How can students and families win in 2020 with LCFF? That’s the question we’re answering in the fourth and final week of #WeMakeLCFFWork! And we need YOUR help!

We know the best way to win real change is by taking the lead of students and parents who best understand the challenges and possible solutions for their schools. So please join us for our #WeMakeLCFFWork Twitter Party on Wednesday, February 26 at 12:00pm to share your campaigns and how folx can plug in to win big for students and families of color in 2020! We will also share what we’ve learned over the past month and look ahead to what’s next!
Use these social media posts all week using our toolkits!
Click here to see all of last week's content.
Winning change with the Student Equity Needs Index
School districts ultimately decide how LCFF funds are distributed to each school. In LA Unified, youth leaders challenged the district’s status quo that left low-income Black and Latinx students bearing the brunt of years of underfunding. The students organized and passed the Student Equity Needs Index 2.0 to win investments for the highest-need schools in the district! Get involved by using this social media toolkit and follow and reshare #EquityWorks #EquityisJustice #BecauseofSENI2
Winning change in your district in 2020: 3 Things You Can Do Now
As districts write their LCAPs, there are three things that you can do now to engage: (1) Join or attend a student or parent advisory committee (don’t forget your Parents’ Guide to School Funding from Families in Schools and Student Voice Know Your Rights Poster from Californians for Justice); (2) Gather and understand student data and needs by reviewing the California Dashboard (available in multiple languages) with your community (Here’s a Department of Education video in English and Spanish that explains it); and (3) Review your district’s current LCAP for equitable investments .
There’s also a new LCAP template , which is designed to be easier to understand! Public Advocates is teaming up with the Department of Education to provide in-person trainings on the new LCAP in Sacramento on March 4 and Hayward on March 25. For more information, including dates for additional trainings, contact Duc Luu .
Winning for Public Education in 2020: 100+ Black Leaders for Schools and Communities First
We can't win with LCFF alone. We need to grow the total amount of spending on public education, especially for communities that have borne the brunt of decades of racist disnvestment. For the past 40 years, there has been a growing gap between high- and low-spending school districts in California, and these differences in spending have hit Black communities hardest.
In celebration of Black History and Black Futures Month, 100+ Black leaders--including State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza, Senator Holly Mitchell, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, Californians for Justice’s Saa’un Bell and many more (including some of you!) came out in support of the Schools & Communities First initiative. See the full list here .
How Much Money Does Your School District Need? 
Check out this tool from EdSourc e to calculate how much more funding your school district would need for every student it serves. And listen to this radio story by KALW called California Education Spending Inches Up From ‘Near The Bottom Of The Barrel’ to understand the current state of school funding.
What Districts Must Do to Support High-Need Students: A Haiku 
Spot specific needs
Design actions around them
Prove them effective.

A haiku from Public Advocates’ Managing Attorney John Affeldt on the promise of LCFF to strengthen educational opportunities for historically underserved students. Also, listen to this Q&A with John to learn more about districts’ obligations to high-need students and how you can take action. What is your haiku for public education? Share it out with #Haiku4PublicEd #WeMakeLCFFWork
Stay Engaged!

Even though the campaign ends in a few days, you can stay connected to all our work by signing up here! We want you to be connected to the important work happening in your community and all week we’ll be asking our partners to share out what campaigns they are working on to win in 2020 at #WeMakeLCFFwork.

Stay tuned for more resources rolling out over the new few months, including a LCAP Campaign Toolkit, an English Learner LCAP Toolkit from Californians Together, detailed guidance on supplemental and concentration expenditures by Public Advocates’ John Affeldt, and additional webinars on disrupting the School-to-Prison pipeline with LCFF, reading an LCAP, and authentic parent engagement.
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