Districts Back Lawsuit Claiming School Finance Unconstitutional (CA)

July 12, 2010

School districts are rallying behind a lawsuit calling for an overhaul of the way California pays for its public schools.

Baldwin Park Unified, Bonita Unified, Walnut Valley Unified, Alhambra Unified and East Whittier City school districts recently approved resolutions backing the Robles-Wong v. California lawsuit, filed in Alameda County in May.

It alleges the resources allocated to state schools are disjointed from the educational program school districts are required to provide.

In addition it claims students are being denied equal access to a quality education because of the broken and unconstitutional finance system.

"The state finance system does not support the educational program that is necessary to make kids successful in the 21st century," said Abe Hajela, who represents the California School Boards Association, the state Parent Teacher Association and the Association of California Administrators, all plaintiffs in the suit.

In addition to the three associations, plaintiffs include nine school districts and 60 parents and students.

The governor said the system needs to be reformed in order to provide a better education to California’s students.

"The governor is ready to work with the plaintiffs in this case, but his main priority is to reform the way that money is spent in our education system so that we put the needs of our students in the classroom first," said Matt Connelly, deputy press secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Multiple studies show that throwing more money into our broken educa tion system will not benefit students unless it is accompanied by extensive and systemic reforms."

Administrators from school districts backing the lawsuit say the state never came up with a way to adequately fund its schools.

"The bottom line is that since Prop. 13, there’s never been a funding mechanism for public schools that is for public schools," said East Whittier City School District Superintendent Joe Gillentine. "Unfortunately, the percentage of the general fund moves each year. A high year gives more (money to schools), and in a low year it gives less."

Proposition 13 passed in 1978 and changed the way schools are funded. Instead of local property taxes paying for schools, the majority of the money comes from the state’s general fund. School districts are allocated a certain amount of money according to their average daily attendance.

The state and federal government also provide categorical aid for particular purposes, such as special education.

However Gillentine and others say the problems with the system is multi-faceted.

"It’s not just one thing. California has tied itself in such knots over the past four decades with regard to budgeting and policy-making that (make it) superhumanly difficult for the state to bring about real improvement in the way we fund schools," said David Plank, executive director for the Policy Analysis for California Education, a UC Berkeley-based independent research center.

The state has already cut $17 billion from public schools over the past two years.

California ranks No. 47 in the United States in regards to the amount of funding it gets per student. The economic downturn and resulting budget cuts have forced districts to increase class sizes, cut programs and lay off teachers, staff members and administrators.

This includes Bonita Unified, which is cutting $3.6 million from its budget for the upcoming school year.

"I think the purpose of (the resolution) is to join with the other school districts throughout the state to send a message to our legislators and the governor and Sacramento that we need to carefully and thoughtfully relook at the funding system for public education because the current one is not working," said Superintendent Gary Rapkin.

State Superintendent Jack O’Connell recently released a list of 175 school districts that might not be able to pay their bills over the next three years while maintaining a state-mandated 3-percent reserve in their operating budgets.

The Azusa Unified, Covina-Valley Unified, Garvey, Montebello Unified, Rosemead, Rowland Unified and San Gabriel Unified school districts were listed as having a "qualified certification."

That means the school districts will not be able to meet financial obligations for the next three straight fiscal years.

The number of districts with a qualified status increased by 50 percent from the 2008-09 school year, to the 2009-10 school year, according to state data.

Plank isn’t convinced that a lawsuit would facilitiate any significant changes.

"Depending on the circumstances, these suits are not doomed to fail, but I think under the present circumstances, Robles-Wong is sort of the last option,&quo t; he said. "But given that it is the last option, I think the chances of it making much of a difference in the educational lifetimes of the plaintiffs is probably pretty small."

Hajela said the system has been broken for many years.

"We thought years ago the state was really going to make an effort to address this," he said.

The "Getting Down to Facts: School Finance and Governance" study commissioned by the Gates, Hewlett and Stuart foundations found the state’s method of school funding is not effectively meeting student needs.

"The current distribution of resources across schools and school districts is complex and irrational," the report cites as an example. Among other examples, it also says school districts are forced to spend money according to regulations instead of student need.

An Alhambra Unified administrator said if the problem is not fixed, it will hamper students’ futures.

The district has cut $45 million from its budget in the last two years and will be forced to cut more than $10 million by the 2011-12 school year.

"For us, right now we’re on the edge of a funding cliff. It is going to cut now the very essential services to our students and the essential jobs of our employees," Superintendent Donna Perez said.