Honig Should Change Stance on Equalized Funding for Schools

I am writing out of pure outrage over state schools Supt. Bill Honig’s callous criticism of the Capistrano school district lawsuit seeking equalized funding for schools (“Honig Calls Suit by Capistrano a ‘Stunt,’ ” Feb. 7). As a parent in a school district that also does not receive its rightful share of basic school funding, I applaud the efforts of the school district.

I am also appalled at Honig’s indifference to this fundamental issue of fairness. While he has certainly helped narrow the gap between districts, he doesn’t seem interested in ending it. That’s like making conditions of slavery more humane without recognizing the need to abolish it.

Why are my three children not worth the same basic state investment in education as other children? Why does where we live decide what they are worth? Why do 1972 property values dictate the basis of our funding? The complex, archaic and accumulatively unjust method of school funding is a shame all Californians share in.

Honig contends that most districts are within $250 of each other. Following his argument, if we take a district like mine, with nearly 5,000 students, and multiply that out, we see that we could potentially be underfunded $1.25 million per year. And, if we multiply the $1.25 million per year times the 15 years since Serrano-Priest, we can see that my district could potentially have lost out on $18.75 million dollars. Neither the yearly nor the cumulative total is small potatoes.

I thank the Capistrano Unified School District for investing its limited revenue to help end our state-approved apartheid system of funding public schools. And I urge Honig to spend more time addressing this fundamental issue by providing an up-to-date, fair and stable funding policy for our schools. As long as there are some districts that are “more equal than others,” we are vulnerable to injustices.

CLAIRE SCHLOTTERBECK, Brea