By Bruce Barton
Local school districts are in a “fiscal straightjacket” thanks to an arcane state funding formula and a lack of local control over most funds they do receive, a state education expert said during an Oct. 1 forum on school finances.
Michael Kirst, director of the Stanford School of Education and a former member of the state Board of Education, said districts like the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View-Whisman School District are designated as revenue limit districts, “based on the money (communities) were spending before the early 1970s.”
Kirst was speaking at a “School Finance 101″ forum at the Mountain View High School theater, sponsored by the Los Altos-Mountain View League of Women Voters.
The well-attended event also featured comments from the superintendents of three local districts: Marge Gratiot from Los Altos, Jim Negri from Mountain View-Whisman, and Rich Fischer from the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District.
The revenue limit formula allots money on a per pupil basis. Gratiot said the formula would have made Los Altos the third lowest funded district in Santa Clara County were it not for a parcel tax voters first approved in 1989. Kirst said the revenue limit figure “has no basis in need, in educational purpose - it’s an accounting measure. The number has no conceptual tie to educational performance. It’s hard to explain rationally.”
There is no strong movement afoot to change that formula, and Kirst noted legislators are unlikely to change it on their own. However, Los Altos could qualify for basic aid in a few years if enough homes are sold and reassessed resulting in increased property tax revenues. Gratiot said the district is approximately 95 percent of the way toward becoming basic aid.
Kirst said the vast majority of school districts statewide are tied to the revenue limit formula, meaning their funding goes up and down with enrollment.
The other funding formula, basic aid, applies to Fischer’s high school district and 51 others, mostly throughout Northern California. Under basic aid, districts get a lump sum based on their area’s property tax revenues. This puts the local high school district in better financial shape than the elementary districts.
Fischer reported a 14 percent increase in property taxes over the past year and the district gets 78 percent of its funding from property taxes. The district needs 4 percent to 5 percent growth yearly “just to stay even” due increased costs, Fischer said.
With the revenue limit formula, growth means more money but in Fischer’s basic aid district, increased enrollment means less money per student. “We’re growing,” he said. “We don’t know why.” “Don’t level basic aid down,” Fischer cautioned. “It’s a basic funding level - the state needs to bring the rest up to that level.”
Gratiot, wearing her “Measure H” button, referred to the district’s second attempt this year to persuade voters to approve a $333 increase in the annual parcel tax just to maintain the programs the district has now. The first try in an April special election fell short of the two-thirds majority needed by approximately 150 votes. The district is asking again at the Nov. 5 election so officials can receive the increased funding in time for the 2003-2004 school year.
Los Altos gets 11 percent of its funding - $3.2 million annually - from its current parcel tax, Gratiot said. She acknowledged tremendous local support, as exhibited by a frenzied fundraising effort by parents to raised $2 million in six weeks in May and June to help offset a $4 million deficit for the current school year.
Negri said his district is “in the same position Marge is,” with declining enrollment leading in part to the merger of the Whisman and Mountain View school districts.
The district does receive more “categorical” funding - which targets where money will be spent - but “the cost is not always covered by money that comes from the state and federal governments.” He cited special education as an example.
“Our challenge is to meet those increasing costs when we don’t have any control over it,” Negri said. “Our frustration (is) not having a (timely) budget from the state - it allows for little or no planning. We have funding deferred to next year.”
Gratiot and Fischer reported that teacher salaries are competitive in their districts and their reputations continually draw quality instructors. Kirst pointed to the challenge of retaining teachers in costly states such as California. He noted that the state is sixth in the nation in teacher salaries, but the figure drops to 32nd when adjusted for cost of living.
One question from the audience concerned the possibility of unifying Los Altos elementary and the high school districts. Gratiot said one such proposal surfaced 14 years ago, but a study showed it would be detrimental.
