Los Angeles Unified School
District
Quality Education Investment Act
Budget Workshop
March 7, 2008
Presented by:
Jannelle Kubinec, Associate Vice President
Lewis Wiley, Jr., Director, Management
Consulting Services
Good Plans Need Good Budgets
1
 The budget is a necessary ingredient to a good plan
 Adequate resources are necessary to implement actions
with rigor and fidelity
 Thinking through total costs is part of planning, not
implementation
 Unreasonable to expect a 100% result with a less-than100% investment
 Improvement plans need “real” budgets
 Accurate reflection of costs
 Include all available resources
 Based on up-to-date budget information
Building a Better Budget Process
2
 Building a Better Budget means taking care of all district
and site resources
 Establish a short list of high-priority needs
 Understand what’s available
 Create an aligned budget
Stuff to Do
Current
Budget
$ and FTE
Things to Know
Program Uses
Ru l es
Opt ions
Timelines
et c, et c. et c.
Priorities
Stuff that
Goes
A Better
Budget
Creating an Aligned Budget
3
Step 1
Understand the Environment
“Needs Assessment”
Step 2
Determine Priorities
“Key Findings”
Key
Findings
Step 3
Review and Develop Budget
“Action Plan”
Action
Steps
A Team Effort . . .
4
District
Sites
 Leadership
 Direction/Policy
 Information Support
 Site level leadership
 Service delivery
 Direct connection to
students and families
Other
Partners
 Support
 Service provider
 Program knowledge
Based on a Theory of Change
5
 The structure of the Improvement Plan template presumes a
connection between planning, action, and results
Findings
Needs
Strategy
Outcomes
Action Plans
Action plans are necessary to
advance the strategy
Keep in Mind…
6
 This is strategic planning, not operational planning
 Both address Who, When, What, and How, but with
different point of focus
Strategic
Operational
Focus
Goals
Project
Vision
Big picture
Immediate requirements
Level of Detail
Points out direction
Step-by-step
Budget
Within the ballpark
Down to the penny
Evaluation
Progress toward goal
Completion of project
Example:
Professional
Development
All administrators and grade
level team leaders will
participate in Professional
Learning Community training
during the summer; monthly
structured teacher planning
time
Detailed plan for
developing Professional
Learning Community
training agenda and
materials
Planning Tips
 Start by looking at 2007-08
 Expenditure patterns
 Where did the money go?
 Achievement patterns
 What were the results of our investment
 Carryover
 What went unspent? Why?
 Did the money come too late to plan for?
 Were we too reliant on hiring?
 Did plans and budgets get updated when
revisions were made to the budget?
7
Creating an Aligned Budget
8
 Plan actions drive budgets
 In other words, what is needed must be funded
 Beware – like most years, plans will be developed based
on today’s understanding of student performance and
resources
 But expect change
 Maintaining a strategic linkage between actions
and budgets means initial plans are created
knowing that things will change
Creating an Aligned Budget
9
 There are many forms and templates that are helpful to
complete as part of the school plan and budget development
process
 Some of the forms and templates help with processing
information and others serve as repositories
 Processing – budget worksheets, data analysis
 Repositories – Single Plan template
 Aligning resources to needs requires:
 Knowing what you need
 A system for setting priorities
 A structure for allocating resources
Establishing Priorities
 Since we know the
budget will change, be
prepared to identify
where changes will be
made in plans should
increases or
reductions occur
 Decision should
be based on
priorities
10
Action:
____________________________
A. Importance
1 = Critically Important
2 = Important
3 = Somewhat Important
______
B. Urgency
1 = Critically Urgent
2 = Urgent
3 = Somewhat Urgent
______
C. Difficulty
1 = Easy
2 = Moderately Difficult
3 = Difficult
______
Total Score (A x B x C)
______
Activity 1: Check Plan Priorities
11
 Using the provided worksheet, list actions and determine
relative priority
Check if Action/Item Addresses
Prioritization
Action/Item
Research
Based
Data/
Evidence
Instructional
Focus
A:
Importance
1=Extremely
Critical;
2=Somewhat
Critical;
3=Not Critical
Class Size Reduction
X
X
X
1
1
2
2
ELD Coaching
Support
X
X
X
1
1
1
1
3
3
1
9
Textbook Clerk
B: Urgency
1=Extremely
Urgent;
2=Somewhat
Urgent;
3=Not
Urgent
C: Ease to
Implement
1=Easy;
2=Moderat
e; 3=Hard
Priority
Index =
AxBxC
Activity 1: Check Plan Priorities
12
 Use priority index to inform decisions
 Ensure that highest priorities are funded first
 If additional resources become available, move down list
 If resources are reduced, consider reducing or
eliminating lowest-priority items
Verifying Actions
13
 The budget can be used as a test of whether sufficient
information is included in the plan
 It’s difficult to accurately budget when there is not
adequate detail in the plan
 Basic questions must be answered, such as:
 Will this affect all students/teachers or a targeted
group?
 How much support/training will be provided?
 When will this occur?
 Where will this occur?
 How much is needed?
 What will this cost?
Activity 2: Check Action Plan Items
14
 Select three to five actions from different strategy areas in
the plan and complete the action plan validation
worksheet
Object
Code
Expense Type
1000
Certificated Salary
2000
Classified Salary
3000
Employee Benefit
4000
Books and Supplies
5000
Services and Other Operating Expenditure
6000
Capital Outlay
TOTAL
Amount
$
Description and Assumptions
Allocate Funding
15
 Effective resource allocation requires spending the best
dollar, not the just the easiest
 Remember, allocate funding across priorities
 Don’t follow the dollars; lead dollars to address
priorities
 This is the last step in the process
SIP
EIA
Title I Title III
Example of How to Choose the Best Dollar
 There is a variety of funding that can be used to support
an after-school supplemental instruction program – but
what’s the best?
 Class of 12 grade-six students
 All Basic or below
 Four English Learners CELDT Level 3
16
Example of How to Choose the Best Dollar
English
Learner
17
Low Performing Enrichment/
Students
Other
ELAP (4192)
X
Title III (S176)
X
EIA (S539/S536)
X
X
Title I (S046)
X
X
ASES (varies)
X
X
HPSG (A746)
X
X
QEIA (14310)
X
X
Discretionary BG
(3023)
X
X
X
SLIBG (14222)
X
X
X
 Fund 1/3 of class with ELAP, Title III, and/or EIA
 Fund balance with Title I or other listed resource
X
Activity 3: Identify and Allocate Resources
18
 The District has prepared a reference table to help sites
identify funding options
 More than one funding source may be necessary and/or
appropriate
 Consider whether one-time or ongoing expense
 Identify all options and select the most restricted first
Final Thoughts
19
 Money is rarely the solution, but often a symptom of the
problem
 Plans and budgets provide a blueprint, but, along the way,
changes may be necessary
 Remember – a good budget is not an
end in itself, but a means to support
improvement
 Bottom line – make your budget
reflect and support your district
and site priorities
 And, finally, resources will always
be limited . . . but we decide if they
are limiting
Thank you for attending our
workshop!