Put equity before equality in school funding

The Local Control Funding Formula was designed to benefit student populations that have the greatest need for support — the law indicates that districts should allot more money to schools that serve larger numbers of low-income students, English learners and foster youth. But, writes Randy Villegas, the Kern County School District has chosen to distribute most of its state dollars equally across all schools in the district. The decision has the outward appearance of fairness but neglects the spirit of the law. "Equality is about giving everyone the same thing … this would make sense if everyone started from the same place. But that simply isn’t the case... In order to enjoy true equality we need to establish equity in our funding first." Read his opinion piece for South Kern Sol.