Debate centers on discretionary funds for school districts, local control
The one big debate this morning during the setting of the public school budget came when Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, tried to add $5 million to discretionary funds for school districts next year, beyond the amount needed to get them back up to the fiscal year 2009 level on a per-classroom basis. “When I talked with the schools in my district, this is the issue that comes up over and over, discretionary funding,” Schmidt told JFAC. “You look at our budget for schools, and I think our statutory requirements have bloomed over the last 10 years, as well as our programmatic funding. … But the discretionary, both because of fiscal issues but also because we’re putting things in programs, has not grown. So this is a small effort to change that.”
He said whenever a lawmaker “runs a bill that describes a program and then we fund it,” that reduces the flexibility of local school districts on how they spend their state funds. “I’m trying to focus on letting some control back to the local folks. … Why $5 million? I think it’s because it’s very doable.” He said people keep talking about 2009. “I think this will end that. … I don’t think we need to keep worrying about a number. I think we need to keep worrying about a need. I think this will help direct this body to addressing that need.”
Senate Education Chairman Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, argued against the extra $5 million. “As many of you know, I’ve fought desperately for operational and discretionary funds over the many years that I’ve served on this committee, and I’m glad to see that we’re able to get this number up to where it was approximately in 2009,” he said. He noted that while the per-support unit number is being restored to the 2009 level, “We’ve increased the number of support units” by more than 1,000 since then. “That’s a huge commitment on the part of the state,” Mortimer said. “I support the original motion and I believe that we’re doing a good job for our districts this year.”
Schmidt’s motion was then voted down on a 4-15 party-line vote, with just JFAC’s four Democrats supporting it. The original motion for the operations division of the public school budget, from Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, then passed unanimously, 19-0.