DEBORAH ISON FLOWERS : PART II

Democrat Candidate for KY House District 60 On School Funding

Continuing with the exploration of Ms. Flowers’ positions on a variety topics brings me to her statements on School Funding.

Ms. Flowers has a lot to say about school funding and in a not so subtle way she also expresses her opposition to Amendment 2 which she mischaracterizes. Here is Ms. Flowers argument for why she believes that school funding should be increased:

“Taking inflation into account, our current SEEK funding is 26% below 2008 levels despite just under a 3% increase in spending this year. This demonstrates just how far below recommended levels we are. This is also why I am strongly against any charter school or voucher programs which would take the property taxes you and I pay to fund our public schools and send them to out-of-district private schools. We need to keep our property tax dollars in House District 60.”(emphasis added)

SEEK, Support Education Excellence in Kentucky funding is a formula-driven allocation of state-provided funds to local school districts. But SEEK is not the whole picture of education funding in Kentucky. Education funding is a combination of State, Local, and federal source of revenue. According to the National Education Association (NEA) over the last ten years (2014 -2023) total revenue for Kentucky’s public schools has increased 43.78% from $665,086,212,000 to $969,642,746,000. Ms. Flowers says: “This demonstrates just how far below recommended levels we are.” But that’s not accurate. Without a doubt the tax payers of Kentucky have been generous to our public school system but the inflation caused by the policies of the Biden-Harris administration have robbed us and our children of the benefit of our generosity and hard earned tax dollars and caused them to be worth just 1/5th of their value.

Insufficient funding on our part as taxpayers is not the problem. Biden-Harris inflation is. We have done our job. Tax payers are also struggling and unless this inflationary cycle is brought to an end tax payers and families will continue to struggle. I am really sorry Ms. Flowers but you cannot tax your way out of inflation.

Ms. Flowers compounds her misunderstanding of the funding issues confronting our schools with this:

“This is also why I am strongly against any charter school or voucher programs which would take the property taxes you and I pay to fund our public schools and send them to out-of-district private schools.”

As I wrote in YES ON AMENDMENT 2:

“No, Kentucky taxpayers that is not right. Once again, the only thing that Amendment 2 will do is allow law makers to discuss if and how they might provide financial support for students outside of the state’s public school system. That’s it. That’s all. The possibilities are endless and include tax credits and scholarships and possibly grants with tight restrictions, for parents of severely disabled children.”

There are only two choices here. Either Ms. Flowers does not understand Amendment 2 or she does understand it and she does not want you to understand it and, therefore, she is intentionally misleading you on the issue. In either case Ms. Flowers position on Amendment 2 inaccurate. We can and should expect our candidates and public servants to be accurate in the information that they provide to us on every issue.

Ms. Flowers also argues that:

“Providing our teachers and staff with an across the board 11% salary increase will improve teacher retention and new teacher recruiting.”

However, once again Ms. Flowers is not telling you the whole story. Over the 10 year period of 2014-2023 teacher and instructional staff salaries in Kentucky have increased 19.19%. However, from 2020 forward Biden-Harris inflation has reduced that to a 7.06% pay cut. So teachers in Kentucky are not underfunded but they are simply the victims of inflation just as you and I are.

Over this same ten year period enrollment has decreased as has attendance but teachers pay and total revenue have increased. We’re doing our part. Raising our taxes is not the way to go when Kentuckians are struggling to make ends meet during the Biden-Harris inflationary period.

Kentucky, is not doing a great job of educating our public school students. According to the NEA this how much Kentucky and our neighboring states spent per k-12 pupil in 2023. Next to the per pupil expenditures I have provided the ranking from a recent report by USNews & World Report.

The differences in per pupil spending are small but the outcomes compared to those of Kentucky are huge.

Ms. Flowers again:

“Providing our teachers and staff with an across the board 11% salary increase will improve teacher retention and new teacher recruiting. Currently, teacher salaries in Kentucky are ranked 41st nationally. If we want the best, we must invest! Providing high quality teachers, staff, and facilities will ensure continued growth and economic investment in our community.”

Do you notice something missing here? Educational outcome is missing. Not once does Ms. Flowers seem the least bit concerned about educational outcome. Kentucky parents, students, and employers should have every expectation that our public schools will produce students who are better prepared to compete and produce at a high level no matter what they choose to do after high school graduation and no matter where the competition is from.

Money spent per pupil or on teacher salaries is not a measure of educational outcome.

Yes on Amendment 2.
No to higher taxes for schools.

Union, Kentucky

4 October 2024