Our Students and Teachers Deserve Better: The Real Cost of Unequal State Funding

At the January 14, 2026, PVPUSD School Board meeting, a first-grade teacher shared her experience of welcoming a 27th student into a classroom designed for no more than 24. She spoke movingly about the long-term impact this has on young learners—reducing the one-on-one time and personalized attention so vital during their critical early years. She also noted that, when surveyed, she and many fellow teachers overwhelmingly preferred smaller class sizes over additional compensation offered by the district for larger ones. The dedication and genuine care for students that this teacher displayed are exactly what make PVPUSD educators so exceptional.

Yet this committed teacher—and many like her—are now facing increasingly challenging classroom conditions that make it harder to provide the individualized support our students deserve. We must ask: How can we better equip our teachers to deliver the high-quality education our children need and parents expect?

Roughly 80% of our district’s $174 million budget supports salaries for teachers and staff. The majority of that funding comes from the State of California via the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which distributes resources based on factors including student demographics. According to the California Department of Education, in the 2023-24 school year, districts statewide received an average of about $22,194 per student. Our district received $17,640 per student—more than $4,500 below the statewide average. With an average daily attendance of 9,884, this created an annual funding gap of over $45 million.

Some observers note that our district can manage with less state funding because we are considered “wealthy.” We are indeed fortunate to have a generous community that supports the Peninsula Education Foundation (PEF), which supplements our budget each year to fund essential teachers, programs, and resources our students might otherwise miss. Thanks to this outpouring of support, PEF contributed an impressive $2.1 million to PVPUSD in the 2024-25 school year. While this generosity makes a meaningful difference and is deeply appreciated, it unfortunately falls far short of closing the substantial gap created by the LCFF formula.

This disparity is a longstanding feature of the LCFF, intentionally designed in 2013 to direct more resources to districts with higher proportions of socioeconomically disadvantaged students, English learners, and others facing additional challenges. Even some supporters of the formula have acknowledged that it has not proven as equitable or effective as originally envisioned. Locally, our PVPUSD delegation to Sacramento during the 2024 “Capitol Convoy” sought help from state representatives to address the shortfall. The response was that significant relief would likely require legal action against the state.

To reiterate a key point from those discussions: our representatives indicated that meaningful change might necessitate suing the state for fairer funding. 

Nearly two years later, the funding disparity for districts like ours remains, with no substantial state-level adjustments. Unfortunately, the board has not pursued further action on this persistent issue. In February 2025, a board member proposed discussing potential strategies for addressing the LCFF shortfall, but the other four board members voted against even discussing the issue. More recently, the board has explored short-term cost-saving measures, such as an early retirement incentive for senior teachers to enable hiring at lower salary levels. While these steps may offer some temporary budget relief, they do not resolve the underlying challenge: our district continues to receive significantly less state funding per student than the average.

The core responsibility of our School Board is to advocate effectively for the resources our students need to thrive. Given the ongoing funding challenges and their real impact on classrooms—such as larger class sizes—we must prioritize stronger advocacy at the state level to secure a fairer share for PVPUSD.

If elected, my top priority would be to lead that effort: working collaboratively with parents, teachers, community partners like PEF, and other stakeholders; exploring all viable options (including legislative, legal, or partnership avenues if appropriate); and ensuring our educators and students receive the support they deserve to maintain the excellence that defines our district.

If you share this commitment to putting our children's education first and addressing these structural challenges thoughtfully and persistently, I would be honored to have your support as I run for the PVPUSD School Board this year.

Please consider contributing to my campaign to help me get the word out to our community!