‹ Back

Charter School Battle Intensifies as Education Finances Get Squeezed

 

California’s public schools, with nearly 6 million students, are feeling the financial impacts of a quintuple whammy.

 

Billions of federal dollars to cushion the impacts of COVID-19 have been exhausted, school closures during the pandemic magnified declines in enrollment, chronic absenteeism has worsened, inflation is increasing operating costs, and the state budget is plagued by a huge deficit.

 

Since the state largely finances schools based on their attendance, many local districts are seeing ever-widening gaps between income and outgo, stalling what had been a decade-long pattern of increasing per pupil spending.

 

Local school trustees have few options to balance their budgets. They can close schools with low enrollments, lay off teachers and other staff or ask voters to approve tax increases, usually what are called “parcel taxes” on homes and commercial property – all of which encounter resistance.

 

There is one other way for school officials to reduce their financial gaps: make it more difficult for charter schools to operate. [Read more ...]

 

 

{Source:  CAL Matters - 04/25/2024}