Reaction mixed on new state school funding plan

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Bill Hodge doesn't understand why children at wealthier schools in Missouri have rock climbing walls, while his son's school district has to make do with a four-decade-old gym.

The situation, he said, is one example of the disparity in funding among districts around the state. Hodge, whose third-grade son attends school in the Jasper County school district, is among the parents joining school districts in suing the state over how it funds public schools. The lawsuit claims the state's method of paying for education is unfair and inadequate.

He and others are reacting cautiously to a basic outline lawmakers are mulling for a new method of distributing state money to public schools.

Many lawmakers and education groups want more information before determining whether they support the plan. Details that are to be unveiled in a few days.

Most support the general concept of moving from a system largely based on property taxes and values to one based on what it takes to teach children. But they say many factors must be considered, including an area's cost of living, how to account for local revenue and what it takes to educate students with extra needs.

Hodge, who is also the principal of Jasper High School, said the funding system is inherently unfair because property in his area is largely agricultural, and hence taxed at a lesser rate, than residential or commercial property.

Though every system can have flaws, "the way we do it, to me, is really unfair," Hodge, of Jasper, said. "I think the state of Missouri should make it to where [third-grade son] Grady is just as important to them as what the students in Ladue are."

Per student rate

The new school funding plan by Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, calls for setting a basic minimum amount to be spent on each student. Money would be added for extra needs, such as educating poor or disabled children or those whose native language is not English.

The minimum amount would be set based on spending levels of districts deemed successful, according to state reports that cover factors from student performance on standardized tests to dropout rates.

To make it politically feasible, Shields said districts that already receive more than the new state minimum would not lose funding.

Another parent, Tina Zubeck, said she wants to make sure schools have the resources to give all Missouri children the best opportunities. Her three children attended the Platte County School District, and the youngest is now in high school.

"No formula is going to work unless there's adequate funds available," said Zubeck, who is president of the Missouri Parent Teacher Association.

At the Capitol, the Missouri State Teachers Association supports Shields' proposal so far but wants to explore ideas such as how to count student population and financial incentives to encourage a longer school year, lobbyist Mike Wood said.

Wood also said he would prefer not providing districts with more money than they're due under the new system, but instead adding a cost-of-living factor.

"If you're going to keep equity in any type of formula, we cannot have long-term payments outside the formula," he said.

Under the proposal, districts that raise their tax rates for schools would not lose state assistance.

But Otto Fajen, a lobbyist for the Missouri National Education Association, said districts that already have fairly high tax rates wouldn't benefit much. Fajen and those suing the state also worry that there's no talk of the state helping to construct and keep up school buildings.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, said a new formula would address both fairness and adequacy. But he said the Missouri Constitution's only adequacy requirement is that 25 percent of the state budget go to education, a level the state has consistently surpassed.

The state argued as much in fighting the lawsuit, recently asking Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan to dismiss the adequacy claim of the case. The school districts haven't responded yet.

Details and numbers for the new formula are expected to be discussed Tuesday by the Joint Committee on Education. Whatever form the plan eventually takes, the nuances are something not many in the state fully understand.

To the average parent, teacher or administrator, "that formula's an extremely difficult piece of legislation," Zubeck said, but "the average parent feels very strongly that this state has a responsibility to its children and their education."