| So, this is super specific to California public schools and SFUSD. Norms that apply in Germany or Maryland do not necessarily apply in SF. You can start diving in the very complex issues with SFUSD funding here [0]. Two major points are Prop-13 and the LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula): Property taxes only re-assess upon the sale of a house (kinda, it's complicated [1]). As such, only ~25% of the budget comes from property taxes [2]. The LCFF is such that Sacremento controls the funding for schools[2]. Essentially, the money comes out of the state and does not stay in the local area. How that money is divied out is, again, really complex. So, your taxes don't pay for your local school, they pay for the state as a whole (again, kinda, its complicated). [0] http://www.sfusd.edu/en/about-sfusd/budget/faq-budget.html [1] https://www.californiataxdata.com/pdf/Prop13.pdf [2] https://ed100.org/lessons/whopays |