Orleans Parish School Board okays unified funding formula
21st March 2016 · 0 Comments
By Della Hasselle
Contributing Writer
Following a highly anticipated vote clarifying who has authority to disperse public school dollars, a battle over unified school funding is now headed to federal court.
After more than two hours of impassioned debate and public commentary, the Orleans Parish School Board last week granted its superintendent the right to divvy up roughly $390 million among the city’s public schools through a new, unified funding method.
The unanimous vote paves the way for Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. to implement a controversial formula that essentially strips money from gifted and talented students, and pads budgets catering to more pupils with special needs.
More than 90 percent of the city’s public schools view the formula as a victory in the way of fair funding. A select few, however, have adamantly opposed the shift, as schools with high numbers of “gifted and talented” students bear the brunt of the change.
Two of those schools, Lusher Charter School and Lake Forest Charter Elementary School, have filed lawsuits in light of the plan, which would siphon nearly $1,400 per gifted elementary student per year from their budgets.
Before the vote, an attorney for those schools, James Brown, promised “expensive, divisive, federal court litigation” should the board give Lewis authority to disperse dollars as he sees fit. The “essential legal flaw” of the plan, he said, is that it gives the superintendent too much power over funding for a system comprised primarily of independent charters.
He also said that the proposal violates contracts that charter schools have signed with the board, which specify how they’re funded.
“You oughta take some time,” Brown told the board and audience members. “This thing has been a freight train running down a track and no one wants to take ownership of it.”
The subject has stirred controversy since it arose last year, when the state Legislature passed Act 467, a law requiring school leaders and other education officials to devise a unified funding formula to apply to all of New Orleans’ charter schools.
Up until now, the OPSB had a different formula from that enforced by the Recovery School District, the state’s agency that took over “turnaround” or low-performing schools following Hurricane Katrina.
The lay of the land has changed in the past decade, however, as more schools begin to shift back to the control of the OPSB, prompting some to push for a more unified process for school funding.
So in February, a committee overseen by Lewis and Recovery School District Superintendent Patrick Dobard released a unified funding plan, following a 10-1 vote in favor, with one abstention.
That proposed formula doesn’t change how much money overall is allotted to the city’s public schools—a number the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education sets as a “block grant” every year, based on enrollment.
Instead, it changes the per-pupil funding formula for both elementary and high school students. As of now, both groups get a base of $7,953 per pupil in funding, with additional allotments for special education kids, at-risk students, gifted and talented students and those going down a career and tech track.
Under the new formula, the base amount would be $7,495 for elementary students and $7,870 for high school pupils. The main change, however, would be in how the board doles out money to students based on individual needs.
Special education students, for example, could get between $1,499 and $22,486, depending on whether they are facing speech issues or something more involved, such as multiple disabilities or traumatic brain injury. Under the current funding, there is no tiered process, and special education students receive additional funding of $3,326 per pupil.
Under the new plan, schools would also receive $2,249 for immigrants learning English, $1,686 for students who are significantly behind and $375 for gifted/talented students.
Before, gifted and talented students received $1,295 in additional funding.
The plan was sure to draw ire from schools with more gifted and talented students. However, in order to pass, it seemed as if both the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the OPSB would have to approve the specifics of a set formula so that school officials could plan accordingly for the fiscal year starting this summer.
Earlier in March, however, the state board seemed to sidestep the issue altogether, saying BESE only had to approve categories and tiers for funding, but not a formula for how the money is dispersed.
In a move widely seen as a way to avoid controversy or potential litigation, the Louisiana Superintendent instead punted the responsibility to the Orleans Parish School Board.
Only, OPSB has yet to vote on the specific funding formula tier, either.
On March 15, after lengthy consults with their attorneys and a last-minute change to the motions being put on the table, which wasn’t made available to the press or public even hours after the meeting began, many seemed confused about what the board was voting on.
Ultimately, OPSB members announced that they had no right to tell their superintendent how to spend the board’s money. They instead empowered Lewis to make that decision, as his “lawful” duty as board treasurer.
“There is nothing in this act [that] gives a local school board the authority to approve or disapprove the allocation formula arrived at by this collaborative committee,” OPSB lawyer Bob Hammonds said at the meeting, referencing the group Dobard oversaw in February.
At the March 15 meeting, Lewis didn’t give a firm answer on whether or not he would implement the specifics that had been publicly endorsed by Dobard. Instead, he said generally that he approves unified funding amongst the districts.
“It’s no secret I support the unified formula, because it’s necessary,” Lewis said. “We are going to be able to fund our schools such that, at the end of day, we can provide best possible education to all of our schools. Because as educators that’s our responsibility.”
At the meeting, the specifics of the board vote seemed to matter little to an audience eager to have their voices heard. Among more than 30 speakers, only Lusher and Lake Forest Charter’s lawyer spoke against the formula.
For more than an hour, local school board members heard impassioned testimony by parents, elementary and high school students, educators and representatives from advocacy groups that included the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, Southern Poverty Law Center and New Schools for New Orleans.
“You all are in a position to actually lead,” Michael Stone, from New Schools for New Orleans, told board members. “Don’t wait. Don’t defer. Make the call. If a lawsuit comes, we’ll figure it out.”
Parents and educators alike spoke to the difficulty and financial strain of caring for children with disabilities. Some described children who used wheelchairs, or who had trouble walking and using other motor skills. Others described students who were legally blind, deaf or could barely speak, but were trying their hardest to get by in a system with limited resources, relying mostly on the kindness and extra support from other students or school staff – often at the expense of other students.
At the NET Charter School, for example, nearly a quarter of students have special needs, and 90 percent arrive scoring below grade level on state exams, according to founder Elizabeth Ostberg.
Ostberg pleaded on behalf of her students, including 18-year-old who was once told she was “too dumb to learn” elsewhere. After she became pregnant, she enrolled at NET so her child could have a better future, she said.
“Despite the enormous odds she’s facing, we believe this young lady can earn a diploma,” Ostberg told the board.
Most spoke on behalf of special needs students with disabilities, but a few advocated also for those who are struggling to learn English in schools with limited resources.
Among them was Mickey Landry, the executive director of the charter group Choice Foundation, who bemoaned a longstanding tradition he said encouraged a divided system among the “have schools” and the “have not schools.”
“Imagine being an immigrant child. You’ve never been in a school in your home country. You’re put in a school. Within two years, having never heard a word of English, you have to pass the PARCC test,” Landry said. “We can’t educate ELL students with the resources we have, not to that level. We’re being asked to do the impossible.”
Students from several schools banded together last week to convey similar messages, as seen when Lusher student Pearlie Leaf translated for a group of Spanish-speaking students from Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School.
“Our families pump gas, provide childcare, work in construction,” Leaf said, translating for Marilyn Sorto. “We want our own businesses. To become doctors. Attend universities. Please help us to make our dreams come true.”
Following the meeting, Dobard issued a statement praising OPSB, marking a shift from years past, when the boards were largely seen as being at odds over how to oversee dozens of public schools mostly operated under charter contract.
“The board acted on behalf of all schools and children and took a big and meaningful step towards the unification of our system of schools,” Dobard said. “Look forward to working with OPSB to enact this formula.”
OPSB’s overwhelming support wasn’t enough to deter some from fighting back, however. On Thursday, Brown filed his civil lawsuit on behalf of Lusher and Lake Forest Charter in federal court, saying recent actions violated the schools’ 14th amendment rights.
The process recently authorized by OPSB leaves the schools’ “basic operating funding to the whims of a single individual,” the lawsuit read, “eviscerating Plaintiffs’ contracts.”
This article originally published in the March 21, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
