The Virginian-Pilot 
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995                    TAG: 9505050216
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - VIRGINIA BEACH

On schools: `The arithmetic is simple'

You know that it is spring in Virginia Beach when the School Board and the City Council get into the annual funding squabble. It is fitting and proper for the School Board to stand up for the legitimate needs of the school division. It is also fitting and proper for the City Council to make sure the stated needs are indeed legitimate. That is not the problem.

The real problem is that both sides use questionable numbers in making their cases.

The largest single expense in the school budget consists of teachers' salaries. In each of the last several years, the school system has asked for a certain percentage salary increase and stated that it would cost a certain number of dollars. In each of the years, the cost has been underestimated, with the result that the School Board had to go to council and ask for extra money or, alternately, decrement other programs, including hiring fewer teachers.

These calculations are absurdly simple. Could this be an explanation why the chief financial officer was fired and the internal auditor quit?

The city, on the other hand, makes pronouncements such as ``80 percent of real-estate taxes goes to the schools,'' and ``more than 50 percent of the city operating budget goes to the schools.'' These numbers, while technically correct, are misleading.

A large portion of the city operating budget consists of ``flow-through'' funds; that is, money that comes from outside of Virginia Beach, such as from the state, which is specifically earmarked for schools. The city takes credit for these funds in its calculations.

The real question should be: ``What percentage of city-generated revenue goes to schools?'' Again, the arithmetic is simple. The answer to the question is 31 percent.

Is it any wonder that the citizens (and, indeed, Beacon reporters) are confused?

Jerry Gibbs

Pinewood Road MEMO: Mr. Gibbs is a former member of the Virginia Beach School Board.

by CNB