Monday, February 25, 2008
Editorial: Shifting the burden of education
House Republicans want to short-sheet public education by rewriting Standards of Quality formulas. Localities should protest.
From the RoundTable blog
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Virginia's Standards of Quality are supposed to set the minimum standards for state funding of K-12 education.
But House Republicans want to rewrite those standards to save $124 million over the next two years, and they promise a further rewrite that will save an additional $200 million in the next budget.
Those figures don't actually represent money saved. They represent responsibility shifted from the state government to local governments.
Localities will have two choices if these changes go into effect: They could reduce their own standards to meet the lesser state commitment, or they could try to scrounge up the cash to make up the difference.
This is, sadly, nothing new. The General Assembly has long reneged on the inherent promise of SOQ. A 2001 report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found the state was billions of dollars behind on meeting its share of the cost of education.
After a hard-fought budget battle in 2004, the state finally came close to meeting the funding levels required by the Standards of Quality.
Now, four years later, House Republicans want to lower those standards -- which most educators will tell you are already substandard -- by jiggering formulas.
That didn't stop House Speaker Bill Howell from issuing an empty boast: "This year, we have again surpassed all competing proposals when it comes to funding education, demonstrating anew our willingness to make education a top priority regardless of economic climate."
If House leaders truly believe that educational standards in Virginia are too high and that the state contribution to one of the most vital governmental functions is too great, they should have that debate openly and issue a proposal for amending the Standards of Quality.
Instead, they quietly attempt to pass a significant scaleback of state responsibility through the state budget.
Again, localities will have only two choices if the House approach prevails: They can cut standards or they can make up the revenue some other way, such as a local tax increase.
As House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong put it, tax-averse House Republicans may have "voted for the largest tax increase in Virginia history."
Certainly, Republicans voted to lessen the state's commitment to public education.
That's nothing to boast about.
