This article was originally posted 07/14/2018 on SUBV Facebook page
We’ve debunked the ultracon talking points that nice buildings = enough money (capital funds for buildings by law cannot be used to pay staff salaries or for many other expenses) and that ultracon positions are better for business (KC BizPAC endorsed not ultracons, but the same moderate candidates SUBV endorsed). Let’s fact-check another ultracon talking point.
One phrase we hear ultraconservatives use over and over is “dollars to the classroom.” As in, “Our schools have enough money; I want to make sure those dollars are getting to the classroom, to help our kids.” They say or imply that public schools spend too much on buildings, administration, and other budget line-items that don’t “help our kids learn.”
We’ve looked into this claim, and we have some facts to help you decide for yourself if it’s true. We realize this post is heavy on text and data. That’s because #FactsMatter.
Each Kansas school district publishes an annual “Budget at a Glance” that is placed on the district website and the KSDE website. It’s important to note that for the year we’re currently in, the figures shown are “budgeted” whereas for past years the figures are “actual.” The district intentionally budgets high enough so that they don’t have to republish a budget, should actual expenditures come in higher than anticipated. It’s really only valid to compare actual to actual figures. ***Ultraconservatives know this, but they don’t mention this distinction when they talk about these figures. They know most voters wouldn’t know the difference, so they don’t bother telling the whole truth.***
The budget line item that ultracons seem to focus most on is “administration.” They claim administrative costs are skyrocketing and that’s why teachers aren’t paid well.
You can see that when we compare actual spending to actual spending, BVSD “administrative costs” as a line item fell from 9% two years ago to 8% last year. (Remember, this year’s number is “budgeted” not actual, so it’s not a valid comparison.)
On the second chart, you can see the number of BV administrators went from 101 in 15-16, to 104 in 17-18. That’s 104 administrators for 22,747 students in 38 school buildings. One administrator for every 218 Blue Valley students.
What this argument made by ultracons does, is set public education advocates up. Either we side with the teachers or with the administrators. Either we say, “Teachers aren’t paid well enough and administrators should be paid less,” or we say “Our district needs administrators to run effectively and provide 21st century excellence. We must pay them, at the expense of paying teachers well.” No. That is a false dichotomy. With adequate funding, we can pay our teachers fairly AND we can afford to have top-notch building and district administrators who work hard to support our teachers and our students.
One final budget note. It bugs us that ultracons complain about “dollars to the classroom” and define it narrowly - but take a look at these other categories. Are they really saying that money spent on transportation, food service, operations and maintenance, isn’t directly impacting our students?
Blue Valley parents know that our Blue Valley schools are run efficiently and exceptionally. When we visit our schools, work on our PTOs or PTAs, and talk to our teachers, we don’t see wasteful spending - we see a well-run organization that does an excellent job serving over 22,000 students every year. If an ultracon candidate or their team member comes to your door and says they want our schools to operate more "efficiently," ask if they know how many administrative positions Blue Valley Schools has. Ask if they’re aware that Blue Valley administrative costs, both as a percentage of total expenditures AND total dollar amount, actually decreased from two years ago to last year.
Ultracons don’t like to hear #Facts because those interfere with their rhetoric. The candidate might just scurry away to try their talking points somewhere else.
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