Tracking K-12 Education Spending in California

Abstract

The ability of California to provide quality education for its youth depends both on the state's capacity to fund K-12 education and on how the education dollars are used to provide educational services after they are allocated. This report examines how California's federal, state, and local education dollars are spent after they are allocated to K-12 education. Drawing on data provided through California's financial reporting system for counties and school districts as well as on the budgets of particular school districts, the report describes K-12 total and per-pupil expenditures for California's districts for school year 1992-93. The report examines in detail how county offices of education, district offices, and schools spent their education dollars. It also examines differences in how resources were allocated among school districts, with a focus on different kinds of school districts (elementary, secondary, and unified) and special-needs populations. The data show that total unduplicated school-district, county, and state K-12 expenditures for the 1992-93 school year were $27,567 million. This resulted in a per-pupil expenditure of $5,353 for all students enrolled in California school districts. The majority of spending--$25,433 million--occurred at the school-district level, about 92 percent of total K-12 expenditures. The majority of school-district spending was district general-fund spending, and the majority of this took place at school sites. In total, high school districts spent more than elementary or unified districts; they also spent more on each category of per-pupil expenditure. Finally, expenditures for special-education, Chapter 1, and school lunch/breakfast programs are presented. Thirteen figures and 21 tables are included. Appendices contain methodological notes, a list of expenditures by fund, variations in per-pupil expenditures across school districts, the formula for determining a base per-pupil expenditure, and a list of funding sources. (LMI)