News Update

California is 36th in nation in Education Week’s latest rankings in per-student spending

California ranked 36th in the nation in per-student spending in Education Week’s much quoted, though outdated, analysis of states’ education finances, which was released earlier this month.

Adjusted for regional costs of labor, California spent $11,269 in 2017-18, which was $2,410 below the national average. Education Week relies on most recently available federal data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce, which run several years behind. Thus, it does not reflect this year’s record post-pandemic surge in state and federal revenue, which could propel the state’s ranking in a few years.

Among the big states, California spent more than Texas ($9,369 per student) but far less than New York ($20,610) and high-achieving Massachusetts ($16,984).

California has been moving up gradually since the years following the Great Recession, when it ranked  48th to 50th nationally.

Education Week’s Quality Counts report includes several financial metrics. California ranked 41st in commitment to education funding; 3.1% of the state’s gross state product went to local and state education funding, compared with 3.5% in Texas, 4.2% in New York and 5.4% in Vermont, highest in the nation.

In terms of letter grades in school financing, California got an A- in equity, because it substantially distributes funding to low-income districts through the Local Control Funding Formula. However, its D for spending dragged it down to an overall C+. That placed it ahead of 28 other states. The two top-ranked states, with good grades in equity and spending, were New Jersey and New York, both with A-. The national average was C.