Strapped school districts volunteer to fund testing

A $7 million cut to state test funds has left Missouri school districts with the option of not taking annual assessments or paying for the tests with district money.

Although state officials continue to emphasize the importance of the tests in tracking student achievement and in the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, only around half of the state's 524 districts have volunteered to fork over the money.

Officials in both Cape Girardeau and Jackson say despite unprecedented financial woes, their districts will take the science and social studies portions of the Missouri Assessment Program this year and pay as much as $15,000 each to do so.

"It's really a balancing act because we need the data from those tests to see how we're doing," said Mark Bowles, superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District.

And yet, officials in both Cape Girardeau and Jackson say 2004 may be the tightest budget year Missouri schools have ever faced.

Option to pay

Districts were given the same option of not taking the test or paying for it with district funds last year because of state budget cuts. Around 480 of Missouri's 524 school districts opted to finance the tests for the 2003 MAP.

But less than half that amount -- 230 districts -- have pledged to pay for one or both of the tests in 2004.

"We feared districts would not continue to shoulder that cost, but given the financial crunch, we're pleased with the number who have said they would," said Jim Morris, director of public information with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Morris said Missouri's annual assessments are substantially more expensive than other states' because they require hand-scoring, as opposed to fill-in-the-bubble tests that are scored by computer.

Only the communication arts and math portions of the MAP are currently required under the federal NCLB law. But eventually, science will also become required, which is why local district officials say they've signed on.

"Why quit and suddenly bring it back when it becomes required? We think continuity is more important," said Dr. Ron Anderson, Jackson superintendent.

The decision will cost the district, which has already eliminated 17 teaching positions because of budget cuts this year, between $12,000 and $15,000. Officials in Cape Girardeau expect to spend around that same amount.

Missouri's total testing budget for 2004 is around $12 million, just as it has been for several years -- but with one major difference: $7 million of that can't be touched for this year's MAP.

State officials cut $7 million in state funding from the 2004 test budget, but replaced the cut with an equal amount of federal funding.

However, the $7 million in federal dollars is earmarked for the development of new state assessments, leaving only around $5 million to pay for this year's tests instead of the $12 million available in the past.

Districts have until the end of September to decide if they can afford to pay for the tests.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128