User:Ohm1129/Education in California

Add this underneath Funding levels, costs, and metrics
California public schools are funded through 4 main revenue streams: Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), Federal Revenue, Other State revenue, and Other Local revenue. LCFF makes up the largest chunk of public school funding, and is just large revenue streams of property and local taxes. Federal revenue is a significantly smaller portion of funding, given as part of free or reduced lunch programs and other federal-based aid programs.

Other state and local revenue are miscellaneous streams of money that are not too significant. A school receives a general, “basic aid” amount, based on a formula for the grades a school holds, number of students, etc… A basic aid district is a district with “too much money”. In a basic aid district, property taxes generate more revenue than the funding limit, a benchmark set by the state to qualify for additional funding (Cal Dept. of ed). Of the 944 school districts in California, 80 are basic aid. 40 of them are in the Bay Area alone.

Because LCFF is the largest portion of public school funding, schools capable of generating more LCFF funding often have more overall funding per student, but it’s those same districts that already have well-off families and students. This issue is prominent in East San Jose, CA, where Alum Rock Union School District receives about 25% less funding than Saratoga Union School District per student. Homes in the Alum Rock region sell for between $589,100 and $686,100 and Saratoga homes sell for over $2 million.