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| The act of balancing the budget
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 | | | Steve Swisher |
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Coming up in the next couple of months is our annual budgeting process that will result in a budget for the 2006-07 school year.
The role of our local budget committee has significantly changed over the past several years in that they really have say over only about 5 percent of the budget. This has significantly changed due to Ballot Measure 5 when we shifted from a locally funded system for our schools based on local revenues to a state funded system through a funding formula on a per student basis.
Last year our budget committee formed three subcommittees to research what they felt would be a meaningful use of their time rather than the rubber stamp of the budget, which the process has become with the shift in funding to the state. The three committees included Brothers School District Merger Impacts, Facility Needs and Development, and Co-curricular Transportation Alternatives. The Facilities Committee is continuing and we have since merged with Brothers. Funding for co-curricular activities continues to be a problem.
During the last legislative session, the Legislature allocated $5.24 billion for schools for the 2005-2007 biennium, which was $428 less per student in inflation-adjusted dollars than in 1992. The Oregon Constitution requires the Legislature to appropriate sufficient funds to enable school systems to meet educational goals. The Quality Education Model (QEM) provides a road map as to how to meet those goals. The QEM was developed through the leadership of then Representative Lynn Lundquist from Powell Butte. Since its inception, the Legislature has failed to fund the education budget at the QEM level.
Every October, each school district counts the number of students enrolled. That number is adjusted or weighted to account for students with special needs. This weighted number of students is then plugged into the funding formula to determine how much state funding each district will receive. It is adjusted over the year as the student count goes up or down. Local property taxes are thrown into the pool with state income taxes for this formula distribution. Equalization was phased in during the early 1990s after Ballot Measure 5 passed. Since then, larger urban school districts have had less revenue while smaller rural districts saw increases. We thank the Portland-metro area for a few extra dollars that flow our way due to this formula.
Oregon school districts currently spend their money on a state average as follows:
69.2 percent on teaching and learning. These funds support teachers, educational assistants, special education, libraries, counselors, co-curricular, textbooks, testing, etc.
* 17.3 percent to services central to school operations such as buses, food, building maintenance, etc.
* 3.8 percent to business operations, including audits and other compliance reporting, and related technology
* 6.7 percent to the principal's office including the principal, assistant principal, support staff, supplies and equipment
* 3.0 percent goes to the central office staff including the superintendent, business manager, special education, curriculum, and personnel director; school psychologists and behavioral specialists; etc.
Crook County School District closely parallels the state percentages. We spend slightly more on our percentage of transportation because of the huge geographic distances we cover.
Oregon's spending on education has fallen relative to other states. In 1990-91, Oregon's per-pupil expenditures ranked 15th in the nation. By 2002-03, Oregon had fallen to 30th in the nation. Per pupil spending is falling faster than any other state other than Florida.
Education spending has not kept up with inflation. As a percentage of personal income, education spending has declined in Oregon. In 1990, it was 4.6 percent of total personal income and by 2001 it had fallen to 4.2 percent. Additionally, education costs such as health care and retirement benefits have grown faster than inflation, further disadvantaging schools. The legislature controls the school revenue on a statewide basis, but they have done nothing about benefits and salary costs as part of the equation.
We will have another difficult spring developing a balanced budget that preserves as many programs as possible while keeping reasonable class sizes. Sooner or later, we will have to address this on a statewide basis. In the meantime, we are working on modular classrooms and other solutions to deal with at least another 75 students with growing special needs who we are expecting for the upcoming school year.
Steve Swisher is the superintendent of the Crook County School District. He can be reached at: steve.swisher@crookcounty.k12.or.us |
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