Important Issues that Impact School Funding

Three important things that impact State Funding are M&O rates, Property tax allotments, and weighted funding from attendance.

M & O rates, maintenance and operation rates, are important to school districts because it is derived from taxes and the state has set limits to it. Districts can try to raise this, but the state set a cap on the rate.

Property tax allotments are also important because they fund much of the educational system.  This is where districts seem to differ according to how much they bring in from property taxes as well as where the state can come in and assist if needed.  Some districts do not have as much in property taxes and this is where the state may assist to level the per student cap.

Weighted funding is important because it has many formulas that account to how much money each district gets.  It can be weighted according to attendance (WADA) and Tier I or Tier II funding for FSP.

The reasons I feel these are important to school funding is because all three work together to get funding for schools and the amount of funding is dependent on each of these things.

Reflection:

In looking at three issues impacting the state formula, I have begun to understand how each piece of the financial puzzle fits together.  I see how attendance, property taxes, and m & o rates affect how much money the school district actually receives.  I also can understand how some districts do not receive as much because they live in a poor area where taxes are not as high and property values are not equal.  The state trying to equalize and share funding has seemed to help, especially with the Robin Hood Plan.  Trying to give funds to less wealthy areas seems to be the right thing to help these districts afford many of the same resources that other districts have. 

I have learned many things that seem to help me understand how the state determines what they can use and how things must be shared across the state.  Some of these funds come from federal, state, and local taxes, too, which also give me some understanding of how the financial system works.