Nobody Wins in a Zero-Sum Game
If you have been following anything related to funding public schools in Delaware, you probably know that the system is severely broken and there are major changes being talked about. The Wilmington Education Improvement Commission is talking about needs-based funding (or weighted-student funding) and reallocation of the existing money in the system. Others are talking about changes to the equalization funding formula that’s been frozen for about 20 years. Some are talking about property reassessment. So who’s right? The short answer is: everyone, partially.
Reallocating the money already generated for public schools is a zero-sum game. It isn’t a long term solution and I’m not really sure that it’s a viable short-term solution. Although it’s better than doing nothing I suppose.
Delaware has a hybridized general ed/needs-based funding system already embedded into the current unit count system. See the following chart:
The first 3 columns are the general ed categories. For every 12.8 pre-k students in a school, that school earns 1 teaching unit from the State which amounts to approximately 55-70% of the funding for a teacher’s salary and benefits. For every 16.2 K-3 students, you get a teaching unit. Same deal for every 20 grade 4-12 students. By the way, I’ve yet to figure out how you get two-tenths of a kindergarten student.
The 3 categories on the right: Basic, Intensive, and Complex are the needs-based system. If a student’s level of need is categorized as one of those three, there is significant portion of additional funding that goes to that student. 8.4 students with “basic” level of additional needs gets them 1 basic special ed teaching unit. By no means is this system adequate to meet the needs of Delaware’s schoolchildren any longer, but it is a framework to expand upon.
As the educational landscape of our schools has changed over the last few decades it’s become clear to many that at least two additional categories of needs-based funding are needed: one weighted on the level of impoverished students a school servces and one weighted on the prevalence of English language learners in the school. I can only speak for the Christina School District since I deal with their finances on a regular basis, but ELL is one of the fastest growing expenses in the district and Christina currently serves some of the poorest children in the state. Make no mistake, our teachers that work with our highest needs students go all out and give everything they have and more to give these children the absolute best education possible, but they need help.
Adding more categories of need requires more money to fund them. If we’re talking reallocation, that means taking money from something else in the education system and putting it towards the new categories. I’m not sure how our kids and teachers come out winning in that scenario. If we’re talking bringing in additional revenue, then given the current financial situation in the State we have to be talking about adding tax brackets. It’s an election year, which politician is going to take one for the team and start talking about raising taxes?
Equalization funding. Once upon a time, the equalization funding formula was created to help the school districts with smaller tax bases (Sussex County) stay competitive with the wealthier districts (New Castle County) in the state by providing additional units of funding tied to the relative size of the tax base. Fast forward a few decades and when it became apparent that the tax base was growing in Kent and Sussex Counties the formula, designed to be fluid and dynamic, was modified, modified again, and then frozen. The result is a complete mess of funding that follows no discernible pattern. Some districts with large tax bases get significantly more funding than districts with smaller tax bases (and vice versa) Some districts earn equalization funding that has no apparent relationship to its tax base (Appoquinimink). Equalization funding is jacked up and it needs to be completely redone.
And then property reassessment, the political hand grenade. Want to scare the crap out of our State politicians running for election/re-election next year? Ask them what they think about statewide property reassessment.
It is true that New Castle County has not had a property reassessment since 1983 and Sussex hasn’t had one since 1974. It’s also true that reassessment would be damned expensive to do but over time, would help out our school districts. The property taxes you pay now in New Castle County are based on what your land and dwelling would have been worth in 1983. In Sussex, imagine that $2.9 million ocean front property in Fenwick sitting there, its owners paying taxes on what it would have been worth in 1974. That needs to change.
Even after everything I’ve just written, there’s still way, WAY more that needs to be changed when it comes to funding schools in Delaware (having Charter schools funded by a line item on your property taxes like VoTechs, creating new tax brackets on incomes over $60k/yr, and more). Those will be a topic for a future post though. I’m sure this riveting foray into the public school system funding world has you all on the edge of your seats wanting more. I don’t want to scare you all with the level of insanity that our school districts have to deal with when it comes to funding, though. At least not yet.
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The property assessment situation is absolutely ridiculous. If ever anyone gets the nerve to take that on, they should write a continuing 6 year re-evaluation period into the law.
“I’m sure this riveting foray into the public school system funding world has you all on the edge of your seats wanting more.”
Actually it does – thank you for pulling this together.
I seem to recall reading somewhere that any property reassessment must be revenue neutral meaning that it is also a zero sum game – not that it shouldn’t be done anyway out of a basic sense of fairness – but I don’t think it is available as a revenue generator.
I just wanted to point out that currently the state does not fund Basic Special Education for students in Kindergarten through 3rd grades. This year, I introduced House Bill 30 which would provide the additional funding, it was assigned to House Appropriations Committee.
Rufus- I don’t have it in front of me at the moment, but when Christina School District was out for referendum earlier this year this was brought up.
I believe the reassessment must be revenue neutral at first so as to not obliterate property owners with significant changes in tax rates. Districts are not allowed to adjust rates more than 10% of what they were in the previous year following reassessment without a referendum vote. Over time, however, the reassessment would start affecting the revenue generated by the counties and school districts.
When the referendum comes up again and it will. The schools will WASTE more money on marketing the referendum, I will vote NO, again!
Some of these schools (high schools) look like small junior colleges. Cape Henlopen, Appo and others. Multiple turf fields, stadiums, etc. Study specific schools, that is what colleges are for. We made a choice and sent our children to private school and they did a great job (both the schools and our children). We had to fight to get bus money back from the state, we should have gotten vouchers. The private schools save the state a ton of money. Enough, the state needs to consolidate.
Anonymous, I find it interesting that you feel voting no to a referendum which affects a school district only, somehow sends some form of message to the state. Heard that a lot while campaigning for Christina. You couldn’t be more wrong. When you vote down a referendum, you vote down the school district and its kids, not the State. Dover couldn’t care less if a local referendum fails, they’re under no obligation to provide more money in that scenario. The only people you punish are the teachers and kids in those schools. And yourself. Failing school systems do wonders for property values and the local economy.
Private schools can absolutely do wonders, if you can afford to pay for those wonders. If you want to send your child to private school when you already pay for public school, you do it on your own dime not with a voucher paid for by everyone else.
I’m all for all of the above. More funding for each low-income and high needs kid could reduce class sizes and make sure schools have guidance counselors, school nurses and even resource centers for families to link up with services (oh the horror of socialism!).
We all need to pay more taxes to get this thing moving – perhaps we can pay ourselves back in 20 years when we can pay less for policing and jails because our kids actually got the resources they needed to get education and get job.
What about county school districts?
Can you tell us how charter schools are funded? Do charter school students receive funding using the same (screwed up) formulas?
evolvDE- With respect to state and local funding, Charters get funded exactly the same way with the same inane formulas. Charter students are considered, in the eyes of the law, public school students in terms of funding. State funding for a charter student and district student is exactly the same. For the local funding that comes from property taxes, funding is determined by the district they live in. So, for example, if a student who lives in the Christina school district attends Cab Calloway, Cab would get the per-student funding amount that Christina pays for its in-district students.
That’s about where the similarities end between charter and district funding models. Charters have several loopholes they are permitted to exploit by law that allow them to retain funds traditional district schools aren’t not able to. Not unless they want a visit from Tom Wagner’s office.
County-wide districts, I assume you mean the vo-techs? They are outliers. On your property tax bill, Vo Techs have their own line item unlike district schools and charters which are combined into one. Vo-Techs also don’t have to deal with the referendum process to raise revenue, the State Legislature does it for them.
Oops! I think you meant CSW, Brian. Cab is a magnet.
Pandora- CSW would have been better example, you’re right, because it is a “true” charter school. But both are funded using the same formulae. If a student from an outside district choices into Cab or is accepted into CSW the $ that comes with that student would be calculated exactly the same way as if they were attending a school in their resident district.
Cab uses the unit count & basic/intensive/complex funding system for its revenue along with its charter and traditional counterparts.
Brian, I appreciate your passion. But, the State is spending the money. Not the students and certainly not the teachers. If the Teachers were running the budget, we’d have a better outcome from the graduating students!!
No, Anonymous. Brian is right. Education funding in the form of a referendum represents the local tax base.
If you opt out of the public system that is your choice which comes at your expense. No vouchers for you.
We have done both public and private school for both of our children. By far, the education they received in public school was far superior, so were the teachers. Both are attending university, and doing great. I’m really tired of blanket statements about public schools (public schools that take, and keep, every child – unlike private, charter and magnet schools) which are grossly inaccurate and uninformed.
Your grossly mistaken. Sorry but your comments are laughable…
“We have done both public and private school for both of our children. By far, the education they received in public school was far superior, so were the teachers. Both are attending university, and doing great. I’m really tired of blanket statements about public schools (public schools that take, and keep, every child – unlike private, charter and magnet schools) which are grossly inaccurate and uninformed.”
Tom, mistaken on what exactly?
Anon- the state doesn’t spend referendum money. The local district does as approved by their Board of Education.
Brian, I agree with you that our education funding system is broken and we need to find a better solution. However, education funding is 1/3 of the state budget and I don’t see how that percentage could or would change. I support the creation of new tax brackets, but that still doesn’t cover the need. Your right about property reassessment, ever time I’ve mentioned it – I get a tongue lashing. As a member of the taskforce to look at school funding I’m very interested in hearing your ideas on how we can change the system. Please share more…
Milford just passed a referendum. I was surprised in an environment where the only thing in education that matters is the football rivalry. Lots of rubes screaming though
State is doing a great job!
http://delawarestatenews.net/opinion/delaware-department-of-education-playing-a-shell-game/#.VhnJgDFDP1s.facebook