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School funding top priority for local lawmakers
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When it comes to how the state distributes money for public schools, Beaufort County has been one of the big losers. But, local lawmakers hope to change that in the upcoming legislative session.
Under the Education Finance Act, money is distributed to school districts based on property values, which results in counties with the highest property tax values receiving the least amount of money. The Beaufort County School District received no EFA money last year.
But state Rep. Shannon Erickson and newly elected state Sen. Tom Davis told members of Beaufort County Council on Monday that a reform of the formula is high on their to-do lists.
"The current EFA formula is so skewed ... that any adjustment is going to be a positive adjustment for Beaufort County," Davis said.
"It's not hard to go from zero," added Erickson. "It's so egregious ... that I don't think it passes the red-face test."
She said a House committee studying reform of the EFA formula meets today and likely will present two bills, both of which would help the school district.
"My understanding is that legislators aren't going to scrap the (formula), they're just going to tinker with it," Davis said.
For example, lawmakers could change the formula so it also weighs average wages to determine school district allotments, he said. Beaufort County was 14th of 46 counties in the state in average wages in 2006.
While the legislature is poised to reform how education funding works, it won't be receptive to any interest groups asking for money or new, expensive projects, Erickson said.
"If it's got a dollar sign attached to it, it literally will be going nowhere. That's how slow money's flowing into the state," she said.
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