Embedded Files
The purpose of this site is to inform educators, policymakers, and communities about the issue of adequate and equitable public school funding.
As the Superintendent of the Buckeye Union School District for nearly 15 years, and having served in public education since the late 1990s, I have witnessed multiple waves of funding challenges in California.
Over the past decade, the state has made substantial investments in all public schools, with an important emphasis on equitable funding through supplemental, concentration, and equity multiplier grants. However, during this same period, many districts—serving widely varying populations—have seen their Revenue Per ADA fall further and further below the statewide median.
For these school districts, state funding is quickly becoming insufficient to adequately address the needs of our students and employees. This dynamic is compounded by a decade of inflationary pressures: declining enrollment, increased employer contributions to employee pensions, escalating insurance premiums, technology acquisition and maintenance expenses, elevated utilities prices, and the rising costs of serving greater numbers of students with disabilities. In fact, these dynamics are impacting all school districts.
An analysis of Revenue Per ADA reveals that the number of statistically underfunded school districts has grown from approximately 4 districts in 2012 to 207 in 2023, and the ADA associated with these districts has grown to approximately 1.24 million students.
To illustrate these dynamics, a variety of tools and graphics are provided on this site and will be updated over time.
Fortunately, there appears to be emerging recognition that adjustments to California's school funding formulas will be necessary. However, some options under consideration may actually exacerbate extreme funding disparities—enrollment-based versus ADA-funded models, for example—and lead to further underfunding of districts already at the low end of the distribution.
Following the recent Public Policy Institute of California report, the Legislative Analyst's Office released a report outlining several alternatives for improving public school funding. A careful review of the proposals reveals one certainty:
The only proposal that addresses adequacy and equity in a balanced manner, sufficiently benefiting all districts while maintaining a commitment to ensuring students with greater need receive greater resources, is the LAO's proposal to raise base funding levels by 7.24%.
Every other proposal will fall short of addressing adequacy and will lead to diminished opportunities for California's students. The current legislative session will be a critical time to engage around the impacts of current and future funding formulas for public schools.
We invite your district or organization to join the call to RAISE THE BASE!
Thank you,
David Roth, Ph.D.
Superintendent
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