California's $4B 'Ghost Student' Scandal: Waste in Public Education
Submitted by MAGA
Posted 2 days ago
California's public education system is under scrutiny as a recent report reveals the state paid $4 billion for "ghost" students in the 2022-2023 school year. The libertarian Reason Foundation report highlights the issue of "hold harmless" policies that provide funding protections for public schools in the face of declining enrollment.
These policies include declining enrollment protections, which allow schools to use prior, higher enrollment numbers to determine funding, and funding guarantees, which provide schools with a minimum level of state financial support regardless of enrollment. However, California's charter schools, which are public schools, do not qualify for "hold harmless" funding.
The report found that 85% of school districts received some form of "hold harmless" funding. Of the 148 schools that received minimum state aid funding, 111 were "property-wealthy districts that didn’t otherwise qualify for state formula aid."
California's enrollment-based funding policy allows the use of the greater of the current year’s average daily attendance, the last year’s, or the average of the three most recent years (not including the current year). "Ghost" students are the difference between the number of actual students and the number the school district used for funding.
Los Angeles Unified School District, the largest in the state, had an estimated 50,417 "ghost" students directing $507.74 million from state funds to the district. Of the over 1,400 California public schools with enrollment declines of 20% or more since the pandemic, 125 of them are in Los Angeles Unified.
At a statewide level, "ghost" student funding accounted for 6.2% of total state formula aid to school districts. Given finite state resources, funding "ghost" students impacts funding for real students.
Aaron Garth Smith, one of the study authors, told The Center Square, "California’s hold harmless policies untether the relationship between K-12 funding and students. The state’s fiscal outlook is bleak, and policymakers should consider ways to allocate public school funding more strategically. Eliminating ghost students and the state’s [minimum state aid] provision would be a good step in this direction."
California public school enrollment declined 325,311 between the 2019-2020 and 2023-2024 school years, even after creating a whole new grade — transitional kindergarten — to boost attendance figures and funding.
California plans on spending approximately $23,940 per TK-14 student for the coming fiscal year. Should enrollment declines continue as one-in-four Californians are projected to be 60 or older by 2030, the state may someday have no choice but to shift education funding towards elder care.
This report raises questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of California's public education system. As taxpayers, it is crucial to ensure that our hard-earned money is being used wisely and effectively, especially when it comes to educating our children.
Sources:
rvmnews.com
justthenews.com
rumble.com
These policies include declining enrollment protections, which allow schools to use prior, higher enrollment numbers to determine funding, and funding guarantees, which provide schools with a minimum level of state financial support regardless of enrollment. However, California's charter schools, which are public schools, do not qualify for "hold harmless" funding.
The report found that 85% of school districts received some form of "hold harmless" funding. Of the 148 schools that received minimum state aid funding, 111 were "property-wealthy districts that didn’t otherwise qualify for state formula aid."
California's enrollment-based funding policy allows the use of the greater of the current year’s average daily attendance, the last year’s, or the average of the three most recent years (not including the current year). "Ghost" students are the difference between the number of actual students and the number the school district used for funding.
Los Angeles Unified School District, the largest in the state, had an estimated 50,417 "ghost" students directing $507.74 million from state funds to the district. Of the over 1,400 California public schools with enrollment declines of 20% or more since the pandemic, 125 of them are in Los Angeles Unified.
At a statewide level, "ghost" student funding accounted for 6.2% of total state formula aid to school districts. Given finite state resources, funding "ghost" students impacts funding for real students.
Aaron Garth Smith, one of the study authors, told The Center Square, "California’s hold harmless policies untether the relationship between K-12 funding and students. The state’s fiscal outlook is bleak, and policymakers should consider ways to allocate public school funding more strategically. Eliminating ghost students and the state’s [minimum state aid] provision would be a good step in this direction."
California public school enrollment declined 325,311 between the 2019-2020 and 2023-2024 school years, even after creating a whole new grade — transitional kindergarten — to boost attendance figures and funding.
California plans on spending approximately $23,940 per TK-14 student for the coming fiscal year. Should enrollment declines continue as one-in-four Californians are projected to be 60 or older by 2030, the state may someday have no choice but to shift education funding towards elder care.
This report raises questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of California's public education system. As taxpayers, it is crucial to ensure that our hard-earned money is being used wisely and effectively, especially when it comes to educating our children.
Sources:
rvmnews.com
justthenews.com
rumble.com
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