Report: California spent $4 billion on ‘ghost’ students no longer attending school in their districts

West Contra Costa Unified School District received nearly $40 million in attendance-based state funding for more than 3,700 students who weren’t actually in the district’s schools for the 2022-23 school year. Across the bay, San Francisco Unified collected $42 million for some 4,000 students who weren’t in district classes.

A new Reason Foundation study found the two Bay Area districts were among the 10 biggest beneficiaries of recent statewide public school funding changes meant to ease the financial burden of declining enrollment.