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> Given that school budgets are absolutely gutted What now? https://edsource.org/2026/how-california-compares-to-other-states-in-per-student-spending/752906 h

> Given that school budgets are absolutely gutted What now? https://edsource.org/2026/how-california-compares-to-other-states-in-per-student-spending/752906 https://edsource.org/2026/how-california-compares-to-other-s... https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statisti...

idiotsecant 6mo ago
Your own link says CA spends less than UNESCO’s 15.0% standard. Also, you could frame this in a much more information dense way by making an active claim about something instead of just spamming a bunch of links.
- dmix 6mo ago
  A quick google search of the UNSECO target is "at least 15% of total public expenditure (or 4–6% of GDP)" and both the US (~5%) and California (~4-5% of gdp) already pass that criteria.
  - rayiner 6mo ago
    The UNESCO target is calibrated for developing countries. Few developed countries spend that much on non-tertiary education: https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-education.html https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-e.... Canada spends about 3.3%, less than California. (I think your numbers include tertiary education. My numbers are K-12 only. I’m not sure which of those the UNESCO target is based on.)
  - _--__--__ 6mo ago
    The confusion/disconnect between those two benchmarks suggests something about the size of CA's public expenditure...
- rayiner 6mo ago
  The UNESCO standard is meant for developing countries. In 2021, California spent about $121 billion on K-12, out of a GDP of $3.4 trillion, or about 3.5% of state GDP. That puts it above the OECD average of 3.3%, around the same as France at 3.5%. blob:https://www.oecd.org/702dcc03-0749-41b6-af41-112fd1af1bfb https://www.oecd.org/702dcc03-0749-41b6-af41-112fd1af1bfb. (This is the parent page: https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-education.html https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-e.... You have to select non-tertiary education, which is basically what we call K-12.)
thatfrenchguy 6mo ago
Compared to cost of living though?
sgc 6mo ago
It is just a fact that California schools are laying off a large percentage of personnel and getting rid of many programs. Pink slips by the thousands have been sent out that will take effect in a couple months at the end of the school year. If you don't know that, you are not informed. Those links are completely irrelevant because they are out of date. Budget had temporarily increased due to the availability of COVID funds, and now there is a very harsh snap in the other direction. Shortfalls are directly linked to actions by the Trump administration, and their downstream impacts. Every state needs to step up and deal with it. Here is one example of how that is happening, it is a far more significant problem than just this: https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr25/yr25rel35.asp https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr25/yr25rel35.asp
- hollerith 6mo ago
  Your link claims that the Trump admin is illegally impounding $1 billion that should go to CA. But that is only a tiny fraction of CA spending on K-12, which (according to a comment in this thread) amounted to $121 billion in 2021.

idiotsecant 6mo ago

Your own link says CA spends less than UNESCO’s 15.0% standard. Also, you could frame this in a much more information dense way by making an active claim about something instead of just spamming a bunch of links.

dmix 6mo ago
A quick google search of the UNSECO target is "at least 15% of total public expenditure (or 4–6% of GDP)" and both the US (~5%) and California (~4-5% of gdp) already pass that criteria.
- rayiner 6mo ago
  The UNESCO target is calibrated for developing countries. Few developed countries spend that much on non-tertiary education: https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-education.html https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-e.... Canada spends about 3.3%, less than California. (I think your numbers include tertiary education. My numbers are K-12 only. I’m not sure which of those the UNESCO target is based on.)
- _--__--__ 6mo ago
  The confusion/disconnect between those two benchmarks suggests something about the size of CA's public expenditure...
rayiner 6mo ago
The UNESCO standard is meant for developing countries. In 2021, California spent about $121 billion on K-12, out of a GDP of $3.4 trillion, or about 3.5% of state GDP. That puts it above the OECD average of 3.3%, around the same as France at 3.5%. blob:https://www.oecd.org/702dcc03-0749-41b6-af41-112fd1af1bfb https://www.oecd.org/702dcc03-0749-41b6-af41-112fd1af1bfb. (This is the parent page: https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-education.html https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/public-spending-on-e.... You have to select non-tertiary education, which is basically what we call K-12.)

thatfrenchguy 6mo ago

Compared to cost of living though?

sgc 6mo ago

It is just a fact that California schools are laying off a large percentage of personnel and getting rid of many programs. Pink slips by the thousands have been sent out that will take effect in a couple months at the end of the school year. If you don't know that, you are not informed. Those links are completely irrelevant because they are out of date. Budget had temporarily increased due to the availability of COVID funds, and now there is a very harsh snap in the other direction. Shortfalls are directly linked to actions by the Trump administration, and their downstream impacts. Every state needs to step up and deal with it. Here is one example of how that is happening, it is a far more significant problem than just this: https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr25/yr25rel35.asp https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr25/yr25rel35.asp

hollerith 6mo ago
Your link claims that the Trump admin is illegally impounding $1 billion that should go to CA. But that is only a tiny fraction of CA spending on K-12, which (according to a comment in this thread) amounted to $121 billion in 2021.