Financing School Facilities in California: A 10-Year Perspective

This study explains California’s approach to financing public school facilities and examines the level and distribution of state and local school facility funding since 2006, including funding for charter schools. Research suggests that students learn better in classrooms that are modern, comfortable, and safe, but the age and condition of school facilities vary widely across the state. This study indicates that California’s current approach to funding its school facilities presents challenges beyond merely the question of how much funding is available. Funding volatility is one such challenge. Furthermore, the system’s reliance on local general obligation bonds has left lower-income and lower property-wealth communities with fewer facility dollars. The state’s method for allocating state monies for modernization appears to have exacerbated this inequity. Overall, this study reveals significant differences in facility spending across districts related to wealth and a state school facility program that does little to reduce inequality except at the very bottom of the wealth distribution. Consequently, California’s system of school facility finance is relatively regressive.