California's average base revenue limit funding per Average Daily Attendance for 2007-08 is a complicated formula based on each student's attendance in his or her district:
Elementary districts receive $5,567; high school districts, $6,690, and unified school districts receive $5,821.
The amount most districts actually receive either is above or below these averages.
The Culver City Unified School District receives $75 more in ADA than the state average —$5,896 for 2007-08.
This base revenue limit funding of ADA is received for each student’s attendance, regardless of grade level.
By continuing to publicly simplify its budgeting of state funding, the Culver City Unified School District has been very careful not to give parents any reason to question whether the state ADA funding it receives ($5,896) is being spent equally on all its diverse student population, at all grade levels.
Taking From Peter's ADA to Pay Paul
State funding maybe publicly presented as being uniform. But its spending is probably not the day-to-day reality.
Even though the outward appearance of general uniformity in funding looks and sounds good, it does not insure equality in spending at the individual student level.
The District Administration budgets and the School Board approves monies for District programs, not for the individual student's education.
That is, unless it is legally mandated by the government to do so, as in Special Education cases.
An extreme example is that of a Special Ed student who is being educated out of state at an annual District cost of $104,000. This unfunded government mandate mathematically takes about $15 from every student’s ADA in the District.
A Few Other Questions
Does this District spend less on the average students in order to benefit other students’ more advanced education?
Dollar for dollar, are more District funds being budgeted and spent on teaching a student taking multiple Advanced Placement classes than on an average student taking general education classes?
Do you, as a parent, really know how much the District is spending on your child’s education?
Do you know which side of the District-Funding Scale your child is on?
The state gives our District ADA funds based on each child’s attendance.
As a parent/guardian, you should see that every ADA dollar received for your child’s attendance is being spent on his/her education.
As a parent/shareholder, you should see that your child is receiving the best education that his/her ADA money can buy.
