I was asked one time, “The state says they fully fund education. Are they lying?” My answer was “yes.” Of course, it is more complicated than that. In simple terms the state fully funds a model they created in 2010 for education funding called the Prototypical School Model. The Prototypical Model formula indicates what staffing positions a district “should” have based on the number of students in the district, but this model does not reflect the actual costs of running a school district and it does not pay for a number of unfunded mandates that are legislated for schools.

Pull Quote

The state says they fully fund basic education because they fully fund the Prototypical School Model; unfortunately, the model doesn’t provide enough staff or enough funding to meet the needs of districts.

For example, in Ocean Beach, with just under 1,000 students, the model says we should have 3.34 administrators (principals, assistant principals and superintendent) to staff our four school buildings, five schools, and district office. We are given a flat rate for each of the funded 3.34 administrators. The flat rate is about $12,000 less than the average administrator earns, and we only get funded for half of the staff needed.

Teachers in the model are funded at a flat rate of $75,419. Our average teacher salary is $83,009. At the top of the pay scale, teachers make $100,652. We are staffed very close to the number of teachers indicated in the funding model, yet we are still short $420,184 to fund their salaries.

Classified salaries are even further from fully funded. The formula generates around 14 classified staff. Classified staff includes any position (except for food service and transportation) that doesn’t require a teaching license or an administrative license. Classified staff include recess supervisors, custodians, secretaries, and even the business manager who is a certified public accountant. The total cost for classified staff is $1,428,160. We are funded $847,307 which leaves a deficit of $580,853.

In 2016 the legislature made changes to how they would fund staff in the model, but did not update the model itself. They decided on a flat rate per funded staff member instead of funding based on experience and education as they had in the previous formulas which is why salaries are so much higher than the flat funding rate. The legislature has made only one update of any significance to the formula since 2010 and that was in the area of counseling, nursing, and social work.

The state says they fully fund basic education because they fully fund the Prototypical School Model; unfortunately, the model doesn’t provide enough staff or enough funding to meet the needs of districts. It is left to local levy dollars to make up the difference between what the model funds and what it actually costs to run schools. Fully funding a flawed model, in my mind, is not fully funding basic education.