Growls

The April 29, 2011 bi-weekly newsletter, Update, published by the Virginia Municipal League, which incidentally is paid for in-part by about $36,000 in annual dues by Arlington County taxpayers, whined, “Data included in the (Virginia) Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Annual Report for FY10 show that local governments continue to be the major financier of the state’s public education system, and that the state’s support of public education is slipping.” (emphasis added)

Based upon data in the Annual Report’s Table 15, which VML asserted “is regarded as one of the most authoritative and comprehensive sources of data on education funding,” VML provided a table showing the “sources of financial support for education operating expenditures” for the five years FY2006 through FY2010 (expressed in percentages). Briefly, the table showed:

FY 2006: Local, 50.2%; State, 42.8%; Federal, 7.1%.
FY 2010: Local, 49.2%; State, 39.9%; Federal, 10.9%.

To paraphrase what a sportscaster might say, let’s go to Table 15, and see what it shows for the Arlington Public Schools and its Northern Virginia neighbors:

• Arlington: Local, 83.6%; State, 12.1%; Federal, 4.3%.
• Fairfax County/City: Local, 74.5%; State, 19.0%; Federal, 6.6%.
• Loudoun: Local, 75.3%, State, 20.1%; Federal, 4.5%.
• Prince William: Local, 45.6%; State, 44.3%, Federal, 10.1%.
• Alexandria: Local, 79.4%; State, 13.6%; Federal, 7.1%.

Before comparing numbers, let’s consider a couple of more numbers from Table 15 for the Northern Virginia school districts, i.e., cost per student spending and local revenues per student.

• Arlington: cost per student, $19,640; local revenues per student, $16,411.
• Fairfax County/City: cost per student, $12,912; local revenues per student, $9,614.
• Loudoun: cost per student, $12,688; local revenue per student, $9,557.
• Prince William: cost per student, $10,298; local revenue per student, $4,698.
• Alexandria: cost per student, $18,082; local revenue per student, $14,350.
  

Now let’s consider the tax burden borne by local taxpayers, i.e., dividing local revenues per student by the school district’s cost per student:

• Arlington -- 83.6%
• Fairfax County/City -- 74.5%
• Loudoun -- 75.3%
• Prince William -- 45.6%
• Alexandria -- 79.4%
  

So while one of Arlington County’s lobbyist in Richmond, i.e., the Virginia Municipal League, is working to get the Virginia General Assembly to become the “major financier” of K-12 education, and likely raising your state taxes at the same time, Arlington County taxpayers would be taking a double-whammy. The reason is because of the financing gimmick known as the “Composite Index of Local Ability to Pay. According to Table 16 of the Superintendent’s Annual report, each jurisdiction’s “ability to pay” is calculated based upon a weighting of 50% for the value of real property, 40% for adjusted gross income, and 10% for retail sales taxes. By the way, according to the Virginia Department of Education, “Each locality’s index is adjusted to maintain an overall statewide local share of 45 percent and an overall state share of 55 percent.”

Wouldn’t it be great if Virginia afforded parents greater School Choice? That kind of competition would almost surely reduce the burden of paying for K-12 from the backs of Arlington County taxpayers.