Agenda Item 1-B - Public School Forum Local School Finance Study

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ATTACHMENT B > HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2019 LOCAL SCHOOL FINANCE STUDY WHAT'S NEW Separately, Governor Roy Cooper established the Commission This year,the Local School Finance Study includes new additions on Access to Sound Basic Education through Executive Order in the expanded "Gaps and Trends"section of the report.We 10 in July 2017.The Commission was created to address North conducted interviews with local school finance officers and Carolina's challenges in meeting its constitutional obligation as administrators to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of outlined in Leandro.The Commission includes 19 members that different districts and the impact of local finance inequities in were appointed by the Governor from the fields of education, different contexts. In three segments,we highlight the voices of business, local government, law, health care,early childhood development, psychology and counseling,and public safety.The experts from several rural and urban districts across the state. Commission,working in collaboration with the WestEd A HISTORIC YEAR FOR SCHOOL FINANCE IN consultants,will develop recommendations for the state.The key NORTH CAROLINA areas that the Commission will be addressing are: In 2019,the work of several entities at the state level could lead Staffing each classroom with a competent,well- to major changes to North Carolina's school finance system. trained teacher; Below,we provide an overview of the efforts being undertaken by Staffing each school with a competent,well-trained an independent consultant,WestEd;the Governor's Commission principal;and on Access to Sound Basic Education;and the General Assembly's Identifying the resources necessary to ensure that all Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform. Each children including those at risk have an equal of these groups is evaluating how our schools are funded,and opportunity to obtain a sound basic education. what changes, if any,should be made to the current system. In addition,The Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Following the court ruling in the landmark Leandro v.North Reform was created through the 2017 Appropriations Act(Senate Carolina,which affirmed the state's constitutional duty to ensure Bill 257)in response to a General Assembly Program Evaluation all children have the opportunity to receive a sound basic Division report on the K-12 education finance system.The task education,independent consultant WestEd was brought in to force,made up of 18 members of the General Assembly,will create an in-depth report to be released this year. Based on consider implementing a new weighted-student funding model in extensive research and analysis of the state's school finance North Carolina after reviewing and analyzing other school finance system and its goals of adequacy and equity, WestEd will release systems and student need within the state.The task force will their findings in the spring of 2019. submit a report on the results of its study,including proposed legislation,to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee. LOCAL • • 2019: RANKINGS AT-A-GLANCE showsThe chart on the next page provides a summary of key based on county spending combined with low-wealth and rankings from our analyses,calculated in the five tables small county supplemental state funding rank highest on this included in the appendices to this report. measure.This column can be analyzed alongside the second column to show the impact of supplemental funding on Property Value Rank:The first column • . rankings. Table rankingsbased oavailable in each county. Most local funding for schools comes from property Ability to Pay Rank:The fourth column's rankings reflect an taxes.Counties ranked higher on this measure have more analysis of each county's fiscal capacity to support public property available for potential taxation to support educa- schools,taking into account property values(from the first tion.(See Table 1) column,adjusted using the state's average effective property tax rate)and non-property tax revenues. Large, urban columnActual Effort Rank: Rankings in the second column reflect counties that combine high adjusted property valuations with the actual dollar effort of counties to fund schools,without broad-based economic activity and high per capita incomes taking into account property wealth.Counties that spend the tend to receive high rankings on this measure.(See Table 4) most per student rank highest on this measure.(See Table 2) Relative Effort Rank:The final • •. Actual Effort Rank II:The rankings in the third column serve Effort(from Table 2)and Ability to Pay(from Table 4). the same purpose as the second column but take into Low-wealth counties with comparatively high spending levels account supplemental state funding provided for low-wealth tend to rank highest in this measure.(See Table 5) and small counties.Counties that spend the most per student >4