Facts about CA School Funding

State policymakers determine how much money is available and how those funds will be allocated to school districts, within a framework of state and federal laws.

School districts decide how to spend the funds and allocate resources to the schools they govern, within legal and regulatory constraints, restrictions placed on funds by the state legislature and/or governor, and based on collective bargaining agreements with district employees.

We get what we pay for – the facts about California school finance and its effect on student achievement and school success:

“Getting Down to Facts” studies: A series of 23 in depth studies funded by private foundations (The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, and The Stuart Foundation) and coordinated by Stanford University. These studies examined California’s school governance and finance systems and were released to the public in March 2007.
“Now That We Have the Facts” Survey: Several of California’s prominent grassroots organizations spent the second half of the 2006-2007 school year conducting a study of students, parents and other residents of California’s low-and moderate-income communities. The goal of this study was to highlight the concerns and priorities of Californians most affected by the problems facing the state’s K-12 system
The basics of California’s school finance system: A site developed by Ed Source, a credible and respected source of K-12 education information, research, analysis and data.
School Finance Exploration Project: During 2005-06, the California School Boards Association, Children Now, the League of Women Voters California Education Fund and the California State Parent Teachers Association conducted nearly 70 interviews with key opinion and political leaders in California on school finance reform through a generous grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The goal of these interviews was to begin identifying common ground for the development of a comprehensive package of both reform and investment relative to California’s public school system.
The Governor's Committee on Education Excellence: Created in 2005, this Committee is a non-partisan, privately funded group charged with examining K-12 education in California and recommending steps to improve the performance of public schools in the four interrelated areas of: finance, governance, teaching and administration.
California student success project: This project engages policymakers, business leaders, educators, labor leaders, and civic leaders in the need to design and implement a comprehensive change framework that is aligned to higher student and educator outcomes and has the resources needed to dramatically improve the future for California's children and the state.
Statewide averages and national comparisons
- California per-pupil spending (adjusted or regional cost of living differences) is $7,081, ranking behind 45 other states and the District of Columbia (“Quality Counts”, Editorial Projects in Education Research Center ▪ www.edweek.org/rc)
- California teacher salaries are usually ranked in the top three states nationally because of the cost of living, which is true of most professions in California. The typical California teacher makes $0.99 for every $1.00 made by people in comparable professions. (“Quality Counts”, Editorial Projects in Education Research Center and Ed-data.k12.com)▪ www.edweek.org/rc
- California only spends 3.3% of its taxable resources on education, ranking 37^th behind other states. (“Quality Counts, Editorial Projects in Education Research Center ▪ www.edweek.org/rc
- While its teacher salaries are relatively high compared to other states, California has more students per teacher than most states. California ranks 49^th behind only Arizona and Utah in student-teacher ratio. It ranks 50^th in principal-student ratio, 50^th in counselor-student ratio and 51^st (including D.C.) in librarian-student ratio. (“Comparing California,” Edsource, 2005)
- If California were a school district and the rest of the United States were a school district, California only funds 74% of the teachers, 63% of the principals and 46% of the counselors for the same number of students. (Public Policy Institute of California, 2005)
- California spends $115,000 per year to keep a juvenile inmate, compared to under $8,000 for educating a juvenile in a California public school. (Commonwealth Juvenile Justice Program, 2006)