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Creating New Governance Structures

Creating New Governance Structures
(Fall 1994 Networkshop)

Facilitating Funding

Funding, an issue integral to system reform, was discussed by Tom Willis and Lois Adams-Rodgers of Kentucky. The Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA) was funded primarily through tax increases amounting to $1.3 billion over the first biennium. Increases included a one-cent sales tax increase, a slight increase in business taxes, and funds generated through conformity with the federal tax codes.

There was a 35 percent increase in education funding so that the state now commits 48-50 percent of its budget to primary and secondary education; 16 percent to higher education; and 3 percent to work force development (i.e., programs for adult training, vocational development, rehabilitation, and others).

The state additionally equalizes funding for local school districts. Districts must levy taxes at a rate of at least $.30 per $100 property valuation; however, so many Kentucky districts assessed taxes at a higher rate that funds initially allotted for equalization were insufficient by half. Promised the full amount, some district administrators became restless waiting. Then in 1992, despite a recession that held the state's annual revenue to an increase of only $5 million, the legislature provided funds of $48 million to equalize the original shortfall by cutting other programs.

Education funding in Kentucky begins with a general apportionment of $1.8 billion. To this amount, on a "by-district, by-student" basis, are added budgets for such services and programs as transportation, special education, and at-risk. Local districts, in turn, determine how funds are spent.

Overseers of the Family Resource/Youth Services initiative (Kentucky's school-linked service-delivery program) never considered having state agencies provide services at sites. The assumption was made that services are locally available and that the problem is accessing them. Access is accomplished through FRYSCs at a cost of approximately $75,000 per unit (i.e., per center) per year, which includes salaries for staff. The staffing number and pattern varies from center to center and may include a part- or full-time coordinator, clerical staff, and/or family service workers. By comparison, a pilot program in Baltimore, providing services on site, costs $250,000 to $400,000 a year.

It was projected that 500 schools would qualify for Kentucky's FRYSC program through having 20 percent or more of the student population eligible for the free-lunch program; however, because computer data had reported all eligible schools in some districts as a single school, the projection missed the mark widely. The actual number of eligible schools was 1,000. Resulting under-allocation of funds forced districts to seek resources locally and added a year to the FRYSC development process. Nevertheless, the outcome was fortunate: principals were forced to talk with each other rather than compete, and some schools joined forces in order to receive a maximum $90,000 combined grant.

Additionally, outside resources were made available from numerous hospitals, social service agencies (both public and private), and private physicians. For example, the University of Louisville Medical School volunteers services, and the Mott Foundation of Michigan currently invites coordinators of FRYSCs to Michigan for a week of training activities each year. Resources currently available to local districts through FRYSCs were described by Adams-Rodgers:

1. Head Start funds. $70 million of Kentucky funds allocated for at-risk students leverages $5 million federal Head Start funds through a simple requirement that a local school district's application for preschool finds is signed off by the local Head Start Director. This measure assures that Head Start slots are filled. At the time of the Networkshop, Kentucky was serving about 85 percent of four-year-olds eligible for Head Start, allocating about $2,400 per child through the grant-application project. The state additionally has a Head Start Liaison project in adult literacy (as do more than twenty other states).
   
   
2. Even Start Project (Chapter 1). FRYSCs' coordination with schools allows them to draw parents and younger siblings of children served into Even Start programs, which facilitates the transition between preschool programs and the elementary school. Kentucky also provides funding for half-day kindergarten as part of the Primary Program component of KERA.
   
   
3. Professional development. Local districts in Kentucky receive $16 per child to address professional development of teachers. Through June 1994, local districts were to work collaboratively with other districts through consortia to maximize these professional development dollars. Through the consortia, center coordinators as well as teachers receive training in accessing services through the Family Resource/Youth Services Centers.
   
   
4. School-Age Child-Care mini-grants. Local school districts have access to mini-grants through which FRYSC's can facilitate the child care needs of parents.
   
   
5. Extended school service. In the last biennium, $70 million was allotted for before- or after-school, summer-school, and Saturday-school programs to help students needing more time for mastery of learning objectives.
   
   
6. Community education grants. A project within the Department of Education provides for joint training of community education directors and FRYSC coordinators in the Mott Foundation program.
   
   
7. PACE (Parent-Child Education Program). This program, administered by the Workforce Development Cabinet, provides preschool education, adult basic education, literacy, and other educational services to parents.
   
   
8. Medicaid. Funds available through Medi-caid present a special set of problems for local districts. Lacking experienced staff, districts would have to put great effort into developing Medicaid billing expertise. If changes in the Medicaid system come about at the federal level, such efforts may be largely wasted. Current legislation addresses the need for this to occur for local school districts, but to date the Medicaid plan for Kentucky hasn't changed.

The availability of the above programs to FRYSC coordinators and school districts emphasizes the interactive nature of funding processes in Kentucky and lays the groundwork for more extensive FRYSCs in the future.