Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 15, 1993                   TAG: 9312150218
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAN POOR SCHOOLS FIND MORE MONEY?

A coalition of rural and inner-city school systems already has sued the state - taking its case to the Virginia Supreme Court - charging that Virginia violates its own constitution by failing to provide an equal education to all students.

One part of the debate is whether localities are carrying their fair share of the education burden through local real-estate taxes. A recent analysis by the state Senate Finance Committee found that if the 10 localities spending the least on education raised property taxes to the state average, they could increase per-pupil spending by $385 to $533 - enough to reach the state median.

But a report released last week by the Virginia Education Association shows many of Virginia's poor, rural counties already are spending as much as they can on schools.

The contradiction may be partially explained by the measures each group used for determining a locality's capacity for spending. The education association relied solely on property taxable for school purposes; the Senate committee also factored in sales-tax revenues, adjusted gross income and the number of motor vehicles as a measure of personal-property taxes and motor-vehicle license fees.

Virginia Education Association President Rob Jones said his organization's report, produced annually, presents further evidence that the state needs to revamp its school spending formula.

The association has proposed its own version of the formula, which it will release in further detail at a news conference in Richmond on Thursday.

At that time, the state teachers' organization plans to outline how its three-tiered proposal would affect each of 133 school divisions.