There’s a common presumption that the more money government spends on a program the better the outcome. This simply is not so. And nowhere has the failure of massive spending been more evident than California’s education system.
California spends more money on education than any other program in the state — roughly half of the entire budget. Last year, in fact, taxpayers spent close to $69 billion on education.
What has this bought us?
California’s academic performance ranks among the bottom ten in the nation. Drop out rates are appalling. In Los Angeles, home of the largest school district in the state, for every student who graduates, another one drops out.
If additional money were the answer, why do we have so many cases of education’s abysmal performance?
To illustrate the point, Elk Grove and Sacramento City Unified, the two largest districts in Sacramento County, enroll similar numbers of English learners, but Elk Grove outperforms Sacramento City by nearly 10 percentage points in English and eight percentage points in math. At the same time, Elk Grove receives nearly $2,200 per student less than Sacramento City does.
Statewide, average student proficiency rates in English and math at the state’s bottom 20 revenue districts, which average $8,900 in funding per student, are actually higher than proficiency rates at the top 20 revenue districts, which average more than $19,200 in funding per student.
Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Unfortunately that is what California has done for years continues to do for years as it ramps up spending while failing to change how education is delivered. Ample funding is necessary to properly teach our children, but funding alone is not sufficient.
Without serious reforms—such as expanding school choice for parents, allowing for more local control and ensuring that tax dollars go to the classroom and not the bureaucracy—we are failing our kids and flushing billions of taxpayer dollars down the toilet.
To find out how much money your school district receives, visit: www.schoolfinancecenter.org