Press
Shelby County not getting
share of school funds, Ritz says
By Alex Doniach,
Memphis Commercial Appeal
August 21, 2008
Shelby County Commissioner Mike Ritz says students in Shelby County receive
millions of dollars less than other students in Tennessee. He believes suing
the state may be the county's only way to recoup those funds.
Ritz is sponsoring a resolution asking the county attorney to look into
filing suit against the state to receive more equitable funding.
"We've been shorted," Ritz said. "We're not getting any extra money for our
kids, and in fact, we're not even getting the average. ... Essentially this
has been going on for a long time, and I don't see a political solution to
it."
Other commissioners say a lawsuit should be a means of last resort, noting
there may be less dramatic ways to solve the schools' funding problems. The
resolution was deferred this week.
State officials say the state's funding formula, called The Better Education
Program, relies on data to fund all schools at equal levels. That formula
was recently amended to give more for at-risk youth, according to Rachel
Woods, the director of communications for state department of education.
She said Memphis City Schools is slated to receive $421.6 million from the
state this year, up from the $310.9 million it received for the 2003-04
school year.
"Shelby County is getting more now than before (Gov. Phil) Bredesen's
administration," Woods said.
School funding has dominated conversation in recent months, with lawsuits
between the city and MCS over $66 million and a delay by the County
Commission in approving Shelby County Schools' budget because of what it
deemed were excessive pay increases.
Ritz is basing his argument on two years of state data that show county
funding for local public schools exceeded state funding by more than $90
million in 2005 and $145million in 2006. Ritz said in most counties, it's
the other way around.
Shelby County school board Chairman David Pickler said the board would
support a lawsuit, noting that the state's funding formula works against the
interests of large counties. It's based on a county's relative wealth,
determined by assessed property values, sales tax revenues, and other
factors.
Shelby County, along with other large counties such as Hamilton and Knox,
receives less money per student per year than smaller counties under this
model.
"If every child in the state of Tennessee is entitled to free and
appropriate education," Pickler said, "then why should the taxpayers in
larger counties have to bear a greater proportion of the cost of delivering
public education than their peers who live in more rural counties?"
But commission chairman David Lillard said suing the state should be a last
resort. Any lawsuit filed would likely take years to complete, he said,
referencing a school funding suit in the 1980s. Dubbed the "Small Schools
Lawsuit," the landmark case took more than a decade to resolve.
Commissioners Mike Carpenter and Deidre Malone also advocate more
conversation before litigation. Malone is planning a summit with state and
local lawmakers.
Carpenter has led a conversation for the last few weeks with teachers,
business leaders, parents and others, to talk about the funding challenges.
He'll present his conclusions at 6 tonight at the University of Memphis'
FedEx Institute of Technology.
"We need a joint effort to go to the state and demand that they step up and
do what they ought to be doing," Carpenter said. "We should do that first,
and if they're not willing to work with us, then I think they leave us with
no choice but to sue."
