School transportation debate comes down to two rough options

Frontiersman Editorial Board

Is it a shell game or one of those better-of-two-evils scenarios? In this case, no matter which camp you're living in, it's likely going to be a little of each. With the effort in Juneau to cut spending of state dollars, many programs have come under the microscope, and many of those are likely to come under the knife soon. One of the current debates is over the funding of school transportation.

Currently, Alaska school districts arrange their own busing arrangements, and the state reimburses 100 percent of the costs. Gov. Frank Murkowski, believing at least some districts were not working to be as economically efficient as possible, proposed to cut the state reimbursement by 20 percent. That proposal sent a shiver through district administrations around the state, and alternative plans began to surface.

In an alternative bill sponsored by the Valley's Carl Gatto, the schools would receive funding from the state based upon a formula that divides a district's transportation expenses by its enrollment numbers -- however the transportation expense portion of the formula will always be based upon the 2002-'03 fiscal budget. In other words, there will be no inflation-proofing.

There is no doubt that Gatto's bill is better for schools, in the short run, than the governor's proposal. Either way, the schools are going to suffer again. Under the Gatto plan, the Mat-Su School district should do fine in the next year, but may begin to suffer inflation pains in the future. Gatto is confident that growing enrollment numbers will offset inflation. If it doesn't, there is no language built in to the bill to answer that challenge.

Jim Clark, Murkowski's chief of staff, wrote an editorial column (appearing in this edition of Frontiersman) in support of Gatto's House Bill 259. It appears the administration supports the bill, and that's likely because they realized their own option is untenable. In the end, no matter which way the legislature decides to go, it amounts to something like a shell game. The cost of student transportation is only going to increase. As state government reduces its role in funding those costs -- especially with a plan that isn't designed to expand with those costs -- more and more of the burden will be shifted to individual districts, and the communities they serve. You'll pay to get children to school, whether you pay the state or your borough is really the only question left. The president's plan is to leave no child behind. Let's hope we don't leave any of them standing at the bus stop, either.