A recent article in the Sacramento Bee uncovered a questionable education finance plan in California dating back to 1979 that forces the state to provide extra money to schools that meet bare minimum requirements for carrying out state mandates. Proposition 4 declared that, if the state imposed a new program or higher level of service on a local agency, it had to provide the additional funds to pay for it. Thirty years later this has been transformed into a system for paying schools to do even the most basic kinds of educational activities, such as "posting agendas for public meetings, keeping track of immunizations, [and] teaching science to sophomores." Unfortunately, there appears to be little accountability built into this program, as one consulting firm that works with hundreds of districts across the state was recently accused of falsifying information on these claims. While the firm denies the allegations, it did agree to a multi-million dollar settlement to avoid a drawn-out court battle, which the senior assistant attorney general says "speaks volumes." A reforming breeze seems to be blowing, however: last year, the governor provided an additional $1.6 million for new auditors and the legislature set limits on how much time districts have to submit claims after a law is passed. A better solution has also been proposed: eliminating the many separate mandates and funding streams in favor of a system of block grants that schools could use at their discretion.
"Paying for schools: obscure system costs millions, rankles many," by Deb Kollars, The Sacramento Bee, May 18, 2003
"Education false-claims suit settled," by Deb Kollars, The Sacramento Bee, May 21, 2003