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FUNDING EDUCATION: IT'S A BALANCING ACT
Providing education for our children is one of the fundamental jobs of government at all levels, but many people don’t realize that federal funds account for only a token percentage of the education dollars that flow to schools districts. In Missouri, federal funds account for 9% of public education dollars. It falls to the local community—supplemented by our state foundation formula--to fund our public PreK-12 schools.
In 1993 when I last served in the Missouri House, we passed the Outstanding Schools Act, which significantly increased school funding. But Missouri has never exceeded the national average in its support for public education, even though we all realize that our future is dependent on a first-rate educational system.
States--like people--are often evaluated by the company that they keep. Missouri’s funding for education places our state in the company of Mississippi and West Virginia -- and far behind Louisiana and Arkansas, two states that have begun to take their educational inadequacies seriously.
Despite ranking 20th in Total Personal Income, Missouri currently ranks:
- 42nd in average salary of public school teachers; and
- 46th in tax dollars spent on education per capita;
Local taxes-- predominantly property taxes--account for 58% of school funds—while 33% comes from the state and 9% comes from Washington. Only five other states draw more of their school funding from local sources.
Money is not the only ingredient necessary for good schools, but we can’t have first-rate schools with an inadequate funding base. While politicians continue to run, year after year, on a platform of “tax cuts”, gas prices have reached record highs, schools are faced with unprecedented energy costs, and revenues are declining. This is a recipe for disaster--for our children, for our teachers, for our future.
We are on a collision course between those politicians who continually vow to CUT taxes and those who are rightly concerned with finding the right balance between a tax burden we can live with and the schools we want.
Let’s be honest. We all want low taxes. But we can’t continue to cut taxes and expect the quality of our educational system to improve. Do you really think that your children’s class sizes are too small or that their teachers’ salaries are too high?
We must decide what’s important and put our money there. Last session, the Republican-controlled legislature supported huge tax breaks for a private developer in St. Louis and a manufacturer in Kansas City. Ed Robb, Matt Blunt, and their special interest friends may claim that they can give you a free lunch. But how can we give away tax dollars to special interests and at the same time fail to provide adequate funds for our children’s education?
You’ve already heard it: My opponent tries to label me as the poster child for tax and spend liberalism. Let me set the record straight… I am proud to have voted for the Outstanding Schools Act. If Ed Robb thinks the act is wrong, he ought to have the courage to repeal it.
If we want to provide a promising future for our children and our state, we must pay for public education at a level that is fiscally responsible and educationally adequate. Neither Democrats nor Republicans can serve up a free lunch. Isn’t it time you told them so?
Let me know what you think. And keep the porch light on. I’ll be knocking.