Friday News Roundup: Week of October 17-21

Brownback school funding plan intrigues some Kansas districts

Advocates: Iowa schools reform could cost millions

Kansas regents approve salary increases for university chiefs; hefty ones for some

Utah lawmakers consider private school tax credits

Brownback school funding plan intrigues some Kansas districts
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has begun to raise ideas for overhauling the state’s school finance system. Although the plans remain nebulous, the governor hopes to submit a proposal to the state legislature in the next session. The proposal, as it has been laid out, would provide a baseline level of funding on a per-student basis that does not include weighted factors in place now, like school enrollment and the number of at-risk students in a district. Instead, the state would provide four block grants to cover all such factors. The state’s tax levy would be reduced and revenue would be redistributed to property tax-poor districts; the cap on local property taxes currently in place would be eliminated. The governor’s office claimed that the proposal would provide more flexibility in education spending for districts, but said the new formula would probably also require higher levels of state spending. Many school officials said they would reserve judgment of the plan until the details are provided. More here…

Advocates: Iowa schools reform could cost millions
A proposal from Iowa Governor Terry Branstad could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, according to officials from the Iowa State Education Association and the Iowa Association of School Boards. The governor’s plan includes linking teacher compensation to their performances and new metrics for assessing student achievement. The School Boards Association has expressed concern that the package, if not fully funded by the state, could place too heavy a burden on districts. The teachers union has not yet taken a position on the reform proposal. But another proposal from the governor would gut commercial and industrial property taxes, threatening a major source of revenue for local school districts, according to both organizations. More here…

Kansas regents approve salary increases for university chiefs; hefty ones for some
The Kansas Board of Regents this week granted all chiefs of state universities a 1.8 percent cost of living increase in their salaries. Some also got an additional “market adjustment,” a bump of between 12.2 and 14.7 percent over their current calendar year salaries. Under the new plan, the head of Kansas State will receive an annual salary increase of $50,500, whereas the chancellor of Kansas University, with a higher base salary, will see an additional $7,650 beginning January 1. No salary increases have been awarded since 2009 because of the economic slump. The raises will be funded through a combination of public funds and private endowment monies. The board has also expressed interest in establishing a merit-based pool for salary increases for chief executives of state universities; the proposed system would begin in fiscal year 2013. More here…

Utah lawmakers consider private school tax credits
One proposal from a Utah lawmaker this week would create ‘Student Opportunity Scholarships.’ The scholarship program would be funded by corporate and individual donations, and would offer money to students struggling academically or financially disadvantaged students to attend private K-12 schools. The donors to the fund would receive tax credits for the full amount of the donation up to $1,000, with a $5 million cap for the first year of the program. Some have labeled it a backdoor route to implementing school vouchers (which the state voted against in a 2007 referendum). But the author of the proposal expressed his belief that the program would simply support low-achieving and low-income students. More here…