Many Bay Area school districts could see their revenues from the state increase by up to 7.3 percent next year, under Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed overhaul of school funding.
Figures from the state Department of Finance show that school districts educating high proportions of poor students and English learners will gain the most under Brown's proposal.
Among Bay Area school districts, per-pupil revenue would grow 7.3 percent in Oak Grove in San Jose, 6.6 percent in Ravenswood in East Palo Alto, 6.5 percent in tiny Luther Burbank in San Jose, 5.2 percent in Pittsburg Unified and 3.8 percent in Oakland Unified. The wealthiest school districts will not lose funds, and in fact could reap through property tax revenue growth -- although the state did not estimate that increase.
Brown's proposal must be adopted by the Legislature before going into effect.
"Obviously, we're pleased with the concept," said Oakland Unified spokesman Troy Flint. "It's welcome and long overdue that the state is directing resources to the students with the greatest need."
In Oakland, about two-thirds of students are classified as poor and 30 percent are English-language learners.
The state's list is only an estimate of projected amounts for more than 1,000 school districts plus dozens of charter schools and county offices of education. The list is based on 2-year-old enrollment and finance data and estimates of needy students. Precise numbers will be put
out later, said H.D. Palmer of the Department of Finance.Last month, Brown proposed simplifying California's complex and irrational system of funding K-12 schools -- a legacy of court cases, ballot measures and legislation -- that currently pays wildly different per-pupil amounts to school districts. Under Brown's proposal, districts will receive a base per-pupil amount, and could get 35 percent more for every English-language learner, poor child or foster youth they educate. Districts with large numbers of those students would receive an additional amount. A student falling into multiple categories could be counted only once.
Districts serving middle-class families will see only incremental gains. One is Cupertino Union, which appears will be among the lowest-funded in the state. The state estimates that Cupertino, which educates about 19,000 students in six cities, will receive only $5,978 per pupil next year, a $138 gain over 2011-12.
By comparison, neighboring Sunnyvale would get $7,130 per student.
Such a low level of funding will make it difficult to serve the very students the state is targeting, said Cupertino Superintendent Wendy Gudalewicz.
She agrees with paying districts more to educate poor children. But after five years of cuts, California has such low funding that all districts are struggling, she said, and the new formula also doesn't account for the Bay Area's high cost of living.
"If you pay a teacher $60,000 in Porterville, that teacher might be able to buy a home," she said, but not so in Cupertino.
Over seven years, the governor's formula is designed to narrow revenue gaps among similar districts but benefit those with hard-to-educate students. In Contra Costa County, last year the 66-student Canyon School District received $146 per pupil more than Pittsburg. But after seven years, the difference will flip-flop, with Canyon getting $3,810 per pupil less than Pittsburg, where 80 percent of students are poor and 32 percent are English learners.
Despite the balancing calculus, school districts serving privileged children will almost certainly remain on top of the funding heap. In San Mateo County, the Portola Valley and Woodside school districts' revenue next year is projected to be nearly twice that of districts at the other end of the scale, Pacifica and Millbrae.
As the Legislature takes up Brown's proposals, schools will be lobbying furiously, with opposition from those standing to lose the most.
"We're very disappointed in the formula," said Orinda Superintendent Joe Jaconette, adding that neighboring wealthy districts like Lafayette and Moraga share his concerns. "There shouldn't really be winners and losers. They've redistributed dollars based on something that's not related to any research that we're aware of, so it looks arbitrary."
Contact Sharon Noguchi at 408-271-3775. Follow her at Twitter.com/noguchionk12.
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