After analyzing data on the backgrounds of students, however, the authors conclude that demographic differences account for only some of the performance gap between California's students and those in other states. Although the authors note that this poorer performance cannot necessarily be blamed on the switch to state finance, they maintain that the timing of the drop is suggestive. The Reactions of Parents Families have responded in various ways to the perceived decline in public school quality. The authors found that both reactions have been modest and mostly confined to high-income families. While private school enrollment rates rose from 14 to 21 percent among families in the top 10 percent of the income distribution, there were no increases at all among families in the bottom 60 percent of that distribution.
Families also respond to public school quality through their housing choices.
If district quality had been equalized under state finance, homebuyers would not continue to pay large premiums for houses in desirable school districts. Yet the authors found a wide range of premiums across school districts in the two counties they studied. These disparities indicate that parents continue to perceive large differences in quality across school districts in those areas. Despite the poor outcomes associated with the shift to state finance, the authors note that it may be too early to judge school finance reform negatively. California has changed the way it finances its schools without changing the way it governs them.