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Debunking the school funding myths
In recent weeks, several Montana legislators have claimed publicly that Montana schools are not suffering financially. These legislators claim schools are thriving, thanks to growing per-student investments over the past decade.
The fact is, they are just plain wrong. Our schools are in the midst of the largest program cuts in memory, and the chief reason is obvious: a lack of adequate state funding.
Listed below are some of the education funding spins you may have heard and the reasons why they have more to do with myth than reality.
Myth #1: "Montana spends more per student than most other states."
Reality: The simple facts are that Montana is 28th in the nation in terms of per-pupil funding and over $400 behind the national average. As recently as 1985, Montana per-pupil funding actually exceeded the national average, but we have been at a virtual standstill ever since while the rest of the nation invested more in public schools.
For Montana simply to get back to the national average after 16 years of relative decline would require an investment of over $120 million over the next biennium.
Myth #2: "Per-pupil spending in Montana continues to grow."
Reality: While it is true that per-pupil expenditures have risen in recent years, a more careful analysis clearly shows that almost all of this increase is attributable to a growing level of local property tax burden coupled with declining student enrollments.
Local property taxes for education have increased by 144 percent since 1991 to compensate for stagnant state funding levels that have risen about 1 percent a year (not nearly enough to help schools cope with inflation). The state's share of public school funding dropped significantly from 1991 to 2001 (see graph below).
Declining enrollments have made our growth in per-pupil expenditure seem larger than it really is. As most Montana fourth graders can tell you, when you divide a stagnant numerator (school funding) by a declining denominator (number of pupils), the quotient (per-pupil expenditure) grows. That's why some legislators claim Montana's per-pupil expenditures have risen during the past decade when, in fact, state spending has been virtually frozen.
Myth #3: "The legislature provided Montana schools with huge funding increases during the 1999 regular session and the 2000 special session."
Reality: The 1999-2000 legislative sessions did make a significant down-payment toward restoring Montana school funding. However, due to continued enrollment declines, over half the money appropriated during the 2000 special session will not be reappropriated in the next biennium. This means schools will need to come up with millions of dollars in program cuts and staff reductions. (Keep in mind that school district costs don't drop when enrollment drops. That's because the declines are always scattered widely throughout the district - for example, three fifth graders in one school; four third graders in another school.)
Furthermore, the legislature's "huge funding increases" included over $30 million in "direct state aid" to schools. Unfortunately, these "increases" were nothing more than mandated local property tax reductions that limited the revenues available for public education in the next biennium. What is worse, these resources did nothing to raise the base budgets of schools, through legislative leaders touted them as a state investment in education.
Spread the truth! Please help us debunk the myths. Write a letter to the editor. Talk to your friends. Write your legislators. Spread the truth!
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