Equitable State Funding for School Facilities

This report discusses the inequities in California’s K–12 school facilities funding formula. California school facilities require significant new and ongoing investments; however, funding varies across localities. Funding for facilities mostly comes from local sources and depends crucially on local property wealth. The state provides some funding for facilities through the School Facility Program (SFP), which usually requires local matching contributions. Overall, the authors find that SFP funding has disproportionately benefited more affluent students and districts. Disparities are driven largely by modernization funding and are partially addressed by hardship funding. Suburban districts have received the most SFP funding, while funding for rural districts has been inconsistent. Districts allocate funding across schools in ways that reduce inequities. State policies could improve the equity and efficiency of facilities funding.

Authors: Julien Lafortune, Niu Gao