California lawmakers have written about $10 billion in IOUs to school districts this year alone, the Voice of San Diego's Will Carless reports.

To make up for the shortfall, districts have borrowed money from banks, and as a result will rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest charges that they will have to pay off themselves. "School districts are now essentially extending no-interest loans to the state of California," Ron Bennett, CEO of financial consultancy School Services of California, told Carless.

San Diego's school district will spend about $250,000 in interest and other costs to tide itself over as it waits for $70 million in delayed state funds for the 2011-2013 school years. You can read the whole story here.

The problem isn't only affecting debt-crippled California. This summer, Minnesota school districts borrowed millions of dollars against delayed state aid, the AP reported.