Perry explains state’s budget for education

Education consultant Ms. Mary Perry explained where public schools get their funding and where that money goes at “School Budgets 101” on March 21.

She wanted to educate people about how budget cuts affect our schools and what people can do about it.

Perry compared our school’s various statistics to other schools’ and analyzing the differences.

Nineteen percent of our students are English language learners, whereas the state average is 25 percent. This would account for some of the differences in funding because schools with more students in special programs receive more money.

Other factors that could change funding are special education, class size reduction, daily attendance and student and school characteristics.

Ms. Perry showed how California’s funding is significantly less than the other states in the nation. She stated that Californian schools receive $2,162 less per student than the national average of $10,591, and with adjustment for regional cost of living the difference

would be around $2,998. Another dif- ference was the ratio of staff to students. “In California, for a school with 1000 students, there are only 48 teachers,” Ms. Perry said. “Whereas the average of the United States is 64 [teachers].”

You can find these statistics and others at www.ed-data.org.

Ms. Perry also explained the roles that the state and district leaders play in dividing the budget.

“State leaders decide how much money is allotted annually. The state allocates funds to school districts and some parts are earmarked,” Ms. Perry said. “Local districts have little ability to raise revenue. But, districts decide how to spend the funds. ”

She spoke about the petition from