State Budget Bill - A Little Increase, A Lot of Taking Away

The Senate Appropriations K-12 Funding Subcommittee will meet Thursday starting some time between 10 a.m. and afternoon. They will consider HB-1001, the State Budget bill. Here's what it could do to public schools:

• It would make the cap on the scholarship granting organization (SGO) scholarship tax credit even higher than it is now - making it easier to drain more students from public schools and taking away more of the tax revenue that pays for school funding, while giving more tax relief to the wealthy.

• It would put a permanent increase in the SGO cap of 120% of the previous year. Are public schools getting a permanent increase of 20% in funding each year? NO, THEY ARE NOT. Why should that cap (used primarily by the wealthy) be allowed to grow that much each year?

• It would reduce the Complexity Index by 14%. That's the index that gives more money to districts with a high proportion of low-income children. These children are more complex to educate and need more support services. Do we think it's a good idea to reduce that? (See more below.)

• It increases the total Tuition Support by 2.2% in FY2019 and 2.2% in FY2020. While it's nice to get more money, IT'S NOT ENOUGH!

• It creates a new category of Choice Scholarships (code word for vouchers). I know we said this above, but it drains more students from public schools and diverts more of YOUR TAX money to private and religious schools.

Here's what ICPE board member and former school superintendent Dr. Tony Lux has to say about reducing the complexity index:

Reducing the Complexity Index by 14% is outrageous! The Complexity Index was reduced back in 2014 and redistributed primarily to wealthy suburban school systems. Now they want to reduce it again at a time when 54% of school systems have declining enrollments (and therefore reduced funding) and where the Complexity Index is the one element of the funding formula that provides some stability. The Complexity Index is a means to actually assist declining enrollment urban and rural school systems so they could provide teacher salary increases!

Even though legislators may argue that all school systems will see reduction in Complexity Index funding, the declining enrollment school systems - primarily urban and rural - will get a double hit as they lose enrollment funds and then lose even more funds for the neediest students they still serve!!!  In the meantime, growing suburban schools systems actually get a bonus: on top of their additional student count, they get the money originally intended for the neediest kids thrown into foundation funding!! 

It is robbing the poor to help the wealthy!

Rich vs. Poor - Don't Fall for the Trick

This is what anti-public school forces like to do. They want to divide us. Policies that put suburban schools against urban and rural schools are destructive all around. The budget should be fair to ALL public schools. Stand together!   

Senate Appropriations K-12 Funding Subcommittee

Email or call these committee members - and your own Senator before Thursday.
 
Senator Eric Bassler
Sen. Liz Brown
Sen. Ed Charbonneau
Sen. Jeff Raatz
Sen. Karen Tallian
Sen. Greg Taylor

If you like, copy and paste these addresses into the "to" field of your email.
 
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]