Clock Ticking on Education Reform

Lawmakers haven`t gotten much closer to their goal: while some say they may not meet their January 1st deadline, they are making progress. Two bills failed in committee Monday morning. In the House Education Committee, a funding formula failed. It would have given districts a base of $5,600 per student and then other funds based on poverty and special education needs. "I looked at my district which includeds Lakeview and they were getting, I thought, a reasonable amount of money, an increase they needed to fund their schools," said Rep. Barbara King, D-Helena. She authored the bill. The money debate continued upstairs in the Senate Education Committee where legislators voted down a bill for standards and teacher salaries. Those testifying in favor of the bill say it allows more money for low-income and minority districts, but opponents say the bill isn`t what they need. "If we had some certainty that putting more money over here is gonna improve overall, then I might be more willing to look at it. But I could point to areas where they have a lot of money and students still aren`t doing well," said Sen. Brenda Gullett, D-Pine Bluff. A bill that did pass the House floor was HB 1049. Representative Jodie Mahony says the funding formula for this bill is baed on the adequacy study, focusing on special needs of children in poor districts. The bill establishes an accountability system that tracks expenditures instead of revenue. And it raises the minimum teacher salary from $21,800 to $26,000 for the first year. "It`s not based on the old formula, not based on dividing money up across the board, not based on making up a number," Mahony said. But the question remains, will the job be done in the next three days. "The real question is can we complete anything that comes close to responding to the Lakeview decision in the next three weeks," said Rep. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock. Some say maybe not, but today`s vote at least proves they`re making some headway.