Now 43rd in per-student spending

01-12-2011

Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

Praised for its high academic standards and accountability measures, dinged for its low scores on the national standardized tests, low high school graduation rates, and disadvantages of high rates of poverty and non-English speaking households, California fell squarely in a crowded, mediocre middle – 30th among the states, in this year’s annual ratings by Education Week’s Quality Counts. It earned a C grade: 76.2. The perennially top-ranked states are Maryland (tops with B+, 87), New York (84.7) and Massachusetts (82.6). Twenty states were between California and 10th West Virginia at 79.9. The publication’s per-pupil spending ranking is the figure most commonly cited in California’s debate over school spending, because it’s adjusted for regional costs. This year, California ranked 43rd among the states and Washington, D.C.; last year it was 46th. The $8,852 spent per pupil in 2008 – before the full impact of the recession hit California’s schools – was $2,371 below the national average of $11, 223. It will probably be headed lower once 2009 and 2010 figures are out. (more…)

Also: San Jose Mercury News, California Watch

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