Wealthiest school districts get little stimulus funding

The districts will receive money through several programs, but two of the largest are Title 1 funding, aimed at low-income students, and Individuals With Disabilities Education Act funding, aimed at special needs students.

Those funding streams will give Loudoun County, one of the region’s wealthiest, about $9.7 million over the next two years, or about $171 per student. That compares with about $758 per public and charter school students in D.C.

In Loudoun, households earned an average of $107,200 in 2007, and only 3 percent of residents lived below the poverty line. In the District, households earned about half that, or $55,000, and more than 17 percent of residents lived below the poverty line.

But Loudoun’s school district, like most of its suburban counterparts, is in dire need. The school board last week voted to send possible layoff notices to up to 670 employees.

In D.C., steep drops in public school enrollment led Mayor Adrian Fenty to propose about 250 job cuts, mostly among teacher aides and support staff. But the District is still able to add arts and physical education teachers to more schools, and expand after-school programs, summer school and Saturday school.

Wayde Byard, spokesman for Loudoun schools, said he “wouldn’t want to editorialize” about the distribution of federal funds, but that his district was thankful for whatever comes its way.

Officials in Fairfax County schools have expressed similar relief at the availability of extra funds. Like Loudoun, the median household income in Fairfax exceeded $100,000 in 2007, and less than 5 percent of residents lived below the poverty level.

But Fairfax schools are wrestling with a likely loss of 250 jobs and a $10 million decline in its budget compared with last year, despite rising enrollments and increasing costs.

The disparities exist because federal formulas were designed to offer funding based on higher-cost students, such as those with special needs or living in poverty. They were not created to balance districts’ shortfalls.

Jennifer Cohen, who analyzes national school finance data for the D.C.-based New America Foundation, said the complicated formulas have led to some unfairness in distribution.

“The funding formulas are really flawed,” Cohen said. “In general, I’d like to see a formula that more effectively recognizes districts and schools that have the highest need.”