NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Schools in the Crescent City are divided over the funding formula proposed to the Louisiana Board of Elementary & Secondary Education (BESE) by a task force last week. Tuesday, the superintendents for the Recover School District and the Orleans Parish School Board, held a press conference at Andrew Wilson Charter School, voicing their support for the funding formula.
On the other side of town though on Tuesday, Ben Franklin High School’s board talked about their concerns with the formula. Lusher and Lake Forest have reportedly voiced their opposition as well. Audubon has also raised questions about the process as well.
A new state law last year ordered that all schools in New Orleans receive funding under the same formula, which takes into consideration “gifted and talented” and “special education” programs. Some schools have more gifted and talented students. Some have more special education students.
“The state’s broke. This isn’t perfect. But it’s the best formula that the task force can come up with and meets our schools’ needs,” said Orleans Parish School Board President Seth Bloom.
RSD Superintendent Patrick Dobard added during the meeting, “Together RSD and OPSB represent 90 percent of New Orleans Public Schools, and none of the schools in the parish will ever fall below 98% MFP and this is most the equitable formula.”
That means, in the proposal, schools will never drop below 98 percent of their per-pupil funding for the coming year, compared to last year’s budget. The board of Ben Franklin High School discussed concerns about that promise Tuesday.
“They have given this promise, but it’s hard for us to understand exactly how the numbers line up — understanding how the 2 percent cap on our budget loss will be funded. It has not yet been determined how this will be funded. We have so many questions about what the proposal actually is and how it will work, and we have been trying to get answers, but so far we have been unable to answers. So we are asking BESE to delay voting on the proposal, so we can understand thoroughly before they vote on it,” said Ben Franklin High School board member Carlos Luis Zervigon.
Audubon interim CEO and principal Latoye Brown says, “that while special education deserves better funding everywhere in Louisiana, the answer is not to take millions of dollars from some schools and students…only to give it to others.”
Ben Franklin High School also discussed how to move forward. Some other schools have reportedly sought out counsel and are considering suing. At this time, though, Ben Franklin High School hasn’t made a decision.
“We’re still waiting on BESE to take action, but we do have many legal questions surrounding this, and we want time to understand that as well. We decided to send a letter to BESE that would explain all of our concerns and ask for a delay, and we authorized the board president to seek outside counsel to help explain the issues to us,” said Zervigon.
Schools are taking their sides. Some are starting to consider legal action. The funding formula is controversial, but again, this is in BESE’s hands. They will vote on Friday for or against the funding formula. We will have to see how everyone reacts then.
