Oak View Union Elementary vs Arlington Elementary District
CA · 365 students • AZ · 297 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- Arlington Elementary District spends 5% more per student than Oak View Union Elementary after adjusting for local price levels.
- Oak View Union Elementary directs 1 more cents of every operating dollar to instruction than Arlington Elementary District.
- Arlington Elementary District is far more dependent on local property taxes (77% of revenue vs 23%), which ties its budget more tightly to local property values.
- Arlington Elementary District reports fewer students per teacher (15.6 vs 19.2). This is a staffing ratio, not an average class size.
Are these even comparable?
Establish the shape of each district before reading a single dollar figure.
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 365 | 297 |
| Schools | 1 | 1 |
| Grades served | K–8 | PK–8 |
| Setting | Rural | Rural |
| County | San Joaquin County | Maricopa County |
| State | CA | AZ |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 105.1 | 103.3 |
The headline dollar
Current operating spending per student, shown three ways. The first is what each district reports. The second and third are the honest ones for comparison.
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $13,324 | $13,702 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $12,678 | $13,262 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $12,426 | $12,176 |
| Capital spending per student Buildings and land, never folded into the operating figures above. It is lumpy: a district mid-build looks expensive for two years. | Locked | Locked |
Oak View Union Elementary
Arlington Elementary District
Where the money comes from
The funding mix determines how exposed a district is to local property values, to state politics, and to federal programmes ending.
Oak View Union Elementary
- Local 23.3% Locked
- State 66.9% Locked
- Federal 9.7% Locked
Arlington Elementary District
- Local 76.6% Locked
- State 8.2% Locked
- Federal 15.2% Locked
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 23.3% | 76.6% |
| State share of revenue | 66.9% | 8.2% |
| Federal share of revenue | 9.7% | 15.2% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How CA funds its districts
LCFF — Local Control Funding Formula: a base grant per pupil plus supplemental and concentration grants driven by low-income, English-learner and foster-youth counts.
How AZ funds its districts
A base support level per weighted pupil, with substantial reliance on voter-approved local overrides and bonds.
Where the money goes
The same slices in the same order for both districts, plus the differences by function — because two pie charts side by side hide exactly the thing you want to see.
Oak View Union Elementary
- Instruction 62.8% Locked
- Instructional staff support 1.6% Locked
- Student support 2.4% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 7.9% Locked
- Transportation 2.0% Locked
- Food service 6.5% Locked
- School administration 9.8% Locked
- District administration 2.6% Locked
- Other support 4.0% Locked
- Other current 6.5% Locked
Arlington Elementary District
- Instruction 61.8% Locked
- Instructional staff support 1.6% Locked
- Student support 3.2% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 8.6% Locked
- Transportation 8.2% Locked
- Food service 5.0% Locked
- School administration 2.4% Locked
- District administration 3.6% Locked
- Other support 5.6% Locked
- Other current 5.0% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, Oak View Union Elementary minus Arlington Elementary District. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 64.4% | 63.4% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 12.4% | 6.0% |
| Transportation share | 2.0% | 8.2% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher This is a staffing ratio: total enrollment divided by teaching staff. It is NOT average class size. Actual classes are larger than this number in every district. | 19.2 | 15.6 |
| Students per counselor | Locked | Locked |
| Students per administrator | Locked | Locked |
| Total salaries All staff, not teachers alone. | Locked | Locked |
Who they serve
The answer to "but they serve different kids" — which is usually a fair objection.
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| Child poverty rate Children aged 5 to 17 in poverty within the district boundary. Used instead of free-lunch eligibility, which community eligibility has made unusable for comparison. | 11.4% | 10.1% |
| English learners | — | — |
| Students with disabilities | — | — |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -7.6% | +14.2% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
Oak View Union Elementary
- Declining enrollment Enrollment fell more than 5% over five years. Enrollment decline is the single best predictor of school closures and programme cuts.
Arlington Elementary District
- High debt burden More than 10% of total spending goes to interest and debt retirement, money that cannot reach a classroom.
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -7.6% | +14.2% |
| Long-term debt per student | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service share of spending | Locked | Locked |
Enrolling a child
Is a seat at your zoned school guaranteed?
Oak View Union Elementary
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
Arlington Elementary District
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
- This is the district’s own published wording, not our summary of it. Policies are rewritten between enrollment seasons and a page can be out of date the day after we read it — the school office is the only authority on whether a particular grade at a particular school is full right now.
- A warning here is about capacity, not about your address. It does not mean your child will be moved; it means the district has told you in writing that it may move them.
Comparability notes
- Cross-state comparison. Dollars below are shown both as reported and adjusted to a common price level, because a dollar buys different amounts of teacher in CA and AZ.
What these numbers are, exactly
Who decides, and what it costs you
Every band above this one asks what a district spends. This one asks who chose to.
Oak View Union Elementary
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
Arlington Elementary District
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
| Oak View Union Elementary | Arlington Elementary District | |
|---|---|---|
| School property tax levied, per student Only for districts that levy in their own name. Blank where the county or town levies instead — see the cards above, and read the next row. | $2,592 | $10,947 |
| Appropriated by the county or town, per student What the parent government handed the schools, for dependent systems. This is a general appropriation, not solely property tax. | — | — |
| Property tax as a share of all revenue How much of the budget rides on local property values, and therefore on local votes. | 16.3% | 66.3% |
| Long-term debt already owed, per student The balance at the end of the year, for scale. Repaid over decades, so it is a commitment made by earlier boards rather than a bill arriving now. | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service as a share of spending Interest plus principal repaid this year, against total spending. This is the part of the debt that is being paid now, out of money that would otherwise reach a classroom. | Locked | Locked |
| New long-term debt issued, per student Money borrowed during fiscal year 2024. What this figure does and does not tell you is set out under the table. | $0 | $1,656 |
- Oak View Union Elementary: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- A figure in the borrowing row is not a bond voters approved. It records debt issued, and that includes refinancing existing debt at a new rate — which changes nothing about what a district owes — as well as certificates of participation and lease-revenue debt, which in many states a board can issue with no referendum at all. To find out what was actually on a ballot, check the county election office.
- Debt is repaid over decades. A large balance per student is a commitment made by earlier boards and earlier voters, not a bill arriving this year. The debt service row above it is the part being paid now.
Funding measures on the ballot
Oak View Union Elementary
$3.7M approved by voters in a single measure.
| Election | Measure | Amount | Yes | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-06-03 | Bond · Prop. Measure RTo relieve overcrowding, improve school safety and provide facilities that best serve the students and community, shall the Oak View School District c…To relieve overcrowding, improve school safety and provide facilities that best serve the students and community, shall the Oak View School District construct and equip a multipurpose room building to be utilized for food service, student performances, band, assemblies, physical education, and a staff lunchroom/workroom, and, funding allowing, remodeling the current multipurpose room for a library, computer lab, and office space by issuing $3.7 million of bonds at interest rates below the legal limit? |
$3.7M | 66.9% | Passed |
Locked One earlier measure in this district’s history is not shown.
From the state’s own election file. Latest election on record: 2025-06-03.
What this state publishes: School district bonds and parcel taxes as the California Elections Data Archive compiles them for the Secretary of State. Bonds carry the principal; parcel taxes are quoted per parcel and carry no comparable dollar figure. Recalls and advisory questions are not included.
CA published no results for 2010, so a measure put to voters in that year would not appear here. That is a gap in the state’s own publishing.
Arlington Elementary District
We have not read AZ’s election results, so this column is empty because of us and not because of Arlington Elementary District. Whether it has asked its voters for money is a question its county election office can answer and we cannot, yet.
Nobody has read AZ’s school election results yet — that is a gap on our side, not a fact about this district. Its county elections office holds what it asked its voters for and what they answered, and that is a public record you can request. What it says is worth asking about at a board meeting.
- A vote share is not an outcome. What it takes to carry varies by state and by measure — in some states a bond needs a supermajority and a minimum turnout while a levy on the same ballot needs half, so a clear majority can still lose. Every outcome shown here is copied from the state’s own election file, and the rule that applied is stated with the coverage above. Where that file stated no outcome we show whatever count it published and no verdict, rather than working one out from the percentage — and some states publish the ballot question without ever recording a count, so a blank there is a number nobody printed.
- These are the measures a district put to its voters, not its whole tax bill. A property tax bill also carries county, city and state levies that have nothing to do with schools, and in most states a school board can issue some kinds of debt with no vote at all.
What this band does not answer yet
The detailed figures for Oak View Union Elementary and Arlington Elementary District
The verdict, the headline dollar, the funding shares, who is served and every comparability caveat are free above, and stay free. What is behind the lock is the detail you would want before acting on any of it:
- capital spending per student
- total revenue and total current spending, and the funding mix in dollars (the percentage shares stay free)
- the ten-line per-student breakdown of where the money goes
- counselor and administrator ratios, and the total salary bill
- the debt behind the risk flags — per student, and as a share of spending
- one more measure in the ballot history, with the amount
$1.79 for both, for three months, 21 cents less than buying them one at a time.
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Compare something else
Oak View Union Elementary on its own · Arlington Elementary District on its own