Teacher Highest Salary Offered (District)

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1 How is Redwood City School District funded? California public school financing is incredibly complex. Layers of legislation over the years have resulted in a hybrid funding system that today partially funds schools through local property tax and partially through state funding. Nearly all of the funds the Redwood City School District (RCSD) receive come from the state of California. About 90% of the districts in California, including Redwood City School District, are funded primarily by state aid. For these districts, the level of funding is determined by the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). About 10% of the districts in the state, including most of our neighboring districts, are funded primarily by local property tax revenues. These districts are called Basic Aid districts, and they tend to receive much higher funding than state-funded districts. (see Figures 4 and 5 below for a comparison to funding sources between RCSD and Palo Alto Unified School District) How does RCSD compare to other Bay Area districts in teacher salary? Highest teacher salary offered, , with Tentative Contract Agreement Pending Ratification Teacher Highest Salary Offered (District) San Bruno Park Elementary La Honda- Pescadero UniCied PaciCica Ravenswood City Elementary Cabrillo UniCied Belmont- Redwood Shores Elementary South San Francisco UniCied Millbrae Elementary San Carlos Elementary Burlingame Elementary Bayshore Elementary Redwood City Elementary Jefferson Elementary San Mateo- Foster City Portola Valley Las Lomitas Elementary Menlo Park City Elementary Woodside Elementary Palo Alto UniCied Hillsborough City Elementary $79,006 $82,667 $83,248 $84,878 $88,242 $90,123 $91,025 $91,648 $92,834 $93,534 $95,024 $95,588 $95,760 $96,042 $110,392 $112,274 $115,437 $116, ,234 $127,039 Figure 1

2 How does the funding level in Redwood City compare to neighboring districts?a Millbrae Elementary Jefferson Elementary San Bruno Park Elementary PaciCica Cabrillo UniCied Belmont- Redwood Shores Burlingame Elementary South San Francisco UniCied San Mateo- Foster City San Carlos Elementary Redwood City Elementary Bayshore Elementary Jefferson Union High Ravenswood City Elementary Menlo Park City Elementary La Honda- Pescadero UniCied Brisbane Elementary Sequoia Union High San Mateo Union High Palo Alto UniCied Hillsborough City Elementary Las Lomitas Elementary Portola Valley Elementary Woodside Elementary Amount of Funding Per Student RCSD Compared to other Local School Districts Base Funding (LCFF Revenues Per Student) $7,203 $7,924 $7,452 $7,504 $7,511 $6,967 $7,070 $8,497 $7,427 $7,387 $8,446 $8,714 $9,206 $8,993 $8,905 $11,783 $11,024 $13,373 $14,099 $12,205 $11,104 $11,468 $16,440 $14,984 Parcel Taxes, Donations $650 $210 $835 $940 $1,031 $1,745 $1,717 $299 $1,383 $1,958 $925 $1,224 $1,374 $2,374 $3,903 $1,370 $3,265 $1,382 $1,118 $3,086 $4,409 $4,351 $4,557 $6,024 Figure 2 Source: Ed- Data ( data.org/) What determines whether a district is funded by local property taxes or the state? By law, every school district is guaranteed a certain amount of base funding per student enrolled in its schools. A certain portion of the total local property tax collected within a school district boundary is apportioned for that school district. If the amount of property tax apportioned for schools within the district, divided by the number of students in the district, meets the guaranteed minimum level of per-student funding for that district, the state does not contribute any base funding to that district. If the amount of property tax collected, divided by the number of students, falls short of the minimum level of funding, the state backfills the difference. This is how the Redwood City School District is funded; we receive backfill funding from the state on a per-student basis. Because this state-based funding is largely based on income tax and other state revenues, it is subject to the economic swings and historically has been volatile during times of economic booms and busts. But if the local property tax yields more than the minimum amount, the local district is

3 allowed to keep the excess this is why some neighboring districts receive much more money per student than Redwood City School District. Does this mean local property taxes don t go to local schools? Local property tax dollars do support local schools, but mostly in an indirect way. About 90% of the districts in California, including Redwood City School District, are funded primarily by state aid and the level of funding is determined by the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). About 10% of the districts in the state, including most of our neighboring districts, are funded primarily by local tax revenues. These districts are called Basic Aid districts. Note the differences in funding sources between RCSD and Palo Alto Unified School District, illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. RCSD Funding: Where does the money come from? 1.5% 1.5% 6.5% 41.4% 5.7% Local Property Taxes State Funding Parcel Tax Local Grants and Donations Federal Lottery Figure 3 Source: RCSD 2 nd Interim Report,

4 Figure 4 Source: Palo Alto Pulse ( Do Basic Aid districts always receive more funding than state-funded districts? Property tax funded districts often, but not always, have higher levels of funding than districts funded by state aid through the LCFF. The level of difference depends on the ratio of students to the total amount of property tax collected. Basic Aid districts receive a total amount of funding regardless of the number of students enrolled. If enrollment increases, they have less money to spend per student. If enrollment goes down, they have more money to spend per student. This is why the inequity between districts tends to be more pronounced in our region. Can Redwood City become a Basic Aid district so that it gets more funding? No, districts do not get to choose how they are funded. Public school funding is based on the ratio of students to the amount of local property tax collected within the boundaries of the school district. State-funded districts like RCSD receive funding per student based on average daily attendance; if enrollment goes up and attendance is high they receive more money and if enrollment declines or attendance is poor they receive less money. Enrollment)and)a,endance)drives)funding' Everything' else'=' '~'$200,000' ' Teacher'=' ~'$100,000' Principal,'school'office'staff,'' special'educa:on'services,'safety,' maintaining'buildings,'computer' support,'custodian,'supplies,' hiring'and'screening,'' communica:on,'answering' ques:ons,'schools'of'choice,' paying'staff' Gain 30 students = + $300,000 Lose'30'students'='I'$300,000' An'improvement'of'1%'in'aLendance'='+$700,000'

5 The only way RCSD can receive more money: The Governor and State legislature increase funding to local school districts More students enroll in RCSD Local voters approve higher parcel taxes More local corporations and citizens donate money (RCSD receives significant levels of corporate and foundation support) So, rising property values in Redwood City do not result in more funding for schools? No, even with the increase in local property values, our total property tax collected falls short of the minimum level of funding and therefore the state provides the bulk of our funding. Property tax is based on assessed, not market, values. The vast majority of homes in the RCSD boundary were purchased when property values were much lower and have lower assessed values than homes that have been purchased in recent years. Is funding from the state adjusted for cost of living differences between regions? No, there is no adjustment for cost of living differences, so state-funded school districts in the Bay Area often get about the same amount of funding as districts where homes cost $200, ,000 and rents are vastly lower than on the Peninsula. How do parcel taxes affect funding for local school districts? On top of base funding, local communities can also approve supplemental taxes called parcel taxes that add to the base funding collected by the district. Parcel taxes require 2/3 voter approval and tend to be difficult to pass except in relatively wealthy communities. Redwood City passed its first parcel tax a few years ago after several failed attempts, but some neighboring communities have passed layers of parcel tax that significantly boost the amount of money they are able to spend per student. Redwood City s parcel tax, Measure W, assesses property owners $67 per parcel until June 2017, when it expires. Measure W generates about $1.5 million per year. Palo Alto Unified passed a parcel tax in May 2015 that assesses property tax owners $758 per parcel and generates $12.4 million per year, or about 7 percent of the district s operating budget. Doesn t the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) equalize funding between districts? To a certain degree, the LCFF does equalize funding, but primarily between state-funded districts. It does not equalize the funding differences between property tax funded and state funded districts. Under the new Local Control Funding Formula, districts with a high concentration of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, students learning English, foster students or homeless students, receive supplemental and concentration funds to meet the needs of these students. The intent of this funding is to provide more funding to districts serving the highest need students, and it has helped, but the gap between wealthy and poor districts remains big in some regions.)

6 How does California s funding model affect RCSD? RCSD and other state-funded districts in the Bay Area and other high cost areas of the state are uniquely affected by the state s funding system because we have a high degree of income disparity and disparity in real estate values locally. So, for example, Woodside and Portola Valley have very high assessed property values and very few students, and in addition their voters have approved relatively high parcel taxes, so their per student funding in the school year exceeded $20,000 per student. Redwood City, on the other end of the spectrum has relatively lower assessed property values and is more densely populated with more students enrolled, thus in the school year, per student funding was barely over $10,000, even taking the Measure W parcel tax, and the LCFF supplemental and concentration funds into account. Lower levels of funding affect RCSD s ability to compete with neighboring districts in many areas including class sizes, salary levels, customer service, professional development and ability to offer enrichment and special services to students.