Silicon Valley lawmaker wants to reduce school funding inequity

State Sen. Dave Cortese wants more funding to go to underserved schools by leveling the playing field between wealthy and under-resourced districts, and is proposing a way to make that happen.

For decades school funding has been based on two key factors — property taxes and school districts receiving state dollars based on school enrollment. The formula has hampered marginalized communities with low attendance and lower property taxes. Cortese wants to reverse the trend through Senate Bill 743. The bill would create an education reserve account to funnel money from the general state fund into underserved schools. During years when the state is flush with cash and has a surplus, money would be deposited into this account and distributed to schools in need.

“This isn’t an equalization that works by robbing Peter to pay Paul, that’s not how this works,” Cortese said at a Friday news conference. “We are adding to public education through general fund surpluses that frankly should’ve been dedicated to this purpose years and years ago so we didn’t get into this situation that we’re in now.”

The difference in school district funding based on location is stark. In San Jose’s East Side Union High School District, schools spend $14,000 per student a year, Superintendent Glenn Vander Zee said. In the Palo Alto Unified School District the number jumps to nearly $26,000 per student.

Vander Zee said the lack of funding in his district has impeded his ability to hire math specialists, reduced the number of courses offered and lessened extracurriculars in elementary and middle schools.

“We can invest in that, we know how to do that, we just don’t have the funding,” Vander Zee told San José Spotlight.

Cortese said his bill will help create smaller class sizes, better retention and attraction of teachers, more rigorous curriculum, better graduation rates and improved test scores.

“I think schools will be safer as well. Safety also requires resources,” Cortese said. “A child’s ZIP code should never determine their worth in the classroom. It still does.”

Lack of funding and declining enrollment has forced school districts in East, North and South San Jose to shutter schools. Alum Rock Union School District will close six schools for the 2025-26 school year, and Berryessa Union School District will close three elementary schools for the 2025-26 academic year. The Franklin-McKinley School District will also close three elementary schools by next school year.

“If (schools) were getting another $10,000 per student, there’s all kinds of things that they can do, and a lot of that should be local control,” Cortese told San José Spotlight.

SB 743 would play a part in righting the wrongs, where students receive less resources simply due to where the district is housed, Vander Zee said.

“This is truly a historic moment of change for true meritocracy, for true competitiveness, for true prosperity across California,” Vander Zee said. “No one gets money (taken) away. The neediest students in our state get the funding to at least be competitive with their peers.”

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.