Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

2 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

3 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

3 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

3 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

3 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

3 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

3 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

3 days ago
At $21,500 Per Student, When Will Pupils Get Education They Deserve?
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 4 years ago on
October 20, 2021

Share

Big things are obviously happening in California’s public school system these days and they will certainly affect not only the lives of nearly 6 million K-12 students but the state’s economic and social wellbeing for decades to come.

Dan Walters

Calmatters

Opinion

Unfortunately, however, it’s very unclear how they intertwine and whether the long-term effects will be positive or negative.

To begin, schools are being flooded with many billions of new dollars, much of it from a bumper crop of sales and income taxes, plus another big injection of federal pandemic recovery cash.

The 2021-22 state budget appropriates $123.9 billion in state and local funds for K-12 education. That translates into a record $21,555 per pupil, about double what it was a decade ago, and now in the upper ranks of states.

Enrollment Decline Predicted

Conversely, however, many school districts, particularly those in urban areas, are experiencing financial distress because their enrollments have been dropping. A long-term enrollment slide caused by declining birth and immigration rates is compounded by pandemic-related effects. Some parents refuse to send their children to school due to COVID-19 fears and others because they oppose mandatory vaccination.

Enrollment is down by more than 160,000 this year and the state Department of Finance projects a 700,000-student decline from pre-pandemic levels by 2031.

While school district revenues are determined largely by enrollment, the state froze those formulas as the pandemic erupted and schools were shuttered last year. It protected districts from calamitous revenue losses in the short run and school officials are pressing Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators to protect them from longer-term declines by modifying enrollment-based financing.

Speaking of which, for nearly a decade, much state school aid has been allocated not on enrollment alone, but by demographic characteristics. Districts with substantial numbers of poor and English-learner students have received extra per-pupil grants with the expectation that the money will close the “achievement gap” between them and their more privileged classmates. About 60% of K-12 students are considered “high needs.”

Local Control Funding Is Largely a Failure

Former Gov. Jerry Brown championed the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) but refused to have the state monitor whether the billions of extra dollars were being spent on educating the targeted kids and whether it was, indeed, improving their academic achievement. He said he trusted local school officials to do the right thing.

In the absence of state oversight, the LCFF’s efficacy has never been evaluated – until now. This month, the Public Policy Institute of California produced a comprehensive overview, packed with data and analysis. The oversimplified bottom line is that just over half of the extra money is being spent on schools whose students generated it and so far, it appears to have had a marginally positive impact.

The new state budget doubles down on LCFF on the official presumption that it works but the PPIC study indicates that effectiveness hinges on its funds being concentrated and spent wisely on kids needing help the most. It also indicates that if we move away from enrollment-based financing as local officials seek, tightening up LCFF to truly narrow the achievement gap must be one factor.

Finally, Newsom recently signed Assembly Bill 599, which puts new teeth into a landmark 2004 court case that ordered local districts to ensure that their low-performing schools are in good repair and have up-to-date instructional materials and properly certificated teachers. By defining them, it establishes a list of 2,000 schools that must be inspected for compliance.

Will more money, more insight, and more oversight raise California’s shamefully poor academic performance vis-à-vis those of other states – even arch-rival Texas? Our future depends on it.

About the Author

Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. He began his professional career in 1960, at age 16, at the Humboldt Times. For more columns by Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

[activecampaign form=19]

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

July 4th Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Founding Fathers

UP NEXT

Presidential Election Reveals Big Shift in California Voting Patterns. Will It Last?

UP NEXT

Trump Impounds Billions in Education Funding. For Fresno Unified, It’s $7.1 Million

UP NEXT

From Victims to Perpetrators: Israeli Soldiers’ Nazi Comparisons and the Unfolding War Crimes in Gaza

UP NEXT

Dear Mayor and City Council, Fresno’s Housing Bottlenecks Are a Modern Form of Redlining

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

UP NEXT

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

UP NEXT

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

UP NEXT

Israel Faces Genocide Accusations Amid Gaza Food Aid Killings

UP NEXT

Trump’s Administration Finds Harvard Violated Students’ Civil Rights, WSJ Reports

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

2 days ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

2 days ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

2 days ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

2 days ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 days ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

2 days ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

2 days ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

2 days ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

2 days ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Can you hear it — that loud roar coming from the East? It’s the sound of 1.4 billion Chinese laughing at us. Thomas L. Friedman The New Yo...

24 hours ago

Solar Farm in Riesel, Texas
24 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Caitlin Clark Signs T-Shirt
24 hours ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

The Madre Fire burning near New Cuyama has scorched 70,801 acres as of Friday, July 4, 2025, afternoon, making it California’s largest wildfire of the year, with only 10% containment and multiple evacuation zones in place. (CalFire)
2 days ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

2 days ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

A pumpjack operates at the Vermilion Energy site in Trigueres, France, June 14, 2024. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend