The NASBE (National Association of State Boards of Education) blog yesterday reported on an Illinois school district’s loss of $3.5M in state funding due to the district’s lawsuit over having to enroll students of questionable immigration status.

In short, the Supreme Court has ruled that public schools must serve students without regard to whether they are documented or undocumented aliens. However, the district’s dilemma fell into a gray area: although the students in question were in this country legally, it was not clear whether or not they were residents of that school district. One student was on a tourist visa, and the district argued that they were not bound to enroll tourists (see the Chicago Tribune for details) who would presumably be there only for a short time.

While one could argue that visitors and undocumented immigrants contribute to the tax base that funds public schools, one has to wonder if the rationale behind the district’s fight might have been based in something else: since No Child Left Behind requires the inclusion of specific sub-groups — minorities, low-income, special education and students who speak English as a second language (if at all) — in mandated testing that carries significant penalties for failure, any district would have reason to not enroll more students in those sub-groups than they have to.

One of the challenges faced by schools in the NCLB mandates is the problem of students who move between districts, and the length of time that the school has to impact the student’s learning before the tests. It’s not just an immigrant issue; it also applies to a child who moves between school systems where the curriculum standards are different. For example, if a child moves in the middle of 5th grade from a district that emphasizes life science in 5th grade, to a district that covers physical science in 5th grade and life science in 6th, the student would be tested on physical science while his or her emphasis had been on life science for most of the year. Thus, a lower score would be expected. If the student does not read or speak the language in which the test is given, the results are even worse.

The principles of NCLB are noble and good, but do understand the objections frequently heard from the education community. The very reason for breaking out sub-group results is that we know those students are more difficult to educate, but that their lower scores are generally masked when reported as part of the total school population.

We often see correlation between students who fall into the NCLB sub-groups and those who move frequently between school districts, doubling the challenge: more difficult to educate, and less time to show results.

In the long run, there’s no question that we as a nation will benefit from our immigrant children — legal or illegal — being educated and able to contribute positively to society. Schools however, have to also conern themselves with the short term reality of NCLB requirements, expenses, and penalties. It’s a dilemma that is coming soon to a school near you.

Farragut_Republican asks, “are Knox County Schools underfunded?”

Well, in a word, yes. She raises a very valid concern about revenues from the wheel tax: while it was sold as funding for the schools, it seems that’s only about 16% true. Which makes me bristle all the more that Knox Co. officials keep comparing their share of State BEP funding to Oak Ridge, where local residents are paying $1,232 more per student than Knox County residents.

And I promise you, it isn’t from all those Knoxville residents driving to Oak Ridge to shop.

It troubles me to draw comparisons to our neighbor; there’s no question that the proximity and cooperation of these two cities is mutually beneficial. At the same time it’s a purely defensive position: it is our neighbor’s County Mayor leading the charge toward a change in state policy that would be devastating to us, and the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee from that same county seems to be signed on to the idea.

Mike’s Message

February 14, 2006

Dear Friend:

I am writing you to ask for your support as we seek to significantly improve the Basic Education Program (BEP)—the state’s current education funding system. Its current inequitable funding model denies our children of more than 40 million dollars each year. This is both unacceptable and intolerable.

In Knox County, our schools are good schools on their way to becoming great schools. Proper funding is one of the keys to our success. We can all be proud that we rank second among Tennessee’s 137 school systems in terms of local funding support for education. It is, however, disappointing that we rank almost dead last in terms of per-pupil dollars we receive from the state. Simply put, our children are not receiving proper funding from the state.

This is an inequity that we are working hard to correct. Our solution is simple. We need the state to return more of our local tax dollars to Knox County children.

A policy reform of this magnitude is a complex and difficult task. I compliment Senator Jamie Woodson, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, for her diligence, commitment, and support. I applaud her efforts to ensure that our children are no longer victims of inadequate funding.

Below are two recent articles from the Knoxville News Sentinel and the Metropulse regarding this priority. These articles highlight the BEP’s crippling deficiencies and show the importance of our call to action.

It is important that we make our state government aware of the BEP’s inherent problems as we continue to invest in the future of our children. Please encourage your state representatives to support the full and immediate reform of the current BEP formula. Also, please contact Governor Bredesen at 615.741.2001 or phil.bredesen@state.tn.us to voice your concern for our children’s future.

Working with the Knox County Commission and the Board of Education, we will do all we can for the 53,000 children who learn and grow daily in the Knox County School system. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at 215.HELP or mike@mikeragsdale2006.com.

Best regards,

Sen. Woodson and Mayor Ragsdale are both good people, with whom I agree on many issues. Unfortunately, they’re barking up the wrong tree on this one. When they begin paying the same property tax rates as Oak Ridgers and devoting the same percentage of those taxes to education, then I’ll start listening with a more sympatheic ear. At this point though, the argument just doesn’t fly.