Recognizing schools’ financial plight, the Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger have given districts considerable latitude over how they can spend money for 40 programs known as categoricals. They include important programs: summer school, teacher training and textbook purchases

But when it comes to dozens of smaller, mandated programs – many unneeded – the governor and legislators have been devious. They have either allotted a token amount in the budget, creating IOUs now totaling more than $3 billion, or they have suspended the mandates year by year, creating headaches and confusion for local districts.

In a report issued this week, Education Mandates: Overhauling a Broken System, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, says, Enough. Eliminate dozens of the 51 mandated programs that are not critical, start paying back the money owed districts, and clarify the reimbursement system for ones that should be kept, such as  expenditures related to the high school exit exam expenditures. Doing so would save the state more than $350 million yearly, the LAO said.

The report is timed well, because Gov. Schwarzenegger advocates none of these reforms in his proposed budget. Instead, he wants to suspend all but three of the 51 mandated programs for K-12 schools and community colleges for next. This is better than requiring programs but postponing payment. But it doesn’t distinguish between unessential and essential mandates. One of the latter, the LAO notes, is requiring that students receive a medical examination and lifesaving immunizations before entering school. Some districts might stop doing this program, putting children at risk, or, just as likely, they’ll continue it – and pay for it themselves.

Some of the mandated programs are very prescriptive and, the LAO said, either duplicative  or unrelated to an essential educational function. These include scoliosis screenings, phys ed tests that aren’t related to curriculums, and pro forma truancy notifications. Among the mandated programs that the LAO recommends keeping and fully funding: reviewing charter school petitions, keeping immunization records and posting missing children reports.

In a few cases, such as requiring a second science class as graduation requirement, the LAO recommends keeping the policy but wording it differently to get out from under the $200 million mandate.

Inefficient, ineffective reimbursement system

Under Proposition 4, which voters passed  in 1979, the state must pay for new programs or higher levels of service that the state imposes on school districts and local governments. The job of determining whether a statute or program constitutes a mandate falls to the six-person Commission on State Mandates.

The reimbursement system has proven to be complex and inconsistent. Districts must document their expenses and bill the state. They have done so at different rates. In a recent year, LA Unified billed for exit exam expenditures at $3 per student, while East Side Union High School District in San Jose billed at $18 per student. One in 11 districts didn’t bill the state at all.

The LAO’s overall conclusion: “If a mandate serves a purpose fundamental to the education system, such as protecting student health or providing essential assessment and oversight data, it should be funded. If not, the mandate should be eliminated.”