Posted on: Wednesday, May 22, 2002

EDITORIAL
School bus, A-Plus should be reconsidered

There is nothing to like about the $24 million reduction in the state Department of Education's 2002-03 budget.

School officials say this 2 percent cut is not as bad as expected and they can live with it. But it's clear that a substantial number of families won't feel that way when they see the fallout.

We urge the Board of Education and the department to do their utmost to make as much of their cutting as possible as far away from the classroom as possible. We are not convinced that there's as much "fat" in the department's bureaucracy as its critics charge, but that's the general direction in which the knife should be aimed.

That's why we're disturbed, in particular, to see charter schools, the A-Plus program and school bus fares emerge as targets for cutting or, the same thing in a different guise, increased fees to parents.

The charter schools argued in the last school year, rather convincingly, that they were under-financed relative to the rest of the schools. So the $4 million trim now earmarked for the charter schools reinforces the notion, which is gaining in currency, that the department and the board aren't committed to them.

If so, that attitude needs work. If our schools are to improve, our school leaders must embrace change. And charter schools are obviously an engine of change.

As a rule, when the choice for making up shortfalls for a program is between increasing public subsidy and increasing direct user fees, we'd choose the latter. But the fee hikes proposed for the A-Plus after-school program and school bus operations are different.

Not every child using these programs, of course, comes from a low-income family. But for those who do, the fee increases are tantamount to a regressive tax increase: They hit the poor users harder.

In particular, we've pressed hard in recent years to get welfare parents into jobs. If the parents must work and can't afford A-Plus, then we've added to the ranks of latch-key kids at risk.

That will prove far more costly in the long run than the savings contemplated here.

Similarly, kids are a lot safer if they can ride school buses, which load and unload on the school property and not on busy thoroughfares.

After-school care and school bus service are as necessary for families who can afford to pay more as they are for the poor. There aren't all that many stay-at-home moms (or dads) these days who can pick up their kids in the early afternoon.

Indeed, the A-Plus program can actually attract families who might otherwise choose expensive private schools for their kids.

In short, the department and the board should make every effort to restore financing to charter schools, A-Plus and school buses, and if that is impossible, the Legislature must restore it next session.

Correction: The Department of Education faces a $4 million shortfall for charter schools but officials say the department is committed to paying for the program. In addition, the department is facing a $3.6 million shortfall for the A-Plus after-school program and is doing what it can to maintain all of that program. Previously this editorial did not include this information.