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With all of the information and "misinformation" out there, here are the verifible facts of the matter.

The Budget Process

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The Truth

Q. I’ve been told we receive more than $11,000.00 in per-pupil funding but other sources say our school district receives far less. What is the per-pupil funding for PUSD?

A. You’re hearing two different funding figures. They are both real numbers but they are also meant to be used differently.

  • The $11,000.00/pupil is a total for CA funding/pupil and derived by taking the total revenues for K-12 education (55.9 billion) and dividing by the total number of students (6.01 million) in CA. This revenue amount includes funding for K-12 public education, state building projects, capital outlay, and debt service, as well as, all non-school programs operated by the public schools such as adult school, education for prisoners, and child care (EdSource November 2004).
  • PUSD receives approximately $5,528.61 per-pupil, plus an additional amount for COLA (if funded) and monies from other State, Federal, and local sources. The total revenue per-pupil in PUSD for 2006-07 was $7,929.00, and in 2005-06 it was $7,081.00 per-pupil (PUSD First Interim Report 2007-08).

Q. The legislature has increased funding for education in California more than 20% in recent years. Californians can’t afford to give more.

A. Education funding in California has increased but when adjusted for inflation, education funding per pupil in CA has remained flat over the last decade (Legislative Analyst’s Office). From the 1970s to the current day, per-pupil expenditures in California have been below the national average. That fact, combined with the high cost of living in California, has meant that the state’s public schools have had less money to work with than the majority of their counterparts, particularly in the nation’s other industrial states. Generally speaking, that translates into more students for whom each staff member is responsible. In fall 2003, California ranked next-to-last in total school staff to students (EdSource, School Finance Overview).

Q. What happened to the Lottery money?

A. In 1985-1986 school districts began receiving proceeds form the State lottery. Over time, lottery income has proven to be an unstable source of income. Fluctuating from a high point of $189.00 per Average Daily Attendance (ADA) in 1988-89 to a low of $79 per ADA in 1991-92, lottery funds now comprise approximately 1.72% of the PUSD annual general fund (PUSD First Interim Report 2007-08)

Q. Everyone is expected to live within their budget. Why can’t schools do the same?

A. Funding for education in CA is almost completely dependent on CA revenues which include: property tax, sales tax, and income tax. Year to year, revenues for CA fluctuate. Therefore, based on revenues, CA may or may not fully fund Prop 98, our single largest source of revenue (Education Coalition Talking Points, Jan. 11, 2008). In addition to having an unstable funding source, the CA budget isn’t typically signed until after the school year begins. It is difficult for any school district to live within a budget they neither control nor know in advance the amount of their primary funding source.

Q. California continues to spend more and more money on education and our test scores have not improved. Why put more money into a broken system?

A. Experts including the Fordham Foundation (one of the nation’s leading proponents of rigorous academic standards), the Public Policy Institute of California, EdSource and researchers at Stanford University all confirm that California’s K-12 academic and performance standards are among the most challenging in the nation. With hard work, modest investments in teacher training and the adoption of standards-aligned textbooks, our students and schools have been making progress. Reading scores are up 25% and math scores have increased 17% in the last four years (Education Coalition Talking Points, January 2008). Although there should be no excuses for poor academic performance, consider the following facts from the CA K-12 Public Schools Report, RAND Ed:

  • California’s demography presents extraordinary challenges
  • California continues to have the second highest pupil-teacher ratio of any state.
  • California continues to lag the nation in addressing K-12 facility needs.
  • California suffers extreme fluctuations in real spending per pupil – approximately $1900.00 less per –pupil than the national average (Education Weekly Quality Counts 2008)

 Q. CA just doesn’t have the money to support more funding for education and nobody wants to increase taxes.

A. Tax policies and economic trends contribute to the state’s budget problems. For example, tax cuts enacted between 1993 and 2006 will cost the state $12 billion in 2007-08. The largest reductions include the $4.8 billion reduction in Vehicle License Fees, the $1 billion expansion of the dependent tax credit, and the $562 million in 1996 corporate tax reduction.

  • Corporate income taxes have declined over time. If corporations had paid the same share of their profits in corporate taxes in 2005 as they did in 1981, corporate tax collections would b $7.3 billion higher.
  • The yield of the state’s sales tax has declined over time, reflecting the shift in economic activity from goods to services and the rise of Internet and mail order sales that escape taxation. If taxable purchases accounted for the same share of personal income in 2008-09 as they did in 1966-67, the state would collect an additional $15.9 billion in sales tax.
  • The phase-out of the federal estate tax will cost the state over $1.1 billion in 2008-09. Current law reinstates the tax in 2011. However, the President proposes making the repeal permanent (Education Coalition Talking Points, January 11, 2008).

 

References:

Ed-Data: www.ed-data.k12.ca.us

Education Week Quality Counts 2008: http://www.edweek.org/rc/articles/2004/10/15/qc-archive.html

EdSource: http://www.edsource.org/edu_fin.cfm

PUSD First Interim Report: www.powayusd.com/admin/bss/finance/budget/.

RAND Education: www.rand.org

The Education Coalition, Education Coalition Talking Points, Governor’s 2008-09 Budget Proposal, January 11, 2008