EDITORIAL
School funding analysis should be made public

Now that the cat is out of the bag, it seems rather pointless that the Department of Education has pulled school-by-school numbers in its analysis of a new "weighted" school funding formula it is preparing for the Legislature.

The proposed budget system is supposed to get dollars to individual schools based on the specific needs of the students who attend that school. Thus a school serving a large population of students with special needs might get more money while another school with few special-needs students might get less.

A first draft school-by-school analysis suggested that while there would be "winners" under that system, there would also be a substantial number of "losers" that would receive less money.

Some speculate that the individual school breakdown was designed to stir up opposition to the plan, which is tied into a proposal for greater individual school and principal autonomy.

That seems unlikely. If this plan truly will work toward better education for the greater number of students, it will gain the support it needs. And if there are flaws in the funding system, why not get the numbers out now so they can be eliminated?

It seems obvious that lawmakers will be unwilling to accept this new system unless they understand precisely how it will affect schools in their district. So it makes sense to keep working on those school-by-school numbers, and in a way that shares the work with the public.