PRIORITY ISSUES - JUNE 2010
1. Protect public education from further cuts in state funding.
2. Support state comprehensive tax reform.
3. Support public school choice and oppose tuition tax credit
legislation.
1. Protect public education from further cuts in state funding
THE STATE PROVIDES MORE THAN 60% OF OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT'S OPERATIONAL FUNDING. With changes in state laws, more than 60% of annual operating funds for Greenville County Schools comes from state government. The state's methods and ability to fund our public schools greatly impacts the capacity of school districts to provide a quality education.
CUTS IN STATE FUNDING FOR K-12 EDUCATION. Over the last two years state funding for K-12 education has been reduced by $800 million. The portion of this funding provided by the Education Finance Act (EFA)--the base student cost-- is now back to the level of funding in 1995.
RECENT STATE LAWS HAVE DAMAGED FUNDING FOR K-12 EDUCATION. Act 388 passed in 2006 eliminated local property taxes on owner-occupied homes for school operations (a stable source of revenue) and "replaced" this revenue through a one-cent increase in the state sales tax (an unreliable source of revenue). For this past school year, there was a $118 million deficit in revenue to reimburse school districts for the lost property taxes. For 2010-11 a shortfall of $126 million is projected. Funds from the state general fund must be used to make up this difference, which reduces general fund dollars for public education.
In 2006 and 2007, the state eliminated the sales tax on groceries. This eliminated the most stable source of funding for the Education Improvement Act. Through this 1984 law one cent of the state sales tax goes directly to fund public education. Projected revenue from this source for 2009-10 is $140 million lower than it was in 2005-06--a decrease of 21%.
STATE FUNDING FOR GREENVILLE COUNTY SCHOOLS CUT BY $58 OVER TWO YEARS. Greenville County Schools' general fund budget is now $51 million lower than it was two years ago. Over that time, the school district has had to eliminate 278 positions including 187 teacher and 48 central office positions and district enrollment has increased by 1,100 students.
WE ARE BUYING USED SCHOOL BUSES FROM OTHER STATES. To get 1984-85 model year school buses off the road, in 2010 South Carolina bought used school buses from Kentucky and other states with an average age of 18 years. (South Carolina is the only state that provides the buses for school districts.) During the 2008-09 school year, 21% of the buses transporting Greenville County Schools' students were twenty years old or older. Including the upcoming school year, no new school buses have been purchased for three consecutive years.
Read more about the problems with state funding for public education.
See data on the condition of school buses used by Greenville County Schools.
2. Support state comprehensive tax reform.
At the end of the 2009 state legislative session, a law was passed establishing the South Carolina Tax Realignment Commission (TRAC). The purpose of the commission is to "assess the effectiveness of the state's current tax structure and make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding necessary changes....Such changes must be designed to ensure that the state's tax structure is 'balanced' so that the system is 'adequate, equitable, and efficient."
The independent commission is composed of 11 individuals appointed by the Govenor and legislative leaders. The commission held its first meeting in September 2009 and is to complete its work by the end of 2010.
OUR TAX SYSTEM IS BROKEN. The Commission is needed, and its work supported, because the state's tax base has continued to narrow and the resulting revenue is increasingly unreliable. Piecemeal legislation passed by the General Assembly has shifted the state's tax structure from one that is broad-based with lower tax rates to a narrower base with higher rates. As a consequence the state's revenue stream fluctuates greatly with the ups and downs of the economy and is thus failing to adequately fund public education and other vital state services.
SUPPORT INCLUSION OF ACT 388 IN THE WORK OF TRAC. The law establishing the tax realignment commission specifically excluded Act 388 (see priority #1 above) from the work of TRAC. Act 388 is at the heart of what is wrong with the state tax system. To exclude means that this effort at tax reform will not be comprehensive nor address one of the most significant problems in our tax code.
CURRENT STATUS. On February 25, 2010 the House passed resolution H.4585 to include Act 388 in the work of the Commission. the bill is now before the Senate Finance Committee.
Read more about comprehensive tax reform.
3. Support public school choice and oppose tuition tax credit legislation.
PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE. School choice within the public school system provides parents with alternatives to their assigned school. This includes charter schools and within Greenville County Schools both magnet schools and open enrollment-assignment to another school that is below capacity.
The Alliance for Quality Education (AFQE) supports public school choicebecause these options are both accountable to taxpayers and accessible to all students. Taxpayers know how their tax dollars are being spent at any school as well as each school's academic record. Poorly performing schools are publicly identified and are required to take specific steps to improve. All students have access to public school choices and transportation is often provided to choice schools.
TUITION TAX CREDITS AND SCHOOL VOUCHERS. Tuition tax credits and school vouchers (often called "scholarships") use state tax dollars to pay for student enrollment in a private school. Tuition tax credit and school voucher legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Each time it was defeated by a narrow margin.
The Alliance opposes all types of tuition tax credits and school vouchers because they lack the academic and financial accountability to taxpayers and the accessibility to all students found in the public schools.
CURRENT STATUS. A tuition tax credit/voucher bill (S.520) was introduced in the Senate in 2009. TheSenate Education Committee voted to send it back to the subcommittee. A companion bill H.3802 was also introduced in the House.
Read more about the current bill and reasons for opposing tuition tax credit and school voucher legislation.
For additional facts on tuition tax credits and school vouchers read "Lack of Accountability," "No Achievement Gain," and "Parent Accountability Alone Doesn't Work ."