Study: Poor students are shortchanged

from The Miami Herald

The federal government should change the way it doles out funds for poor students because of disparities among states, a new study suggested.

BY TANIA deLUZURIAGA

A federal program that seeks to level the playing field for poor students disproportionately helps states that pay more for public education, leaving Florida at the back of the pack, notes a study released Wednesday.

''What is so clear is that, at every level, the decisions we make stack the deck against low-income kids,'' said Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, a Washington advocacy group for disadvantaged students.

Studies have found that students who live in poverty go to school less prepared than upper- and middle-class students, score lower on standardized tests and are less likely to graduate from high school. Title I, which provides for extra money for school districts based on the number of poor students, was supposed to close that achievement gap.

''It provides us with the opportunity to expand education opportunities,'' said Alberto Carvalho, who oversees Title I funding as associate superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. ``Be it smaller class sizes, opportunities for tutoring or expanding the school day.''

But while it would seem that the most money would go to states with the most poor students, the study found that the opposite was true. Past studies have yielded similar results.

For example, with more than half a million children living below the poverty line, Florida ranks fourth in the nation for its number of poor children. However, the amount of federal funding the state gets per child -- $1,023 -- is the fifth-lowest in the country. Wyoming, by contrast, has fewer than 10,000 students living in poverty, but receives nearly $3,000 per student from the federal government.

The funding disparity arises, in large part, because the federal government allocates the funds based on states' per-pupil expenditures. In 2003, Florida spent $6,199 on each student, according to the report, while Wyoming spent $9,191. Hence, Wyoming received more Title I money per pupil than Florida.

''The disparity is exacerbated by the fact that the Title I distribution formula rewards states that spend more on education,'' Carvalho said.

More than 220 of Miami-Dade's more than 350 schools received a total of $131 million in Title I funding last year. In Broward, 104 schools received a total of $67 million last year. To qualify in Miami-Dade, 66 percent of students in a school have to receive free or reduced lunch. In Broward, the threshold is 50 percent.

In addition, the study found that high-poverty districts in Florida on average received $272 less per student than those with more affluent student populations.

Changing the way that Title I dollars are allocated is part of Miami-Dade's federal legislative agenda for 2007 and a recommendation in The Education Trust's report. An amount independent of state funding that would take into account regional differences in cost of living would be fairer, Carvalho said.

''Money isn't everything,'' he said. ``But let's get to these children the funds that, by law, they're entitled to.''

Miami Herald staff writer Nirvi Shah contributed to this report.

Here's a link to the report.