EDITORIAL: New school funding formula doesn't add up

Gov. Nathan Deal's Education Reform Commission has been meeting for months and its prime objective is to overhaul the way the state's schools are funded. On the surface that's not a bad idea. The Quality Basic Education Act was first made the law of the state in 1985 and has not had a revision since 2000. Unfortunately, the commission's agenda seems not to reform the admittedly complex funding formulas of QBE, but to save money.

To be clear, the state has never fully funded education under the QBE formulas and since 2003 has sucked $8 billion out of education. According to the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, the new funding formula would do two things:

Lock in a $421 million shortfall (this year's austerity cuts totaled $655 million).

All but two of Georgia's 180 school districts would get less money under the new funding plan when compared with the current plan.

That moves this state in the wrong direction using a flawed process. We say we want students to attain higher standards, but we have no idea what it costs to get them there. Instead, schools are having to increase class sizes while decreasing the number of instructional days and using outmoded instructional tools.

It's estimated that most of the school districts in the state would lose from 4 percent to 9.9 percent funding under the new formula. Where is all of this headed? On Tuesday, Site Selection magazine named Georgia, for the third consecutive year, the No.1 state in the nation to do business. That's high cotton. However, we cannot hope to stay in that lofty position if we fail to educate our children. All indications are pointing to a two-tier state delineated by education haves and have-nots.

When we stop educating, businesses will stop wanting to locate here. We cannot afford to let that happen.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 10:12 PM with the headline "EDITORIAL: New school funding formula doesn't add up ."