VantagePoint: Let’s help budget negotiators do the math 

It’s May again and we all know what that represents in California’s annual budget cycle: The May revision of the budget will be coming out soon. All of us in the Education Coalition have worked hard and will continue to strive to see that school funding is increased in the 2006-2007 budget.

This school year has been the most difficult year I can remember with regard to school finance, and I have been involved in public education for more than 30 years. It seems as though we are always being asked to do more and more with less and less and, amazingly, we manage to do just that.

Throughout the budget debate I have heard state leaders throw out many figures about how much money schools receive per student; the most commonly used is $10,000 per student. This is the amount often picked up by the press. Recently, I heard it repeated on the Oprah Winfrey show. This is a misconception that we all need to correct.

Here is a little math lesson about my school district that you can repeat for yours: We recently calculated our 2005-06 budget from all sources, including state, federal and local funds, our building fund, food services, after-school programs, etc., to equal approximately $49 million. Our average daily attendance is approximately 7,000 students. The division is easy: $49 million divided by 7,000 students equals $7,000 per student. For clarification, our actual revenue limit is $5,141.15 per student.

Now, the governor and other state officials have claimed that we are receiving $10,000 per student. I think we can all do the math on that one, as well: $10,000 times 7,000 students equals $70 million. That means that Ramona Unified is being shortchanged $21 million! Where is that money? I want to know. More importantly, when I hear such claims it makes me want to bill the state. How about you?

Every district in the state needs to do this simple calculation so that we are prepared to counter that ridiculous claim every time it surfaces. Our budgets are public information; no one can hide or deny the real figures. As we move toward the time of year when the final budget debate occurs, we must ensure that all of our state officials use accurate numbers when discussing our finances. The claim that we are receiving $10,000 per student is inaccurate and disingenuous. It is often used as an excuse to not give us more money. Help us keep state leaders accurate and honest during this budget debate. Do this simple calculation in your district and share it with your local press.

There is a big difference between our revenue limit of $5,141.15, or even our total funding of $7,000 per student, and $10,000 per student. At a time when we have all been forced to increase class size and eliminate counselors, librarians, school nurses, art and music programs and other vital services for our students, it is important to help the public and our state leaders understand just how scarce our resources are.