Local school officials lobby the governor

Las Virgenes Unified School District officials and parents heading the grassroots organization, C.O.R.E. (Californians Organized to Rescue Education), met with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to explain how their budget needs differ from other school districts in the state, and to seek financial relief.

A one-size-fits-all spending program for public education doesn't work, local educators say.

LVUSD Superintendent Donald Zimring and school board president Cindy Iser joined Aleta Smith, former president of the Conejo PTA Council, and C.O.R.E. founders Penny Salomon, Ziona Friedlander and Mathy Wasserman in a meeting with with Schwarzenegger and Secretary of Education David Long at the governor's Santa Monica office on June 26.

The group encouraged Schwarzenegger to allow high achieving school districts more flexibility in how they spend certain state funds—known as categorical funds—that are earmarked for specific programs.

Compounding the problem, local officials say, is that lower socio-economic school districts receive extra state funding for a variety of programs intended to help students perform better in school and on standardized tests. But LVUSD is considered a high-achieving district and doesn't receive the special funding.

"We shouldn't be punished," Zimring said.

Allowing LVUSD more leeway on how they spend their categorical funds—which are often used for after-school programs, remediation classes, and reduced or free lunches for children during school—would help even the score, Zimring said.

Any district that meets the state's standardized test benchmark for two consecutive years should receive a "blanket waiver" on how categorical funding is spent, Zimring said.

Iser said the state legislature is worried that if schools are given a free reign on how they spend their money they might take funds away from programs intended to help needy children.

Iser also said, "We're not asking for more money. . . .We want to be rewarded for the good use of the money we do have."

Penny Salomon said she felt the governor shared the group's frustrations.

"If we had money for grass cutting and we didn't need to cut the grass, and we wanted to plant a tree, we could do it," Salomon said—but only if the funding restrictions were waived.

"Since we met the goals of the state, we feel we should get some relief from the stringent requirements of the categorical funding, especially since we don't get 100 percent of the funding," she said.

Salomon said she was disappointed that members of the Senate and the Assembly hadn't engaged in "meaningful discussions" with the governor about proposed cuts prior to the May budget revision.

Friedlander said C.O.R.E.'s objectives are clear.

"We wanted to do something that would create, begin or influence some change in the way school financing is handled in the state," Friedlander said.

"We can't be left on our own to figure out how to squeeze any more out of a penny," she said.

Assembly member Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) said a blanket waiver of categorical funding is "not a budget solution."

"Making sure we are fully funded is a budget solution," said Brownley, who chairs the budget committee for education finance.

How public schools are funded in California is an area that must be reformed, she said.

Assembly Bill 2159, which Brownley has authored, will "simplify the system."

"We want a system that's understandable and transparent, so the state doesn't give up oversight, but we can see where the money is going and close the achievement gap (between school districts)," Brownley said.

Brownley called the blanket waiver on categorical spending "worrisome" because it will create "more tools and less money," and she said it's necessary to "achieve consensus on treating districts that have met state standards differently."