Honig Should Change Stance on Equalized Funding for Schools

Bill Honig has called the Capistrano Unified School District suit a “PR Stunt” that detracts from more serious issues. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am the past president of the Assn. of Low Wealth Schools, an organization of more than 200 school districts that are being shortchanged by the state’s school finance system. Parents and taxpayers want to know why their children are receiving less in state funding than neighboring districts. The issue is very serious.

For 20 years, the Assn. of Low Wealth Schools has waged a lobbying effort in Sacramento to bring equity to all California’s schoolchildren. That goal is far from met.

Honig’s lawyers have convinced a judge that state funding differences of $250 per child are acceptable. In Capistrano that amounts to more than $6 million per year in state funding. Yet Capistrano must meet the same state standards as nearby school districts that receive significantly more revenue.

The result is that the children of Capistrano and similar communities are being denied equal access to a quality education as required by the state Constitution. That is what the Capistrano suit is about.

JOHN M. PERRY, Newport Beach