Meanderings: Where to cut?
School districts statewide are girding for battle. Administrators and teachers are warning that state budget cuts could delay improvements or lead to "reductions in force" — government-speak for layoffs.
Some fears may have moderated. While legislators don't want to raise taxes in an election year, they don't like the implication that they want to return to the days of writing on shovels by whale-oil lamps, either.
One option that isn't mentioned — and should be — are the number of sales tax exemptions allowed by state law. There are dozens, mostly for big-ticket items. The theory is that the sales tax exemption encourages more business and purchases in Kansas. While the state loses out on some sales tax, it makes it up in income tax, property tax, and other sales tax paid by businesses, employees, and customers.
This theory has considerable merit, but clearly it isn't carried to its logical conclusion. If cutting some sales taxes benefits all of us, then eliminating it entirely should bring even more benefits. That's not going to happen, because most sales tax exemptions are provided due to influential political forces instead of through careful economic study.
So, school districts continue to wave the bloody shirt of abandoning children.
Local districts aren't any different. It's a rare meeting where an administrator or board member won't accuse the state of abandoning its responsibility to fund education. But no matter what the state does, most local districts are facing either tax cuts or local tax increases.
So where will they cut?
Maintenance is easy. No one can tell if a building goes without paint for another year, and school buses can be pushed for more years. But that's sniffing around the edges. The real money in school districts is in personnel — at least 80 percent of the budget, usually more.
So which friends and neighbors do we suggest lose their jobs?
When people complain about "administration," they are correct in saying there is money there. School administrators make big money compared to the average rural salary. But cutting a current administrators in Marion-Florence Unified School District would be tough to support. Can our schools do without a principal?
Some have suggested a countywide administrator for all five districts. This would seem to merit discussion, but it's a bit like asking which mouse will bell the cat. Which administrator will argue forcefully and convincingly to eliminate his future employment?
— MATT NEWHOUSE
