Finding a Funding Fix Starts with Defining the Cost

The 2016 legislative session ended earlier this week (Tues, March 29) with a disappointing outcome if you were hoping for more funding for basic education, but it was always unlikely that the Legislature would fix the funding gap during this short session.

Though legislators have until the 2017-18 school year to fully fund basic education, as ordered by the Supreme Court in the McCleary case, many are committed to adopting a solution in 2017 and have appointed a legislative working group to look at funding options now.

That is encouraging, but before we can find a solution, we need to define the problem. If our lawmakers can’t agree on the right number, our school funding system will remain broken. Current estimates range widely, from $3.5 billion to $10 billion, and finding the right number calls for a critical look at what is — and what is not — included in each:

1. $3.5 billion per biennium ($1.7 billion per year).

This is the amount some lawmakers think it will cost. This estimate assumes most costs are already covered and that the bulk of what remains is staff salaries. (Right now, school districts around the state cover large portions of staff salaries through local levies.)

2. $7.6 billion per biennium ($3.8 billion per year).

This is how much the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction thinks it will cost. This estimate is based on the definition of basic education in HB 2261 and recommendations from a committee mandated with figuring out how to implement it. It also includes the cost of reducing class sizes called for in Initiative 1351, which voters approved in November 2014.

3. $10 billion+ per biennium.

This estimate from Tom Ahearne, lawyer for the plaintiffs in the McCleary case, is based on the state’s testimony in the lawsuit, defining what is included in “basic education” – a cost of $8 billion a biennium. Plus it includes cost-of-living raises for school staff, capital expenses for school building renovations — and approximately $2 billion in a one-time capital costs to build new classrooms needed to accommodate both all-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes.

There’s a wide gulf between these cost estimates, begging the question, “why?” Before we can fix the funding gap, we need to come to agreement on the actual size of the problem we are trying to solve.