The class size reduction legislation also targeted funds for a specific use, and bypassed district control in a different way. Districts could comply with the very strict qualifying conditions or simply forfeit this funding. The public sometimes feels it is pouring money into education but all it hears about are leaking roofs. Before 1974, real estate taxes were collected locally and a significant portion was spent on local schools, supervised by a locally elected school board. We still have local school boards, but with most of the money coming from the state, allocation is now controlled by the legislature.
Districts are also larger.
In the large urban districts, it just does not work. Issues presented to the voters are based on a model which is oversimiplified too much to address real issues. The immediate feedback this loop gave both the public and the school system has been lost. The change in the control of funding which happened between 1974 and 1978 is reflected dramatically in per pupil spending in California. In the graph below, the amounts shown are the contributions to the General Fund per student per year as compared with national averages.