Schweitzer: School boards have spending discretion under funding plan

By WALT WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer

Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Tuesday that local school boards will be the ones to divvy up millions of dollars of new money under a plan he touts as the solution to the state's school-funding problems.

The governor's office is proposing increasing school funding by more than $33 million in 2007 during a special Legislative session scheduled to start next Wednesday.

Schools would get an additional $2,000 for every 13 students enrolled under the "quality educator component" of his school funding formula. The state's smallest schools -- those with fewer than 41 students -- would get $4,000 for every 13 students. School boards will decide how to spend the money.

"This money can be used by a school board to recruit new teachers or to retain the ones that they already have," he said in an interview in Bozeman. "They can choose to pay all the teachers a bit more, or they can choose to pay some of the teachers a bit more based on whatever objective standards they choose."

The increase in student funding is part of an overall spending package Schweitzer is pitching for next week's special session.

He also is asking lawmakers for a one-time infusion of $125 million to shore up the teacher and public employee retirement systems, which are facing $1.4 billion in unfunded liabilities over the next 30 years. But he doesn't want them to try to reform the systems when they meet next week.

Schweitzer's call Monday for a special session wasn't a surprise, but it was the first time most lawmakers had seen his proposal for tackling school funding.

It's a plan that doesn't call for raising taxes. And its a plan that he said meets all the requirements set by the Montana Supreme Court when it ruled the state education funding system unconstitutional.

Already Schweitzer's plan is being criticized by educators as inadequate.

Bozeman Schools Superintendent Mike Redburn said Monday the plan makes the mistake of deciding first how much the state was willing to spend, instead of figuring out first how much is needed to provide the quality education called for in the constitution.

"There will always be a requirement that (lawmakers) decide how much money they have to spend," Schweitzer answered when asked about the criticism. "If the suggestion is we have not complied with the court order, then they can go ahead and test it."

The money is aimed at recruitment and retention of teachers, but the governor said school boards will be able to spend it to best meet their district's needs.

Also included in the $33 million is $1.65 million to help Native American students, $2.5 million to help at-risk students and $3 million to fund Indian Education for All. That money comes from a projected $55 million increase in state revenue for 2007.

The governor's office also has set aside $33 million in one-time funding for Indian Education for All, school building maintenance and energy cost relief.

Schweitzer closed the door on any changes to the financially troubled retirement systems, saying a special session wasn't the place to do that.

The teacher and public employee retirement systems are facing a $1.4 billion shortfall due to weak returns in investment and the Legislature's decision to increase benefits for state workers a few years ago.

The shortfall could turn around if the state starts seeing better returns on its investments. Schweitzer wants to wait a couple years to see what happens before proposing any systemic changes.

"If we don't start getting the returns that we need, then we are going to start taking a look at what the contribution levels are, and that's going to have to be tweaked," he said.

Raising contributions would mean raising taxes to pay for them, Schweitzer said.

"I'm not the one who wants to pull the trigger on raising taxes first," he said. "That's the last place I want to look at."

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