Ark. Lawmakers Backtrack On Raising School Funding

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A legislative panel backed away Monday from its recommendation to increase the per-student funding to give Arkansas schools $69 million more next year after lawmakers and Gov. Mike Beebe said they wanted more time to study the issue.

The Joint Adequacy Evaluation Oversight Subcommittee withdrew its recommendation to increase the per-student funding amount by 2.5 percent for the 2011-2012 school year. The panel, created in response to a long-running school funding lawsuit, is required to report every two years on what constitutes an adequate education.

Last week, it recommended the 2.5 percent increase be considered during next year's legislative session and a 2.9 percent increase be considered in the 2012 fiscal session. Both proposed increases were withdrawn Monday by the panel, which is required to issue its report by Wednesday.

Several members of the committee said they believed lawmakers moved too quickly with last week's recommendation and wanted to discuss the proposal more.

"My concern is we're moving too fast," said Sen. Steve Bryles, the panel's co-chairman. "We don't know what's ahead of us."

Members of the panel said Beebe and his office had expressed concern about the proposal. Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor had said more study was needed.

"The governor and his staff reached out to members of the committee asking them for more time to study the impact it would have on education funding and the overall budget," DeCample said.

Beebe cut $247 million from the state's budget last year, but none of the cuts led to any major reductions in school funding or teacher layoffs.

The panel planned to continue meeting Tuesday, but it was unclear whether it would recommend a specific per-student funding amount. Each school district receives $6,023 per student from the state under the current formula.

Lawmakers said it was possible that the panel would recommend a number but even if it did, that could change later. The funding proposal also must be approved by the House and Senate Education committees and the Joint Budget Committee.

The adequacy reports were required in response to the Lake View school funding case, which ended in 2007 when the state Supreme Court ruled Arkansas had adequately funded its public schools.

The panel rejected a proposal by Sen. Kim Hendren that it recommend a range of funding increases to consider rather than a specific amount, which the panel had done in 2008. Lawmakers increased per-student funding by 2 percent in 2009.

"We're not in any better shape than we were in 2008. It gives us some leeway," Hendren said.