About the Financial Reports on Ed-Data
   
Each school district and county office of education must submit its financial data to the California Department of Education (CDE) in a uniform format using the Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS). Although some districts choose to track school site expenditures, the CDE does not collect that data. Some charter schools also report expenditures directly to the CDE, but they are allowed to use a modified reporting structure.

School District Reports
Districts report their revenues and expenditures to the CDE prior to the completion of their annual audit. Every effort is made by the CDE to catch errors or misinterpretations. However, the unaudited information is not changed after it has been certified and released by CDE. Therefore, the SACS financial reports may include data that districts later correct, based on their audits.

Beginning with 2003-04, the financial reports on Ed-Data take advantage of the SACS format to present financial information in five ways. These include All Funds, General Fund revenues and expenditures, General Fund expenditures by activity, General Fund expenditures by instructional program, and Revenue Sources. The older District Financial Statements, covering General Fund only, are available on Ed-Data back to 1992-93.

For aid in understanding the data, definitions from the California School Accounting Manual are integrated into the reports. Click on the next to an object or function code to see the definition. Additional information is available at www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/sa.

County Office Reports
County offices of education offer instructional programs, particularly Special Education, vocational education, instruction in juvenile detention facilities, and programs for students at risk of failing. The County School Service Fund is analogous to districts’ General Fund. Ed-Data presents data for All Funds and County School Service revenues and expenditures, plus expenditures by activity and by instructional program, in the Financial Report for County Office. Comparisons among counties are not part of Ed-Data.

The General Fund
The General Fund, the largest part of the budget, covers most of the district’s operations. The money is categorized as Restricted or Unrestricted depending on the funding source. For example, many federal and state categorical programs are designated as Restricted because of regulations about how the money may be spent. Unrestricted revenues can be spent at the discretion of the school board—but within the constraints of contracts with employees and the Education Code.

Per-Pupil Revenue Figures
Ed-Data per-pupil revenue figures are based on General Fund revenues only, because such figures are the most appropriate to use for comparing the funds available to districts regardless of their size or configuration. Additional revenue information for individual districts is available on the All Funds tab. However, Ed-Data does not provide a per-pupil calculation for revenues outside the General Fund because they vary based on unique district circumstances. Given such variations, comparisons on a per-pupil basis would be meaningless at best and could be extremely misleading.

Counting students: ADA and enrollment
California's method of counting students is average daily attendance (ADA), the total days of student attendance, divided by the number of instructional days in the school year.

Reported to the CDE three times a year, ADA figures are referred to as First Principal Apportionment (P1), Second Principal Apportionment (P2), and Annual Apportionment, the final one in the summer. ADA is used for a variety of funding purposes, with adjustments spelled out in the Education Code.

ADA differs from enrollment. Enrollment data on Ed-Data comes from the CDE CBEDS report and is a count of students enrolled at each school on a specific day in October. ADA is normally less (approximately 95%) than actual enrollment because absences, even if excused, are not included in ADA.

The ADA used for per-pupil calculations on the General Fund tab is the same that the CDE uses to calculate the Current Expense of Education. Although the Statement shows a per ADA amount for revenues, a different basis, such as enrollment, can determine the revenue received by districts and county offices of education for categorical or restricted programs. For example, some categorical funding is determined by enrollment for only select grades, such as K-3 class size reduction; other programs may generate funding depending on the specific needs of the student population. Similarly, the Financial Statement shows expenditures per ADA , but that may not accurately reflect the actual amount spent for each pupil because not all pupils in a school or district participate in the same programs or receive the same level of services.


Why expenditure numbers don't always agree
The Current Expense of Education is total General Fund expenditures minus food services, facilities acquisition, construction, and certain other items. That number is divided by ADA to get the per-pupil amount shown at the bottom of the Ed-Data Financial Statement. CDE performs the calculations according to an Education Code formula. A statewide file of Current Expense data is available at www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec.

The per-student figures on Ed-Data can differ from the numbers a school district publishes or refers to in discussions, depending on which items are included. In comparing figures, also be sure that the fiscal years are the same.

School districts or county offices sometimes use a per-pupil number that is based on the total General Fund expenditures and P2 ADA rather than the specific definitions and annual ADA used for Current Expense of Education.


District context makes comparisons more meaningful
Districts vary widely in size, characteristics, philosophies, and challenges. Their expenditures differ, often for good reasons. The "per-pupil" number gives meaning and permits comparisons. The "percent of average" is provided as a frame of reference. It is important to investigate what is behind these numbers.

Districts have different averages for several reasons, including:
  • Definition of a category. The title of a category may imply a single subject, but often it has several components. For example, according to the Accounting Manual, the "Superintendent" category may include full-time, part-time, and prorated portions of salaries of deputy, associate, area, and assistant superintendents as well as the superintendent. The more people slotted into a category, the higher the average expense.
  • Deployment of personnel. One district may employ several part-time administrators, another may elect to hire more student counselors, a third may choose to emphasize primary grade reading coaches. Districts may even have low averages due to unfilled positions. Each district makes its own decision about which personnel to hire in each employee category. Differences from statewide averages are the rule, not the exception, but generally reflect these decisions.
  • District size. Two districts could spend the same on superintendents, but the larger one will have a lower per-student number. This so-called "economy of scale" is a fact, not a choice of the district.
  • Seniority of employees. A more experienced faculty will be paid more than a group of novice teachers, and the same is true for superintendents, administrators, and classified employees.
  • The full package of salaries and benefits. One district may negotiate higher salaries and lower benefits, another may agree on lower salaries and higher benefits, a third may elect to have higher salaries and benefits but make the necessary fiscal tradeoff by enlarging class size (i.e., fewer teachers earning more with more students in each class).

Taking financial data out of context can be misleading. Every school district's financial statement is public but may need explanation from the district office.

For additional information on individual district staffing, see the "Certificated Staff" table on the Ed-Data District Profile. It shows the ratio of students to administrators, the number of pupil service personnel (counselors, for example), and the ratio of students to teachers, which is a rough approximation of class size. Another interesting Ed-Data link on the District Profile is “Teacher Salaries.”


For background information on school finance, see A Guide to California’s School Finance System, Financing Schools, and A Caution About Comparisons.


Education Data Partnership
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All contents copyright © 2010, Education Data Partnership.
All rights reserved. Revised August 5, 2010.
URL: http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us