Under California’s public school funding, per pupil spending is actually $23,723
During the pandemic, funding for California’s K-12 schools and community colleges spiked from $79.3 billion in 2019-20 to $110.4 billion in 2021-22 — a 39% increase. Also during the pandemic, California public school enrollment dropped by more than a quarter of a million students. For the first time in 20 years, public school enrollment in the state is below 6 million, says education scholar Lance Izumi.
Gov. Gavin Newsom bragged, “we’ve made record investments in education,” as if spending more money actually helps children learn better. But the school lockdowns showed us that it doesn’t. Continue reading