Lewis’ claims on APS spending don’t add up

ALBUQUERQUE MAYORAL candidate Dan Lewis’ financial facts about Albuquerque Public Schools don’t hold up under scrutiny. Here are two examples:

Example 1: Lewis thinks the city should reconsider funding for school crossing guards because APS has a $1.3 billion budget compared with the city’s $530 million budget. However, if he turned to the second page of the city’s FY ’17 budget, he would see total appropriations of $926 million for the city, not $530 million. It appears he is comparing APS’ entire budget — including capital outlay and debt service — with the city’s operating budget, which doesn’t include these items.

Furthermore, what value is there in comparing a city’s budget for spending on safe streets, public works, cultural services and so on with a school district’s budget for educating students? Both entities have different mandates and missions . ...

Example 2: One list that New Mexico scores high on is the equality of public school spending by district. Unlike many other states, New Mexico’s public school aid formula provides the funds for operating budgets to all districts relatively equally.

In mayoral debates and on his website, Lewis claims that APS “annually spends at least twice what RR (Rio Rancho) Public Schools does per student.” ... I decided to do some fact checking.

Comparing operating expenses, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, APS spent $7,489 per student and RRPS spent $7,199 per student. This means that APS’ operating expenses were 4 percent greater than RRPS, not twice as much . ...

But there’s more. Comparing total budgets, including debt service, capital outlay and special revenue funds, APS spent $12,161 and RRPS spent $10,223 per pupil — again, not even close to twice as much.

Most of the difference in total budgets between APS and RRPS is accounted for by capital outlay expenditures (which) are funded primarily by bond issues, approved by the voters (and) are not consumed in the school year, as are funds for teachers’ salaries or utilities, for example. They are an investment in the community and are depreciated over decades . ...

Digging more deeply into the numbers, I discovered that in the central administration category of spending ... APS spends dramatically less per pupil than RRPS: $53 per student for APS, compared to $189 per student for RRPS.

I spent 30 years building school budgets and believe good financial comparisons can be made and are integral to sound strategic plans. After doing the research, I give Lewis’ comparisons and false statements about APS spending a vote of “no confidence.” CHARLIE GALBRAITH Albuquerque