Wednesday, August 09, 2006
The 65% Solution
The 65% Solution
Rich Downs, FSCA Standing Member
A number of you have requested updates throughout the year on the “65% Solution,” following is a brief summery.
Although the attempt failed during the 2006 Florida Legislative session, you may want to pay attention for renewed efforts in your districts to resurrect this initiative. Even though my conversations with informed sources suggest that the issue will not be discussed again in Florida, the outcome of Florida’s November election and a national movement may encourage our elected representatives to revisit the issue.
First Class Education, www.firstclasseducation.org, is a national organization dedicated to passing legislation requiring school districts to spend at least 65% of their operational budget on classroom instruction, as defined by the National Center for Educational Statistics. Georgia’s version of this initiative was passed by their legislature earlier this year and signed into law by their governor in April. Texas adopted the 65% spending rule last year by executive order, after a bill in the Texas legislature failed to pass. Also last year, the Kansas legislature made spending 65% on classroom instruction part of a school finance bill that was signed into law, and the Louisiana legislature passed legislation ordering the state board of elementary and secondary education to enact the 65% rule through regulation. First Class Education has collected sufficient signatures to place a constitutional amendment on Colorado’s ballot this fall and similar efforts are underway in Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.
According to Standard & Poor’s there is no correlation between high-test scores and those states that spend 65% of their education budget on classroom expenses.
Recent conversations with colleagues from across the nation indicate that many counselor leaders are taking a wait and see attitude. Specifically, how are legislatures, departments of education or districts going to define the perimeters of classroom instruction and how counselors fit into those definitions. Apparently, Georgia is currently attempting to define “classroom instruction” and there are efforts to include school counselors in that category. The 65% initiative was recently defeated in Missouri.
Rich Downs, FSCA Standing Member
A number of you have requested updates throughout the year on the “65% Solution,” following is a brief summery.
Although the attempt failed during the 2006 Florida Legislative session, you may want to pay attention for renewed efforts in your districts to resurrect this initiative. Even though my conversations with informed sources suggest that the issue will not be discussed again in Florida, the outcome of Florida’s November election and a national movement may encourage our elected representatives to revisit the issue.
First Class Education, www.firstclasseducation.org, is a national organization dedicated to passing legislation requiring school districts to spend at least 65% of their operational budget on classroom instruction, as defined by the National Center for Educational Statistics. Georgia’s version of this initiative was passed by their legislature earlier this year and signed into law by their governor in April. Texas adopted the 65% spending rule last year by executive order, after a bill in the Texas legislature failed to pass. Also last year, the Kansas legislature made spending 65% on classroom instruction part of a school finance bill that was signed into law, and the Louisiana legislature passed legislation ordering the state board of elementary and secondary education to enact the 65% rule through regulation. First Class Education has collected sufficient signatures to place a constitutional amendment on Colorado’s ballot this fall and similar efforts are underway in Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.
According to Standard & Poor’s there is no correlation between high-test scores and those states that spend 65% of their education budget on classroom expenses.
Recent conversations with colleagues from across the nation indicate that many counselor leaders are taking a wait and see attitude. Specifically, how are legislatures, departments of education or districts going to define the perimeters of classroom instruction and how counselors fit into those definitions. Apparently, Georgia is currently attempting to define “classroom instruction” and there are efforts to include school counselors in that category. The 65% initiative was recently defeated in Missouri.
