Competing motions for how to fund public schools next year…

One big difference between the two competing sets of motions for the public schools budget this morning is the question of whether or not to restore a budget cut imposed in 2010 and 2011 by “freezing” movement on the teacher and administrator salary grid for two years of experience.

That $11 million annual savings to the state didn’t necessarily cut pay for teachers and administrators, but it cut the salary money the state sent to districts to cover those costs. The result has been a budget crunch for school districts across the state. For example, if a district has a teacher with seven years experience, the state provides funding for a teacher with five years experience. It’s up to the district to cope with the shortfall.

“We said at the time that we froze them that when we could, we would restore it,” said JFAC Co-Chair Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. “And I think we’re now at that stage, where in order to move forward we need to restore them.”

The Thompson/Cameron motions restore that cut; the Mortimer/Bayer motions do not.

Beyond that issue, both sets of competing motions for the public schools budget this morning zero out the $33.9 million that  the governor and superintendent wanted to set aside for recommendations from a stakeholder group looking at school improvement in the wake of the voters’ rejection of Propositions 1, 2 and 3, the “Students Come First” school reform laws, in November. Both provide for an increase in discretionary funds to school districts, though the amounts vary; and both increase the minimum teacher salary, though by varying amounts.

Cameron said it’s become clear that the $33.9 million wasn’t available as extra money. The governor’s office, he said, recommended “it be used as one-time money. … In our later motions, in fact we do that. The $34 million is used as one-time money.”

The Thompson/Cameron motions spend that money for $13 million in technology for school districts, and $21 million for a combination of professional development and one-time bonuses for teachers based on local school districts plans for distributing the funds.

The Mortimer/Bayer motions focus instead on a bigger boost to discretionary funds to school districts and raising the minimum teacher salary from $30,500 to $31,750, while spending less overall; the Thompson/Cameron motions would raise the minimum teacher salary from $30,500 to $31,000.

Bottom line, the Thompson/Cameron motions come in $2.9 million above the Mortimer/Bayer motions.