Inequities hamstring public education
With Morgan Hill schools going to voters hat in hand, and kids
learning out of five-decade old classrooms in Hollister, the
inequities of school funding have never been so glaring.
Inequities hamstring public education
With Morgan Hill schools going to voters hat in hand, and kids learning out of five-decade old classrooms in Hollister, the inequities of school funding have never been so glaring.
Some students within the Hollister School District are still turning in hand-written term papers, because they don’t have proper access to computers at home or away from school, yet counterparts in San Jose have these amenities and more. It’s supposed to be equal public education, but every district seems to be starting on a different level. How did California school funding become so disparate?
School district funding is comprised of five types of revenue: revenue limit sources, federal revenues, other state revenues, other local revenues and other financing sources.
Of these sources revenue limit accounts for approximately 70 percent of the Hollister School District total, according to the 2005-2006 approved budget.
It is tabulated using the average daily attendance of all schools within the district and multiplied by the base revenue limit per Average Daily Attendance to get the annual amount per school district.
The Average Daily Attendance is made up of total enrollment multiplied by the actual percent attendance. The total amount per student is based on the prior year’s base revenue limit, plus the annual cost of living adjustment. This year the base revenue limit per ADA is roughly $5,000 per student.
The problem most districts face is that when the state established Base Revenue Limits in the 70s, not all districts were equal. Back then base revenue limits were determined based entirely on property taxes, so while two districts might be the same size, if one of those districts had higher property values which means more property taxes for the district, they received more funding than a same-sized district without.
So, while Pacific Grove, for example, might be a smaller school district than Hollister, they receive more money because they started with a different base revenue limit. They started with more because property taxes there generate more money. Pacific Grove property values are so high that they generate more than the base revenue limit so they get to keep all their property tax money and the state doesn’t need to subsidize anything.
The base revenue limit is composed of state aide plus the portion of the property taxes designated for the school district. Whatever the total number, the state subtracts the property values first, and then the state aid funds the difference.
It is a tough process trying to get all the same-sized districts on the same page, since each may have started at a different point, according to Jack Bachofer, Hollister School District’s director of finance and operations. There is no easy way to equalize things.
Over the years through court decisions the state has repeatedly attempted to equalize school districts of like size without success.
“There is an impact on the students. Obviously if you’re in a district with $13,000 per ADA, like Pacific Grove, vs. $5,000, like Hollister, you’ve got more resources to hire more teachers and you can pay them a better salary. You will probably get the best quality teachers because you’re paying the highest salary and more teachers means smaller class sizes,” Bachofer said. “From there it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy because smaller classes with better teachers help ensure that students do better and well performing schools are more attractive to homebuyers which, in turn, increases demand, therefore raising property values which generates higher property taxes.”
On the flipside, he said, a school district without as many resources can only do so much. Teachers are constrained to what the district can afford to pay them and the classrooms tend to be more crowded. The focus has to be on learning, but the teachers have more students and less funding to help them accomplish the same goals.
What would local principals do with $13,000 per student?
Bob Hammond, principal of Ladd Lane School, said that even though his facilities are nearly new, the money would be a boon.
“I can think of a lot of things that could be done, but in terms of expanding the curriculum part of the problem is that [the state] has narrowed the curriculum with standards that almost preclude extras from before,” Hammond said. “That kind of money could allow extra extensions and interventions, but to a degree the state put a ceiling on enrichment. If we were able to expand, that’d be great but it’s not as easy as just getting the funds.”
He said that since Ladd Lane is still such a new school it has many amenities other schools don’t, but that the library could always use more books and that the facility upkeep could also use some work.
“I’d also love to see some expansion with technology so that the kids have an after-school program where they could do homework on computers. Not every child has a computer at home they can do reports on, having that access would be great for them,” Hammond said.
Bernice Smith, principal at Marguerite Maze Middle School said that any time the school has extra money they ask teachers, students and parents how it could best be spent. However, additional funds would allow for the purchase of supplemental texts and workbooks.
“We can also always use more PE equipment for school and the sports programs,” Smith said.
But there isn’t extra money. In fact, Hollister School District Trustee Dee Brown said that the fact that funding isn’t stable makes it nearly impossible to plan anything.
“We set the budget in June, but by January, we’ve had to cut the budget by 5 percent,” Brown said.
She has no doubt that the students feel the cuts.
“Eighty-five percent of the budget is people. When we cut positions class sizes go up and teachers get more stressed,” Brown said.
