BOE panel OKs revamp of funding formula
The current guidelines are seen as harming too many schools
A Board of Education committee approved a proposal yesterday allowing state school leaders to draw up a new school funding system to replace a contentious version introduced this summer.
Under the plan first suggested two weeks ago by Superintendent Pat Hamamoto, her staff would study a number of schools to determine how to distribute state education funding to best academic effect, and then present a new version of the "weighted student formula" for consideration next year.
In the meantime, the state also would slow implementation of, and eventually scrap, the current version of the formula, which assigns a greater per-pupil funding "weight" for certain categories of students deemed to require greater resources.
The current version would have shifted millions of dollars in funding from some schools to others over the next four years, causing budget cuts at some while others gained.
Members of the board's fiscal committee said the ensuing debate has shown there is insufficient funding across the school system to introduce the formula without hurting some schools.
"I think it's important to rethink this, to step back," said board member Darwin Ching.
The motion is expected to pass the full board next week.
The Legislature passed a law in 2004 requiring the board to devise and implement the funding system, which is aimed at greater equity in per-student funding.
But with many schools already cash-strapped, the funding shifts provoked an outcry.
"It's like dividing up a personal pan pizza for a family of eight," said board member Denise Matsumoto.
Many board members took shots at the Legislature for mandating the system without a concurrent funding increase to ease the impact on schools that lose out.
They also complained that a recent study by mainland experts showed there is no indication that weighted funding has led to academic gains at mainland cities that have adopted it.
"The Legislature passed the buck on this one," said member Shirley Robinson, who said the weighted funding mandate had created "a mess, not success."
The committee also passed a motion to increase the weight for students who transfer between schools before the end of a term, a move likely to help schools with large numbers of military dependents.
Sam Ko, principal of Shafter Elementary School, welcomed the committee's decision and called on Hamamoto's staff to come up with a long-range plan that helps all schools.
"For something this huge, hopefully this time they'll do it right and come up with something more coherent," he said.