By Mitra Moassessi

In a recent District wide email the following was reported as part of a summary of the April 10, 2006 Board of Trustees meeting:

      "The latest statewide compromise on the complex formula for equalization funds for community colleges would provide SMC about $1.5 million in 2006-07, far short of the $5 million the college had hoped for, but one that ensures that all California community colleges will be funded - on a full-time equivalent student basis - at least at 90 percent of the highest-funded colleges. The compromise formula is still contingent on the passage of certain legislation and the state government's allocation of additional state funding for equalization."

      The good news that was not mentioned in the board meeting summary is that at this point SMC, with a funding of $4,033 per FTES (Full-Time Equivalent Students), is ranked number 6 among 72 California community college districts. The distribution of the $1.5 million will lead to a funding of $4,111 per FTES and SMC will move up to the 5 th highest funding per FTES.

      The following are excerpts from a memo dated March 15, 2006 from Robert Turnage, Vice President for Fiscal Policy in the California Community Colleges system office.

      "The task force believes that the recommended compromise can address the varying needs of different groups of districts while remaining consistent with sound fiscal principles. The approach results in the substantive achievements in 2006-07 of the goal of equalization by bringing all districts at least to the 90 th percentile, based on an equalization methodology (incorporated into SB 361) that the CEO Board and the BOG supported unanimously last year ( and continue to support)."

      "The recommended compromise does increase the number of districts that are above the SB 361 target amount (from nine districts before the distribution of funds to 24 after).  This is an inevitable by-product of any compromise on the equalization issue.  In the opinion of the task force, the extent to which districts exceed the target stays within a tolerable bound."

      Another point that was completely neglected in the discussion of SMC equalization  funding was that in order for SMC to receive the $5 million that it hoped for,  41 of the 72 California community college districts would have been pushed below the target amount of $3,995 per FTES while SMC would have exceed the target by $359 per FTES.

      Here is another excerpt from the same memo from Robert Turnage:

      "By contrast, the extent to which other options resulted in a large "spread" of per FTES outcomes appeared excessive.  In particular, the CEO Board asked that the group review an alternative option that would have assigned to each district the larger of (a) the amount they would receive under the existing-law mechanism based on 2003-04 base or (b) the amount they would receive using 2005-06 base data. The option itself is estimated to cost $153.5 million. However, rather than attaining a successful equalization outcome, the option would result in a wide range of per FTES outcomes.  We estimate that it would cost an additional $43.5 million or a total of $195 million in 2006-07 to bring 41 districts up to the SB 361 90 th percentile target.  Even after doing that, there would be significant per-student discrepancies, with thirty districts above the target, and many by large amounts (Santa Monica College, for example, would exceed the target by $359 per student.)"

      Three years of equalization funding for SMC corresponds to $6.1 million additional money in the base and moving SMC to the 5th highest funding per FTES. It is appalling that faculty who are directly responsible for creating the FTES have not seen any gain from equalization money.