And Spreadsheet Bingo

Another proposal from the governor, however, needs more work. His funding plan for K-12 education would, because of the way his administration has chosen to raise the state’s share of funding, send millions more dollars to wealthier communities while leaving poorer ones, at best, with no additional funding. This isn’t an outcome the governor or the Legislature should find satisfactory, and should instead start looking for alternatives.

The phenomenon of York seeing its state share rise by $1.4 million in 2005-06 while Milbridge would lose $816,000 is not the fault of the formula but of the way it is being funded, with an emphasis on special education dollars over removing the factor that allows lawmakers to ignore 16 percent of general purpose aid to education (GPA).

Fortunately, a transition adjustment has been proposed for communities that are losing out, but the best that does is bring them to zero increase. It’s too early in the session to call that adequate. This is not to deny the better-off communities the money to which they are entitled, but it makes little sense as state policy to ship, first, new money to towns with low mill rates while denying it to towns with high ones.

It is risky politically to send communities that benefit most from new special education funding all or almost all (the latest plan would set it at 84 percent) that money in the first year of a four-year ramp up to 55 percent for GPA. Doing so gives them no incentive to agree to what could be sacrifices in future years to keep the state on track to reach its funding targets.

Instead, lawmakers would do better to take a few more days to reconsider the blend of GPA and special education money. They should understand the purpose of the essential programs and services model for funding and how communities dependent on high levels of state funding are harmed under scaled-down versions of the model. This isn’t an ideological debate; it’s a matter of finding the right combination of funding and dispersal to make the system most equitable to all students.

Based on the spreadsheets being passed around the State House, that combination has yet to be found.