California Funding Increase and Effectiveness
June 2, 2019
In this piece, Aaron Garth Smith takes a look at California’s latest increase in education funding. Garth Smith argues that the additional funding must be accompanied by more effectiveness, citing that under ESSA, states have to publicly report school-level, per-pupil spending. “Since California has to get in compliance with this mandate, it should take the opportunity to simultaneously modernize the state’s reporting system to help give districts, principals, parents, and community stakeholders the information they need to make sound decisions.” For example, a “report could be created showing how funding levels compare across schools,” or another “could highlight each districts’ most productive schools by comparing expenditures with outcomes.”