FUNDING INEQUITY EXPOSED (Hidden)

California’s education funding system is an irrational, unfair mess. One California district in northern California with 87% of the students in poverty and 12% learning English receives over $27,000 per student, while another district in Southern California that serves children with similar poverty (86%) and 41% of students learning English receives just over $6,700 per student. In many instances, schools serving the students with the greatest need get the fewest dollars.

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To make matters worse, California politicians have deferred money owed to schools to pay for other government programs. With $8 billion withheld annually from schools, this budget gimmick has disproportionately hit districts serving students with the greatest challenges, further amplifying current inequities.

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The bottom line is that California is failing to provide these students their constitutional right to basic educational equality and the opportunity to learn. This is an injustice for individual students and, in turn, compromises California’s economic and civic future.
 
It doesn't have to be this way.

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California now has a historic opportunity to reform how we fund public education. The state can take bold action to provide resources based on the needs of students. And it can do it in a way that gives local educators flexibility to spend the money to best meet the needs of kids.  

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