Bill would require schools to spend more on instruction

By Kirstin Dorsch
The Business Journal of Jacksonville
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Dec. 4, 2005

It may sound good in theory -- more money into Florida's classrooms without raising taxes.

But is it really the solution to improving student performance?

State Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, will introduce legislation this spring for a constitutional amendment that would require school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their operating budgets "in the classroom."

The bill would result in an increase in instructional funding of more than $1 billion without raising taxes, Hasner said.

Hasner is part of a growing national movement, headed by the lobbying organization First Class Education, to put money back into the classroom -- an initiative that at least 10 states have adopted or are considering. Those that have adopted the initiative include Texas, Louisiana and Kansas, and states considering similar legislation include Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, Washington and Arizona.

"It will establish a new paradigm of fiscal responsibility," Hasner said, "a strike zone to say, 'This is where we need to spend the money.' "

It may also force school districts to reevaluate administrative costs and essentially cut money from noninstructional areas.

Cuts could be made in transportation, administration benefits and student support services, said Stephen Bright, supervisor of internal controls for Duval County Public Schools.

A funding requirement would also take away some local control.

"The school boards and superintendents would have to make some tough choices," Bright said. "You always like to have the freedom to make discretionary decisions for the children because you are closer to the children."

FCE, founded by Patrick Byrne, president and chairman of Overstock.com Inc., touts a five-part proposal. It aims for states to pass the 65 percent mandate and set penalties for compliance by 2008.

The group recommends states require a 2 percent increase per year until 65 percent funding is reached but suggests a waiver to give financially challenged districts a one-year exemption.

The exemption is included in Hasner's proposal. Rural districts with high fixed costs may not be able to meet the 65 percent, Hasner said. So they can apply for the annual waiver from the governor as many years as necessary.

"There needs to be some flexibility," he said. "This doesn't need to be a rigid, one-size-fits-all legislation."

But the waiver is for special cases to acknowledge that the district cannot meet the requirement at the time, Hasner said.

The National Center for Education Statistics estimates national education expenditure totaled $388 billion during the 2002-03 school year. Of that, 61.3 percent, or $238 billion, was spent on instruction.

Payouts for the 2002-03 school year broke down to $169 billion for teacher salaries, $46 billion in benefits, $11 billion in instructional supplies, more than $7 billion in purchased services, and more than $3 billion in other related expenses.

Florida ranked 42nd in the nation for spending 58.8 percent of its $16.4 billion in total expenditures in 2002-03 on instruction. The $9.6 billion for instruction included $6.5 billion in salaries, $1.6 billion in benefits, $951 million for purchased services and $480 million for classroom supplies.

Florida is the only state considering legislation where all school districts spend less than 65 percent of their operating budgets in the classroom. In many cases, larger school districts spend the least on instructional expenses.

"That's counterintuitive," Hasner said. "You would think there would be some economies of scale. This will be a way to get some of those larger districts to be more efficient in the noninstruction spending, which will result in more money into the classroom."

Within Florida, instructional spending ranged from the Brevard County School District, at 63.5 percent of its operating budget, to the Gadsden School District, which spent 50.9 percent in the classroom.

To get the amendment added to the state constitution, the bill must be passed by at least three-fifths of the House and three-fifths of the Senate. If passed, the amendment will appear on voters' ballots in November 2006 and require a majority of the public vote.

"Rather than just imposing it, you are asking the citizens of Florida if they feel it's something that is important to them," said Rep. Joe Pickens, R-Palatka. "Our sense is that Floridians want as much money to be spent in the classroom as possible."

Most agreed that getting money into the classroom is important, but not all believe a constitutional amendment is the way to do it.

"I believe we should not have something like this in the constitution," said Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach. "We are putting more and more things into the constitution that really shouldn't be there."

Lynn, who has a doctorate in education and is chair of the Senate Education Committee, believes the main issue is accountability and how the money is spent once appropriated to the classroom. Just requiring money to be appropriated does not specify where it will be spent, and therefore does not guarantee better student performance.

The credit ratings company Standard & Poor's recently released an empirical evaluation of the "65 Percent Solution" through its education information service, School Matters. S&P found no significant relationship between the percentage of a school's budget spent in the classroom and students' performance on state math and reading tests. Nor did it find that any specific percentage correlated to better test performance.

The lack of significant relationship could be due to differences in size and fixed costs among districts, the report said. Those with large fixed costs may have to raise taxes to increase classroom expenditure to 65 percent.

"There is no minimum spending allocation that is a 'silver bullet' solution for improving student achievement," the report states.

Both in legislation and empirical analysis, the National Center for Education Statistics definition of classroom expenditures was used. Instructional expenses are "expenditures for activities directly associated with the interaction between teachers and students." Included are teacher salaries and benefits, classroom supplies and purchased services.

Another issue with the legislation is the application of a 65 percent formula to all school districts.

Differences between school districts' demographics, geography and population are substantial in Florida, said Rep. William Proctor, R-St. Augustine, and each district may fare better with a different percentage.

"Why not 64 percent or 67 percent?" said Proctor, who once was a school superintendent.

But 65 percent was not pulled out of the clouds, Hasner said. Using best management practices, Hasner modeled his legislation after states ranked top in student performance on state math and science exams.

"In business school you learn that the top 10 percent of companies are market leaders," Hasner said. "You try to mimic and follow what they are doing."

Source: MSNBC.com