Area districts could lose millions under proposal
By Sherry Parmet
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 16, 2003
As thousands of sailors and Marines are sent abroad for a possible war with Iraq, the Bush administration is proposing to cut education funding for many children of military families.
The president's plan would eliminate funding for military students who live in apartments or homes off base, a proposal that has incensed educators who say the timing couldn't be worse.
It would mean a loss of up to $4 million annually for San Diego Unified, $1.5 million for Oceanside Unified and $250,000 for Fallbrook Union Elementary school districts – hits that come on top of the millions of dollars in programs and personnel that districts must slash to cope with major cuts in state education revenue.
"This is like getting kicked in the stomach twice," said Oceanside Superintendent Ken Noonan. "Here President Bush looks like he's turning his back on the troops that he deployed to the Middle East. As he wishes them well, he's planning on cutting their education programs. Combined with the other cuts, this is going to cause heavy bleeding."
San Diego County is one of the top recipients of what is called federal impact aid, with 22 of its 42 districts collecting it. Nationally, Bush's proposal would affect funding for 570 school districts, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Congress has yet to consider the plan.
The impact aid program was begun in 1950 and compensates school districts that educate children whose parents live on or are employed on non-taxable federal land such as military bases. That's because property tax is a primary revenue source for public schools.
School districts use the federal money to pay for teachers, building maintenance and busing. Sometimes they spend it on support services unique to military kids: At Santa Margarita Elementary on Camp Pendleton, for example, a team of therapists has been called to run support groups for children distressed since their parents were deployed.
Bush's proposal to cut the payments for students who live off base would save the government about $125 million, said Amy Call, spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.
"Since the children are living on private property, the local school district is receiving property tax from the private home the child is living in," she said. "That's a source of revenue to finance their education."
Education advocates see it another way.
"Under Bush's proposal Uncle Sam will be a delinquent taxpayer," said John Forkenbrock, executive director of the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools. "I don't disagree that they are living on taxable property, but is the federal government as their employer paying any taxes to school districts?"
The government has been providing on average $3,500 for a student who lives on base, and about $700 for each youngster residing off base, Forkenbrock said.
In San Diego County, the largest money loser would be San Diego city schools. More than half of the district's 16,000 military families live off base.
Rick Knott, the district's finance officer, estimated that the proposed reduction in impact aid would cost the district $3 million to $4 million annually.
And news of the possible cut comes as the district tries to slash $150 million from what would have been a $1.1 billion budget for the coming year. Preparing for a worst-case scenario, the district plans to notify 1,274 teachers that they could be laid off.
"It's a tragedy for kids," said school board member John de Beck. "If you're wasting money on mobilizing troops for a war nobody wants and at the same time cutting money for kids of the same people, that's the ultimate hypocrisy."
The biggest percentage hit would likely be taken by Oceanside Unified, where more than one-fifth of the district's 23,000 students are from military families. Last year, the district received $12 million in impact aid. Close to half of the district's students from military families reside off base.
Compounding that blow are sharp cuts in education funding proposed by Gov. Gray Davis to address a state budget deficit projected as high as $34.6 billion.
The Oceanside school district plans to slash more than 100 jobs, cut programs and increase class sizes in fourth through 12th grades to trim more than $12 million from next school year's budget.
"This is another part of the continuing catastrophe for what's happening not only to public education but to Oceanside," said school board President Janet Bledsoe Lacy. "This is very frightening for us. People are losing their jobs. Meanwhile, these are children that are required to attend our schools and merely because their parents live off base we're not going to receive compensation for them."
The proposed reduction would cost the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District about $250,000 for educating 426 military students who live off base, said Associate Superintendent James Whitlock.
"It's bad news on top of bad news," he said.
Other districts would be affected to a lesser degree. The plan would cost Coronado Unified about $200,000, said Linda Visnick, the district's business manager. The district has about 500 students from military families who don't live on base. Coronado is projecting that it will have to cut $900,000 from its $21 million budget next school year.
Poway Unified would lose its aid entirely, which is $120,000, said Associate Superintendent Keith Bradford. All of the district's military students live off base, he said.
Impact aid was targeted for elimination many times during the previous three administrations, but each time Congress has saved the program.
School districts nationwide have vowed to lobby elected officials to ensure the program remains intact.
Bush's budget proposal for 2004 includes $53.1 billion in spending for the Department of Education, up $2.8 billion from his request last year. It includes more funding for students with disabilities, for schools with high numbers of low-income children and for grants awarded to undergraduates who demonstrate exceptional financial need.
However, the president proposed cuts in such areas as impact aid and vocational education.
This comes as Marines and sailors are being sent overseas for a possible war. Last month, six Navy amphibious ships, filled with almost 10,000 marines and sailors, left San Diego for the Persian Gulf region. There have been steady, smaller deployments since then. Most of the 45,000 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which is headquartered at Camp Pendleton, has been deployed.
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