WEALTHY SCHOOLS GET MORE REPORT: DISTRICTS NATIONWIDE SHORTCHANGE POOR, MINORITIES.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN Staff Writer

Los Angeles Unified and other school districts nationwide give more money and assign more experienced teachers to campuses in wealthier areas, shortchanging low- income and minority students who need more resources to succeed, a national study released today says.

The report by the Education Trust also found that districts think the tax revenue they get specifically for low-income and minority students is sufficient, so they spend unrestricted funds on ``extras'' such as teacher's aides and full-day kindergarten at more affluent schools.

``The conclusions are downright frightening,'' said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust.

``At every level -- federal, state and district -- the decisions we make stack the deck against low-income kids and kids of color. These facts raise disturbing questions about our values in this country.

``While we're saying that if you go to school you can be whatever you want to be, we are essentially sucker-punching them at the same time.''

The study also found that Los Angeles Unified spends more per-pupil than the statewide average for impoverished and minority students. At the same time, teachers who work in wealthier areas earn about $1,400 a year more than those assigned to impoverished campuses.

``If you consider sending more money to wealthier districts than to high-poverty districts bad, L.A. has the effect of making the state of California look better,'' said Eli Pristoop, data analyst for EdTrust.

``That said, this doesn't address adequacy of funding. It just looks at how L.A. compares to other high-poverty districts in the state of California.''

There is a wide disparity in funding not only within states, but also among states, report co-author Goodwin Liu said.

Based on figures adjusted for cost-of-living and other disparities, the 10 highest-spending states in the country spend 50percent more per child than the 40 others, he said.

Mayor seeking money

While California spends $5,743 per student, Vermont -- with far fewer low-income and minority students -- spends more than $9,400.

And in receiving the TitleI money earmarked for low-income students, California falls roughly in the middle of all states, although it has the most impoverished youths -- nearly 1.3 million.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is poised to assume a greater role over the district beginning Jan.1, has promised to lobby hard for a greater share of state and federal money for Los Angeles Unified.

``The Education Trust study underscores Mayor Villaraigosa's belief that reforming our public schools is the civil rights issue of our time,'' spokeswoman Janelle Erickson said.

``Not only do we need to cut the bureaucratic waste to move dollars back into the classroom, we need to shine a light on how our schools are funded, including TitleI, to ensure every child is given the education they deserve.''

Educators may expound on the need to raise performance and close the achievement gap, but that's just rhetoric until there's funding equality, Liu said.

``Federal Title I money is supposed to level the playing field for low-income kids, but TitleI disproportionately benefits high-spending states,'' Liu said. ``The program's state allocation formula ends up reinforcing rather than reducing funding gaps between wealthy and poor states.''

School board member David Tokofsky said federal laws need to be changed to rectify funding irregularities.

``There's a formula problem,'' he said. ``Congress making the rules 3,000 miles away is not going to understand the diversity of circumstances in our diverse nation, and certainly formulas created in 1964 are out of touch with the geopolitical realities and educational needs of kids today.''

Unrestricted money

The EdTrust report also found that districts spend more unrestricted money on affluent schools, which also tend to get more-experienced teachers, co-author Marguerite Roza said.

``In most districts, wealthier, whiter schools have more senior teachers and few teachers turning over every year,'' Roza said. ``If you put salaries aside, wealthier schools get more resources in terms of salaries and supplies.''

Because powerful teachers unions may impede efforts to reassign their members, Roza suggested using pay incentives and bonuses to attract more-experienced teachers to less- desirable schools.

Tokofsky disputed the report's assumption that more-experienced teachers are better. ``Their data perpetuates this polemic in a way that I think doesn't further legislative change but increases a general sense of victimization,'' he said.

Raising awareness 

In wrapping up its findings, the EdTrust authors recommended raising public awareness of the need to invest more tax revenue on education, allocate more money to impoverished students and distribute funds more equitably.

Finally, the report called for school districts to publicize details of their budgets, and how much money goes to individual schools and to target more of their resources to those schools with the biggest challenges.

``There are glaring inequities in the system,'' Liu said. ``The policy predicate -- and frankly the moral predicate -- for making those changes is fairly compelling.

``These issues boil down to the politics of how you rearrange money going to members' districts.''

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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