Blog: Capital Focus
Teachers and school officials are in the House gallery this morning as state lawmakers get ready to vote on a long-in-coming K-12 education funding package. But before they vote, there's one big question that needs resolution.
Lawmakers are still split on how much to increase the base student allocation that determines how much money school districts get per student. A legislative task force this summer recommended an increase of at least $100 for each of the next three years. (The current BSA is $5,380.) Gov. Sarah Palin and some lawmakers want $200, but the House bill coming up for a vote limits the increase to $100. (Bumping it to $200 would cost the state an additional $22 million a year.)
Rep. Les Gara plans to introduce an amendment on the floor to bump it up. Without the higher number, schools could still see cuts, he argues.
Others disagree. Rep. John Coghill said this morning the current funding package was "a little rich for my blood."
Well, there was a good long debate on this one here. Rep. Gara brought up high drop-out rates to argue for more funding, and challenged claims that the $100 increase was a settled-upon compromise. Rep. Mike Kelly argued schools were already getting a big helping hand through state assistance on retirement costs for teachers. The amendment failed 11-27. After more debate, the overall bill passed 32-5. Kelly and Rep. John Coghill were among the no votes.
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