Posted on 04/15/2002 7:42:19 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
School funding a hot topic for candidates
Most running for governor would consider changes
By Tim Martin
Lansing State Journal
Most of the candidates to become Michigan's next governor say they would consider changes to the state's public school funding system.
The debate comes as many of Michigan's wealthiest school districts - especially those with falling enrollment - contemplate budget cuts. They want changes in state law that could let them get more money for operating expenses such as salaries and academic programs.
Democrats David Bonior and Jennifer Granholm and Republican John Schwarz say they would consider giving local voters - in limited situations - the option of slightly raising their own taxes to give administrators more money to run schools.
Granholm and Democrat James Blanchard would consider changes to a formula they fear may leave K-12 education funding vulnerable to economic slowdowns.
The candidates' ideas will join proposals already being discussed in the Legislature aimed at possibly changing Proposal A - the education tax reform of 1994.
"Proposal A is 8 years old,'' said Schwarz, a state senator from Battle Creek. "We ought to take it out, dust it off and see what makes the most sense for 2002.''
But any reform to Proposal A - if it comes at all - will come slowly and cautiously, analysts say.
All candidates say Proposal A has had benefits - perhaps the biggest of which was closing the funding gap between rich and poor districts.
Before Proposal A, school districts were funded mostly by property taxes collected within their own boundaries. But the voter-approved reform slashed overall property taxes by about a third statewide. It raised the sales tax from 4 percent to 6 percent and upped the cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack as alternative funding sources.
Schools can no longer ask voters for millages for operating costs such as employee salaries and textbooks. But they still can seek millages for building repairs and new construction.
Changing the Proposal A system without increasing per-pupil funding inequities could prove difficult. And Gov. John Engler is among those saying the system should not be changed.
"When you tinker with Proposal A, you have to be careful not to undo all the good it has done,'' said David Plank, a Michigan State University professor who studies K-12 issues. "Pull on the loose threads and the whole thing could fall apart.''
That's one reason Republican gubernatorial candidates Dick Posthumus and Ed Hamilton don't want to mess with it at all.
"It is the most significant policy Michigan has adopted since the writing of our constitution and has been very successful in accomplishing what we set out to do,'' Posthumus said.
But this year - with a new governor and new Legislature set to be elected - proposals abound. The situation is heightened by budget shortfalls in districts such as East Lansing, Okemos and Waverly.
The biggest proposed change involves so-called "enhancement millage."
Today's law allows schools to raise limited supplemental taxes for operating costs only if voters in the entire county intermediate school system agree. That would require approval from voters in up to a half-dozen different school districts that often have different financial needs.
A bill in the Legislature would allow individual districts to raise limited supplemental operating cash. Another version would require that any additional operating money raised be shared with less wealthy districts.
Bonior says enhancement millages should be limited to special purposes such as technology.
Schwarz says he would consider limited, voter-approved millage only under certain, yet-to-be-defined conditions. Those could include the size of a district's cash reserves and a determination of what programs would be funded. The revamped method also must guard against increased funding disparities between districts, he said.
Blanchard, Hamilton and Posthumus have said they do not favor enhancement millage plans.
Michigan's richest districts will get about $12,000 per pupil next year, while the poorest get $6,700. The average will be about $7,229.
That is a far narrower gap than before Proposal A was passed. But some parents say the gap is still too big, and they want reform to bring even more parity.
Blanchard and Granholm both say they're concerned that the system's reliance on the sales tax makes it vulnerable in recessions. Granholm is worried that next year's $200 per-pupil increase is coming from the state's rainy day fund and from moving up property tax collections. The one-time nature of the increase could put future funding in jeopardy, critics say.
Some people want to change the way funding is tied to student enrollment by averaging or locking in pupil counts over two or three years. That would ease sudden funding drops that are now determined on an annual basis.
Most candidates say they would support changes outside of the Proposal A formula.
One would create a $1 billion fund to pay interest for school districts that pass bonds for building improvements. Paying a portion of interest would significantly cut the overall cost of the bond to local taxpayers, increasing the chances of voter approval. It's part of a $2 billion proposal that includes cash to help pay for sewer improvements.
Educators also want candidates to push for the state to fully fund special education in Michigan. The state is involved in its third lawsuit with school districts over the issue.
Another idea would give tax credits to residents who donate money to schools.
"It would be a painless way to raise some money for these school districts,'' said Lawrence Reed, president of Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland.
Anyone here remember the good ole days of the property tax?
Source Lansing State Journal
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