Rising education spending driven by state-level problems
COMMENTARY
OLCOMBE AND MONIQUE PRIESTLEY Gov.
The projected education property tax increases are driven by a projected 12 percent increase in school budgets statewide.
We hope to work with the governor to tackle state-level drivers of that education spending. As one superintendent told the
Here are a few ways
• Lead on health care reform. Health care spending consistently grows faster than education spending. One in
• Focus resources on development of workforce housing. Housing shortages drive up housing costs, locking seniors in homes they struggle to afford and locking young families out of the housing market. That means fewer kids in our schools, higher costs per pupil, and skyrocketing tax rates. In a vicious cycle, higher tax rates make it even less likely families will move in.
• Fund state agencies so school districts don't have to pay for state cuts. Our mental health crisis doesn't go away when the Governor cuts state budgets, as he effectively proposes this year by capping the state mental health department's budget at 3 percent growth - a number half the rate of inflation. Cutting state resources for mental health services displaces these costs onto already strained schools - the payers of last resort. Adequately funding state mental health services both keeps people healthy AND reduces our education property taxes.
• Address unfunded school infrastructure liabilities. The administration is aggressively testing school classrooms for PCBs, without realistic state investment in mitigation and without a coherent plan for what to do when PCBs are found. This is closing classrooms across the state and forcing school districts to fix these classrooms on their own, driving higher education spending. They have spent millions of dollars on loud filters that fill hallways, and yet recorded PCB levels are sometimes higher AFTER so-called "mitigation" spending. Districts already face hundreds of millions of dollars of deferred investments in failing infrastructure. This problem screams for state leadership.
• Confront uncontrolled, poorly regulated private school vouchers. Private school vouchers drive up tax rates for everyone - in order to pay for private benefits for the few. Prior to 1991, the Academies were public schools in statute and they were held to the same rules as public schools. Now, out of all taxpayer-funded private schools in
Enough is enough. We are all worried about affordability. If the governor is serious about affordability, he'll step up on health care reform. He'll respond strategically to our housing crisis. He'll adequately fund state agencies, so that public schools don't pick up the bill for state cuts. And, he'll ensure the public education fund is used to provide excellent, equitable, and accessible public education for all children.
Representative
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