Leaders from the San Diego Unified School District have publicly revealed their new funding formula for closing the opportunity gap at the first of three town hall discussions held by the district.
School board President Marne Foster and Superintendent Cindy Marten were joined Wednesday by School Services of California President John Gray to present how robust funding could affect students’ education in the future.
Foster and Marten both said the district has successful methods in place for closing the achievement gap and improving student performance and readiness for college and career, but they aren’t able to implement the programs district wide due to a lack of funding.
California ranks 46th in the nation for spending per student, according to the district.
“We know the ingredients, what is needed to make sure our students are thriving,” Foster said. “We cannot underscore how important it is to have a very relevant education.”
Marten said core programs they want to secure funding for across all district schools include: early childhood education with language-focused curriculum, funding the arts and better integrating arts education into school curriculum, creating robust English Language Learner programs and expanding restorative justice practices to every school in the district, among others.
Marten said the district also wants to establish better ways for parents to get involved by creating parent resource centers at every school. If the district is better funded, class sizes would also be significantly reduced, according to Marten.
The district’s formula was released in October. Officials say they determined an additional $350 million in funding per year, or $3,250 more in per-pupil spending, is needed to meet student needs and eliminate the achievement gap as outlined in the Local Control Accountability Plan.
Gray — who came down from Sacramento for the meeting — said that in the 60’s and 70’s, California funded education more than every other state and more than most places in the world.
“Over 40 years we went from the envy of the world, envy of the nation, to one of the lowest funded states in the nation — yet we’re one of the wealthiest states in the nation,” Gray said.
“We’ve had generations of students in our state that have gone through public education at less than the national average.”
School Services of California is a public education advocacy organization founded 40 years ago, according to Gray.
Gray said the volatile nature of school funding from year-to-year based on factors such as average daily attendance and the state’s economy make it difficult for districts to set out to achieve long-term plans like the one created by San Diego Unified.
Gray said there is a direct correlation between school funding and student performance, citing Wyoming as an example. Wyoming used to be at the bottom of the barrel in school funding and student performance but is now at the top in both categories after a lawsuit on school funding forced legislators there to better prioritize spending for schools, according to Gray.
Prop. 30, a voter-approved sales tax increase and high-income earners tax increase in California, is set to fully expire in 2018 and will further compound the school funding deficit across the state, according to Gray.
The tax has added about $7 billion a year to the $100 billion state education funding budget.
Marten said their funding plan isn’t a quick fix and will likely take decades to fully implement. She said the pilot programs that have been successful have laid the foundation for what is needed across the district once the money comes in.
“We have shown we can meet every student where they are,” Marten said. “We aren’t doing it every day in every school yet, but when more money comes, we know exactly where we want to invest.”
Marten said regardless of when additional funds trickle down to the district, SDUSD is determined to do the best possible work with the funding it does receive.
“We’re going to deliver on equity with whatever dollars we’re given,” Marten said. “We don’t wait for adequacy in San Diego. The funding going up and down doesn’t need to be on the backs of children. We will make the best decisions we can with what we’ve been given.”
—City News Service
