The Devil is in the Details

Today's Democrat & Chronicle contained a "speaking out" essay by Michael Shacket. His essay dealt with school funding, and the dearth of detail in the information made public regarding school budgets.

He put the torch to one of the claims always made by school district supporters (which I have generally found questionable), that school budgeting is the most open budgeting process in government. Shacket correctly points out that there is a lot of information withheld from the public regarding school budgeting.

He laid out a great proposal for the type of information that school districts should make available if they really want their taxpayers to be well-informed voters:

"Teacher and administration contracts: More than 70 percent of every school budget reflects negotiated (not mandated) salaries and benefits. The terms of these contracts are hidden from the taxpayers. What is the total dollar effect and budget percentage increase associated with these contracts alone? Contracts should be available on the district's Web site.

Reserve funds: Reserve funds are like savings accounts where taxpayer money is accumulated for either capital or contingency purposes. The amount in these "savings accounts" is often in the multi-millions. However, budgets do not show the financial status of these funds.

Budgeting by school building: School budgets combine money into categories that the public does not understand. What, for example, is "General Support?" Everyone can identify physical buildings. Budgets should reflect all costs associated with each school.

Metrics: While budgets reflect dollars, the associated basic metrics are not presented. For example: How many teachers and students are in each building by grade level? How many buses are in use? How many administrators and support staff members are in each building?

Comparison to previous years: Budgets normally present dollars last year and forecasted for next year. The previous three years of both dollars and metrics would show trends.

Educational outcomes: A Monroe County Schools Report Card is published annually that identifies educational outcomes by school including percentage graduating, SAT scores and the results of standardized state exams. Web sites should include the previous three report cards.

Tables: Districts often use pretty, but uninformative, PowerPoint slides to present budget data. Simple tables would provide clearer data."

Kudos, Mr. Shacket. I hope that the school district leaders, who are currently spending our money on lawsuits to preserve sales tax revenue, will pay attention and give their constituents the information they need to make informed choices.