JEFFERSON CITY -- The New Madrid County R-1 School District along with dozens of school districts with a distinct point of view plan to intervene in a lawsuit challenging Missouri's method of funding elementary and secondary education.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month by 243 of Missouri's 524 school districts, claims the state spends too little on public schools and does not distribute the money fairly. Today, the R-1 District will be among 70 other districts which seek to be added as a third party in the case.
Paul Northington with the R-1 District is serving on the executive committee of the Coalition to Fund Excellent Schools. The group, he said, has certain goals in common with the Committee For Educational Equality, which filed the initial lawsuit, but is uneasy with the lawsuit's position on fairness.
"The common ground deals with adequacy of funding. The difference of opinion is on equality and what we deem as equality," Northington said.
The Coalition to Fund Excellent Schools is made up mostly of districts whose state aid is still calculated under the funding formula that was in place before the current formula was adopted in 1993. Districts like New Madrid County R-1 are said to be ''held harmless'' against the reductions in state aid they would incur if they were funded under the new formula.
In the CFES' view, Northington explained, equity doesn't always mean equal dollars. "There are different factors among different school districts," he explained. "Just to throw the same dollars at different school districts doesn't address the variables" such as varying local costs and income factors as well as the needs of students.
Northington said the group will emphasize the need for adequacy of state funding. "We believe the state is obligated to provide a sufficient amount of money so every student in the state can have a free, quality public education that meets all legal and Constitutional requirements," said Northington. "The size of the whole education pie is not large enough."
While the districts agree that Missouri should spend more on public education, the CFES says in the past property wealth for all districts was not consistently measured. They propose a new formula be developed. Also they seek for the state to fund the costs of any legislative initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Act and other educational programs required at the state or federal levels.
Today, the group will meet with the Legislature and according to Northington has invited those school districts which filed the initial suit to participate as they try to discuss funding needs with state leaders.
"The problems have all come about with state budget cuts," concluded Northington. "Our main focal point is the adequacy of funding and the main effect it would have with R-1 students."
Some information for this story was provided by the Associated Press.