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School Finance: State & County Funding

Rebecca Troutman NCACC Intergovernmental Relations Director

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Statewide Averages of County Expenditures, $13 Billion 2011-12

Education 28%

Debt Service 13%

Human Services

19% General Govt

8%

Public Safety 18%

Other 14%

Who Provides Most $ to Schools?

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Counties

State

Feds

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Public School Resources, $12.5 Billion 2011-12

State $7.6B 60% Federal

$1.7B 14%

County $3.2B 26%

Current Expense & Capital

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Funding Sources for Public Schools, $12 Billion Current Expense

State $7.6B 64%

Federal $1.7B 14%

County $2.7B 22%

County Funding Has Become Less Important?

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False

True

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Sources of Per Pupil Funding, CE (Excludes Nutrition)

$0

$1,000

$2,000

$3,000

$4,000

$5,000

$6,000

$7,000

$8,000

$9,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

22%

22.2%

State Federal County

65.3%

72.8%

Who Provides More Construction $ to Schools?

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Counties

State

Feds

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Funding Sources for Public Schools, $616 Million Capital

State $16.3M

3% Federal $56.1M

9%

County $543.8M

88%

School Capital Funding Drops in Recession, Per Capita

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$181 $187 $114 $85

$63

$262 $268 $268 $261

$286

$0

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$1,400

$1,600

$1,800

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12Other School Current School Capital Other Operating Capital Outlay Salaries & Wages

School Current School Capital

STATE FUNDING OF PUBLIC EDUCATION – THE ALLOTMENT STORY DIRECT FUNDING TO LEAS & CHARTERS

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State provides same $ to each school?

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True

False

State Budgeting thru Allotments

Allotments sent directly to LEA & charter – LEA allocates amongst schools – LEA may transfer amongst most allotments

For 2014-15 biennium No transfers to central office Must abide any restrictions per fed law No transfers from Excellent Public Schools

– State funds revert at end of fiscal year 13

State Allotments

Allotments funding by Purpose: – Basic – directed at all students – Supplemental – targeted at specific

student groups or LEA characteristics

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Basic Allotments

Classroom teachers – Allocated per ADM class size; e.g. 1-3 = 1:18,

10:12 = 1:29

Teacher assistants – Dollar allotment of $939.79 per k-3 student—

2014, reduced $243 in 2014

Instructional support (counselors, social workers) – 1 per 218.55 ADM; increased in 2014 15

Basic Allotments

Instruction Supplies & Textbooks – Dollar allotment of $28.58 ADM instruct supplies – Dollar allotment of $14.26 ADM textbooks

Children with Disabilities – Dollar allotment of $3,671.75 per eligible

student—2014, limited to 12.5% of ADM

Gifted & Talented Children – Dollar allotment of $1,237.29 per eligible

student—2014, limited to 4% of ADM 16

Basic Allotments

School safety measures? – Part of at-risk allotment – Each LEA receives roughly $38,000 per high

school to “purchase” school resource (LEO) or safety (security guard) officer = $22 million

– LEAs not required to spend allotment on SRO Only 26 of 115 do so

– LEAs can use state, federal, or county funding – Add. funding in 2014

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State Avg. = $5361

Current Expense Only

Supplemental & Categorical State Allotments

Small schools – Allotted only to county LEAs < 3,239 ADM or <

4,080 ADM w/ property tax base < statewide avg. – Revised formula in 2015

Low wealth schools – Allotted only to LEAs with certain economic &

property tax base characteristics – Issue with MOE

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STATE ACTIONS IMPACTING PUBLIC EDUCATION

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Excellent Public Schools Act

Teacher tenure – Replaces with 1-4 year contract, depending upon performance

Reading literacy concentration No automatic promotion

– Must read at grade level in 3td grade or retained Transparency in schools

– Must publish literacy success/failure & A-F grades – Must publish budget deviation

NC Teacher Corps – In lieu of Teaching Fellows – Recruit & place college grads & mid-career 21

County School Construction Funds

40% of net lottery proceeds – $192 m v. $100 m appropriated – Statutory language repealed in 2014 budget

Portion of corporate tax set aside – Redirected to school operations – County loss = $75 m/year – Statutory set aside repealed in 2014 tax

simplification

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COUNTY SCHOOL FUNDING

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County Primary Responsibilities

Boards of County Commissioners: Act as local taxing authority Review entire school budget Approve county appropriations for current expense

and capital outlay Approve 5-Year School Facilities Needs Survey Approve purchase price of school building sites Issue bonds & arrange other financing for school

capital outlay purposes Require merger of multiple units if desired

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Current Expense Only

State Avg. = $1893

County funds are used to fund what school employees?

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Teacher Asst. & Other Non-Certified

Teachers Administrators Other Certified

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County Funding of School Personnel, 2011

010,00020,00030,00040,00050,00060,00070,00080,00090,000

100,000

Administrators Teachers Other Certified Assts & Other

State Federal CountyFull-time only

1,606 of 6,785

4,153 of 93,964

2,858 of 14,227

17,769 of 60,654

24% 4% 20% 29%

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Considering State Salary Supplements

106 LEAs have teacher supplements – Low of $147 to high of $6,031 annually – State wtd avg = $3,478; county cost = $348 million

108 have principal supplements – Low of $175 to high of $28,673 annually – State wtd avg = $11,338; county cost = $27 million

Total county cost supplements = $430 million

City Schools Receive City Funding?

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False

True

Funding of “City” Schools

No role of cities in school funding – Always an exception: Thomasville approves supplemental tax

County appropriation to current expense apportioned to multiple LEAs based on ADM (G.S. 115C-430)

County appropriation to capital based on LEA need

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Counties Fund Public Schools but not Charter Schools?

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False

True

Funding of Charter Schools

County current expense appropriation shared with charter school indirectly

– LEA must transfer to charter per pupil current expense appropriation for students residing within jurisdiction (includes other local funds too)

County appropriation to capital not shared with charter

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Counties’ Use of Funding Formulas

Statewide Average Model – Formula that sets goals based on a statewide ADM expenditure

or some percentile

Modified Statewide Average Model – Same calculation above, but excludes highest & lowest

Benchmarking Model – Similar counties selected on pop., tax base, adm, per capita

income, sales tax revenues, & Medicaid – ADM expenditures of similar counties used to set funding goals

in benchmarking county

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Counties’ Use of Funding Formulas

Inflation Model – ADM expenditure is adjusted by new student population &

inflation factor –e.g. CPI

Snapshot Model – Boards take snapshot at specific time, usually revaluation, &

determines portion of county’s overall revenue used for schools – Portion used in following years with school expenditures growing

as overall revenue expands

Tax Base Growth Model – Percent of tax base appropriated to schools is calculated – Resulting percent applied to tax base growth in given year

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Budgeting Resources

DPI Statistical Profile—student population, teacher characteristics, and finances – http://www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs/resources/data/

DPI School Report Card—performance measurements by school – http://abcs.ncpublicschools.org/abcs/

DPI School Clearinghouse—access to lottery & ADM funds, school prototypes – http://www.schoolclearinghouse.org/

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Questions, Comments