Citizens for KPS

Is this request for a renewal a violation of a promise made in 2005 to only ask for a 3-year millage?

The 2005 enhancement millage campaign consistently and accurately described the proposal as a 3-year millage. The 2005 campaign also accurately said that school officials hoped that state funding for schools would sufficiently improve that a renewal would not be needed.

Unfortunately, since 2005, state government funding for public education has actually gotten worse. Since 2005, the funding per student from the state has lagged about 3% behind the inflation rate. The enhancement millage revenue is needed even more today than it was in 2005.

Voters chose in 2005 to enact the enhancement millage for 3 years. Voters today have a new choice, about whether to renew this millage for another 3  years.

Can the budget problems of the schools be solved without the enhancement millage by cutting school health care benefits?

 Local school districts have already made considerable reforms to employee health insurance benefits. For example, Kalamazoo Public Schools switched to a different drug benefit that cut 8% of overall health insurance costs.

 Employee benefits cannot be separately discussed from the straight wages of employees, which together make up employee compensation. Most health care reforms involve increases in employee cost-sharing. Like any employer, schools must be concerned that employee compensation levels be sufficient to attract and retain quality employees. Therefore, any future significant increases in employee cost-sharing for benefits will necessarily involve some increase in straight wages.

 For example, we know that perhaps the number one variable affecting student achievement is the quality of teaching.  In the teacher labor market, there already are considerable shortages in certified teachers for certain subjects, such as math, science, and special education. Even in other subject areas, it is desirable when recruiting teachers to have sufficient compensation levels that schools can choose from a number of applicants in filling teaching vacancies.

Therefore, loss of the enhancement millage revenue could not be effectively dealt with by simply increasing teacher cost sharing for benefits, with no offsetting wage adjustments. Significant cuts in the real compensation of teachers would likely have negative effects on recruiting and retaining quality teachers, and would hurt student achievement.

What about more privatization as an alternative to the enhancement millage?

 Local school districts have also made other budget reforms in recent years, including privatizing in cases where this saves money. For example, Kalamazoo Public Schools has privatized food services management, and has also privatized many custodial services.  In other budget areas, KPS’s evaluation of privatization proposals has suggested that these initiatives will not save funds.

Why is this a KRESA millage? Does KRESA take any funds from this?

 State law requires that an enhancement millage be done on a regional basis, rather than by individual school districts. This vote requires a majority vote across all school districts in KRESA. All the funds go to individual school districts, not to KRESA. Funds are distributed to each school district on an equal per-student basis.  

Does this millage mean that Kalamazoo and Portage are taking funds away from the rest of the county?

 As mentioned, state law requires that this enhancement millage can only be approved on a regionwide basis. Each voter in the nine school districts gets an equal vote.

 Funds are raised on the basis of assessed property valuations for tax purposes, and then distributed on an equal basis per student. Kalamazoo and Portage school districts get the same funding per student as the other school districts; Kalamazoo and Portage get more dollars from the millage because these districts have more students.

 As it turns out, property owners in Kalamazoo pay about as much into the millage fund as KPS gets back, whereas property owners in Portage pay in more than is received back by the Portage district. The rest of the county (with the exception of Gull Lake) tends to receive more back in funding than is paid in by property owners.

 This redistribution of funds from property rich to property poor school districts was intended by the state when they required enhancement millages to be approved on a regionwide basis.