Editorial

The word “fair” is bandied about so often in our modern society that it often becomes difficult to distinguish just what it really means. Take a recent example – Governor Jerry Brown’s new school budget proposal which, if passed, would allocate funding to different school districts on the basis of their perceived need. School districts with a high proportion of English-learners, foster youth and low-income students would receive 35 percent more money per head – an average of about $2,450 per student – under Brown’s plan. In addition, where high-needs students make up more than half of a district’s pupils, the plan would give an additional 35 percent funding per student. In the end, every California public school is slated to receive augmented funding by the time Brown’s plan is fully implemented. Inevitably, the amount of the budget increases, and the final budgets each school receives will vary.
At Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified, where fewer than seven percent of students are considered English learners, school funding would increase by $2528 per student. A few miles away at Compton Unified, where English learners make up almost 40 percent of the student body, funding would increase by $5066 per student, despite the fact that Compton already receives more money than PVPUSD to begin with. In the 2011 to 2012 school year, Compton Unified earned $6994 per student, while PVPUSD got $5901. If Jerry Brown’s plan is fully implemented, Compton will receive $12060 per student yearly, while PVPUSD will get only $8429. In short, Compton’s funding per student will increase by over 70%, while PVPUSD’s will increase by barely 40%.
The proponents of the plan laud it as “fair” – they praise it as a way to provide every student in California with a high quality education. While it is certainly benevolent to try to help underperforming schools catch up, it is equally imperative to promote further achievement in schools already considered “good enough” by the state.
Well performing schools (cough cough Peninsula) need funds to encourage continued achievement, like supporting a student body that takes over 2,000 AP exams per year, or maintaining a high quality staff that supports a variety of extracurricular organizations. By allocating funds differently to different school districts, Brown is creating animosity between districts, and furthering the already wide gap between LA Unified and PVPUSD.
Ironically, Brown’s tax scenario relies heavily on Proposition 30 funds, which passed last November with over 55% support. Brown’s own advertisements indicated that Prop 30 would solve all the financial problems plaguing our schools, and in Palos Verdes, where the parents are politically engaged and knowledgeable, voter turnout in favor of the proposition was relatively high. Now, however, the money that we were told would be used to solve our school’s problems are, in reality, being partitioned by the state on the basis of “apparent” need. This leaves Peninsula with a disproportionately small slice of the pie, and thousands of high-performing students.
In the end, Palos Verdes’ Deputy Superintendent of business services Lydia Cano summed it best: “It’s not fair.”