Bad bill for school funding

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North Carolina Teachers Chatboard

Bad bill for school funding

by tnc

Sep 29, 2015

Contact House members today! This analysis is from the NC School Boards Association: HB 539 passed the Senate tonight by a vote of 25-19. Three amendments were run and one was passed. The successful amendment, run by Sen. Jerry Tillman (R-Randolph), changes the bill in the following ways: (i) no longer would LEAs have to share supplemental property tax revenue with charter schools located outside the taxing jurisdiction; and (ii) change which Fund 8 monies would have to be shared with charter schools. HB 539 would now require the following monies in Fund 8 to be shared:

· All reimbursements except Medicare and Medicaid.

· All indirect costs.

· Federal grants and appropriations unless the federal government specifies which checking account to put the money into (which they never have and never will).

· Gifts and grants unless: (i) given to a specific school; (ii) the donor has stipulated that it should not go to charters; or (iii) it was given, ap...See MoreContact House members today! This analysis is from the NC School Boards Association: HB 539 passed the Senate tonight by a vote of 25-19. Three amendments were run and one was passed. The successful amendment, run by Sen. Jerry Tillman (R-Randolph), changes the bill in the following ways: (i) no longer would LEAs have to share supplemental property tax revenue with charter schools located outside the taxing jurisdiction; and (ii) change which Fund 8 monies would have to be shared with charter schools. HB 539 would now require the following monies in Fund 8 to be shared:

· All reimbursements except Medicare and Medicaid.

· All indirect costs.

· Federal grants and appropriations unless the federal government specifies which checking account to put the money into (which they never have and never will).

· Gifts and grants unless: (i) given to a specific school; (ii) the donor has stipulated that it should not go to charters; or (iii) it was given, applied for, pledged, or bequeathed on or before October 15, 2015.

· Sales tax revenue distributed ad valorem for those who have supplemental property tax.

The monies in this list that are most problematic are the reimbursements, indirect costs, and the federal grants/appropriations.

Reimbursements are funds for payments a school district has already made. E-Rate would be one of the most notable examples. Charter schools already receive a proportionate share of the monies LEAs use to make the upfront payments for which they are later reimbursed. Charter schools are also eligible to get reimbursements of their own, including E-Rate. Another example would be LEAs that provide teachers for instruction at jails or hospitals who are later reimbursed by the sheriff’s office or the hospital. Requiring LEAs to share reimbursements would effectively allow charter schools to “double dip.”

Indirect costs are reimbursements LEAs receive for incurred costs associated with administering required federal programs, the largest of which is the child nutrition program. The charter school groups contend that school districts get money above and beyond the appropriations for these federal programs but that is inaccurate. The money is built into the appropriations the LEAs receive. Requiring these dollars to be shared would reduce funding necessary to run essential programs for public school students, even if the charter is not offering that program to its own students.

Federal grants and appropriations are things like impact aid for military dependent children, Indian program funds, and other potential funds like Hurricane Katrina relief funds, which are all designated for specific groups of students. The federal government will never make the designation specified in the bill concerning putting the dollars into a specific checking account so all these monies will have to be shared under the bill language. This is a new inequity that would alter federal funding and support for LEAs.

Please contact your House member(s) immediately in opposition to this bill

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