Lawmaker wants more money spent on classrooms

[mrsdragoness]

A 65% solution for schools? Lawmaker wants more money earmarked for classroom expenses


Friday, June 17, 2005BY JUDY PUTNAM
Ann Arbor News Bureau LANSING - Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, says he has a solution to school funding problems.

A 65 percent solution.

Hoogendyk Thursday said he's introducing a bill that would require schools to spend 65 cents on the dollar on instruction. Michigan now spends 57.4 cents on average, compared with the national average of 61.5 cents.

It's part of national movement endorsed largely by Republicans to make sure school money is spent effectively. Supporters say it's more effective to spend money on teachers and classroom materials than administrative and overhead costs.

Michigan ranks 48th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia on the dollars spent in the classroom, according to First Class Education, a Washington D.C. group run by Patrick Byrne, the chairman and president of Overstock.com Inc., an Internet retailer. The rankings use the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics data.

"I think we've taken our eye off the ball for whatever reason and as a result we're not prioritizing or allocating the dollars where they can be most effective," Hoogendyk said.

Several states are looking at the 65 percent rule. It's on the ballot in 2006 in Arizona and lawmakers in Louisiana and Minnesota have voted in favor of it.

Classroom costs include teachers and their benefits, instruction aides, textbooks, supplies and even athletics, field trips and school-related clubs and groups. Non-classroom expenses are administrator salaries, transportation, food and custodial services.

Hoogendyk's bill comes as Michigan lawmakers opened debate on an automatic inflationary increase for schools. A bill by Sen. Robert Emerson, D-Flint, would give an annual increase of 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, to schools, community colleges and universities.

Emerson told a Senate panel Thursday that lawmakers need to help school districts, which have struggled with growing costs and flat funding for three years. He challenged the idea that lawmakers have made schools their highest priority.

"I'd say education is not the top priority of the Legislature," Emerson said. "Tax cuts have been the priority of the Legislature."

Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks, the chair of the Senate subcommittee on K-12 spending, argued that lawmakers have maintained school funding during difficult times.

"This is the No. 1 priority," he said about education.

Thousands of educators, parents and other education supporters will rally in Lansing Tuesday, in support of the inflationary increases.

Lawmakers at a joint hearing of the Senate Education Committee and the Appropriations subcommittee on K-12 spending balked at the estimated cost of the bill - $1.5 billion - and said that would eat up too much of the budget that also funds prisons and Medicaid.

Supporters of the bill say that includes catch-up money back to 2002-03 as well as some cuts in retirement costs. Inflationary increases to schools, community colleges and universities would only cost $50 million more this year.

Tom White, executive director of the Michigan School Business Officials and director of the K-16 Coalition, which is sponsoring the rally, said the inflationary increase is critical to schools.

He was less enthusiastic about Hoogendyk's 65 percent measure.

"I think it's dangerous to overemphasize a single statistic like this," he said. He said it should be used as a guide but not a hard and fast rule. Some districts may have extraordinary maintenance costs or transportation costs, for example.

Hoogendyk said his bill isn't in competition with the inflationary increase. In fact, he said he'd be more likely to vote for an increase if he knew more dollars were going to the classroom. The bill does not address what type of sanctions schools would face if they don't meet the 65 percent rule.

He said Rep. Brian Palmer, R-Romeo, is a cosponsor, along with about 30 other lawmakers. Palmer chairs the House Education Committee. The bill will be introduced Tuesday.

A change planned by Hoogendyk is likely to stir controversy. He said he plans to amend the bill to exempt charter schools, because they pay rent and building costs out of their operating funds. Traditional schools pay those out of school bond and sinking fund proceeds.

Charter schools have some of the highest overhead, according to a House Fiscal Agency analysis.

Hoogendyk said the bill will help teachers.

"Today, teachers say I have to buy my own materials and the superintendent is driving a BMW," he said. "Now that happens. ... it's not right."







© 2005 Ann Arbor News. Used with permission


Copyright 2005 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

[Tuberose]

I know the administration salaries are VERY generous but I haven't heard lately what the average teacher's salary is?

[mrsdragoness]

I do believe that MI teachers are among the highest paid..but don't quote me on that

I liked the last statement:

"Today, teachers say I have to buy my own materials and the superintendent is driving a BMW," he said. "Now that happens. ... it's not right.

"

[deb]

Cool! So they'll be picketing for education the same day the MDOC union and folks from Newberry will be picketing to keep the prisons open... Hopefully, the education folks will have a lot more picketers and will greatly outnumber the prisons guards union... They need to take from the corrections budget and give it to education...

Deb