SB 82 - Implementation of Amendment 23. Last November the voters passed Amendment 23, requiring the legislature to increase funding for schools at the rate of inflation plus 1 percentage point over the next ten years. It also called for establishing a state education fund as a place to hold the money until it is dispersed.
Legislation is necessary to implement the amendment.
The major issue is whether the state controls the spending or whether the schools districts do. The governor wants to dedicate the one per cent to reduce class size through the third grade. Many legislators claim that SB 186 which passed last session requires that schools account for their spending, and that the inflation plus one percent should be distributed through the school finance act without strings attached. A serious concern is keeping the fund solvent, and caution in the first year of spending is being urged. The bill passed Senate Ed with nine amendments.