California Exposed – Fewer Employees Than You Think

In the continuing debate about cutting taxes, there seems to be a belief that somehow the California government has grown its bureaus and employees to outrageous levels.

Commentators speak passionately, claiming that the employee levels in California could be cut deeply to solve our budget problems and services would not suffer. They claim that all we need to do is find the waste and cut it out. While that makes for good sound bites, it is not an accurate portrayal of what has actually occurred within California.

This month proponents of cutting California looked forward to the release of a report done by Stephen Levy of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy (CCSCE).

The report (attached) is an in-depth analysis, utilizing 2010 census data, of just where California ranks in the number of government employees in relation to its population. Every year proponents of small government look to this interpretation of census data in the hopes that it will show how bloated California's government employee population is.

So the report was issued and—oops, turns we are not fat. We are lean. Not only are we lean, according to data released by the census department, this trend has held since 2009.

According to CCSCE, California ranks “45th in the number of full-time equivalent state government employees relative to population.” 

Even though we are the eighth-largest economy in the world, California has a paltry 110 state employees for every 10,000 residents. The national average is 142 state employees per 10,000 residents.  This places California 23% below the national average. Be mindful too, that this is based upon 2010 census data. The California budget, and its employee ranks, have shrunk even further over the last two years. 

But hey, that's all were willing to pay for, right? Why would we give government any more money when they do such a horrible job? And why do they do a bad job? My grandfather would tell me, "It's just common sense, Paul. Ain't no one around, left to do the job."

OK, so if the state is lean, then the K-12 education employee pool must be bloated. Didn't the politicians last year say they were going to protect education? That's what they pledged—then instituted a cut in the final budget and another cut midyear.

Those cuts are having an effect. Although we are the eighth-largest economy in the world, California is 46th in the nation in K-12 employees.  California has 175 employees per 10,000 residents, 20% below the national average.

California K-12 education is often negatively compared to Texas. However, Texas has 279 K-12 employees per 10,000 residents. Think about that for a minute. If we were willing to put the same kind of effort into education that Texas does, there would be over 30,000 more educators in San Diego County.

Any parent with children in schools today knows how important it would be to have those people working in the schools.

When CCSCE issues their report, they always offer insights as to what the numbers mean. You don't need a report to know that this reduction in employees has decimated government service.

We can all find fault with some employee somewhere.  As an educator, people find fault with me all the time—just look at the comments following this blog.  But I digress, the fact that California runs as well as it does, with these few employees, makes the case that those still on the job are managing to carry on in very difficult circumstances.

We should be respectful of the efforts put in by those public servants every day?

The CCSCE report concludes that "residents must face fundamental choices about the level of service they desire and willing to pay for. This is an important conversation for all Californians." 

And that takes us back to where this whole thing started. Unlike the federal government, California cannot print its own money. The only way we can fund services is through the tax base. It's time for everyone to pay their fair share to maintain the Golden State.