In California, the return on investment is dismal

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** The School Funding Fraud
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Dear John,

Politico reports ([link removed]) that billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief aid to schools is running dry. The money must be spent by September, and there is “urgent concern over how schools might get burned when the money’s gone, as the process to request extensions to looming spending deadlines heats up in the coming months.”

Schools might be burned?!

We are led to believe that the cheapskate American taxpayers are not forking over enough cash to the government school monopoly. But the data tells a very different story.

According to the invaluable Just Facts ([link removed]) , which is dedicated to researching and publishing verifiable data about the critical public policy issues of our time, the U.S. spent $1.2 trillion on education in 2022. The bulk of the spending, $834 billion, goes to elementary and secondary education, while $226 billion is spent on higher education, and $121 billion goes to libraries and other forms of education.

This total breaks down to $8,993 for every household in the U.S., 4.6% of the U.S. gross domestic product, and 14% of the government’s current expenditures. It’s important to note that these figures don’t include land purchases for schools and other facilities, as well as some of the costs of durable items like buildings and computers. The unfunded liabilities of post-employment non-pension benefits (like health insurance) are also not included.

Unimpressed by any such data, California Teacher Association president David Goldberg bellyached ([link removed]) in early February that California has suffered through “decades of deliberate disinvestment in public schools.” The union boss added, “This erratic system of starved school budgets during economic boom years mustn’t continue. We need to find lasting solutions to California’s broken budget system.”

We are led to believe that Golden State legislators are siphoning money from cash-poor schools. However, the Public Policy Institute of California discloses that school spending per pupil ([link removed]) is roughly 65% higher than a decade ago in the Golden State. In 2021, the state allotted $22,684 per student, compared to $14,245 in 2012–13. This amount doesn’t include federal funds, which brings the total to almost $24,000. So, a class of 25 students costs taxpayers about $600,000.

The money grabbers’ basic assumption (or at least their selling point) is that spending more equates to better education results. Sadly, so many people buy into this myth and have done so for many years.

In 2008, Dan Lips, then senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, wrote, “American spending on public K-12 education is at an all-time high and is still rising. Polls show that many believe a lack of resources ([link removed]) is a primary problem facing public schools. Yet spending on American K-12 public education is at an all-time high. Approximately $9,300 is spent per pupil. Real spending per student has increased by 23.5 percent over the past decade and by 49 percent over the past 20 years.”

It cannot be said enough that there is no correlation between the amount of funding and the level of student proficiency. The most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) noted that the U.S. had additional funding of more than $75,000 per student over a ten-year period. Still, it did not have additional positive effects ([link removed]) on academic achievement.

In California, the return on investment is not good. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that even at $24,000 per student, only 30% of California’s 8th-graders are proficient in reading ([link removed]) .

Another case in point is New Mexico, where K-12 public education spending increased from $2.69 billion in Fiscal Year 2018 to $3.8 billion in FY 2023, according ([link removed]) to New Mexico Education. That translates to a hike of about $3,000 per pupil.

Yet, New Mexico is ranked second-to-last in the U.S. in standardized testing performance, with just 19% of fourth graders ([link removed]) demonstrating proficiency in higher math and 21% achieving the same in reading ([link removed]) . Students in New Mexico also had the lowest average SAT scores ([link removed]) of any state.

It must be noted that much of the $190 million the feds poured into government-run schools to reverse the damage done by the COVID-related shutdowns has been misspent. A 10-month examination by The 74 reveals that many school districts haven’t used the money as they should have. Some have “pumped millions of dollars into classroom additions, upgrading athletic fields ([link removed]) and other expenditures unrelated to the pandemic.”

Other districts invested funds in silly things like “fidget cubes” and aromatherapy supplies. Worse, some districts involved themselves in shady business deals. In San Joaquin County, CA, a state district attorney launched a criminal probe ([link removed]) into the Stockton Unified School District for spending “roughly $7 million on ultraviolet air purifiers from a company linked to a former mayor with a history of legal trouble. A state audit ([link removed]) pointed to the board’s decision to approve the contract even though district staff gave the proposal a low rating. Less than half of the 2,200 filters purchased were installed, and the rest are stored in a warehouse.”

Most recently, a Hayward elementary school struggling to boost low test scores and dismal student attendance spent $250,000 in federal money on “Woke Kindergarten, ([link removed]) ” an organization that trains teachers to “confront white supremacy, disrupt racism and oppression, and remove those barriers to learning.” (The teacher who publicly questioned spending $250,000 on the anti-racist teaching training program was placed on administrative leave ([link removed]) days after he shared his concerns over Woke Kindergarten in the San Francisco Chronicle ([link removed]) .)

A worthwhile question then becomes, “What do private schools spend?”

Just Facts finds that “the average inflation-adjusted cost of private K–12 schools in the 2019–20 school year was $9,709 per student. In contrast, the cost for public schools was $17,013 ([link removed]) per student—or 75% more than private schools.”

The detail-minded Just Facts adds that government-run schools have a “disproportionate number of students with disabilities, who cost more to educate than other students. Accounting for this difference, the average cost of educating children in public schools is now 58% greater than in private schools. However, the cost premium of public schools is almost certainly larger than 58%. This is because government data on public school spending excludes some key items.”

In reality, our public schools, which spend money like drunken sailors, live off the work of the taxpayer and have no accountability.

But at least the sailors actually earn the money they spend.

— by Larry Sand, president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network. This article originally appeared in American Greatness ([link removed]) .

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** RSVP for CPC's Parents, Not Partisans Summit
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Our third annual Parents, Not Partisans Summit in Sacramento is less than two weeks away. Reserve your spot today for this free 2-day event on Tuesday, March 12-Wednesday, March 13, 2024!

Our theme this year: Who Controls the Classroom? We're proud to partner with PERK (Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids) to present an all-star lineup of speakers who will offer their insights and in-depth skill building on grassroots mobilization, effective advocacy, strategic communications and more.

On Tuesday, hear from Assemblymember Bill Essayli, Connor Boyack, president of the Libertas Institute and creator of the popular Tuttle Twins children's book series, and parental rights champion Sonja Shaw, President of the Chino Valley Unified School Board, along with:
* Mari Barke | Director, California Local Elected Officials & Trustee, Orange County Board of Education
* Tab Berg | Political Strategist & Founder, TAB Communications
* Amy Bohn | Founder & President, PERK
* Dr. Nicole Conragan | School Choice Advocate & Executive Board Member, Parents for School Options
* Kira Davis | Author & Podcast Host
* Maxie Douglas | Director of Communications, California Senate Republican Caucus
* LTC Kenney Enney (Ret.) | Trustee, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District
* Erin Friday | Co-Leader, Our Duty (U.S.) & Executive Committee Member, Protect Kids California
* Sophia Lorey | Outreach Director, California Family Council
* Julie Hamill | CPC Attorney & Trustee, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
* Alexis Nester | Political Director, Parents Defending Education Action
* Frank Xu | President, Californians for Equal Rights Foundation

On Wednesday, we'll head to the state Capitol to meet with legislators and legislative staff, and offer morning sessions on Getting Your Message Across to State Legislators and Persuasive Advocacy Techniques with:
* Hector Barajas | CEO, Amplify360
* Tom Sheehy | Principal, Sheehy Strategy Group

Register ([link removed]) today ([link removed]) for the Parents, Not Partisans Summit! Tickets are FREE using the code PARENTUNION at checkout.

Register for the Summit Now ([link removed])
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** Register for CLEO's Virtual Event: Protecting California's Kids
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Don't miss CLEO's virtual event next week, Protecting California's Kids, on Thursday, March 7, 2024 from 12:00-1:00pm. Join us for an update on parental notification policies and litigation, legislation and ballot initiatives to protect the rights of California's parents and kids with our panelists:
* Scott Davison — Attorney, Director of the Carlsbad Education Alliance, and Co-founder of Students First California
* Erin Friday — Attorney and Co-leader of the Western Region of Our Duty
* Jonathan Zachreson — Roseville City School District Trustee, Founder of Reopen California Schools, and Co-founder of Students First California.

You must register for the event to receive the Zoom link. Register here ([link removed]) and the Zoom link will be emailed to you before the event.
Register for CLEO's Virtual Event ([link removed])
New Podcast ()
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** Radio Free California #320: Gavin Newsom Is Not Running for White House but Is Dropping Millions in Red-State Ad Buy
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On “Meet the Press,” Gavin Newsom promotes his red-state ad blitz but asserts that his ambition to replace Joe Biden is “a Republican canard.” Trump trolls Newsom at CPAC. And, parents and teachers win big in the Temecula Valley schools case. All on this week's podcast with CPC president Will Swaim and CPC board member David Bahnsen. Listen now. ([link removed])

More from CPC ()


** California's Impossible War on Oil and Gas
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The state government in Sacramento seems determined to be in the vanguard of an international movement to achieve the goals announced at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai. To achieve global “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, countries committed to tripling their nuclear-energy output, with the presumption that renewables—primarily wind and solar—would make up whatever was left over after the demise of oil, gas and coal. Edward Ring, CPC's director of water and energy policy, explains why this is not possible in his latest commentary in ([link removed]) City Journal ([link removed]) .


** Legal Update: Visalia Unified School District v. Public Employment Relations Board
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In January, the California Court of Appeal issued a decision in Visalia Unified School District v. Public Employees Relations Board, impacting personnel disputes in California school districts. This case demonstrates the absurdity of public sector job protections and the difficulty public agencies face in attempting to hold employees accountable. The good news? It also shatters the illusion that a union chapter president is immune from termination. Read the legal update ([link removed]) from CPC attorney Julie Hamill.
Additional Events ()
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Join National Review Institute and the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco on Thursday, March 14 for a luncheon with National Review Capital Matters editor and NRI fellow Andrew Stuttaford. Learn more and register here ([link removed]∣=7235125&jb=1) .

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ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER

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