REVISED BUDGET MAY BE WINDFALL FOR SCHOOLS.

Byline: Venise Wagner San Francisco Examiner 

For a school like Longfellow Elementary in San Francisco, where teachers usually shell out $100 to $300 of their own money to supplement the classroom book collection, $50,000 is a godsend.

In a school like Skyline High in Oakland - which spends only $60,000 for instructional materials, paper, pencils, literature, maps, computers and software for 1,876 students - an extra $50,000 seems like a gracious gift.

Gov. Pete Wilson's revised budget, which would add $1.7 billion in funding for California schools - including $50,000 for each school to use as it wishes - has administrators around the state reviewing their long and seemingly endless wish lists, which have grown longer during the state's economic slump.

Now that state revenue projections are improving, Wilson is intent on targeting the money guaranteed to schools on those areas that have become critical.

He wants $460 million to go toward cutting class sizes in first and second grades; $200 million for reading textbooks and teacher training to improve reading instruction; and $50,000 block grants for every school to use on priority items.

The $50,000 per-school proposal was greeted with elation by some Bay Area principals and skepticism by others.

Education administrators have learned that money isn't money until it's in the bank.

That doesn't keep Skyline Principal Thomas Lorch from dreaming about what $50,000 could do for his school. But Lorch is still pragmatic. ``The planning process will start in earnest as soon as we have the funds,'' he said.

``Fifty-thousand-dollar one-time funds is $50,000 more than we have, but it doesn't begin to solve the problem of underfunding at this school,'' Lorch said. ``We don't have enough funds for textbooks, instructional materials, technology, computer software. We don't have enough for essentials. Do you consider educational technology, CD-ROMs, the Internet essentials? Can you run an educational program without them? Yes. Can you prepare kids for the 21st century? No. All of these things you need.''

San Francisco school board member Jill Wynns - while pleased with the notion of schools getting a nice chunk of change - questioned the fairness of giving all schools the same amount regardless of size.

``Giving money to some inner-city school in Los Angeles that's desperate for funds and giving the same amount of money to Beverly Hills High School . . .,'' Wynns said. ``I think size is an issue that should be addressed. But I'm not complaining. . . . People who are poor are grateful for gifts.''

At Longfellow, which has 517 students, Principal Mary Marin would like to create a small library for every classroom.

``We're so pleased that the governor is beginning to put money back into education - putting money where it counts, with children,'' Marin said.

``We want 48 title books per child. That's almost 2,000 paperback books per classroom, and we have 20 classes. We want an educated populace.''

The school also could use new lighting in the library and auditorium. Marin said the school also needs roofs repaired and a new play structure in the schoolyard. But Marin said parents and teachers ultimately will determine how the money is spent.

Fairmount Elementary Principal Linda Luevano said the difficulty will be deciding on priorities.

``We could spend $50,000 50 times over,'' Luevano said.

Fairmount's lone computer lab is filled with 20 archaic Apple IIe's. The playground needs work, the stairs in one stairwell are coming apart and old carpeting in the classrooms is causing allergies in some children. Luevano also wants to beef up literature in the classroom.

Oakland's McClymonds High Principal Willie Hamilton is well aware that $50,000 will only erase one or two items from his wish list.

A school with 639 of Oakland's neediest and most vulnerable students, McClymonds receives substantial federal and state categorical funding for limited-English-speaking, low-income and poorly performing students. Yet, Hamilton said he will be happy to take what the governor hands out.

``No, that's not a lot of money,'' Hamilton said. ``I'd first deal with getting books for the classroom, supplementary books for the core curriculum. Second thing I'd want to do is get software for computers. Next thing, we'd get into the library and upgrade it. We'd reactivate our automotive program, expand the carpentry program.

``These are things we've had at one time but no longer exist because we didn't have the money. Don't let me forget the band. Kids need to be involved in a lot of things that will display their talents.''