“Investing more money into what isn’t working well now won’t make it better.”

The first reports on the progress of the Local Control Funding Formula for K-12 in California, and they’re pretty good.  Overall, it appears the school districts are using the LCFF as a tool to refine and clarify the delivery of instructional and other services to the appropriate student populations.  Evidence suggests that the use is going far beyond mere demonstration of compliance.  But the cautionary note is loud and appropriate – we must invest in the student learning experience, but the investment must be in strategies that work.  As the report says, its not enough to invest in programs designed to increase student success if we don’t make sure they actual do increase student success.