Funding and responsible spending not mutually exclusive

Frontiersman editorial board

If the Legislature decides to move Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 233 through the process this session, the immediate panic over budget cuts in the Mat-Su School District will be quelled. School Board President Mike Chmielewski has said that if either bill becomes law, the $8 million district shortfall will be averted, and the potential budget cuts that have angered and concerned so many around the Valley won't be necessary.

The passage of either bill will also raise funding questions for the Mat-Su Borough Assembly. The amount of funding the borough can provide for education is directly controlled by the level of state funding. At present state funding levels, the Mat-Su Borough is funding Mat-Su schools at essentially 100 percent. Should either bill make it out of the Legislature and receive the governor's signature, the borough's cap will also increase. In order to meet that cap and continue to fund at 100 percent, the assembly would have to pass an amendment authorizing the increase.

At this point, the assembly seems split over whether to do that or not. Betty Vehrs and Bill Allen seem ready to move on an amendment to fund to the state maximum, and Mayor Tim Anderson said, "I will support funding the district at that level for as long as we can."

So far, Mary Kvalheim and Jim Colver haven't made up their minds about full funding, and Bruce Bush said he's leaning toward not funding at 100 percent following a state increase. Jody Simpson and Talis Colberg were unavailable for comment.

In truth, it's a decision that may not be as black and white as it seems. Bush's point, though painful to hear, is worthy of consideration. "Just because you get more money, you can't go out and spend it," Bush said. He said he'd like to see continued cost-cutting efforts on the part of the board.

We, like so many others in the Valley, support strong funding for education. We believe a healthy community begins with excellent schools, and you can't have excellent schools on the cheap. We also believe in responsible budgeting, and we believe responsible education funding considers the students first.

Many people have said you can't solve the education problem by throwing money at it. We say you can't solve it without money. What we hope for here is the passage of a state funding increase followed by an increase in funding from the borough, and that followed by responsible spending by the district -- spending that improves education first. So far, we believe our district has done a good job along those lines, and we can't legitimately criticize the system until we're all willing to fund it adequately.