our local board has to raise taxes or ask for bond issues because the state and feds have indeed cut back on funding.
So? Cut funding, severely. The more we spend on 'education', the worse it gets. Gut the sucker!
Property taxes are mainly set by the accessor at the county. The local boards merely set their levies based on what the county tells them they're going to have available.
The assessor sets the property taxes OTHER than than the school district taxes. They don't have any control over that. AND school taxes make up a huge percentage of the property tax.
Federal and state funding have definitely been skimmed.