University Daily Kansan / Friday, March 27, 1992
5
Ramifications of the school finance plan
A ruling by a district court judge requires the state to equalize primary and secondary public education. A House bill, which is now in the Senate, would give schools $106.4 million more than last year. A look at the proposed bill and the current plan:
15 proposed plan All property would be taxed at 29 mills.
Because property taxes would decrease in 298 of 304 districts, ta laws would change to make up for the budget shortfall. Among the changes that would affect KU students:
1. Sales taxes would increase from 4.25 percent to 5 percent.
Additional money raised from the increase: $174.4 million
2. Sales tax emptions would be lifted from utilities.
Additional money raised:
$33.3 million
The current plan
Under the current plan, each school district sets its mill-levy rate. By factoring in how wealthy the district is and how much each district can pay, the state determines aid to each district.
primary and
primary and secondary schools kindergarten through 12th grade
DEFINITIONS
A `mill` equals $1 in tax for every $1,000 of property value. Under the proposed plan, the property tax rate would be $29 for every $1,000; A $50,000 house would be taxed $1,450.
How the new plan will affect some school districts:
Current property tax New tax Change in financing % of district budget
Lawrence 69.5 mills 29 $1.3 million 4%
DeSoto 63.0 mills 29 $800,000 11%
Moscow 18.0 mills 29 $300,000 19%
Mulvane 51.0 mills 29 $2.4 million 45%
How students will be affected
The decrease in property taxes would be set off by increasing sales taxes and by removing sales-tax exemptions from such things as
Electricity
Groceries
Electricity
$42 a month x 5%
tax = $25.20 mor
Water
$4.10 x 5% tax =
$2.50 a year *
Gas
$45 a month x 5%
= $27 a year
- based on 650 kw hours a month
If your grocery bill is $50 a week,
you would pay $3.7 a week more
or $19.24 more a year with the
sales tax increase
- based on 2,000 gallons per month
Research by Gayle Osterberg
Graphic by Jeff Meesey
Higher ed could lose to K-12
Continued from P.1
field trip to Topeka means spending 12 hours in a school bus,
Hester, whose district would face a 20-percent budget cut under the plan, said equity in dollars spent per child did not amount to education.
A school in Wichita can take a field trip to the zoo or to hear the symphony and plan for little more than a 30-minute bus ride, he said. But for Moscow students to have the same experience, administrators must prepare for two days of travel, meals and night's lodging.
"Nobody realizes the whole effort that we have to make just to be a part of what's going on," he said.
Russell Getter, KU associate professor of government, is worried about something else.
If the state takes the responsibility of financing K-12 education, school boards, teachers and superintendents are required to pay money each year from the state, he said.
Getter said the only parts of the state's budget that were flexible were corrections and higher education. Other components, such as Medicaid, are regulated by the federal government.
"The state would hit rock if they tried to cut into these areas," he said. "Higher education is the part that is going to be the squishest. My prediction is that higher education is going to lose."
Panel obtains signatures for GTA, GRA union vote
A member of a steering committee said enough signatures had been collected to formally vote on whether to form a graduate teaching and research assistant union.
Kansan staff writer
David Reidy, GTA in philosophy, said the committee had gathered more than the required 600 show of interest cards from about 1,800 graduate teaching and research assistants at the University of Kansas.
The Kansas Association of Public Employees requires that an organization collect show-of-interest cards from at least 30 percent of its members before a vote on forming a union can be conducted.
officially file to form a union in two weeks but had not finished collecting cards from GTAs and GRAs.
Reidy said the committee planned to
By Ranjit Arab
If a majority approves a union, then the Kansas Association of Public Employees and the American Federation of Teachers would help the students to establish one.
A union would place the focus on issues such as full fee waivers, salary adjustments and health-care benefits, Reidy said.
Reidy said that if the vote for the unionified, the committee would look for alternative ways to be heard by administrators.
"All of us will gratefully comply to what the majority wishes," he said.
Graduate students are not the only ones who understand the need for a union.
Anthony Genova, head of the department of philosophy, said he thought the students needed a union.
Genova said GTA and GRA salaries were $2,000 to $1,000 less than at peer
"All the TAs want is fairness," Genova said. "This is not an aggressive group of troublemakers."
GTAs are often assigned to teach too many courses, he said.
Robert Brown, associate chair and professor of mathematics, said that the students had valid grievances but that a union might not be helpful.
"These people are not only students." Genova said. "They are an understaffed and overworked army of semi-professionals. I think their concerns simply have to be addressed."
that much effect on whether or not they get these benefits. he said.
David Holmes, professor of psychology, said GTAs and GRAs should be treated as legitimate employees.
"I am not sure the union will have
"They serve an educational function within the University," he said. "They are, in many cases, replacing faculty members."
Robert Cahoone, GTA in French and Italian, said a show of interest card was left in his mailbox.
He said he returned the card and would vote for a union.
Cahoon said GTAs and GRAs were more than financial aid recipients.
"I do not feel like a financial aid recipient when I am sitting here grading these tests," he said. "It feels like work to me."
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