Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Contact: Spence Jackson, (573)751-0290
Blunt Calls for Passage of New School Foundation Formula
JEFFERSON CITY—Gov. Matt Blunt called on the Missouri House of Representatives to enact a new school foundation formula during the closing days of the regular legislative session to prevent unelected state judges from imposing a formula that would likely break the state budget.
In a news conference in his Capitol office today, Blunt was joined by Kent King, State Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, to endorse a new formula that allocates state resources for schools through a needs-based approach.
The formula proposed by State Sen. Charlie Shields of St. Joseph and approved by the Senate with modifications outlined by Blunt strikes the right balance between the needs of rural and urban Missouri students and can be fully funded with revenues derived from reasonable economic growth unlike the current formula.
All of the goals for improving education outlined in Blunt’s State of the State speech are part of the proposed formula including the creation of a Classroom Trust Fund, allowing school districts to exempt themselves out of the formula and out of some state regulations, and allowing school districts to fund their local schools through other sources of revenue besides property taxes.
"We have a responsibility as elected officials to enact this fair and responsible new school funding formula now for the benefit of all of Missouri’s school children," Blunt said. "We simply cannot afford the consequences of allowing members of the judiciary, who are neither elected by nor accountable to Missouri voters, to impose an arbitrary solution. I am asking the Missouri House to do the right thing by enacting a formula this year."
The governor also supports the inclusion of a small school grant program that provides funding for schools with 350 students or less and a 15 percent dollar value modifier that recognizes the cost of living differences between rural urban areas.