School finance is not simply a matter of dollars and cents. Rather, the amount of funding available, the way those funds are allocated, and the resources they provide are indicators of our collective hopes and priorities for public education. Thus, any consideration of California's school finance system rightfully begins with a look at why public education matters and what we hope our investment yields for our own  and our children's futures.

You probably recognize that the young people you know need a good education. You'd like to see them succeed in life, to "better themselves," and to find work in the career of their choice. But do you understand why it is important for you to care about California's entire public school system and its success in educating the students you don't know personally?

No matter who you are—business owner, senior citizen, employee, parent, educator, neighbor—the quality of California's public schools affects the quality of your life and the vitality of our state.

California's Public Schools are Important to Us All

Let's face it: Today's public school students will be tomorrow's air traffic controllers, computer programmers, emergency room personnel, auto mechanics, and teachers. How well students are educated has an impact on the quality of services you receive and, therefore, on the safety and comfort of the world you live in.

California's economy is only as strong as the education and skill levels of those who live and work here. Many California industries—medical, finance, telecommunications—desperately need well-educated workers to keep California companies competitive and to keep our state economy strong.

The better job our public schools do in educating California's students, the stronger our businesses and communities will be. We all benefit.

California's public schools are important to everyone both for economic reasons and for important social reasons. At least 90% of America's children have one experience in common: public school. Our public schools remain the single most powerful force for instilling the basic democratic principles that Americans hold dear and that contribute to the common good.

One reason our system of free, universal public education was created was to unify a diverse population of immigrants—to transmit a common language and culture, a sense of what it means to be an American. That purpose is still important. The ethnically diverse America projected for the year 2050 can be experienced in California today. California's public schools can lead the way in fostering a strong American identity that includes respect and appreciation for the strengths of different cultures.

Another distinguishing ideal of our country is the belief that anyone who works hard can achieve happiness and prosperity. For most students, a good education is still the main avenue to that "American Dream."

Research shows that better-educated people vote more often, and certainly a good education helps a voter make well-reasoned decisions on candidates and issues. The quality of education today's students receive will shape the kind of world they help create—and that we will live in as adults and as senior citizens.

Expectations for Public Schools Have Become More Ambitious and Complex

Like it or not, our world has been changing rapidly, and the rate of change continues to accelerate. That reality has profound implications for California's public schools, where teachers are attempting to prepare young people for a world most of us can't even envision. Schools are serving a more diverse population of students growing up in a society quite different from the one their parents knew. At the same time, the expectations for what every student needs to know and be able to do have also increased.

A changing workplace: Employers want high school (and college) graduates with more skills than ever before— not just the basics but the ability to work in teams and solve problems.

New technology: Students need to know how to use the computers and other productivity tools of a technology-driven world. Along with that, schools must take advantage of new technologies to change classroom practices in ways that improve learning for all students.

Insights into learning: Exciting new research into how children learn—and what teaching methods work best—is making educators rethink their strategies for delivering instruction.

Students with great promise and opportunity: California's student population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the nation or the world. As our students enter a global economy, they gain from having gone to school with people from many different backgrounds. The most academically successful of them compete well upon graduation, scoring at the national average on college entrance tests and entering the most selective universities.

But also students with special challenges: One in every four California students comes to school speaking another language and needing to learn English. More than 10% of students have been identified as requiring Special Education services. Almost half of California's children live in low-income households.

Greater accountability for student performance.

About one-third of California graduates complete the courses required to be eligible for admission to the state's public four-year universities. But nearly the same number leave high school without even graduating. State and federal leaders want schools to do a better job preparing all students. They have instituted new accountability systems designed to put pressure on schools that do not improve and to provide support to help them do better.

In California, the expectations are high. The state has adopted academic content standards widely regarded as the most rigorous in the nation and has taken a strong role in selecting curriculum materials aligned to those standards. It has invested millions in increased student testing to try to put a sharp focus on what schools are teaching and students are learning and has set the bar high for student proficiency on those tests. 

Schools and Communities Must Face These New Challenges

These changing conditions have created important gaps between what the public schools are doing and what Californians now expect of them. Further, state and federal accountability programs have made those expectations more explicit. They have also shed a bright light on the gaps in achievement that exist between groups of students based on their ethnicity and language backgrounds. Another important gap also exists—between the job Californians now expect schools to do and the resources they have been willing to invest in them.

The amount of funding school districts in California receive is largely determined by the governor and Legislature. And while the overall investment has increased in recent years, California remains well below the national average in per-pupil expenditures. In a state that has a high cost of living, that translates to a school system with some of the largest class sizes in the country and the second worst ratio of total staff to students among all states.

Get Informed and Get Involved

If you care about the goals of public schools—or about the need to improve teaching and student learning in California—then you also have to care about school funding. The issues are complex. As Californians increase their public debates and deliberations on how to best improve the way our public schools are funded, we hope this California School Finance website will be a valuable resource for those discussions and for making informed choices.