With Republicans typically representing rural areas, and Democrats typically representing more urban areas, the need to reform Home-to-School funding is a priority for members on both sides of the aisle. As a result of Proposition 13, HTST allocations have essentially been frozen at rates from the early 1980’s. In addition, the HTST program was cut by an additional 20 percent during the 2008-09 Budget year due to the state’s severe Budget deficit. As such, many believe this is the year when a permanent solution needs to be found for the HTST funding formula.
During the Senate Education Committee hearing last week, it became clear that Senate Democrats and Republicans have different perspectives on the appropriate fix for HTST funding. The old formula was based on antiquated population data, school district size and geography, and other out dated criteria. The result is a patchwork of reimbursement rates whereby one school district may be receiving less than 10 percent of their total costs for HTST, while an adjacent district may be receiving more than 30 percent.
RCRC supported SB 1166 (Vidak) which would have scrapped the old formula, and provided each district with 100 percent reimbursement for HTST costs. However, despite Republican support, this bill failed passage in Senate Education Committee. The Committee opted instead for SB 1137 (Torres), a bill providing a 50 percent reimbursement rate.
While RCRC certainly preferred the 100 percent reimbursement rate option, a flat 50 percent reimbursement is still significantly higher than the rate enjoyed by districts under the existing system. Additionally, SB 1137 equalizes the funding formula, stripping away the arcane and confusing system that now treats districts differently from one another. RCRC will support this measure as it moves forward, while continuing to push for a higher level of reimbursement as envisioned by the Vidak effort.
RCRC’s SB 1166 support letter can be accessed here. The text of SB 1166 can be accessed here. The text of SB 1137 can be accessed here.
For additional information, please contact RCRC Legislative Advocate Cyndi Hillery at (916) 447-4806 orchillery@rcrcnet.org.