The California Local Control Funding Formula is the state’s K-12 school funding system, enacted in 2013, that gives every district a per-student base grant and layers extra money on top for English learners, low-income students, and foster youth. For 2025-26, base grants run from about $10,411 to $12,746 per student depending on grade span, and districts that serve large shares of high-need students receive supplemental and concentration add-ons that can push per-pupil funding well above those figures.
The Three Layers of LCFF Funding
Every district’s LCFF entitlement is built from three pieces: a base grant for every student, a supplemental grant tied to the share of high-need students, and a concentration grant for districts where those students are the majority.1Legislative Analyst’s Office. An Overview of the Local Control Funding Formula The base grant is calculated using Average Daily Attendance rather than enrollment, so funding tracks how many students actually show up.
Base Grant Rates for 2025-26
Base rates differ across four grade spans because costs differ. For the 2025-26 school year, the adjusted base grant rates per ADA are:2California Department of Education. Funding Rates and Information, Fiscal Year 2025-26
- TK/K through grade 3: $11,323
- Grades 4 through 6: $10,411
- Grades 7 and 8: $10,719
- Grades 9 through 12: $12,746
The K-3 rate includes a 10.4% grade span adjustment meant to pay for smaller class sizes.3California Legislative Information. California Education Code 42238.02 To collect the full adjustment, a district must keep average K-3 class enrollment at or below 24 students, or hit an alternative average negotiated with its teachers’ bargaining unit.4California Department of Education. Local Control Funding Formula Overview The 9-12 rate carries a 2.6% adjustment to help cover career technical education.
Base rates are updated each year using a cost-of-living factor tied to the national Implicit Price Deflator for state and local government purchases.3California Legislative Information. California Education Code 42238.02
Supplemental Grants
On top of the base, districts receive a supplemental grant worth 20% of the adjusted base, multiplied by the district’s percentage of “unduplicated pupils.”3California Legislative Information. California Education Code 42238.02 Unduplicated pupils are students who are English learners, qualify for free or reduced-price meals, or are in foster care. A student who falls into more than one of those categories is counted only once, which is what “unduplicated” means. If 40% of a district’s students are unduplicated, the supplemental grant equals 20% of the adjusted base applied to that 40% share. Every district with even one unduplicated pupil receives some supplemental funding.
Concentration Grants
The concentration grant only applies to districts where unduplicated pupils exceed 55% of total enrollment. For the share above that 55% line, the district receives an add-on equal to 65% of the adjusted base.3California Legislative Information. California Education Code 42238.02 The concentration percentage was 50% when LCFF launched and rose to 65% starting in 2021-22.
Here’s how the layers stack. A district where 70% of students are unduplicated gets the 20% supplemental on the full 70% share. It also gets the 65% concentration add-on, but only on the 15 percentage points above 55%. A district at 50% unduplicated gets the supplemental grant and no concentration grant at all. The result: districts serving the highest concentrations of low-income students, English learners, and foster youth receive meaningfully more per student than the base grant alone would deliver.
Where the Money Comes From
LCFF is paid for through a mix of local property taxes and state aid from the State School Fund and the Education Protection Account.5California Department of Education. LCFF Frequently Asked Questions The state figures out each district’s total LCFF entitlement using the three-layer formula, then subtracts the local property tax revenue the district is expected to collect. State aid covers the gap.
In a small number of “basic aid” or “community funded” districts, local property taxes exceed the LCFF entitlement. Those districts receive little or no state aid and keep the surplus local revenue.
The Equity Multiplier for High-Need School Sites
Starting in 2023-24, the state added a funding layer that targets individual school sites rather than whole districts. A school qualifies for Equity Multiplier money if, in the prior year, its non-stability rate was above 25% and its socioeconomically disadvantaged pupil rate was above 70%.6California Department of Education. Local Control Funding Formula Equity Multiplier Eligible schools receive funding automatically through the state apportionment process. The point of this layer is that district averages can hide severe conditions at particular schools, so money flows directly to those sites.
How Districts Can Spend the Money
Districts have real flexibility over supplemental and concentration dollars. They do not have to track the funds in a separate budget line or spend them on specific programs.5California Department of Education. LCFF Frequently Asked Questions A district may use them on a schoolwide or districtwide basis as long as it explains how the spending is designed to benefit unduplicated pupils. A districtwide literacy initiative, for example, can be justified by showing that unduplicated students have the largest reading gaps and will benefit most.
The limit on that flexibility is the proportionality requirement. A district must demonstrate that supplemental and concentration funding is producing a proportional increase or improvement in services for the unduplicated pupils who generated it, compared to services provided to all students.7Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 5 15496 The regulation sets out a specific calculation, so it is more than a vague commitment. A district cannot quietly absorb the money into general operations.
The Local Control and Accountability Plan
LCFF ties its funding flexibility to a planning document. Every district, county office of education, and charter school must adopt a three-year Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, and update it each year before July 1.8California Legislative Information. California Education Code 52060 The LCAP lays out how the district plans to spend its money and improve outcomes for all students, with specific attention to unduplicated pupils.
The LCAP has to address eight state priorities set in law: basic conditions (qualified teachers, materials, and facilities), implementation of state academic standards, parent and family engagement, student achievement, student engagement, school climate, course access across required subject areas, and other student outcomes.9California Department of Education. State Priority Related Resources Before the board adopts the plan, the district must gather meaningful input from parents, students, staff, and community members.8California Legislative Information. California Education Code 52060 This is where the proportionality calculation lives on paper.
Tracking Results Through the California School Dashboard
The California School Dashboard is the public reporting tool for how districts and schools perform on the priorities their LCAPs are built around. Each measure is reported on a five-color scale from red (lowest performance) through orange, yellow, and green to blue (highest performance), with the color based on both current results and the change from the prior year.10California School Dashboard. How Does California’s Accountability System Work?
State measures cover chronic absenteeism, graduation rates, suspension rates, English learner progress, and academic performance in English language arts, math, and science. Local measures, including school climate surveys, facility conditions, and parent engagement, are self-reported by districts and are not broken out for individual schools or student groups. For parents and community members, the Dashboard is the practical way to see whether a district’s LCAP spending is actually moving the numbers it is supposed to move.