FY10 Funding Priorities

 

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS of Alabama (SSA) believes in quality governance and accountability for all schools. We believe that in order for local Superintendents and boards to govern their school systems and guide them through difficult economic periods during which there are still high expectations for student leaning, the following priorities are absolutely requisite:

DEVELOP STABLE FUNDING FOR EDUCATION:

• Develop a comprehensive ETF budget based on a per student distribution in K-12, postsecondary and higher education.
• Fully fund all required mandates:
  Foundation Program Mandates: Current Teacher Unit; salary extensions for Instructional Support Personnel; Other Current Expense; bookkeepers/clerks; leave reimbursement per day; unemployment compensation; student textbooks; step raises for teachers; general administrative services; 4x4 curriculum; special education; career technical education.
  Categorical Aid Mandates: Salary Matrix Adjustments, Technology Coordinators, School Nurses, At-Risk Students; Transportation (Operations and Fleet Renewal); Capital Purchase Allocation; Advanced Placement.
  Additional Mandates: Reading Coaches, School Nurses, and distance Learning Facilitators.
• Allow additional flexibility during proration:
  Authorize the state superintendent to assign teacher units to a school system as opposed to individual schools.
  Authorize the state superintendent to adjust the divisors by an amount equal to the amount lost in the foundation program allowing local school systems to more efficiently use federal dollars.
  Authorize local boards to exercise flexibility with contracts for certified personnel and for scheduling that offers the equivalent of 180 instructional days.

RECOVER OPERATIONAL DOLLARS BY RESTORING THESE ITEMS TO THE APPROPRIATED FY09 LEVELS:

• Current units at actual costs of salary and benefits
• 1% salary adjustment to cover actual certified employee costs (ACT 97-238)
• OCE should be funded based on actual operational expenditures for salaries and benefits of support workers as well as the cost of fixed expenses such as insurance, electricity, and other utilities.
  

EVALUATE HEALTH CARE COSTS:

• SSA believes quality education employees are essential to the teaching and learning process. In order to attract and keep the most competent educators, it is necessary to maintain competitive pay and benefits. Recognizing the rapidly increasing costs of healthcare, it is reasonable to expect education employees to assume a portion of these increases. 

Supported Policy Positions 

Arbitration—SSA supports changes in the arbitration law that will ensure quality in the classroom for the children served.

ARI, ACCESS and AMSTI—SSA supports full funding and implementation of AMSTI to improve math and science instruction in our schools; ARI in grades K-3; and, ACCESS to provide courses that are not currently available to high school students. Full funding for these programs should include full salaries and benefits for the teachers; full funding for any additional personnel (i.e. facilitators) required for the operation of the programs; and, full funding for stipends, materials, and other components required for participation.

Class Size—SSA supports small class size achieved through annual funding by the legislature for sufficient teachers at each school and strongly opposes legislation to establish state class size caps.

Common Purchase Fund—SSA supports increasing the amount of funding for the Common Purchase Fund to $250 per unit.

Constitutional Reform—SSA supports constitutional reform that recognizes students’ fundamental rights to an adequate education and addresses the inadequacy of current funding of schools.

Current Units—SSA supports sufficient state funding for current units to ensure that school systems experiencing a high growth rate after the ADM reporting period have adequate state funding.

Drop-Out Prevention—SSA supports the development of effective and sustainable alternative options that reduce the potential for students who want to dropout of school.  

English as a Second Language—SSA supports funding ESL at $500 per identified ESL student.

Equity—SSA supports funding the basics of an adequate education first and prior to new initiatives or new programs that dilute this funding.

Extended Contracts for Essential School Personnel—SSA supports full state funding for ACT #2007-284 for extended contracts for school personnel who are essential to the opening and closing of schools, and for administering required testing in the summer. 

Fiscal Year—SSA supports legislation that changes the reporting of the fiscal year for county and city boards of education from Oct 1-Sept 30 to July 1-June 30.

Formation of School Systems—SSA supports legislation that requires a community, prior to forming a new school system, to demonstrate the financial capacity to provide adequate local funds without lowering the current per pupil expenditure of the county schools.

Graduation Rate—SSA supports a graduation rate that is based on the number of students who complete the high school program; allows special education students who complete their IEP and earn a certificate to be included as graduates; and, recognizes 5th year graduates and GEDs.

Local Control—SSA supports local control and believes that decisions concerning public schools are best made at the local level where schools are accountable to parents and the community.

Mentoring—SSA supports a mentoring program that advances the teaching profession as a whole and is focused on meeting individual needs, modeling collaborative professional work, and promoting professional growth.

Nutrition—SSA supports the continuing efforts to improve the nutrition and wellness of Alabama’s children as defined by federal and state guidelines and procedures for the school lunch program. 

Other Current Expenses (OCE)—SSA supports funding OCE on actual operational expenditures that include the salaries and benefits of support workers as well as the cost of fixed expenses such as insurance, electricity, and other utilities.

Personnel—SSA supports legislation that provides for Technology Coordinators, Assessment Coordinators, and Curriculum Specialists to be earned and funded through the foundation program.

Pre-K—SSA supports funding a Pre-K program that is funded through the State Department of Education; gives priority for placement of Pre-K classes to public schools; and, requires accountability for continued funding.

Proration—SSA supports the use of any and all Education Trust Fund (ETF) revenues to avoid proration and to protect the instructional program.

Rainy Day Fund—SSA supports a proration prevention account that protects schools from sudden downturns in the economy and encourages legislators to base their appropriations on conservative growth estimates.

SACS Standards—SSA supports fully funding the Foundation Program using current SACS standards as specified in the foundation law.  This funds counselors, librarians, and assistant principals, and principals at staffing levels that meet the standard in the law.

Tax Reform—SSA supports tax reform to provide stable and equitable funding for education and legislation to assure that fair and equitable methods are used to assess property.

Opposed Policy Positions 

Academic Freedom—SSA opposes legislation that protects teachers who teach content that is not consistent with board policy or the State Board of Education approved Courses of Study.

Child Nutrition Program—SSA opposes the required pass through of OCE dollars in the ETF budget to the CNP program for the maintenance of a three-month fund balance. Further, SSA believes that CNP fun balance requirements should be the same as the one-month General Fund balance required of school systems.   

Contracted Services—SSA opposes any legislation that would restrict a local board of education’s ability to contract for services and supports removing the penalties for outsourcing. 

Education Trust Fund—SSA opposes any attempts to use the Education Trust Fund for any non-governmental and non-education agencies from the ETF.  

Home Schooling Participation in Electives and/or Extracurricular Activities—SSA opposes legislation that allows parents and children to choose parts of the public school program in which to participate.

Local Match—SSA opposes the use of growth funds from the local match for any purpose other than the Foundation Program.

Property Reappraisals—SSA opposes legislation blocking annual reappraisals of property and other actions resulting in a reduction in funding for K-12 education unless replacement funds are committed to the ETF.

School Calendar—SSA opposes legislation that would mandate an arbitrary start date statewide.  The calendar must be based on the instructional needs of the students and local boards can best determine the appropriate instructional school calendar with input from their local community. 

Tax Exemptions—SSA opposes new tax exemptions in the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and supports the review and repeal of some of the existing exemptions.

Transportation—SSA opposes changing the transportation formula defined in the Foundation Program to a formula that results in school systems having to subsidize transportation with local funds. 

Unfunded Mandates—SSA opposes any legislative mandates for which costs are not fully funded and supports legislation that would protect local school boards from unfunded mandates just as county and city governments are protected from unfunded mandates. 

 

Standing Together for Our Children