1) California ranks 46th in the nation in per-pupil funding
 

A consensus finds California’s woefully underfunds public education
California has the sixth-largest economy in world, but a number of well-regarded organizations place it in the bottom one-third of states in rankings of per-pupil funding. These include: Education Week, which publishes Quality Counts, an annual comparison of state education systems.

    •  The National Education Association, which releases its annual survey of state spending each May.

    •  The California Budget and Policy Center, a Sacramento-based nonprofit, which conducts an annual analysis.

Education funding is a complicated process
Proposition 13 was approved by voters in 1978, reducing property taxes on homes and businesses, and limiting annual increases to 2 percent of the assessed valuation.  This landmark legislation had a significant impact on school districts and cities, which relied heavily on local property tax revenue to fund schools and support services.  With this resource significantly limited, the state of California has had to use other revenue sources to fund public schools.
 
School Districts are limited in their ability to generate revenue
Outside of the property tax, cities and counties have authority to impose fees, along with a broad range of taxes, including sales taxes, parcel taxes, utility taxes, hotel taxes and business taxes. School districts, however, are limited to general and bond-related parcel taxes. One possible solution to the education funding crisis is to expand the authority of school districts to seek additional sources of revenue.