Committee urged to focus bill on education funding

By Marc Powers

Nevada Daily Mail

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Education lobbyists on Tuesday urged a House committee to discard extraneous provisions the Senate added to legislation that would rewrite Missouri's formula for allocating state money to public schools.

Several lobbyists said numerous Senate amendments detract from the bill's main purpose, which they support, and some are controversial enough to jeopardize its chances for passage.

"The amendments, we believe, are totally off target," said Ron Langford of the Missouri Association of School Administrators.

Among the disputed provisions include those related to oversight of charter schools, requiring greater disclosure of administrator compensation and authorizing a study of tax assessment practices.

The bill's primary objective is to create a fairer system for state funding of public schools. The legislation would replace Missouri's existing education formula, which is driven by local tax levies, with one intended to be based on serving student needs.

Using average spending by Missouri's most academically successful districts as a base, the formula would establish a minimum funding level of $6,117 per student, although districts could still use local revenue to spend more.

Current per-pupil spending by districts ranges from a low of $4,771 to a high of $13,379.

Districts with high numbers students who are poor, have special needs or aren't proficient in English would be able to leverage additional state money, as would districts in counties where wages exceed the statewide average.

To achieve full funding, however, the new formula would require the state to spend another $689 million above the $2.4 billion it currently allocates to local districts throughout the state.

The extra money would be phased-in over five years, beginning with the 2006-'07 school year and ending with the 2010-'11 term. How the state would generate that revenue remains to be determined.

Mike Wood of the Missouri State Teachers Association urged the committee to consider providing more money to the state's smallest school districts.

Of the 41 districts that would receive no funding boost under the bill, all but one fall into that category.

To address that concern, the bill would set aside $10 million for grants to districts with fewer than 300 students. Wood said competitive grants are a good step but that small schools also deserve some guaranteed funds.

"We'd like to see more direct aid as part of the formula, Wood said.