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Missouri Gets New Formula for Funding Public Schools

Posted on: Thursday, 30 June 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jun. 30--Gov. Matt Blunt on Wednesday signed into law a new way of funding public schools that proponents contend will distribute state aid more fairly.

"Many people said you can't do it without a tax increase," Blunt told the crowd invited to a signing ceremony at Belton High School. "The last time a new formula was adopted, we had the biggest tax increase in state history. But this one does it without a tax increase that would be harmful to Missouri's working families."

The ceremony became something of a Republican pep rally, as Republican Sens. Charlie Shields of St. Joseph, Chris Koster of Harrisonville and Rep. Brian Baker of Belton congratulated each other on maneuvering the new funding formula through the legislature.

"This is an exciting day," said Shields, who was the primary author of the new formula. "We have a fundamental change in the policy of how we fund education. We've gone from the old formula that depends on the tax rate in your local district to the new one based on what it costs to educate a child."

The wide-ranging law guarantees enough state aid to provide base funding of $6,117 per student in combined state and local funds. That amount is adjusted to give more money to districts with high wage rates and to districts with higher-than-average numbers of poor children, special-education students and non-English-speaking students.

To receive full funding, however, the law also requires low-tax school districts -- most of which are in southern Missouri -- to raise their local tax levies to the state average.

Proponents of the new formula have been criticized for exaggerating its positive effects. The law, which takes effect a year from now, promises to boost education spending by some $800 million over the following seven years. But lawmakers identified no source of money to fulfill that promise.

Blunt said that even moderate economic growth should provide enough money if the state can rein in spending on other programs.

The Missouri chapter of the National Education Association also criticized proponents for ignoring the effects on some districts.

Blunt dismissed such criticism, saying he would leave the projections to the experts at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, who said every district would gain under the new formula.

Ken Southwick, the Belton schools superintendent, said people are always skeptical of any change in the way state aid is distributed to local districts. He called the new formula a solid effort to make funding more equitable.

Southwick announced that his board had voted to drop out of the lawsuit that accuses the state's school funding system of being unfair and inadequate. More than 250 districts had joined in the suit, which is expected to be modified to allege defects in the new funding system as well.

Southwick said he was satisfied with the new formula, especially the way money follows children. In the old system, which was property-tax based, four houses valued at $200,000 had to be built in the district to raise enough tax money for one new student, he said.

"What if one of those houses has three kids?" Southwick asked. "Now we will get $6,117 for each of those new students. As a growing district, that is good for us."

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

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Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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