Arts Plan Could Cause Funding Gap, Study Says

To ensure music, art and physical education instruction in every building -- which Rhee said she regards as an essential right for all schoolchildren -- Rhee replaced the weighted formula with a model that directed dollars according to a set of specific staffing requirements.

Other school districts in the region, including Fairfax and Montgomery, use forms of the staffing model.

But researchers say that rigid enrollment cut-offs established as part of the D.C. system have created inequities. Schools with less than 250 students such as Garrison -- it projects 242 for the fall -- will share part-time music, art and physical education teachers and librarians with other schools. Schools tipping just over the 250 mark such as Stoddert -- it estimates 251 -- will receive each of those positions on a full-time basis.

The more staff, the more money a school accrues, raising its per-pupil allocation. The differences between Stoddert and Garrison amount to $240,000, or $961 per student.

"DCPS struggled with inequities under the weighted student formula, but in the current effort to make staffing equal at all schools, the evidence shows that DCPS has created greater funding inequities than before," the report said.

Levy said that there appeared to be no rhyme or reason to some of the staffing patterns. In instances where there are shortages of classroom teachers, the staffing model apparently was not followed. Some schools, including Mann, Lafayette, Murch and Janney elementary in Ward 3 and Thomas Elementary in Ward 7, have two to four more teachers than they should be allocated under the plan.

The new staffing model, as currently constituted, also eliminates counselors from elementary schools and some secondary schools.

Details of the budget study can be found at http://www.21csf.org/csf%2Dhome/datashop.asp.