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State Aid Study
Task Force discussions continue
The task force charged with
reviewing South Dakota’s education funding formula held its
first meeting of 2006 in April.
As with previous meetings, the
group’s discussions represented a variety of opinions. However,
consensus does appear to be building in several key areas.
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150 percent rule – Task force
members appear to agree that there are flaws in the current
tax collection structure. In particular, the group focused
on the 150 percent rule, which provides that land sold for
150 percent more than its assessed valuation cannot be
taxed.
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Sparsity – Overall, the group
is supportive of the sparsity provision that was hammered
out during the 2006 legislative session.
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Impact Aid – After studying the
issue and reviewing federal regulations, the Department of
Education recommended to the group that South Dakota not
pursue equalization at this time.
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Capital Outlay – Task force
members seemed to agree that the state has an obligation to
address districts that have low land values, and therefore,
cannot generate appropriate Capital Outlay dollars. A number
of potential options regarding this issue were discussed.
While the small school factor was
not on the April agenda, it is an issue that the group is
seriously reviewing. Senate Bill 157, which is the 2005
legislation directing the Department of Education to study
school funding, specifically identifies the small school factor
as one of seven items to review.
The task force also spent part of
its time reviewing the adequacy study prepared for the Alliance
for Education by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates Inc.
Following the presentation by APA, Michael Griffith from the
Education Commission of the States talked about the various
types of adequacy studies that exist today, and he outlined the
advantages and disadvantages of each.
The State Aid
Study Task Force was formed in 2005 to advise the Department of
Education as it studies the current funding formula. The group’s
next meeting is June 21-22 in Pierre.
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