A.V. SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY SUE STATE; YEARS OF BELOW-AVERAGE PER-STUDENT FUNDING PRODS TRUSTEES TO MULL LITIGATION.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

In an attempt to rectify years of what they regard as inequitable funding, Antelope Valley Union High School District trustees are contemplating suing the state government.

The board at its Feb. 3 meeting will discuss with an attorney what options the district has to increase the amount the district receives per student from the state, an amount below the state average.

``There is still discrimination. The Antelope Valley Union High School District is expected to accomplish results with less money. The funding system is not fair and equitable,'' trustee Bill Olenick said. ``It's a shame it has to come to this. I don't see any other options.''

In 1996-97, the district received $3,707 per student, while a high school district in San Mateo got $4,968 per student, Olenick said.

Antelope Valley legislators in the past have tried through legislation to equalize the funding, but those efforts have fallen short of closing the funding gap, Olenick said.

Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, this month introduced a bill that proposes establishing a sliding scale formula based on the cost-of-living adjustment school districts receive every year.

Such a formula will eventually equalize every school district's discretionary funding they receive annually from the state, Runner said.

The funding discrepancy in part has existed since Proposition 13 took effect. That law took local control away from school districts and gave it to the state.

Antelope Valley schools have long been underfinanced because of the growth in the areas since Prop. 13, local school officials say.

A state supreme court ruling in 1976 gave the state until 1980 to equalize funding for each school district within $100 per pupil - on the grounds that California children had the right to comparable public education, regardless of the wealth of their individual community - but that has been thwarted by politics, Olenick said.

``The higher wealth districts have political muscle in Sacramento and are able to dictate funding formulas that favor them,'' Olenick said.

Olenick said other school districts in the 1980s have tried to seek relief through legal action but have not been successful because the courts allowed the state to calculate in other funds, such as categorical funds that can only be spent on certain programs.