School officials get 'doomier, gloomier' news

Comments 0
Published: December 13, 2008

MCT REGIONAL NEWS

By Michael Strand

The Salina Journal, Kan.

(MCT)

Dec. 13--12/13/2008

School officials get 'doomier, gloomier' news

By MICHAEL STRAND

Salina Journal

Nobody was expecting cheery news when lawmakers and school officials from across north-central Kansas got together Friday to talk about the upcoming legislative session.

After all, in early December districts got just 75 percent of the money they were scheduled to get from the state, with the remainder to come this week.

It didn't.

And anybody who pays attention to the news knows things will get worse next year, when the state will be dealing with an estimated $1 billion shortfall.

Still, one superintendent leaving the annual lunch sponsored by the Smoky Hill Education Service Center, referred to the gathering as "doomier and gloomier that I thought it would be."

Facing a billion-dollar shortfall means cutting some 16 percent to 18 percent of the state's general fund budget -- half of which goes to education, and another quarter to social services, said Rep. Charlie Roth, R-Salina.

The option to such deep cuts is a combination of cuts, raising taxes and issuing bonds, Roth continued, stressing that issuing bonds is really "putting money on the credit card," and that "none of those are palatable." ''You say don't cut" public school funding, Roth said. "The regents say don't 'cut'; SRS says don't 'cut.' There's nothing that can't be on the table. "The impact on K-12 is going to be drastic," Roth said. "I will do what I can to make sure it will be as fair and equitable as I can make it. I wish I had better news -- maybe somebody can say something different."

Nobody did.

''We're not going to raise taxes, we're not going to issue bonds -- so get ready for drastic cuts," said Rep. Dan Johnson, R-Hays.

Trying to protect the base

As for questions such as additional funding to encourage schools to develop alternative energy sources, or become more energy efficient, Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington, suggested this wasn't the time for such discussions.

''If you're going to save dollars, isn't that a reason to do it without being paid to do it?" she asked. "Our interest in the next few years is going to be protecting the base state aid to keep our schools running."

Other, relatively small-cost decisions also likely will be off the table, said Rep. Josh Svaty, D-Ellsworth, in answering a question about whether the state will consider relaxing requirements that districts pay into retirement plans of retired teachers who return to the classroom.

''I can almost guarantee if we're receiving money from any source, we're going to keep it," Svaty said, adding that the state employee retirement fund has dropped from $14 billion to $10 billion so far this year, thanks to the declining value of the fund's investments.

Can we just raise taxes?

In response to a question to lawmakers from the audience about why tax increases weren't being considered, several had answers.

''When I say everything should be on the table, that includes raising taxes," said Rep. Vern Swanson, R-Clay Center.

But it's unlikely, said Svaty, because "there's very much a realpolitik to this."

Any lawmaker who votes to raise taxes will find that when they run for re-election, their district will be blanketed with postcards reminding voters of that fact, he said.

''Most of the people who voted to raise taxes in my first term aren't back; the postcards hit their district, and they're not back."

In Lee's district, Democrats make up just a quarter of voters, and she's voted both to raise and cut taxes since first being elected in 1988, she said.

This time, however, "the hole is deep enough we can't tax our way out of it," she said.

Repealing the corporate income tax cuts of a few years ago would generate about $20 million, she said, while repealing cuts in the estate tax would bring in about $11 million. Combined, those moves would close about 3 percent of the expected gap.

Raising the state sales tax by a full penny on each dollar -- a drastic move that Lee considers off the table -- would generate about $350 million. Even that's only about a third of the expected shortfall.

In fact, Lee said, the state could probably double its income tax rates without making up for the shortfall because of investment losses this year.

Other ways of raising additional money have also fallen flat. Svaty noted that "other states have had mixed success selling plum political appointments" recently, a reference to the Illinois governor being charged with essentially trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by President-elect Barack Obama. And Roth pointed out that plans to expand gambling in the state with four new casinos -- generating an expected $200 million a year for the state -- largely have fallen through.

Gonna need volunteers

Rep. Deena Horst, R-Salina, and a retired Salina teacher, said she knows it will be tough for school districts to cope -- and that they'll have to work hard to maintain the performance gains made in recent years, especially among at-risk students.

''I would suggest you start recruiting people to help with those kids," Horst said. "The money isn't going to be there. You're going to need volunteers."

n Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.

_____

To see more of The Salina Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.salina.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.