School Funding Election Results Mixed Across States

Questions of education funding appeared as ballot measures in a dozen states on Tuesday, giving voters a chance to directly influence the debates surrounding education policy and finance.

Education Funding Questions

Early Childhood Education

Voters approved both state ballot measures directed at increasing funding for early childhood education. Arizona’s Proposition 203 raises cigarette taxes by 80 cents per pack, which will bring in an estimated $150 million in new revenue; the money will finance a new Early Childhood Development and Health Fund. Nebraska’s Amendment 5 establishes a $60 million endowment fund, the interest of which will be dedicated to preschool funding.

K-12 Education

Voters in South Dakota approved Initiative Measure 2, which will triple taxes on tobacco products. Part of the resulting revenue increase will be put in a state education enhancement trust fund.

School finance measures on the ballots in several other states failed to receive majority support, however. California’s Proposition 88, which failed by a large margin, would have provided additional K-12 funding via a new $50 property tax. Proposition 5 in Michigan would have required the state legislature to establish a minimum funding level for “K-16” education. The proposal stated that the legislature would have to increase funding by $565 million dollars and add annual adjustments for inflation. Opponents of the measure warned that the price tag would require higher taxes or massive spending cuts in other areas, and both candidates for governor opposed the measure.

In Idaho, Proposition 1 would have required the legislature to appropriate $210 million to K-12 education without cutting any crucial state services. The proposal originally would have raised $210 million via a one percent increase in the state sales tax, but a tax reform plan passed in August that raised the sales tax and used the revenue to cover a property tax cut forced the ballot measure to fall back on the appropriation requirement. Idahoans voted 54 percent to 45 percent to reject the measure.

In Nebraska, voters rejected Initiative Measure 421, which would have authorized Keno gambling and sent the proceeds to K-12 education.

Facilities, Tax Rates, Tax Redistribution, Spending Priorities

A variety of other education-related questions appeared on Tuesday’s ballots. In California, Proposition 1D’s passage allows the state to borrow $10.4 billion through bond sales for K-12 and university facilities construction and modernization. Voters in Alabama approved Amendment 2, which will require cities to have a minimum 10 mil property tax dedicated specifically for school funding; 30 of the state’s 101 districts do not yet meet this requirement, and the measure will raise an estimated $23 million for schools.

Amendment B on the Wyoming ballot asked voters to decide whether to repeal a limit on the amount of local property taxes that the state can redistribute to lower-wealth districts. The measure, which voters approved, will require $74 million to be redistributed from six high-wealth, mineral-rich districts.

In Nevada, where constitutional amendments must be approved twice before taking effect, voters approved for the second time a measure that requires the state legislature to appropriate sufficient funding for the state’s public schools before approving any other spending. Minnesota voters approved a measure that will direct all motor vehicle tax revenue to transportation projects. Many fear this will hurt public schools, because half of motor vehicle taxes currently go to the general fund, from which education is the largest recipient.

The “65 Percent Solution” Battle

Despite efforts to get the “65 percent solution” – the requirement that 65 percent of all funds spent on education be spent “in the classroom” – on the ballot in several states, the question only made it to the ballot in Colorado. The question appeared in two different forms: the more gently worded Public School Expenditure Accountability Act – put on the ballot by the legislature – required 65 percent of school funds to go to “services that directly affect student achievement,” whereas Amendment 39 required that the money be spent “in the classroom.” Voters soundly rejected both measures. Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas are currently the only states that have 65 percent provisions.

The 65 percent question was also an issue in several gubernatorial races. Republican nominees in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio were strong 65 percent proponents, and nominees in Wisconsin and Minnesota called for 70 percent requirements. Three of these candidates were successful: in Florida, Charlie Crist won his campaign to succeed Governor Jeb Bush; in Georgia, Governor Sonny Perdue won re-election; and in Minnesota, Governor Tim Pawlenty narrowly defeated his challenger.

Voucher Proponents Fare Poorly in Gubernatorial Races

The topic of school vouchers was also a major issue in some gubernatorial races. In Ohio, voucher proponent Kenneth Blackwell lost his bid for governor to Ted Strickland, and in Michigan, Dick DeVos, the founding chair of All Children Matter – a pro-voucher political action committee – failed in his campaign against Governor Jennifer Granholm. In Wisconsin, where Governor Jim Doyle expanded the Milwaukee voucher program this year, Doyle – who wants high accountability standards for participating private schools – defeated challenger Mark Green, who favored eliminating the cap on the Milwaukee program.

“Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights”

Voters in Maine, Nebraska, and Oregon all soundly rejected ballot measures that would have implemented a Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights (TABOR). TABOR requires states to limit state spending increases to the rate of inflation and the rate of population growth; higher spending is only allowed through further voter referenda. Proponents of the measures claimed that TABOR is an effective way of limiting government spending, protecting citizens against tax increase, and boosting the economy. Opponents, however, believed that the measures would require drastic cuts in areas such as education funding and would hurt the economy. Last year in Colorado, which implemented TABOR in 1992, voters concerned that it was cutting too deeply into education and transportation funding suspended some of its provisions.

Overall, 2006 voters approved funding for preschool and some other school funding measures, but rejected major changes and “quick fixes,” such as TABOR, the 65 percent proposals and vouchers, at least as reflected in the Ohio and Michigan gubernatorial races.

Prepared by Matthew Samberg, November 9, 2006