Per-pupil funding is one of the most often and casually quoted education statistics. It is also one of the most complex: Depending on how you calculate it, California's per-pupil funding could range from $8,500 to more than $11,600. The difference depends on what you measure. Are you simply counting all the money allocated to education from all sources (including funds for the California department of education and repayment of debt) and dividing it by number of students in the state? Or are you only counting monies that go directly K-12 operations? And how do you calculate the number of students in the state? Enrollment figures or Average Daily Attendance, which does not include students when they are absent for any reason, including illness? To help clarify this question, EdSource created a one-page explanation of the difference between education revenues and expenditures. It was published in 2004, so the numbers are different, but the underlying description of how the different numbers are calculated is still relevant today. See EdSource Revenues and Expenditures FAQ (PDF 67 KB)  The Legislative Analyst's Office this year published a detailed explanation of the factors used for reporting per-pupil funding. It also compares per-pupil funding across the states and over time in California. Go to LAO per-pupil funding explanation