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SOME POLITICAL ASPECTS OF EDUCATIONAL FINANCE
Remarks By
1.3 Bryant. Chairman. Advisory Comission on Intergovernmental Relations
Before The
Committee on Educational Finance. NBA
New Orleans, Louisiana
March 25. 1969
When invited to address this distinguished group of educational
finance specialists. my initial reaction was to outline in some detail
the educational finance recommendations adopted by the Advisory Com-
mission on intergovernmental Relations. On second thought i decided
that this approach would be somewhat akin to carrying coals to Newcastle.
in fact. it might be interpreted as a rather gratuitous exercise
because our efforts in this field have been limited largely to trans-
lating some increasingly accepted concepts of equalization into
suggested legislative language. Moreover. copies of our "model" bills
affecting education are available here at the Conference.
Therefore. 1 have decided to concentrate on the political
rather than the technical side of the educational finance equation.
As one who has labored rather long in the public policy vineyard. I
am increasingly concerned about the growing gap between what the
experts say we must do and what the public is willing to accept. In
put the issue more dircctly--there is a growing gap between what the
educational iinance experts say we must gnggg and what the public is
willing to 221.
in this context. the men in the middle of this tug-ni-war--
the elected officials--are often disdainfully viewed as "compromluur'
or at best the politician is regarded as a necessary evil in our
system of adversary politics.
in reality. to become a statesman. a politician must first
become an educator; he must educate in order to provide policy leader-
ship to the people of his city. State or nation. On the one hand our
elected officials endeavor to convince an increasingly hostile public
of the wisdom of buying your complicated. "Robin hood-type plans for
building greater equalization power into State foundation programs.
On the other hand. they must attempt to educate the educators (ordinarily
not a dorile group) on the need to be more responsive to both public
attitudes about education and to intergovernmental fiscal realities.
As one who has been in the political crossfire between those
who propose new and better ways of spending public funds (always of
course for the general welfare) and those who are asked to finance
those proposals (the taxpayers) i think I know. and possibly under-
stand. the role oi the elected policymaker as a mediator. compromiser
and educator.
i know that new ideas cannot readily be rammed down the public
throat--it gags too easily.
We know what public service improvements are needed-owe are
even sure that we hear loud public demands [or them. it is not by
accident that political oratory plays up the nice things we will do
when we're elected and plays down the costs.
But when we set out to do the things we promiSod--improve the
quality of education; make sure that equal educational opportunities
are available to all; assure that nobody goes hungry; provide clean
air and water; keep the streets safe and facilitate the flow of traffic
throogh them-~and the experts present us with all kinds of neat organi-
zational and finnncisl plsns to do those things, we find a widening
gulf between us and our constituents. And if we want to serve in our
democracv. we had better listen to the clamor that comes across that
gulf!
Pick up any governor's 'Stste of the State" message these days
and you will see what I mean. He will start with s long list of
"needs."
-- The educators tell him more State aid is needed
to keep up with rising teschers' salaries and to provide
{or absolutely essential "enrichment."
-- The welfare people--they are now "human resources"
penple--point to the growing caselosds and rising cost
of living.
-- The cities need noneyo-end so for most States have
nut been Very responsive to this one--the cities need
money to cope with their burgeoning urban problems in the
face of onerous local tax burdens. They are getting some
help from the Federal Government--for housing and urban
renewal, for mass transportation, for "safe streets. for
water and sewage disposslo-but it is for from enough.
So the goVernor totes up these needs for more spending and
it comes to s staggering sum. Mind you, he and his budget staff
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have already gone over the departmental requests and they have tried
to "rut out the fat." Still the extra amount is more than can come
out of the current tax structure. Then comes the soul searching. How
do we raise the new funds? 00 we ask for an income tax? (15 States
:Lill don't have one.) Do we raise income tax rates? (About 15 more
States barely tap its potential.) Do we raise sales tax rates?
(Only six States are still without a sales tax. and they are small ones.)
Do we keep hitting the nuisance taxes (liquor. cigarettes. amusements.
etc.)?
Increasingly these hard tax choices will be accompanied by
an agonizing reappraisal of our present system of financing education.
Because school costs bulk so large. the friends oi public education
will need all the help they can get from the public at large. This
means. for example. that they will have to be far more attentive than
they have been in the past to the growing public demand that the
educational establishment produce sufficient information to enable
the public to evaluate the effectiveness of its public school system.
Moreover. [rem here on out. the champions of public education will
have to he Somewhat more solicitous about the fiscal needs of hard
pressed cities and counties and the extraordinary burdens that the
property tax imposes on low income families.
Working with Cities and Counties
Let me elaborate first on the fact that education is but one
of mun! cogggtitors for Egblic funds desnite its earlier "fair-haired"
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position in our State-local fiscal system. Expenditure for elementary
and secondary education has grown faster since the end of World war ii
than for any other public domestic function. Per capita expenditure
for local schools jumped almost 600 percent between 1946 and 1967.
Compare this with some of the other functions: police and fire. about
300 perrent; public welfare. less than 400 percent; health and hospitals.
and highways. about 500 percent each.
Fiscal independence of most school systems from city and county
govenunentu has been a significant lac-tor in their ability to tap the
local tax base more readily than could noneducationel programs. School
offlcialn generally can go directly to the taxpayers with their requests--
and up to new at leaut the continuation oi educators and parents has
been usually unbeatable. As a result. education has over the years
been .1th to latch onto a growing share at the prom rry rnx ple--lrom
one-third in the forties to more than hell today.
Because the mssiw and growing school pressure on the local
propertv tax is lore ing many cities and counties to the final wall.
the needs of these governmental units will also have to be taken into
consideration by State legislators. mus requests for educational
funds must be scrutinized along side elf those. for more poliee pro-
tel-tine. health and welfare sorvicen and sanitation and anus tl'JiiulC
l'arllitieu. The Slilrtcl' resources become. the More attention has in
he paid to their proper allocation :nuung soumetiny. demnda lnr newern-
mental services. 'llle tentn]. public needs oi the State have to be run-
siderod. regardless of the governmental mix of responsibility [or
muct lag tlu-m.
Tho pravtlrnl oltoct of thin situation will he to intro tho
representatives ol the public School systems. tho cities. and the
counties to work together if they expect to come up with a satis-
(actory State aid package.
Measuring Educational AchieVomont
Lot an raise a second painful issuc--that of measuring cducutlonnl
Achievement. While it is true that it is not possible to moasure all
aspects of tho educational process--somc important elhuvnta ran be
measured. Let me rocall what Francis Koppel. the very able former U.S.
(fumulnsiunur of Eclmatlon. sold bol'orc tho Chum U n! State Srhunl
Ol'flcors in l965:
"Tho American pooplo today VXPEKC more 01 American
cduiation than ever before. At such a time. isn't it
clear to all of us as educators that what we don't know
van hurt us?"
Hurcovot. if the leaders of public education drag their Loot
on thin issue. lousl school systems will increasingly turn to ll:
privatv acslur [or help. it is my understanding that some achoul
dlnLrlrt have already contrnvtcd with prlvatu (lrmu--organlzutlonu
that gunruntoo [or n lixud anmunt to raise the reading level oi
ovory pupil by at least mu: grade.
Dioro is in; teasing ovidonvo that mny oi our educational
leaders now realize that it is high time they develop a new report
sardc-thia one [or our school systcms. At its rocont matting in
Washington, the Educational Commission of the States tentatively
agreed to nnsume responsibility for overall management of a most
significant project, the National Assessment of Education. I am
reminded of the old cavalry saying: If yoe don't want to get kicked
by a mule. get up by its head."
Property Tax Relief
Property tax relief for low income families stands out as the
third area of concern. It is a sad commentary on the affluent society
if it muut force low income houaeholdera through the property tax
wringer in order to finance its schools and other local public
services. It is no wonder that the elderly in particular are most
avid in their opposition to the approval of new school bond issues
and higher school tax rates.
Manv years ago we in Florida recognized the need to relieve
homeowners of undue property tax burdena and at the same time to
encOurage home ownership. we, like a number of other States, did it
by allowing every homestead a partial exemption (up to $5,000 in
Fluridnl oi assessed valuation. This kind of exemption is especially
beneficial to those who can afford only low and moderate price homes.
Hisconain has recently come up with n more complicated plan for
providing tax relief. Thia State plan maximizes property tax relief
for the poor while minimizing the drawdown on the State treasury.
Copies of draft model bills dealing with this and other issnee af-
fecting education are available here at the Conference.
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lxl mv llnuv ulth aw hdhll lhvuro-thv growing gun that nrpdllLvS
what the uduratiundl experts say wc "mat spend and what the phllt lu
willing to buy. ln my cutlmutlon yuu can go a long way toward resolving
this L55uu if you (allow thrcc pullclcs:
1. 0n the intergovernmental lront work closely
with the polltlcal leadershlp of cities and counties in
devcluplng a comprehensch approach to State and Federal
41d plltlcs that considers the needs of education in
lnnJunctlon with other gnVanmuntal functions;
2. On the expenditure slde take the leadership in
dchluplng plans for evaluating pupil nchlchmcnt and the
uVurall olfcctivcncss at our public school systcnm; and
3. 0n the tax sidv support lcglslatlon that will
nhicld low lnvouc fanlllcs from high property taxes.
we've been discussing today when they wrote:l/
..govurnmental support for cducatlon ls as hlghly
pulltlcal as support for any other guvurnmcntnl function.
chulu of cducatlonal flnnncc lur public schools are not
determined by the flat of protusnlonal educators or the hupcs
and cxpchutlnns oi parents and teachers. State aid to
[Ural schuul dlstrlvrs... is thn outcome of uxtcndud and
hlghly complex pulltlral struggles which involve the
lntcrnctlun of group interests. pnrttus. hnnrds.
A grnup nl tnpnotrh polltlcnl scientists srysta1L2ed the issue
Ll Stnphcn K. hallcy. Richard T. Fruut. Paul B. Marsh. and Robert M. Wuud.
Sthlmcn and Pnlitlru (Syracuse Unlverslty Press. Syrarusu. New fork:
1962) p. 103.
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cmmuissioners, and departments of education, governor;
legislative leaders and followers, courts, academic
scribblers, opinion leaders in the mass media, and a
host of lesser individuals and institutions.
In an irreverent world in which it is claimed that God is
dead and rebellion against established values and authorities is
commonplace, it is not strange that educational assumptions also
are challenged. I am not concerned about the challenge to God,
but mortal institutions must meet their challengers or be overcome.
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