocates, who perceive a great risk in counting on communities to hold their schools and districts accountable for equitable use of funds, especially with poor transparency. In practice, they argue, subsidiarity is vulnerable to lax or absent oversight. In 2019, a sharply-worded report from the California State Auditor substantiated these concerns.

How Does the LCAP Work?

Beginning in 2014, each district, county office of education, and charter school (each LEA) became responsible for preparing a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The plan describes the overall vision for students, annual goals, and specific actions that will be taken to achieve the vision and goals.

The LCAP is developed and reviewed each year in coordination with the district’s annual budget cycle. Each year the state evolves its LCAP Template, which districts use as a starting point. (They may design their own documents if they meet the requirements.)

The California State PTA’s Seasons of the LCAP describes ways to use the LCAP process to engage community members throughout the year.

PTA-Seasons-of-LCAP

The district-level LCAP, in combination with the school-level School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA), can serve as an important tool to drive action-based conversations about local investment decisions.

Or, unread, it can just be paperwork.

LCAPs must address eight areas that have been identified as state priorities. In particular, the plans have to call out details related to the three categories of students with high needs (low-income students, English learners, and foster youth).

California's 8 State Priorities

1

Student access to basic school services: fully credentialed teachers, instructional materials that align with state standards, and safe facilities.

2

Implementation of academic standards adopted by the State Board of Education (e.g. Common Core State Standards in English language arts and math, Next Generation Science Standards, English language development), including how programs and services will enable English learners to access the Common Core standards.

3

Parent involvement and participation, so the local community is engaged in the decision-making process at the district and school sites, including promoting parent participation in programs for high need students. [emphasis added]

4

Student achievement and outcomes along multiple measures, including test scores, English proficiency, and college- and career-readiness.

5

Student engagement, including whether students attend school or are chronically absent, and whether they graduate or drop out.

6

School climate and connectedness as measured by suspension and expulsion rates and other locally identified means.

7

Pupil access to and enrollment in a broad course of study, including all core subject areas (i.e. English, mathematics, social science, science, visual and performing arts, health, physical education, career and technical education, etc.).

8

Other student outcomes, if available, in the subject areas that make up the broad course of study.

Districts are allowed and encouraged to identify and incorporate additional goals into their plans for to reflect local priorities.

The Public Must Be Engaged and Informed

Each school district must engage parents, educators, employees and the community as they develop these district-level plans. The district plan should harmonize with each school's School Plan for Student Achievement.

How does that actually happen?

The State Board of Education defines the templates that districts must use for LCAPs. The first section of the template asks for information about stakeholder engagement. The plans must include goal statements linked to the eight state priorities and budget information showing how districts will pay for the program changes and improvements needed to meet those goals.

LCAPs must be reviewed by a parent committee — especially if a district has many English learners.

The plans cover three years, but they are updated annually. Their development and the updating process must include consultation with various constituencies, including teachers and parents. Ultimately, the plan must be reviewed by a parent advisory committee. If at least 15 percent of the students in a district are English learners, a separate parent committee must provide feedback in this area.

The final LCAPs are approved at the same time as the district’s budget, subject to review by the County Office of Education. This process has made county offices of education a much more important and substantial part of the education system than they were before LCFF became law.

LCAPs and Collective Bargaining

The requirement for each district to create its own accountability plan (LCAP) originated as part of the shift away from state-level mandates about how districts use funds. A number of debates erupted as the State Board attempted to fulfill its charge and develop the regulations surrounding LCFF. The most heated debates concerned the balance between local flexibility on one hand and assuring educational opportunities for high-need students on the other. Civil rights advocates expressed concern that in the rough and tumble of collective bargaining, resources that LCFF allocates on the basis of poverty or language-learning needs would find their way onto the bargaining table, there to be swept up into across-the board teacher salary increases, despite the spirit of the law.

The LCAP was a compromise solution. In principle, it was intended to provide local discretion about the use of funds in exchange for transparency. In practice, districts have varied in their commitment to disclosure. Some LCAPs are detailed. Some are vague, as the State Auditor charged. Unless and until something changes, it is up to each community to dig into the numbers, ask questions, and enforce the intent of the law.

The LCAP During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In normal times, each district’s LCAP must be revised every school year, but the Covid-19 pandemic required some changes. In June of 2020, for a single year Senate Bill 98 created new requirements and guidelines for distance learning and layoffs. It also redefined “LCAP” with a new, temporary meaning: the Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan. (You may notice that the two plans conveniently have the same acronym. For simplicity’s sake, we will call the temporary version the LCAP*.)

The two documents are similar in important ways. The LCAP and the LCAP* both require districts to disclose how they spend funds. Both documents require parent and public input before review by the school board and adoption by the county board. But the LCAP* was geared to address the moment — it asked districts to describe their plans to educate all the students in their care through a combination of in-person and remote learning.

Last updated April 2021.

Quiz

Which of the following best describes the requirements to produce the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)?

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Questions & Comments

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user avatar
Jeff Camp - Founder June 29, 2024 at 2:22 pm
District budgets are valid only with adoption of the LCAP by the local school board. No LCAP? No budget. The finances of the district become the responsibility of the County Office of Education with oversight by the state. As reported by EdSource, in 2024 this principle was applied to West Contra Costa Unified. Standard operating procedure is that the prior year's budget is used until the district can get its act together and create a plan that meets the approval of the county office as well as state-appointed oversight authorities.
user avatar
Sheila Melo May 30, 2020 at 9:47 pm
I never even knew this was how funding was done until I read this. I am pretty sure that makes me a member of a small number. "Local control" without mass education of parents is really control by special interests who are aware of the process. I think local control is the right direction, but there needs to be more done to make parents aware.
user avatar
Denise Dafflon December 10, 2019 at 9:27 pm
Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). Link broken.
user avatar
Caryn December 11, 2019 at 11:59 am
Hi Denise, thanks so much for your close reading. Comments like this help us tremendously.
user avatar
Denise Dafflon September 11, 2019 at 2:48 pm
Is CA state still maintaining its "collection of graphical "LCFF State Priorities Snapshots". I could not answer the question...Does the state-collected data match your district's LCAP?...neither found the SARC for schools in my district.
user avatar
francisco molina July 20, 2019 at 12:06 am
Tambien es necesario que los maestros relacionados con los temas mas sensibles como lenguaje y matematicas deberian estar siempre presentes, puesto que se podrian tomar mejores ideas o explicar las dificultades para el logro de las metas, esto no siempre se cumple asi.
user avatar
francisco molina July 19, 2019 at 11:25 pm
la mayoria de los conflictos y necesidades se centran principalmente en las familias hispanas, basta mirar cualquier grafico que haga comparaciones dentro de la composicion de una escuela, distrito o condado, en cualquiera de ellos se puede deducir que lideran las dificultades y las necesidades, por tanto las revisiones y decisiones deberian ser mayoritariamente analizadas y representadas por ellos, y no funciona de esta manera, por tanto no existe una clara representacion por parte de ellos. Esto en si no refleja lo que se espera en la educacion en general sea publica o privada en cuanto que el exito se logra gracias a una sociedad entre padres y maestros, siendo lo peor que no se consideran importantes a los consejeros escolares puesto que ni se mencionan en California. apesar que que en el resto del pais son la pieza fundamental en el manejo de estos conflictos y necsidades.
user avatar
Denise Dafflon September 11, 2019 at 2:59 pm
What I see as an obstacle in schools with minority groups is that families are asked to represent and advocate for their needs at all levels. (be part of ELAC, PTA, SSC, DELAC and other LCAP parent committee,...) By definition, if you are a minority you have less people that can take these roles. They can easily burn out if asked to go everywhere. If a minority cannot find representative(s), it might be labeled as not willing to engage or be involved. I am glad that this is not what is happening at my school, we have minority families engaged and allies that bring the voices of minorities. Yes, sometimes these voices are hard to hear and the system tends to resist, but with parents advocating for themselves and allies amplifying their voices changes can happen.
user avatar
Jeff Camp - Founder September 7, 2016 at 2:52 pm
Yes, but what does an LCAP actually LOOK like? Well, it depends. Most are deadly tree-killing blobs of impenetrable blather. But not all! Some are visual, and clearly have been developed with the idea that humans might read them. Check out this amazing collection of samples collected by AIR support from foundations including the supporters of Ed100...
http://cacollaborative.org/sites/default/files/CA_Collaborative_LCFF__4.pdf?utm_source=Ed100
user avatar
Carol Kocivar July 14, 2016 at 8:06 pm
If you are looking for promising Family Engagement Practices in LCAPs, the Public Policy Institute of California identifies promising family engagement strategies from a review of 15 high-need districts.
http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=1202
user avatar
Carol Kocivar April 23, 2016 at 2:57 pm
"Three years after the California Legislature invested nearly $13 billion into schools through the Local Control Funding Formula, it’s still unclear where those dollars are going. That’s the conclusion of The Education Trust–West’s new report, which reviews the second-year Local Control and Accountability Plans from 40 school districts."
Here is a link to the report: https://west.edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/11/ETW-April-2016-Report-Puzzling-Plans-and-Budgets-Final.pdf
user avatar
Carol Kocivar December 11, 2015 at 4:19 pm
A new study from Policy Analysis for California Education: Two Years of California's Local Control Funding Formula"
Highlights
Districts are unclear about the purpose of the LCAP and unsure about what funds to include in it. In addition, they are confused about the cycle and annual updates and view the LCAP as a compliance document.
The bad news: They produce LCAPs that are neither readable by nor accessible to the public.
Another finding:
Public awareness of the LCFF still lags, which may be complicating engagement efforts.
Download the report:http://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/LCFF.pdf
user avatar
Brandi Galasso September 24, 2015 at 12:33 am
No, our school has less funding then it did before this whole budget crisis started. They have cut almost everything at our school. District , when received additional funding hired 30 more people at district all earning way upwards of $100,000 plus benefits. The district says they are providing programs district wide instead of giving schools money. District keeps saying they are providing things for are a ridiculous amount of money, but they are not. We are being lied to about programs we were supposed to have since school year began. But we are barely getting it, because out district did not update our systems like supposed to. Who can help when they are misusing funds, who can actually do something about it. The lcapp is written and approved but they are not funding programs in them. District states beatifying campus, but what they did was have parents volunteer to beautify campuses parents providing material. But district on paper portrays it to be the district doing this like if they spent money on it, which is untrue. How do I get help does anyone know?
user avatar
KimS April 21, 2015 at 6:36 am
I've read the LCAP for San Diego Unified, and most of the measures for the first few years are "establish a baseline." It seems like they're giving themselves an awful lot of breathing room where no assessments are actually taken, and implemented a lot of priorities over the objections of SSC and DELAC.
Since LCAP has been implemented, the only budgetary improvement I've seen in my child's school is that the library is open one day a week. Class sizes stayed the same or got bigger; the school lost its ELST/reading specialist hybrid position. I want to embrace LCAP but having the people who implement the LCAP assess its effectiveness is maybe not a wise plan.
user avatar
Sherry Schnell April 2, 2015 at 9:28 am
Does our school have more funding to restore programs? Absolutely NOT. My daughter's school (already woefully underfunded) has LESS resources since local control. My daughter's elementary school (located in a middle class area) is being completely ignored by San Diego Unified and funds are being taken away to direct to low income areas.
user avatar
maritess February 14, 2015 at 10:09 pm
Find (or share) your school district's LCAP here: http://lcapwatch.org
user avatar
Janet L. February 2, 2015 at 11:11 am
The second to last link (to the wested.org page) is broken. Do you have a current link for this? Thanks!
user avatar
Jeff Camp - Founder February 2, 2015 at 1:54 pm
Thanks, Janet. The link has been corrected. It's SUPER helpful when people bring site issues (or new resources) to our attention. The web is ever a-churn, and we try to keep on top of it. Quite a challenge for a volunteer team!
user avatar
Janet L. February 2, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Wow, thanks for being so quick to find the current link!
user avatar
Mary Perry October 29, 2014 at 2:37 pm
A new study looks at last year's efforts to implement LCFF and at the LCAP experience in particular. The authors report that the local school district officials they interviewed think this reform is a good thing, still are concerned about California's low funding levels, are hoping for some procedural improvements, and just want to see the state give it all a chance to work. The report, funded by the Stuart Foundation, is entitled "Toward A Grand Vision" and is available here: http://www.sri.com/work/publications/toward-grand-vision-early-implementation-californias-local-control-funding-formula
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