WestEd, APA present performance addendum showing higher funding, mixed early academic outcomes and a surge in students identified as 'at risk'

WestEd and APA researchers presented an addendum to last year’s performance report that adds recently received financial data and more detailed tables showing enrollment, revenues, expenditures and early student outcome measures.

The presentation, given by Sean Tanner and Amanda Brown of WestEd and APA, framed the addendum as a backfill of financial and some performance data that were not available when the commission received the initial report. "We're back filling the data that wasn't available when we presented the report last fall," Sean Tanner said.

The addendum covers fiscal years 2019–2024. Amanda Brown summarized three high-level fiscal takeaways: statewide student enrollment fell roughly 3% in that span with substantial variability by local education agency; total LEA revenues rose from about $5.5 billion in FY2019 to nearly $9.0 billion in FY2024; and much of the increase reflected changes in classification of local versus state revenues under the People-Centered Funding Plan (PCFP) and a temporary rise in federal funds (ESSER and related federal inflows) that pushed federal shares of revenue higher in FY2023.

The researchers said the increases in revenue were accompanied by modest increases in staffing and a notable…