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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Guest View: School Funding Trend Is Backward

By Sharon Morgan
President, National Education Association-New Mexico
          Summer is when parents start thinking about what their children need for school. New shoes, clothing, notebooks, pens and pencils top the list. There's an air of expectancy with each new academic year. However, there is another issue of utmost importance that parents and other community members need to be aware of.
        It isn't something you're likely to find on the front page of your local newspaper or on the evening news. Not right now, anyway. That's because the word is just getting out. And the start of the school year is the right time to be talking about the crisis of public school funding and preparing to do something about it. So when the Legislature's 60-day session rolls around, all of us, including parents, educators, business leaders and citizens, will be ready.
        The crisis with the way our public schools are funded is like sending our children to school wearing last year's shoes, recycled notebooks from their older brothers and sisters, and fewer supplies than they need. They will make due, but it's not providing the best support to meet their needs. If we intend to provide a quality education for every child, we must come to terms with the following facts:
        In 1986-87, the public schools in New Mexico were appropriated 51.6 percent of the state's total recurring budgeted revenue. I am extremely concerned that 1990-91 was the last year the Legislature funded public schools at 50 percent of the state's total recurring budgeted revenue. The trend is going in the wrong direction. In 2000-01, public schools in New Mexico received 43.8 percent of the state's recurring revenue budget. For the 2008-09 school year, public education's share of the state total recurring revenue fell to 43.3 percent, with only 36 percent of new dollars being appropriated to public schools.
        Over the past 20 years, the state's recurring revenues have increased by millions and millions of dollars. This should have been good news for our children. During these same 20 years, public schools have continued to be appropriated less and less of new recurring revenues. If the Legislature allocated public schools 50 percent of the recurring revenues of our state's budget, public schools would see an increase of more than $376 million per year.
        Think what this could mean. The present level of funding is a make due, don't complain trend, which I believe is unacceptable.
        This isn't just my opinion. The state of New Mexico formally commissioned and funded a task force in 2005 to address the programmatic needs of public schools. The task force contracted with the American Institutes for Research to conduct a two-year study which recommended a new distribution formula that would distribute sufficient funds based on factors determined by an individual district's needs related to poverty, English language learners, special education, mobility and district size.
        The study's conclusion was that current funding for public schools in New Mexico is not sufficient to meet the increased requirement and expectations placed upon school districts. Based on needs and projections, it was determined that $354 million (2008 dollars) of additional state funding would be required annually in order to meet the constitutional requirement to provide a sufficient education to all children of school age in the state.
        The handwriting is on the wall and it's explaining why NEA-New Mexico's educators are joining with school board members, administrators, the NMPTA and a variety of concerned citizens from around the state who are preparing to stand up and speak out.
        We are saying "enough" to a trend of funding public education that isn't adequate for our 21st-century needs. Please join us by contacting your representative and urge that the state of New Mexico fulfill its constitutional mandate for sufficient funding. The future of our young people depends on it!