Schools with the least to get less

Washington cites a drop in Florida's per pupil spending as it cuts millions from federal aid to the poorest schools.

By STEPHEN HEGARTY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 5, 2002

Florida may get less federal money than expected to help high-poverty schools in the coming year because the federal government found that state spending on schools decreased during Gov. Jeb Bush's first budget.

Under a complex formula used by the U.S. Department of Education, Florida effectively is being penalized for a slight drop in per pupil spending in the 1999-2000 budget year. At stake are millions of dollars in the federal Title I program, which provides money to high-poverty schools.

Florida stood out nationally that year, with school spending dropping by 1.05 percent while the national average was up 5.66 percent, according to federal figures. Florida was the only state with a decrease in per pupil expenditures that year.

Florida Education Secretary Jim Horne said the federal figures were wrong. Late Tuesday, Horne said the state was sending new numbers to Washington that show Florida with a 4.6 percent increase in 1999-2000.

"Clearly their information is not right," Horne said. He attributed the problem to a change in the way students are counted and a quirk in the way state revenue is calculated. Horne said he is confident that with new information, the U.S. Department of Education will restore Florida's Title I funding.

In calculating the Title I allocations for Florida, the federal DOE uses figures that come directly from the Florida Department of Education. And those figures showed Florida with a decrease in per pupil spending for 1999-2000.

"If they continue to spend more, the more Title I money they get," said Melinda Malico, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education. "We're not rewarding states that decrease their own spending."

Title I dollars to Florida schools actually increase by $75-million during the fiscal year that begins July 1. But the $476-million total is about $31.8-million less than expected.

That amounts to a difference of about $2.2-million for Hillsborough County, and about $1.5-million for Pinellas.

The shortfall, and the fact that it was caused by what Washington sees as a lag in state spending three years ago, comes at a bad time for Gov. Bush. He is running for re-election touting his school spending record.

It also comes at a bad time for local school districts.

"We're accustomed to making adjustments, but this is the worst possible timing," said Walt Bartlett, assistant director of federal programs for Hillsborough schools. "School is out. We've already made decisions about hiring."

Hillsborough and several other school districts had planned to expand services to high-poverty schools based on the preliminary allocations. Hillsborough planned to add 17 new schools to its list of those receiving Title I dollars.

Pinellas was planning to expand Title I services to 10 more schools this year.

"The problem comes when you get this preliminary allocation in February, and you make plans," said Mardell Ammon, director of Title I for the Pinellas County schools. "We're going to be down about $1.4-million from what we thought."

The final Title I allocation numbers out of Washington were released last month and most districts learned of them late last week. For most states it was simply a matter of monitoring small changes between the preliminary allocation figures and the final allocation. But in Florida, once the word got out, school officials began scrambling.

Horne said the federal government's method for counting students is different from Florida's method, and that the state adjusted its system on the year in question. He believes that adjustment inflated the number of students.

Adding to the problem, Horne said, is an unusual feature of Florida's education funding.

Because of surpluses in the state's retirement system, school districts have realized a windfall because they have been able to decrease their contribution into the retirement fund. If the federal government did not count that reduced contribution as revenue -- as the state does -- it would appear to reduce school spending significantly.

Bush's school spending record has come under fire as he runs for re-election. The governor claims school funding has increased 27 percent during his term, including his first three years and the budget that has yet to go into effect. That amounts to a 15 percent increase in per pupil spending, according to the governor.

A Times analysis found that after accounting for growth in the student population and adjusting for inflation, Bush increased spending by less than 1 percent over his first three years.

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