School funding changes are a disaster

A House committee rammed through a massive bill that will fundamentally overhaul the state’s funding of the schools that educate 1.1 million Arizona children.

Hardly anybody is sure what the bill, sprung on the public just last week, actually does.

It helps charter schools but it’ll hurt rural schools, only not all of them.

It seems to offer more funding to school districts if their taxpayers agree to a new property tax, which may be offset by the elimination of a different property tax. Or maybe not.

It seems to offer more funding overall for schools but 121 school districts – about half of the school districts in the state – would lose money. And it doesn’t explain how those lucky schools that get more money would be able to actually spend it, given a 40year-old spending limit that the bill leaves in place.

It seems like it might hurt students who have special needs but possibly it won’t. Who knows?

The 101-page bill was written by the Arizona Tax Research Association and charter schools supporters who apparently forgot to consult with the school districts that educate the vast majority of Arizona’s kids or other experts who understand the mysteries and complexities of Arizona’s school funding formula.

Senate Bill 1269 was dropped on them just last week. Then it was rammed through what will be its only public hearing on Monday where a grand total of 12 minutes of public testimony was allowed.

School districts and school finance experts were given all of six minutes to discuss their concerns.

“This is a lot to deal with, and I’ve been trying to figure out Mesa’s numbers for over a week while doing my day job,” Scott Thompson, an assistant superintendent for the state's largest school district and one of only three people allowed to speak against the bill.

Our leaders spent far more time earlier this month trying to fix the mess they made on a bill of concern to absolutely nobody other than the Republican Party’s precinct committeemen.

And it’s worth pointing out that that bill was a complete debacle – accidentally scrapping elections to turn PCs into appointed posts – because it was rammed through without any public hearings and nobody understood it.

Have our leaders learned nothing?

In a word, yes. That’s exactly what they’ve learned.

The House Appropriations Committee passed the school funding overhaul on a party-line vote and because they attached it as a “strike-everything” amendment to a bill that already has cleared the Senate, it needs only a single

Senate vote to go winging its way to Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk.

It’s a heck of a way to run a state. The bill’s sponsor, House Education Committee Chairwoman Michelle Udall, R-Mesa, was unapologetic about ramming it through with virtually no input from anyone.

Udall, who is running for state superintendent of public instruction, said her bill would eliminate funding disparities that hurt charter schools and school districts whose taxpayers won’t raise their taxes to pay for bonds and overrides.

“This is a huge step towards a more equitable school funding system where we pay the same amount for each child,” she said.

It is, indeed, a huge step. But shouldn’t we know where that step is leading us before leaping to take it?

This bill may make it harder for schools to hold onto veteran teachers, or it may not.

It may provide more money to high performing schools at the expense of students in low-income areas — kids who need an extra boost. Or it may not.

This proposal may be a welcome reform to a 40-year-old school funding formula that is badly in need of a fix. Or it may not be.

But shouldn’t we know before we spring it on 1.1 million school children who are depending upon us to get it right?

As I said, a heck of way to run a state.