Bus funding saved, but ‘fix’ far from painless
All districts to lose about $42 per student
Published: February 14, 2012
Gov. Jerry Brown on Feb. 10 signed a bill to swap a planned $248 million cut to the Home-to-School Transportation Program for an equal reduction in revenue limits this year—a compromise generally agreed to impact the state’s diverse local educational agencies more equitably.
The transportation funding cut—effectively zeroing out the budget item in the middle of the school year—would have impacted small, rural districts disproportionately, as their costs to get students to school far surpass the estimated $42 per pupil intended by the midyear fix to the state’s budget deficit.
Instead, Senate Bill 81 swaps the midyear transportation cut for an equivalent revenue limit reduction that applies to school districts, charter schools and county offices of education. Because basic aid districts receive little or no revenue limit funding, they will receive an equivalent reduction to their categorical dollars so they “share the pain” with all other districts.
On the other hand, some districts stand to lose more under the revenue limit cut than they would have by losing transportation money. However, a revenue limit cut is applied more equitably as the cuts are spread across all districts and doesn’t hit those districts that rely the most heavily on transportation funding.
"It isn't a fair solution for everybody, but the feeling was that this was fairer for the largest number of districts," Sacramento County Superintendent Dave Gordon told the Sacramento Bee.
Funds remain at risk for 2012-13
Responding to widespread local concerns last December about the abrupt end to home-to-school transportation funding—a key element of the automatic cuts that built into the 2011-12 state budget—CSBA helped publicize the effects and fast-track SB 81 through the legislative process. A CSBA analysis of transportation costs revealed that many smaller districts must spend heavily—as much as thousands per student—to get students living in remote areas to class.
Considerable work remains, though, if schools are to retain the transportation funds in the 2012-13 budget year. The governor’s budget proposal completely eliminates those categorical dollars and assumes districts would pay for transportation through a weighted student funding formula that makes revenues more flexible. The details of such a funding formula have yet to be worked out and likely would be part of a larger discussion about renovating the state’s education funding model.
An analysis of the impact of the governor’s 2012-13 budget proposal on Proposition 98 is available from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Easy links: