Media Advisory: February 15, 2005

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Contacts: Simon Aronoff, Anne Purdy, or Jessica Nusbaum, (415) 901-0111

Report Reveals How California’s Low-Income and Minority Students are Shortchanged by State and District Budget Practices

(Oakland, CA) — For the first time, a new report released today by the Education Trust-West identifies huge per-pupil spending gaps in California public schools currently masked by the state’s accounting methods. The report finds that money spent on teacher salaries in California, which make up the lion’s share of education dollars, varies widely from school to school within districts.

According to the report, "California’s Hidden Teacher Spending Gap: How State and District Budgeting Practices Shortchange Poor and Minority Students and Their Schools," the hidden funding gaps are primarily driven by significant discrepancies in teachers’ salaries between schools within the same district that serve a high percentage of poor and minority students and those serving higher-income and white students.

"What we don’t know can—and is—hurting us," said Russlynn Ali, executive director of the Education Trust-West. "The State’s current methodology in calculating school expenditures masks huge gaps in per-pupil spending within California’s school districts. This blind spot is especially troubling given the importance of quality instruction at a time when federal and state policies are increasingly pushing for all students to achieve high academic standards."

The report’s findings make a strong case for the importance of measuring school-level data on teacher salary and distributing quality teachers equitably. Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) are two districts that have developed strategies that begin to address the inequitable distribution of teaching resources. LAUSD has been implementing a plan to place more experienced teachers in their higher poverty schools and provide additional professional development to new teachers in those schools. In fact, teachers in LAUSD high poverty schools actually earn more than the average teacher in the District. While OUSD has implemented "Results Based Budgeting" wherein funding is allocated to schools based on the number and type of students and school budgets incorporate the actual cost of staff members’ salaries, rather than the district average.

Though some school districts have made concerted efforts to address the problem of inequitable distribution of teaching resources, many districts have a long way to go in ensuring that such resources are fairly distributed. "Despite consensus that California needs to do more to close student achievement gaps, the reality often does not match the rhetoric when it comes to teacher quality, the single largest contributor to student success," said Ali. "Even within the very same district, we spend significantly less on teachers in the highest-poverty and highest-minority schools than we do in the wealthiest and whitest schools," Ali continued. "But in order to spend fairly, ensuring a fair distribution of teacher talent, we need to lift the veil and collect accurate and complete information."

Key Findings from the report include:

• There are significant funding gaps among individual schools within the same school districts in California. These gaps are primarily driven by differences in teachers’ salaries, which make up the lion’s share of education dollars.
• The State’s current methodology in calculating school expenditures masks huge gaps in per-pupil spending within California’s school districts. While California provides data on funding gaps between school districts, the State has failed to provide the public with even basic information on the distribution of funding and of quality teaching within California’s school districts.
• 42 of the 50 largest school districts in California spend significantly more to teach students in their low-minority schools than they spend on teachers in schools serving the most Latino and African-American students.
• The spending gap has a dramatic impact on a student’s academic career. A student attending the highest-poverty schools from the time of kindergarten through high school will have an estimated total of $135,654 less spent on all of her teachers (K-12) than is spent on the K-12 teachers serving the most affluent students. A student attending the schools serving the highest numbers of Latino and African-American students from the time of kindergarten through high school will have an estimated total of $172,626 less spent on all of his teachers (K-12) than is spent on the K-12 teachers in schools with the fewest Latino and African-American students.

The production and release of this report was funded by the Broad Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information on this report, visit www.HiddenGap.org.

About the Education Trust-West The Education Trust-West is the West Coast partner of the national policy organization the Education Trust. The organization works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, kindergarten through college with an emphasis on serving low-income, Latino, African American and Native American students. The Education Trust-West works alongside policymakers, parents, education professionals, and business and community leaders, in cities and towns throughout California, who are trying to transform their schools and colleges into institutions that genuinely serve all students. To learn more about the Education Trust-West, visit Education Trust-West's website.