FARMINGTON -- Superintendents need to build relationships with lawmakers and show them why their schools need more money, the leader of a statewide organization for educational administrators said Wednesday.
Legislators aren't interested in arguments schools need more money to give teachers raises, but instead have paid more attention to arguments about the need to serve students, said Richard Abernathy, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.
Per-student funding for Arkansas schools
School yearAmountDifference from previous year*Percent increase
2012-13$6,267$123*2%
2013-14$6,393$126*2.01%
2014-15$6,521$128*2%
2015-16$6,584$63*0.97%
2016-17$6,646$62*0.94%
Source: Arkansas legislation
"We're going to have to show why we need the funds so we can provide those resources for kids and student achievement," Abernathy said. "If the resources start declining, there's opportunities you're providing that you're not going to be able to provide."
Abernathy was invited to give an overview of laws passed this spring affecting schools during a monthly meeting of superintendents at the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative. The superintendents are the board of directors for the cooperative.
During the meeting, Farmington Superintendent Bryan Law expressed his concern annual increases in funding for students approved by the Legislature this year for 2015-16 and 2016-17 are about half of the increases school districts have received in the past.
Schools have received annual increases of about $120 to $130 per student for at least the past five years, but the increases for the next two years will be about $60 per student, Law said. The difference is substantial when multiplied by a school district's enrollment, he said.
Schools receive about 60 percent of the state's money, said State Rep. Bruce Cozart, R-Hot Springs. The committee overseeing state education money in the past provided 2 percent increases to school districts, but this time, the committee took a different approach.
"That's what we felt met the need," Cozart said.
Charles Cudney, director of the cooperative, told superintendents he's interested in working with leaders in schools, businesses, the community and with lawmakers to develop a consensus about what Northwest Arkansas schools need to deliver programs parents and their communities expect, he said.
He hopes to have information to share with lawmakers before they begin in the spring to study what money will be necessary for schools 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Superintendents need to better communicate their needs but also need to listen to make sure those needs match what their communities and legislators want, he said.
"No one is going to want to support, i.e., with resources, efforts that everyone doesn't agree is going to be a goal that we want to achieve," Cudney said.
Educators need to think together about priority issued for schools, including how to better meet the needs of children of poverty, Springdale Superintendent Jim Rollins said. He hopes a united conversation will be helpful to legislators as they consider money for schools.
"If we can prioritize those needs and reach agreement among the educators, we've got something to talk to our governor and Legislature about," Rollins said.
NW News on 06/04/2015