Editorials
The Jackson Herald
February 23, 2000
Simplify funding
formula
If there is one glaring error in the governor's education reform
legislation, it is that it further complicates how schools are
funded in Georgia. Only an education insider can understand the
Byzantine formulas used to return state dollars to local
school systems.
That should change. There is no reason for state funding to be
so complicated. Every citizen should be able to understand how
their tax dollars are being used and how their local schools
are funded. But we suspect few legislators understand the formulas
they're about to vote on.
One of the outgrowths of such complicated funding formulas is
that they become distorted. An article in an Atlanta newspaper
this week points to Jackson County as an example of how school
funding formulas are often distorted and unfair. That article
said that under the governor's proposal, the Jackson County School
System is considered "wealthy" and would thus lose
some state funding. On the other hand, the Jefferson and Commerce
city systems are considered "poor" under the formula
and would get additional state funds. The reason for the difference
is that wealth is measured on a per-pupil basis. Since both city
systems accept students from outside their districts, their per-pupil
"wealth" is less than that of the county system.
But as anyone who lives in Jackson County knows, such a formula
is opposite the reality. Because of the concentration of industrial
and commercial property in the two cities, those districts are
actually "wealthier" than unincorporated Jackson County.
In addition, the various tax exemptions offered to agricultural
interests further degrade the county school system's ability
to fund education. In Jefferson, for example, 65 percent of the
city's tax base is commercial and industrial. In the county school
system, commercial and industrial are only 22 percent of the
total.
We believe that all children in Georgia should get equal treatment
from the state in education funding. But that is not being done
and won't be done under the current language in the governor's
legislation. If anything, state funding of education will become
more complex and distorted than in the past.
That should be fixed. Whatever the other merits of the governor's
reform effort, the funding formulas and other hidden mandates
should be addressed before the bill becomes law.Simplify funding
formula
If there is one glaring error in the governor's education reform
legislation, it is that it further complicates how schools are
funded in Georgia. Only an education insider can understand the
Byzantine formulas used to return state dollars to local school
systems.
That should change. There is no reason for state funding to be
so complicated. Every citizen should be able to understand how
their tax dollars are being used and how their local schools
are funded. But we suspect few legislators understand the formulas
they're about to vote on.
One of the outgrowths of such complicated funding formulas is
that they become distorted. An article in an Atlanta newspaper
this week points to Jackson County as an example of how school
funding formulas are often distorted and unfair. That article
said that under the governor's proposal, the Jackson County School
System is considered "wealthy" and would thus lose
some state funding. On the other hand, the Jefferson and Commerce
city systems are considered "poor" under the formula
and would get additional state funds. The reason for the difference
is that wealth is measured on a per-pupil basis. Since both city
systems accept students from outside their districts, their per-pupil
"wealth" is less than that of the county system.
But as anyone who lives in Jackson County knows, such a formula
is opposite the reality. Because of the concentration of industrial
and commercial property in the two cities, those districts are
actually "wealthier" than unincorporated Jackson County.
In addition, the various tax exemptions offered to agricultural
interests further degrade the county school system's ability
to fund education. In Jefferson, for example, 65 percent of the
city's tax base is commercial and industrial. In the county school
system, commercial and industrial are only 22 percent of the
total.
We believe that all children in Georgia should get equal treatment
from the state in education funding. But that is not being done
and won't be done under the current language in the governor's
legislation. If anything, state funding of education will become
more complex and distorted than in the past.
That should be fixed. Whatever the other merits of the governor's
reform effort, the funding formulas and other hidden mandates
should be addressed before the bill becomes law.
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Column
By Mike
Buffington
February 23, 2000
Education
matters, but so does character
Whatever the outcome, the debate over Gov. Roy Barnes' education
reform legislation is a healthy exercise. Education is important
to every aspect of our society and has long been recognized as
the road to individual and social improvement.
Barnes' efforts are the latest in a long string of movements
to push public education into keeping up with other social and
economic changes. It was only in the 1950s that the old one room
school houses were abandoned for more comprehensive and centralized
schools. That move accelerated in the 1960s and 1970s as the
courts combined schools during desegregation, further centralizing
education. Then in the 1980s, QBE hit as an effort to balance
education in the state by redistributing wealth from rich areas
into poor communities.
This latest effort is not really a revolution - it doesn't, for
example, offer vouchers, extend the school year or otherwise
modify the basic structure of Georgia's public schools - but
it does take QBE a step further by focusing more attention and
money on students at the bottom of the academic ladder in grades
K-3.
It remains to be seen if that move will have any impact. While
it sounds good in theory, I'm not convinced that any amount of
money will improve the academic performance of those who come
from non-academic home environments.
And therein lies a truth that many political leaders fail to
acknowledge - academic learning is important, but so is character.
Unless one is motivated to learn, he or she won't. Unless a child
has a motivated and supportive family, academics will seldom
become a priority.
As Jefferson superintendent Dr. John Jackson often points out,
in the distant past, academic failure wasn't as important as
it is today. Manual labor jobs that required little technical
skills absorbed dropouts and those who couldn't achieve in the
classrooms.
Today's economy, however, is different. While manual labor jobs
still exist, many tasks have been automated that were once done
by hand. That makes education even more important.
But even as this need for an education has increased, the social
climate for education has declined. There are too many parents
who simply don't care about education and offer little support
for their children. In addition, many of the worst problems happen
in transient homes where a child is moved from school to school
during the year.
No amount of state funding will solve those problems. If the
family structure doesn't impart the value of education and character
to a child, no public institution can either.
That isn't to suggest that schools should write-off children
at the bottom of the academic ladder, but there is a limited
amount of resources for public education. To help the bottom
20 percent, we are taking money away from the other 80 percent
of our students. They, too, deserve to have their academic needs
met by public schools. The relentless focus on the bottom has,
in many ways, cheated the rest of the student population.
From that standpoint, Gov. Barnes' legislation is a risky move.
If his efforts fail to make some dramatic difference in student
performance, and make them quickly, public education in Georgia
may become even more fractured. Private schools and home schooling
will grow as parents become frustrated with public schools and
the bureaucracy of "reform" efforts. The result will
be even more pressure in favor of school vouchers and other types
of "choice."
Ultimately, if the governor's efforts fail to work, public education
in Georgia could lose many of its best students to these other
choices, thus even further weakening the standing of public education.
There's a lot riding on this legislation. If it proves successful
in improving education, Gov. Barnes will be hailed as a hero
and the Democratic Party will be strengthened.
But if it fails, he will be a goat who "lost" both
public schools and his party's dominance in state politics.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald.
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