Community Assessment - Health & Quality of Life in San Mateo
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evaluation of children’s education

• In the 1998 survey, 71.3% of San Mateo County parents with children aged 5 and older report that their child currently attends a local public school, while 28.7% send their child to a private or parochial school.²⁴⁰
• More than one out of five surveyed parents (21.7%) with children attending a local public school, rate their child’s education as "fair" or "poor." Only 3.7% of parents of private school students give "fair/poor" evaluations of their child’s education. Furthermore, 27% of low-income parents (less than or equal to 185% poverty) rate their child’s education as "fair/poor."²⁴¹

• A total of 88.4% of surveyed parents of school-aged children report that their child receives adequate educational support (similar between both public and private school students). ²⁴²

• More than one-fourth of San Mateo County survey respondents (25.3%) rate the safety of public schools as "fair" or "poor."²⁴³

• The average class size in San Mateo County is 28.2 students. ²⁴⁴ This pupil-to-teacher ratio is favorably low compared to the Bay Area and California.²⁴⁵

graduation & drop-out rates

• High school drop-out rates are low and decreasing in San Mateo County. Between 1994 and 1996, the drop-out rate decreased from 2.6% to 2.2%. The 1994-1996 annual average drop-out rate for San Mateo County (2.4%) is considerably below the state rate for the same period.²⁴⁶

• Drop-out rates in San Mateo County are markedly higher among African-American (3.3% annual average between 1994 and 1996) and Hispanic (4.4%) students than among White (1.6%) and Asian/Other (1.5%) students. Still, each of these is below the state average for the respective race/ethnic group. ²⁴⁷

• In the 1996-97 school year, the high school drop-out rate in San Mateo County was 2.4%. Sequoia Union High School District had the highest drop-out rate at 5.3%, followed by South San Francisco Unified (2.8%), Jefferson Union (1.3%) and San Mateo Union (1.2%). La Honda/Pescadero Unified had no drop-outs in the 1996-97 school year. ²⁴⁸

college preparedness

• In 1996, 45% of San Mateo County graduating students had completed the coursework necessary for entrance into state schools of higher learning, up from 39% in 1994. However, college preparedness varies among racial/ethnic groups, with considerably fewer African-American (18%) and Hispanic (23%) students prepared for college, compared to White (49%) and Asian/Other (59%) students.²⁴⁹

• A total of 33% of the surveyed San Mateo County parents say local public schools do a "fair" or "poor" job of preparing children for college or the job market. ²⁵⁰

• As measured by average SAT score, San Mateo County’s school system ranks slightly above the California average. The county’s score on math and verbal portions of the test in 1996 averaged 534 and 505, respectively, compared to statewide averages of 511 and 490. In the nine-county Bay Area region, San Mateo County ranks fourth in math scores and sixth in verbal scores.²⁵¹

• While overall SAT scores in San Mateo County are above state and national averages, testing levels and performance vary among school districts. ²⁵²

School Funding

• Per-pupil funding per average daily attendance (ADA) continues to rise, reaching $4,720 in the 1995-96 school year. This remains, however, lower than the national average.²⁵³

• High school districts continued to spend the most money, with average expenditures of $5,982 per annual ADA, while elementary school districts spent $4,417, and unified school districts spent $4,185. ²⁵⁴
• Despite a decrease, Woodside spent $6,827 per pupil, the highest expenditures per annual ADA among elementary schools in San Mateo County during 1995-96. While San Carlos spent the least (with $3,812 per annual ADA), Laguna Salada (1994-95’s lowest spending school district) increased its expenditures by $163 per pupil. ²⁵⁵

• In 1995-96, among high schools, Sequoia’s expenditures per annual ADA were $6,753, while San Mateo’s were $6,127, and Jefferson’s were $4,805. ²⁵⁶

• La Honda Pescadero Unified spent $5,577 per annual ADA, Cabrillo Unified spent $4,240, and South San Francisco Unified spent $4,101 in 1995-96. ²⁵⁷

• Between the 1992-93 and 1995-96 school years, total actual expenditures per annual ADA for San Mateo County public schools increased by 9%, while total actual revenues increased 14.6%. ²⁵⁸
  • In comparison to the 1994-95 expenditures, there is greater parity among the 1995-96 expenditures per annual ADA for elementary schools: the gap between the highest and lowest spending elementary school districts decreased $40 per annual ADA. ²⁵⁹
  • However, the gap between the highest and lowest spending high school and unified school districts increased by $320 and $196 per annual ADA, respectively. ²⁶⁰
• Despite a rise in funding, California ranks 41st in the nation in annual ADA expenditures. ²⁶¹

English proficiency

• In the increasingly ethnically diverse classrooms of San Mateo County, 21% of students had limited English proficiency in 1996 (compared to 24% throughout California).²⁶²

learning disabilities

• In the 1998 survey, 16.4% of parents of school-aged children in San Mateo County report that their child has been tested for learning disabilities. Of the children tested, 35% had a learning disability identified. ²⁶³

263  1998 San Mateo County Quality of Life Survey. Healthy Community Collaborative of San Mateo County. September 1998.

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