At Pinedale Elementary School in Fresno, classroom aides are limited, after-school tutoring is scarce, and behavioral counseling and enrichment programs are difficult to provide. Parent workshops, literacy events and field trips are limited as well. The school spends about $16,700 per student each year, nearly $5,000 below the statewide average.

Less than two miles away, Kratt Elementary serves a student body with similar demographics — largely low-income and Latino — but receives about $25,000 per student. Farther west, in the affluent Bay Area community of Portola Valley, an elementary school spends nearly $46,000 per student annually and offers smaller classes, arts and music programs, mental health support and modern facilities.

The differences stem from the way California funds public schools. Districts with high concentrations of students who are low-income, English learners, homeless or in foster care receive additional state money under the Local Control Funding Formula. Wealthier districts often receive less state support but can rely on high property tax revenue and large parent donations. Districts that fall between those categories can end up with far less overall funding.

“When I saw what other schools provide, I was like, what?” said Tania Galeana-King, a mother of three and longtime parent volunteer at Pinedale. “As a parent, it’s really frustrating. I’ve heard of No Child Left Behind, but this is like half the kids left behind.”

California adopted the Local Control Funding Formula more than a decade ago to direct more money to students with the greatest needs. The formula provides a base grant for all districts, then adds supplemental funding based on the share of students facing economic, language or foster care challenges. Districts where more than 55% of students fall into those categories receive still more money.

But rising costs, declining enrollment and inflation have created new pressure points. Districts with many high-needs students receive added support, and wealthy “basic aid” districts can rely heavily on local property taxes. Districts with moderate numbers of high-needs students often receive less extra state funding while lacking the property tax wealth of affluent communities.

That is the situation for Clovis Unified, where Pinedale Elementary is located. Just under half of the district’s students are considered high-needs, meaning the district receives relatively little additional funding. Kratt Elementary, by contrast, is part of Fresno Unified, which qualifies for significantly more funding because of its higher concentration of high-needs students.

The disparities are reflected in academic results. At Pinedale, fewer than 30% of students met the state standard in English language arts last year, and 23.5% met the math standard. Kratt students scored about 5 to 10 percentage points higher on both exams. At Portola Valley Elementary, roughly 85% of students met standards in both subjects.

Michael Johnston, associate superintendent at Clovis Unified, said the funding problem has become increasingly urgent.

“For many, many years, these kids have not gotten the same resources, and every year that goes by, it gets worse,” Johnston said. “It’s a group of students we are not treating fairly, and there needs to be a solution.”

Lawmakers in Sacramento are considering several proposals aimed at addressing the imbalance.

State Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, has introduced Senate Constitutional Amendment 5, which would create a reserve account funded by surplus tax revenues during strong economic years. After the state allocates school funding through Proposition 98, interest generated by the reserve fund would be used to provide extra money to districts that are not basic aid districts.

Cortese, whose district includes several basic aid districts, said the proposal is meant to prevent funding gaps from widening further.

“If we do nothing, the problem is just going to get worse and worse,” he said.

Because the proposal would amend the California Constitution, it would require approval from the Legislature before going to voters on the fall ballot.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget also seeks to boost school funding by adding nearly $1 billion to base grants. The Association of California School Administrators supports increasing the base grant, though officials say the proposed amount would not fully solve the problem.

Naj Alikhan, a spokesperson for the association, said raising the base grant would give school districts more financial stability and flexibility to meet local needs.

Another proposal, Assembly Bill 1204 by Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-Chula Vista, would expand funding for high-needs students. Some district leaders, however, are concerned that directing more money to districts with the highest concentrations of need — without raising the base grant — could deepen shortages for schools already struggling to cover basic programs.

David Roth, superintendent of Buckeye Union Elementary School District in El Dorado County, is among those pressing the state to increase base funding. He has helped organize a campaign called Raise the Base, which tracks funding disparities among California school districts. About 25 parent organizations and 60 small and mid-sized districts have joined the effort, including Murrieta Valley Unified in southwest Riverside County, along with Clovis Unified, Fremont Unified and San Ramon Valley Unified.

Roth said he supports additional funding for students with greater needs, but believes the foundation of school funding has fallen too far behind rising costs.

“The base grant has not kept up with escalating costs, and districts are falling further and further behind,” he said.

Buckeye receives about $15,100 per student, well below the state average of roughly $21,000. Roth said the district includes both affluent neighborhoods and areas of poverty, but its low per-student funding threatens programs that serve all children. Without more state support, he expects the district may have to cut physical education, libraries, counseling and music in the coming years.

“In my mind, these are the basics,” Roth said.

At Pinedale Elementary, Galeana-King has seen the funding challenges up close. She has been part of the school community for 15 years, and all three of her sons attended the campus. She volunteers in classrooms and helps with the parent club, which raises several thousand dollars a year through snack sales, a salsa festival, a jog-a-thon and other events.

Fundraising is difficult in a working-class neighborhood where many parents are juggling multiple jobs. Galeana-King said families want to help, but many are struggling themselves.

Teachers often spend their own money on classroom supplies. The parent club helps where it can, paying for items such as chess boards and a second-grade field trip to Monterey. But parents say the list of needs is much longer: classroom snacks, sports equipment, backpacks and other basic supports.

Galeana-King said she remains proud of the school and the staff members who care for its students, even as she worries about what the campus lacks.

“It might not always have the most financial resources,” she said, “but it has a school full of people who deeply care about and love the kids.”

Original source: CalMatters

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