Critical+Issues+in+School+Funding

Several issues impact the state funding formula and it is difficult to identify the main ones. Some of the things I believe have an impact are a district's student population, a school district’s property values, non-funded government mandates, staff salaries and the state short fall in this years budget. Narrowing the list down to three basic issues is somewhat difficult. The three issues I would have picked are student population, property values and staff salaries. My group agreed with two out of three of my choices. They are property values and student populations. They disagreed with staff salaries being an issue and felt government regulations were more of an issue. District salaries make up the vast majority of a district budget, up to 85%. Spending more money on staff causes to less spending on programs and supplies for school districts. Due to the increasing government demands for school programs that the government is requiring, comes a costly impact on a local school district’s budget.