Eating away at education: Math doesn't add up when teacher salaries and budget cuts collide - Katy Murphy, Oakland Tribune

The math is simple: California schools have less money than most other states, but their teachers are the most highly paid in the nation. Per pupil spending, on the other hand, trails the national average by about $2,500. Until the financially troubled state government finds more money to invest in its public schools, which make up more than half of its general fund spending, something has to give. School budgeting has become a zero-sum game.