|
|
$820 per student educational funding
Posted on October 14, 2006 by Moderator
|
|
I'd like you all to comment on the $820/student increase proposed by the SD Alliance for Education (Assoc. School Boards and SDEA-teachers). That increase was needed merely to bring our schools to adequate funding.
Donna Fisher
|
|
Candidate Responses
|
|
|
Hi,Donna, Thank you for your great question. I think you are asking, if I were elected, how would I make sure that schools are funded adequately or to the level that the Adequacy Study suggests. Probably the first thing I would do is to meet with SDEA; I have a close working relationship with that organization since I've been a member for over 30 years. Since they are educators, their mission is to make sure that schools are well funded. This is true for the SD Association of Administrators, Assoc of Elementary and Secondary School Principals, and the Associated School Boards. These groups commissioned the Adequacy Study and so they are committed to seeing that schools are funded and that legislators work with them. Second, I think doing a complete audit of the state's budget would reveal where there is money that can be re-allocated for education. Another source of revenue is from the 12 million dollars that is taken out yearly from the interest on the trust fund!
created from the sale of the cement plant. This money does go into into the general fund and some into education. Allocating more of this money into education may be possible. Another idea is to cap state govt. spending at 3% instead of the current 19% and the money that's saved in govt spending could be diverted into education. Honestly, Donna, I think we can fund education at a fair level if there is the political will to do it. Most candidates are talking about this in some fashion or another. AS a former educator, what I would do is keep the focus on our schools, work together in a bipartisan fashion, and create the political will to give our students the kind of schools they deserve. I think we need to consider our young people with every law we pass; we need to decide if this law will help kids from health care, to day care, to insurance and especially to funding our schools. I would love to hear your ideas about this too. Thanks, Suzan
|
|
Posted By Suzan Nolan on October 16, 2006 9:15
|
|
Education Alliance Plan
|
The Education Alliance Study was a good, non-partisan study.
I accept their recommendations.
|
|
Posted By Pam Hemmingsen on October 17, 2006 17:53
|
|
|
Comments
|
|
|
I hope your fellow District 32 candidates (Hemingson, Dreyer, Hanks) take up your invitation to talk on the blog. I'd like you all to comment on the $820/student increase proposed by the SD Alliance for Education (Assoc. School Boards and SDEA-teachers). That increase was needed merely to bring our schools to adequate funding.
Gov. Round's weak $127/ student increase and our Pennington Co delegation's lack of fight for adequate funding tells me something. All their talk about making education and kids top priority drizzles away to easy promises of lower taxes at election time. Montana is working on some exciting Republican-led compromises on better school funding. What would you do differently if elected?
An concerned grandmother
|
Submitted By Donna Fisher on October 14, 2006
Posted By Moderator
|
|
|
Post a Comment
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
