$50 Million in School Funds Threatened by Prop. 187 : Education: Officials say the county could lose state and federal money and be burdened with $6.5 million in new costs. But backers say measure would generate huge savings.

Ventura County schools stand to lose nearly $50 million in state and federal money if voters approve a November ballot measure that would deny public education to illegal immigrants, school officials said.

Proposition 187 would also force local districts to spend an estimated $6.5 million on new administrative duties: verifying the immigration status of children and their parents and holding hearings for students suspected of being in the United States illegally, officials said.

“What may have started out as a way to stop illegal immigration ends up as a whole other massive bureaucracy,” said Charles Weis, Ventura County superintendent of schools.

But local backers of Proposition 187 argue that overall savings from excluding illegal immigrant students would far outweigh the costs of implementing the measure.

Besides, supporters say, concerns about the ballot measure’s financial impact ultimately miss the point.

“The issue has nothing to do with money to schools, with money to health or money to welfare,” said Steve Frank, coordinator for the county’s Proposition 187 campaign. “We can talk numbers. We can go over numbers. The bottom line is not numbers. It’s whether or not you give a benefit to those who knowingly break the law.”

Proposition 187 would bar illegal immigrants from public schooling, non-emergency health care and other social services in California.

Federal education officials say the measure violates federal privacy laws by requiring teachers and other school officials to verify the immigration status of students.

In fact, U.S. Education Secretary Richard W. Riley has threatened to withhold federal funds from state school districts, including $26 million to Ventura County schools, if the ballot measure passes.

Federal money helps pay for free lunches for poor children, bilingual education for students who cannot speak English and special education for the disabled.

While some students who benefit from these programs are illegal immigrants, many are not, Weis said. “That’s the sad thing about it. There’s no relation between the kids who have these needs and the issue of immigration.”

Besides stripping local school districts of federal funds, Proposition 187 would also probably lead to the loss of millions of dollars in state money.

The state pays districts based on their quantity of pupils, so state money to districts would decline for each illegal immigrant student forced out of school.

State education officials estimate that 6% of California’s students are illegal immigrants.

Applying the 6% figure to Ventura County, which state officials said is a fair estimate, 7,140 of the county’s 119,000 students are in the United States illegally.

At $3,200 per pupil, county schools would stand to lose roughly $22.8 million in state money.

Fewer students should translate into lower costs, with districts able to hire a smaller cadre of teachers and spend less on supplies.

But some school districts would lose too few children to allow them to lay off teachers or otherwise cut costs enough to make up for the state funding cut, officials in Sacramento said.

“If you lose one third-grader you can’t save anything,” said Jim Wilson, financial policy director for the state Department of Education.

Not only would Proposition 187 cause districts to lose funding, it would force them to spend money checking the immigration status of students and parents, as well as holding hearings for suspected illegal immigrant children.

Under the proposed law, school officials would initially have to check every student’s immigration status and then conduct checks on all new children enrolling in the district.

Just verifying the status of students and parents--by checking birth certificates or other documents--will cost roughly $25 per pupil, state officials estimate. Holding a hearing for each suspected illegal immigrant student would cost an additional $500, officials said.

“Certainly no district has extra money rolling around for these things. But these are unavoidable costs” under Proposition 187, said Wilson of the Education Department.

But Steve Frank disputed school officials’ dim view of the initiative’s financial impact.

He scoffed at the federal government’s threat to withhold funds. “There will not be a cut,” he said. “Bill Clinton is not going to cut money to California. . . . He wants to win the election.”

And he said voters must look at the bigger picture when considering the projected costs of implementing 187. By forcing California’s estimated 300,000 illegal immigrant students out of school, the state would save at least $9.6 billion annually.

“It gets down to the fact that there will be more money for education for those who are legally here and those who abide by the law,” Frank said. “This works out as a major plus.”

But school officials say any money saved by Proposition 187 would come to local schools only if the state decided to boost its per-student spending.

And considering the state’s tightfisted stance toward education in recent years, that possibility is “not likely,” Conejo Valley schools trustee Mildred Lynch said.

In the past, Lynch has sided with conservative residents on some school issues, including her battle against the California Learning Assessment System, or CLAS tests, and her support of last year’s school voucher initiative.

But she is parting ways with conservatives who support Proposition 187. “I personally would not have any part of turning children away from schools or turning teachers into INS agents,” she said.

“The argument is foolish to say we would get all this money if we turn children away from schools,” Lynch added. “You still only get money for children that attend.”