District investment of LCFF funds in residency stipends written into Local Control and Accountability Plans as a workforce development strategy¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

A financial sustainability strategy in which partner districts write the residency into their LCAPs and allocate Local Control Funding Formula funds toward resident stipends and program support staff, recouping costs through reduced recruitment, hiring, and onboarding expenses given residents' multiyear service commitments. As printed, "residency partner LEAs wrote the residency into their Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs)—a document that California LEAs use to set goals, plan actions, and detail how state formula funding will be used to achieve district goals—as a workforce development and hiring strategy." Kern Urban was 100% district funded during 2022–23.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A district willing to treat residency as a hiring strategy and commit multiyear funding
• Residents' multiyear service commitments so anticipated savings can offset costs

Constraints¶

• The report notes grant reliance is a sustainability risk; university in-kind contributions and staffing costs could become an issue for long-term sustainability, per the former dean

Target Learners¶

• Teacher residency candidates needing financial support during preparation

Target Learning Goals¶

• Sustaining high-quality clinical teacher preparation pathways

Related Strategies¶

• Develop high-retention pathways — Grow Your Own programs and teacher residencies — to build and diversify local teacher supply
• Sustain teacher residencies through blended federal and state funding, including TQP grants, ESSER funds, and dedicated state investments
• Strategic staffing models that redirect district instructional-support funds to subsidize paid residency stipends
• Use Teacher Residency Grant Program funds, braided with other sources, to recruit and retain a diverse teaching workforce
• State policy levers for sustaining yearlong, stipended clinical preparation: require or incentivize full-year stipended clinical experience, fund partnerships, and reduce testing fees

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Fitz, J., & Yun, C. (2025). Meeting urban and rural district needs for educators: California State University, Bakersfield's teacher residencies. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/825.823