Dive Brief:

• Calif. gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashakari has major ideas for the state's schools. A 33-page policy paper released Tuesday lays out the GOP candidate's desire to change how school funding works.

• The former U.S. Treasury official’s plan disrupts the current model; instead of sending money to school districts, Kashakari thinks the state should cut out the middle man and send it straight to the 10,000 public schools. 

• The plan also calls for a significant chunk of the state’s education code to be disregarded, which would, in turn, allow the schools to operate like charters. For example, operations would be up to the schools and not their districts. 

Dive Brief:

At the time of publication, the official report has yet to be published, leaving many unknowns. One particular question is how the school boards would be chosen or elected. Would they still be elected by the districts? Or would they be elected by schools? Or, like a charter school, appointed for the individual school? This is typically a point that most opponents to charter schools feel strongly about, and it is one that could greatly affect the general public’s reaction to Kashakari’s plan.

Sending money directly to school versus district is not a bad idea on its own — every campus has its own individual needs, so allowing those at the school to operate the budget sounds like a streamlined idea. The problem with transparency sometimes comes when individuals do not feel like their board members were chosen by them or being held accountable.  This is why the board and how it gets chosen plays a big role in the overall acceptance of this plan.

Other K-12 proposals in Kashkari’s plan: extended school days and years, merit pay for teachers, and more vocational study opportunities.