Left Behind

The new fiscal year for Georgia schools is fast approaching, but unfortunately, many of the state’s poorer school districts will be hurt by the new budget shortfalls:

A fund designed to help poor school districts provide an education comparable to what’s available in wealthier systems was slashed $112 million this year by Georgia lawmakers looking for ways to balance an unsteady state budget.

The more than 20 percent reduction in so-called “equalization” funding for the fiscal year that starts July 1 is just the latest blow to poor school systems already slashing staff and salaries, crowding classrooms and killing extracurricular programs.

The article goes on to describe how suburban counties like Gwinnett are using a loophole in the formula to eek out extra cash, meanwhile poorer districts like the City of Pelham are forced to cut jobs, salaries, and benefits. The Governor’s office argues that changes to the formula can’t happen without legislation, so in the meantime, poorer districts have to suffer. That argument is understandable, and we obviously aren’t the only state in a crunch right now. But I also think waiting on the legislature to take action is simply inadequate.

What about all of that stimulus money that got all of the school districts hyped up a couple of months ago?

Consider that the Georgia Board of Education approved distributing over $351 million for low-income students and schools a few months ago. Going back to the examples provided by the AJC, Gwinnett County will receive $8,876,600 in both FY ’09 and FY ’10 for low-income students. The City of Pelham, on the other hand, will receive $231,300 in both FY ’09 and FY ’10. Now granted, Gwinnett is significantly larger than Pelham, but if Gwinnett is essentially exploiting the equalization fund as Governor Perdue and other officials claim, then why couldn’t the Perdue-appointed Board of Education offset the money that Gwinnett is receiving in equalization by giving more Title 1 stimulus money to poorer districts like Pelham? I mean, it was the Board of Education that had a final say in what stimulus money went where. And considering that many of these underfunded operational expenditures also meet the Title 1 funding criteria (warning: opens a Word document) established in No Child Left Behind, I don’t see why this couldn’t be a viable solution to fixing a $112 million shortfall that is killing valuable jobs and educational programs across the state.