The superintendent of the Benicia Unified School District is asking school board trustees to support a resolution by the California School Boards Association (CSBA) requesting more money for state schools at Thursday’s BUSD Governing Board meeting.

According to the resolution, “California has the sixth largest economy in the world and the largest Gross Domestic Product of any state in the nation,” however “the state falls in the nation’s bottom quintile on nearly every measure of public K-12 school funding and school staffing.”

The resolution notes that California ranks 45th nationally in the percentage of taxable income used on education, 41st in funding per pupil, 45th in pupil-teacher ratios and 48th in pupil-staff ratios.

“California’s investment in public schools is out of alignment with its wealth, its ambitions, its demographics and the demands of a 21st-century education,” the resolution states.

The resolution cites a 2007 report titled “Getting Down to the Facts,” which posited that it would take an additional $17 billion annually to meet the state Board of Education’s achievement targets. It also cites a 2016 CSBA report, “California’s Challenge: Adequately Funding Education in the 21st Century,” which updated the 2007 report and came to the conclusion that, when adjusted for inflation, an additional annual $22 billion to $40 billion would be crucial to provide all public school students with access to high-quality education.

“In order to prepare our students for participation in a democratic society and an increasingly competitive, technology-driven global economy, California must fund schools at a level sufficient to support student success,” the report reads.

BUSD is requesting an additional $1,961 per student for schools of 500 pupils to have $890,500 in revenue.

“If the state-funded schools at just the national average, that would increase funding by $1,961 per pupil,” BUSD Superintendent Dr. Charles Young wrote in a report. “For a classroom of 25 students, that’s an additional $35,000 for student support services (counselors, social workers, wellness centers), parent and community engagement, support for English learners, intervention programs, instructional support staff, class size reduction, CTE, and expanded offerings in the arts and other extracurriculars.”

“Districts and County Offices of Education are doing more with less, but it’s not enough,” Young added. “If California is serious about providing all its children with a high-quality education, we need to get serious about full and fair funding for public schools.”

The resolution is going before school boards throughout the state. On Thursday, the resolution was adopted by trustees of the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District.

In other business, Young will be providing an update on potential adjustments for the 2018-19 budget in light of Gov. Jerry Brown’s most recent budget plan. The board will also be highlighting the work of the Benicia Education Foundation.

The board will meet at 7 p.m., Thursday, in the Benicia Unified School District Board Room at the district building on 350 East K Street. There will be an earlier closed session at 6 p.m.

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