Bay Area Schools Closure: The Impacts of Prop 13
Bay Area school districts are grappling with severe financial crises, pushing many to consider school closures, staff layoffs, or both in order to address multimillion-dollar budget deficits. For instance, Oakland Unified School District and San Francisco Unified School District, are struggling with deficits of $95 million and $113 million, respectively. Several factors are contributing to these budget shortfalls, including inflation, rising operational costs, and unpredictable federal funding. However, the most significant challenge is declining enrollment, which has been an ongoing trend due to lower birthrates and families relocating from high-cost urban areas to more affordable inland regions. These financial constraints disproportionately affect lower-income communities, where school closures and staff reductions have a greater impact on educational access and quality. Proposition 13 has influenced school funding by shifting the burden to the state and reducing education funding substantially. Prop. 13 is one of the main causes of the budget deficits which lead to school closures in the Bay Area and across the state.
Reforming Proposition 13 could be a key solution to addressing these school budget crises. By limiting property tax increases, Proposition 13 significantly restricts local revenue generation for school districts, forcing them to rely heavily on inconsistent state funding. A reform that allows for higher tax rates on commercial properties or periodic reassessments of long-held properties could provide schools with a more stable and sustainable funding source. This would help mitigate the effects of declining enrollment by ensuring districts have the financial resources to maintain schools and retain staff, particularly in lower-income areas. Reforming Proposition 13 could alleviate a significant portion of the financial pressure on schools and help prevent closures and layoffs that disproportionately harm vulnerable communities.
Q&A: Why are Bay Area schools so broke?
By Molly Gibbs | The Mercury News | March 10, 2025