Hosted by The California Endowment
LOS ANGELES – Parents and students attended a town hall meeting hosted by The California Endowment on October 28 at Hollenbeck Middle School in Los Angeles, to raise awareness on the new Fair School Funding Law as part of The California Endowment’s 12-city School Success Express bus tour.
Established in 1996, The California Endowment is a private and statewide health foundation to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians.
Formerly known as “Local Control Funding Formula,” the Fair School Funding Law passed in July 2013 that will improve the California schools, like more funding for students with greatest needs and more positive learning environments on campus.
This law will also provide more money to school districts to support low-income students, English learners and foster youths.
According to California Department of Finance, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) fund will increase to $2.71 billion by school year 2020-202, if student enrollment holds steady.
The school community forum allowed parents and students to express concerns and share ideas to state and local education leaders on current school problems (i.e. bullying, receiving lower grades in class, serving unhealthy food), which need to be resolved and ways in order to be funded by the school districts for the success of students.
“The voices of parents and students need to be heard to be involved in the Fair School Funding Law. Now that the new law exists and will bring changes to all California schools in the future, parents and students should take part of it,” The California Endowment senior program manager Mary Lou Fulton said.
Woodrow Wilson High School junior student Eduardo Pacheco voiced out his opinion about the school funding for food.
“School funding should allocate more for healthy foods. The food in school that is given to us daily is not as healthy and as tasteful as it should be. It needs to be improved because we are in school for six hours a day, five days a week. We need to stimulate our brains throughout the day. We cannot be going [through] the whole school day without eating. Hunger really distracts students that cause lack of ability to learn,” Pacheco said.
The California Board of Education will be making important decisions in early 2014 to give additional guidance to school districts on how money can be spent and how districts will be held accountable under the new law.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend November 2-5, 2013 Sec A pg.1)
