Rex wants to look at tax changes
State education superintendent Dr. Jim Rex wants the S.C. General Assembly to immediately create a tax realignment commission to look at new ways of raising revenue for K-12 schools.
The process of reforming taxation and school funding should be determined now, so that they're in place when the economy makes a comeback, Rex said during a conference call Wednesday and in a press release.
While "we don't expect new money until the system is put in place," he said, the superintendent still will seek $74 million from the legislature to serve all four-year-olds who are consider at risk.
"We'll identify funding sources to fund that program," Rex said.
Earlier Wednesday, he introduced a package of recommendations to the Senate Finance Committee that he calls "Begin in 10." He wants 2010 to be a transitional step toward a new foundation program that would replace the Education Finance Act of 1977.
"One option would be to do nothing - to delay until times are better," Rex said in a press release. "But if we delay, then when the economy begin to turn around and state resources are restored, we'll just be putting our tax dollars back into a funding system designed back in 1973. If we agree that the system needs to change - and everyone basically does agree - then let's start now."
South Carolinians for Responsible Government, an organization that has pursued vouchers or tuition tax credits for parents and private schools, immediately labeled Rex's proposal as a call for a statewide property tax.
"Nothing of the sort happened today," said State Department of Education spokesman Jim Foster, via e-mail Wednesday.
In part, Rex wants to establish a new system of student-centered funding that would provide a greater equity between wealthier school districts and those with a limited tax base. The new commission would seek a fair state revenue system.
The property tax reform measure, Act 388, that the General Assembly did approve, has drawn criticism for its reliance on sales tax revenue. A sinking economy has sharply curtailed spending, leading to several budget reductions during the current fiscal year.
Rex said nobody is talking about raising taxes or trying to reverse Act 388. The emphasis now, he said, must be on changing the entire system.
But state legislators need to look at Act 388 during the current session, said Aiken School Board Chair Dr. Christine Sanders Harkins.
"That's the culprit," she said. "We cannot fund education money without the certainty of getting it, such as the penny sales tax and the lottery. When economic times are tough, even if people have the dollars, they will be much more apprehensive about spending them."
In the meantime, Rex urged legislators to pass a measure introduced Tuesday by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Cooper.
The bill would suspend some mandates for the current and next school year. Those include required teacher-to-student ratios, new textbooks, and statewide testing in foreign languages and some testing in grades one, two and nine.
The measure would specify that districts can require teachers to take up to five days of unpaid leave when students aren't in school -- if administrators also must take the furloughs -- and negotiate salaries below the state minimum for retired teachers who have returned to the classroom.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com