Guest Column: Legislative commission looks at school funding

Last session, I sponsored SB 128, a bill that created the School Funding Interim Commission, and requires the legislature to examine the school funding formula at least every 10 years, if not more frequently.

The Commission met for 18 months and just wrapped up its work. The results of the Commission are several strong, new proposals to adjust some components of school funding to meet some pressing needs of Montana's public schools, and additionally, to lay out a roadmap for policymakers and those who wish to know where school funding still needs work and what info has been gathered.

Before the Commission's first meeting, staff sent out a survey asking for public input on what the most important issues in school funding are at this time. Nearly 1,400 Montanans responded to the survey and said the number one issue is recruitment and retention of teachers. Next on the list is equity and adequacy of state funding. At the first meeting, the Commission took more public comment and heard from education stakeholders, parents and citizens who added that special education funding and facilities were key issues. Finally, a dedicated group of parents and advocates raised the issue of funding for gifted students as a critical need.

As the Commission dove into its work, it focused on the issues above. While many, many ideas were presented, and many of those will continue to be worked on by stakeholders and legislators, the following ideas received consensus votes and will be taken up by the legislature for funding in 2017.

Regarding recruitment and retention of teachers, the Commission determined that while many Montana schools are having some difficulties, rural and isolated schools, far from major population centers, including reservation schools, are having the most trouble. To help solve this problem, the Commission revised the Quality Educator Loan Assistance Program to guarantee isolated schools the ability to offer loan repayment in exchange for commitment to teach in isolated districts. The Commission also looked at creating a statewide health insurance pool that all schools could join to reduce costs and allow districts to direct more funds to teacher salaries. This idea is very complex and the Commission will recommend that the legislature take this up as a separate study next year.

Regarding facilities, the Commission will recommend four bills. One will expand the InterCap loan program. One will allow districts to transfer excess funds into their building maintenance funds. Two will guarantee a pot of revenue for grants to districts for major maintenance projects like boilers, roofs, and windows.

Three bills will be proposed to increase funding by up to $6 million for special education, including cooperatives. For several years, funding for gifted students has been stuck at $250,000. Another bill will be offered to increase gifted funding to $2.5 million dollars. Additionally, because this area of school funding is a complicated tangle of state, local, and federal funds, a study bill will request that the legislature take up special needs and gifted funding again next year to see if a better formula can be created to meet these needs.

Finally, the Commission took a deep look at the complicated issue of how all districts tax themselves to pay for schools and how the state formula tries to equalize the differences between resource-rich and resource-poor districts. Much valuable information was pulled together from many sources and the education committees will be able to draw on these sources to ensure continued equity amongst districts.

The School Funding Interim Commission took its work very seriously and provided a forum for healthy and rigorous debate on education funding priorities. I am pleased to have served on this successful Commission.