Ventura County enrollment is down 12%. Per-pupil spending is up 84%. Academic outcomes are flat. Here's the accountability picture every taxpayer deserves — with all sources traceable back to the California Department of Education.
About this dashboard. Every number shown here comes directly from California Department of Education research files — CALPADS annual enrollment, Current Expense of Education reports, and CAASPP Smarter Balanced results. The dashboard covers the nine school years from 2016–17 through 2024–25. CAASPP testing was cancelled statewide for 2019–20 and 2020–21 due to COVID, so those years show no proficiency data. Use the tabs below to view enrollment vs. spending, indexed outcomes, and district-level breakdowns.
Ventura County schools accountability dashboard with three panels: enrollment vs spending, spending vs outcomes, and district-level enrollment trends. All data from CDE CALPADS and CAASPP research files.
Students lost since 2016-17
−17,393
↓ 12.1% county enrollment
Per-pupil spending increase
+84%
$10,624 → $19,579 (VC)
ELA proficiency 2024-25
47.6%
vs. 47.5% in 2016-17
Math proficiency 2024-25
35.3%
↓ from 36.3% in 2016-17
Ventura County enrollment (bars) and per-pupil spending (lines), 2016-17 to 2024-25
Since 2016-17, Ventura County lost 17,393 students — a 12% decline — while per-pupil spending grew 84% from $10,624 to $19,579. The county spends below the state average every year, yet outcomes also trail the state. More money has not moved the needle. Taxpayers deserve to know exactly where every dollar goes and what it produces.
Source: CDE Current Expense of Education files 2016-17 to 2024-25; CALPADS Annual Enrollment files
All metrics indexed to 100 in 2016-17 — shows relative change over time
ⓘCAASPP testing was cancelled statewide in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to COVID. No proficiency data exists for those two years.
→Tap to compare: add proficiency lines to see whether outcomes tracked with the spending increase.
Toggle ELA and Math on to see the accountability gap. If outcomes had kept pace with spending, all lines would track together. Instead, spending reached an index of 184 — while ELA sits at 100 and math at 97. Ventura County taxpayers have nearly doubled their per-student investment. They deserve to know why results haven't moved.
Source: CDE Current Expense of Education files; CAASPP Smarter Balanced research files 2016-17 to 2024-25. Index = value ÷ 2016-17 value × 100.
2024-25 enrollment by district — select to see 9-year trend
The 8 districts below enroll about 85% of Ventura County students. Together they lost roughly 14,600 students since 2016–17. The remaining ~2,800 of the county's 17,393-student decline is spread across smaller districts (Ojai, Oak Park, Rio, Santa Paula Unified, Mesa Union, and others).
Select a district above to see its 9-year enrollment trend. With dedicated data capacity funding, Maggie's office could publish district-by-district dashboards like this publicly — pairing enrollment with per-pupil spending and CAASPP proficiency — so every taxpayer, parent, and school board member can see exactly what their investment is producing. That diagnostic capacity doesn't exist at the county level today. It should.
Source: CALPADS Annual Enrollment files, CDE, 2016-17 through 2024-25