smarter school spending

Oakland, CA – Today, Pivot Learning Partners announced a statewide pilot program, called the California Smarter School Spending Project, to transform instructional planning, district budgeting, and LCAP development. Over the course of the next year, with generous support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,

Pivot will work closely with leadership in five pioneering California districts – San Francisco Unified, Tracy Unified, Hayward Unified, Pomona Unified and Santa Ana Unified – to narrow and focus their instructional priorities, fund these priorities over the long-term, and build their LCAPs into strategic finance plans that can lead to better student outcomes.

Smarter School Spending is a national movement comprised of dozens of districts. The model was developed and initially implemented in four demonstration districts – Fayette County (KY), Knox County (TN), Lake County (FL), and Rochester City (NY) – to more sharply define their strategic priorities, close budget gaps and identify savings (nearly $160 million combined). The districts were then able to direct these savings to funding their priorities over the time. The California Smarter School Spending project is designed to align Smarter School Spending and the LCAP development process.

Through this project, the partners also expect to identify best practices that can revitalize LCAP development and inform other district leaders, community members, and state policymakers.

“With the implementation of LCFF, there is no better state than California to introduce the best practices of Smarter School Spending,” said Arun Ramanathan, CEO of Pivot Learning Partners. “We are thrilled to work with leaders in five diverse California districts to help them to identify and fund their top priorities and build meaningful, actionable LCAPs.”