©
The stakes were enormous. When Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Monday that he would adjust a school funding formula, he was trying to protect Northern Virginia from $128.3 million in cuts.
Left unsaid was that most of the money will come from communities in the rest of the state. Half — $58 million — will be taken from schools right here in Hampton Roads.
In fairness, McDonnell makes a rational case for his decision. The formula in question is supposed to reflect changes in local economic conditions. Adjustments are automatic. No governor had attempted to block them until Gov. Tim Kaine made that recommendation a month before his term ended.
Kaine’s action was arbitrary and partly motivated by budget realities. A one-year delay saved him money when he was cutting $2.3 billion out of the state budget.
Kaine’s decision also protected the state’s poorest schools. Most now face new, unbearable cuts because of McDonnell’s decision to go ahead with the formula change, compounding severe reductions in state aid.
State budget cuts announced so far for schools and law enforcement, including the formula change, will cost Portsmouth $16.5 million next year. The city would need to raise its real estate tax rate 25 cents to make up that money. No city in South Hampton Roads is spared. Norfolk would require a 21-cent property tax hike, Chesapeake 14 cents, and Suffolk and Virginia Beach would both need 12- cent increases. Fairfax County, in comparison, will see an increase in state aid, although its local revenues are declining.
Given the stakes, it’s inexcusable that Hampton Roads officials allowed Northern Virginia to out-work them. Business leaders and local officials from Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun counties met with McDonnell and pressed their case for the formula’s adjustment.
In contrast, Hampton Roads was distracted by issues of far less consequence.
On the day McDonnell announced his decision, the news lit up Blackberries as representatives from Virginia Beach, Beach schools and the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce were sitting in a legislative committee meeting. They were there to fight each other over a bill to allow schools to open before Labor Day.
The cost of those misplaced priorities can be measured in real dollars. Seven of the 10 localities with the biggest cuts under the formula change are in Hampton Roads. Virginia Beach tops the list with $14.9 million in reductions. Chesapeake, Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton, Suffolk and Portsmouth round out the list. Hampton Roads school officials, city leaders and legislators have reacted with a frenzy of letters and resolutions, but they have waited too long. It will be hard to undo the damage now that McDonnell has announced his decision.
Nevertheless, the damage must be undone. McDonnell has treated the composite index formula as a sacred and perfect arbiter of state funding, but it is not. It was flawed when it was adopted four decades ago, and it has been outdated for at least the past 20 years.
The formula attempts to measure the ability of each locality to pay for schools based on real estate values, retail sales and income levels. The weight given to each factor represents a snapshot taken in 1973 that has never been revised.
Worse, the formula doesn’t represent what a taxpayer in Portsmouth or Fairfax is able to pay for schools because it considers education funding in a vacuum. Cities with high crime rates, aging infrastructure and lower-income populations are juggling other demands.
The formula also is too volatile. A few large and wealthy localities in Northern Virginia drive dramatic fluctuations that can touch off debilitating cuts in other communities. A dip in housing values at the beginning of the recession helped Fairfax County qualify for a $61 million increase in state aid, which will come out of other communities’ budgets.
Because there is a lag in real estate data, revisions to the formula this year don’t reflect similar declines in the rest of the state. Much of the data used in the formula dates back to 2007.
Former Gov. Doug Wilder attempted to revise the formula and failed. No governor has tried since. A change would create a politically unpalatable mixture of winners and losers. It would also highlight the fact that the state is simply not paying its fair share for schools in Fairfax, Portsmouth or anywhere in between.
But there’s no way for McDonnell and legislators to avoid those unpleasant realities now. Winners and losers are already grappling in the Capitol halls. The state is cutting millions from school budgets, and teachers are facing layoffs. Finding a solution won’t be easy, but ignoring the problem is no longer a viable option.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Schools in Hampton Roads get
Schools in Hampton Roads get approximately 50% of their funding from the state. Those in NoVa get about 25% from the state. So, like many other things, roads, etc, NoVa is in effect subsidizing much of the rest of the state. People are getting tired of it when they have some of the most critical transportation issues in the state and such.
NoVa finally gets some
CP0000 -- Agreed! After carrying much of the Commonwealth, it is only fair that citizens in Northern Virginia get to to take advantage of the legislation thrust upon them by the rest. We are tired of it. One glorious day in the future ( I know it is a longshot, but I like most NoVA citizens remain hopefully and inarguably optimistic) that we will be successful in seceding from the rest of the state. We will then keep our money for our schools, our roads, our health/human services, our communities and you can fight amongst yourselves for what little is left.
The bath tub has been deliverd to Richmond
While this change to the index will have an effect, the real threat to the public schools has yet to be announced; that is, the $2,000,000,000 in cuts made necessary by the Legislature's refusal to consider Kaine's budget means that draconian cuts, far in excess of the index, are just a few weeks away. This budget process is shrouded in secrecy with the effects on teachers, public safety personnel, human service workers, and courts and justice employees yet to be documented in a budget. Most employees of course will have to be fired by local government unwilling to increase taxes due to state budget cuts, but make no mistake about it; the reason for the tsunami that is about to crash on the shore is the unwillingness of the House of Delegates and the Governor to seek a balance between budget cuts and revenue increases. Remember the pledge of the far right: the role of an elected official is to cut off the arms and legs of government so it can be drowned in a bath tub. The tub has arrived in Richmond.
Good editorial..right on the mark.
Especially the reference to the distraction of local officials with the Labor Day debate. But, then, that is typical of the politicos from this area: Personal gamesmanship clouds the bigger picture.
Increasing the real estate tax may be the only option. 4 years ago, a proposal to drop the estate tax to 79 cents was being considered in VB. I asked the questions @ a CC mtg, "What would a reduction in the tax rate cost" and "What services were taxpayers willing to give up?" I wasn't well received. Well, now we know. The money comes from somewhere...either the state or the locality.
This is not just a case of HR being out manuevered...MCD is not going to be satisfied with just being a one term Governor. This decision was also about shoring up votes for his next election. He knows he already has the conservative vote across the state...those votes in NOVA are a little less predictable. So he is using education and safety as his wager.
For a "jobs" Gov, he is going to put a lot of educated people on the street while leaving alot of kids behind.
757VBin
Enjoyed reading your post!
As to "where the money is going to come from"..I turn to offshore drilling profits and legalization of marijuana profits.
I explain that billions of dollars could be generated. My detractors in this conversation agree with me, but also point out that with billions generated, and the state and federal government controlling it, that money would not end up in "We The People's" hands (local, state infrastructure etc..) but would end up in the back pockets of hundreds of politicians!
Again, this is sad for the children. Sadder still that additional forms of revenue will not be considered until the "Fed" finds a way to control it!
After reading this editorial I fear for Virginia's future and the country as well!
As I See It
This is the most obscene news article I have ever read!
A child's educational fund is based on an outdated formula!
Raising property taxes in Hampton Roads?
Where and who is going to pay for this?
Low wages, unemployment..light rail...the list goes on and on. The area is starting to resemble a third world urban slum with all these budget issues.
Don't legalize pot and reap an additional 3 billion dollars!
Don't drill offshore and take the profits to pay for the infrastructure!
Don't do anything progressive!
Keep doing exactly the same thing year after year!
Go ahead...the next steps are yours!
the only thing McD
The only thing McD cares about is guns, guns and more guns.
Fair idea.
Put all the money in one big fund. Figure out how many students there are, divide the fund by the number of students and distribute the fund to each school based on the number of students enrolled.
I'd say that as a teaching incentve to factor in GPA but then all the students would get "A+'s", at least in Norfolk.