California Education Funding in Crisis

Did you know that California ranks 49th in the nation in its staff-per-student ratio?

The Golden State has about twice as many students per school district administrator, guidance counselor, and high school teacher as the national average. Why is this so?

• See the latest available staff-per-student data from the National Center for Education Statistics in this new data page.

You'll find additional information and data on the EdSource website to help you understand and explain school finance in California and the impact on schools of the current state budget crisis.

• To find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about K-12 funding in California, see our Current Budget Discussions page.

• To get information about specific school districts, the money they receive, and how they spend it, visit the Ed-Data website.
  

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Review Report: Going Exponential: Growing the Charter School Sector’s Best

(National Education Policy Center) A new report called Going Exponential: Growing the Charter School Sector’s Best, from Progressive Policy Institute, calls for the implementation of policies that encourage charter schools to grow like a mold, virus or cancer. The report lacks any scientific evidence to support its advocacy, according to an expert third party review released today. The review is published by the National Education Policy Center, housed at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education.

The Going Exponential report was written by Emily Ayscue Hassel, Bryan C. Hassel, and Joe Ableidinger and was reviewed for the Think Twice think tank review project by Arizona State University professor David Garcia. The report begins with the premise that charter schools and charter management organizations (CMOs, which are non-profit networks of charter schools) are key to improving urban public schools. The report asserts that “the number of children served by the best charter schools is far too low” and that “millions more children would benefit if they had access to the nation’s best CMO’s and charter schools.” The rest of the story...

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