127 School Districts Suing to Overhaul State Funding System

Frustrated by the perennial lack of money for California students, 127 school districts will join today in a lawsuit demanding an overhaul of the state’s school funding system, contending it illegally deprives pupils of their constitutional right to a decent education.

Nine school districts, led by the Capistrano Unified School District in south Orange County, mounted a similar, smaller-scale legal challenge in November, 1990, arguing that the state had violated the law by failing to provide equal funding for each school district. But that lawsuit was never served on the state and was later dismissed.

Led by the attorney who won the landmark 1974 Serrano vs. Priest case, which held that failure to provide equal funding violates equal protection provisions of the state Constitution, the districts have vastly expanded their attack with new arguments and scores of additional plaintiffs.

The new lawsuit, to be filed in Orange County Superior Court, reiterates the earlier suit’s claim that unequal distribution of money to school districts violates the Serrano-Priest ruling. But it adds a new argument--that even if equally distributed, the amount of money currently dedicated to kindergarten through 12th-grade public schools in California is simply not enough to provide the “adequate” education mandated by law.

“The issue is no longer only equality” among districts, said John McDermott, the school districts’ lawyer. “For many students, programs and districts, you’re now looking at an eroding quality of education overall, to the point where it’s no longer adequate.”

McDermott cited studies by the National Education Assn., which found that California spent $4,644 per pupil in the 1990-91 school year, compared to the national average of $5,261 per student, ranking the state 33rd in the nation. In 1973, McDermott noted, California ranked 16th in spending on its students.

Elementary, high school and unified school districts from all over the state are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including eight in Orange County. They plan to ask a judge to declare the state’s school funding system illegal, hoping that such a ruling will force change in the state Legislature, McDermott said. Since 1989, Texas, Montana, Kentucky, New Jersey and West Virginia all have lost lawsuits alleging their school funding systems are inadequate and are now working on revisions, McDermott said.

Roger Wolfertz), assistant general counsel for the state Department of Education, said the state has complied with the Serrano decision, which requires funding disparities between districts to be limited to $100 per pupil.

“If they are going to argue that we don’t comply, then they are going to have to show us how,” Wolfertz said.

Jacqueline Price, spokeswoman for the Capistrano Unified district, said the sheer number of plaintiffs indicates the severity of the problem.

“It’s not just one district, or five or eight districts,” she said. “There are districts out there serving tens of thousands of children who are not getting their fair share.”

Arch J. Haskins, superintendent of Anaheim’s Magnolia School District, another plaintiff, said it makes no sense that the eight elementary schools in his district get $200 to $300 less per student than the eight schools in the nearby Cypress School District, which is similar in student population. He added that disparities of as much as $1,000 exist between some other districts.

Statistics from the Orange County Department of Education for the 1991-92 school year show that the amount that each of the county’s 27 districts gets in state revenue ranges from $2,983 to $3,728. Officials note that those figures do not take into account the funding that may not come through because of the state budget deficit.

McDermott contends that the state spending figures do not tell the whole story because of the effect of budget cutbacks and loopholes that affect a district’s funding.

For instance, some districts have been able to garner enough voter support to pass a flat “parcel tax” on property, thereby gaining $200 or $300 per pupil more than a neighboring district that was unable to gather enough support for such a tax, McDermott said.

Other Orange County districts that are plaintiffs in the suit are Fountain Valley, Anaheim City, Westminster, Buena Park, Brea-Olinda Unified and the Fullerton Joint Union High School districts.