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The coalition is seeking a two-pronged approach:
• Additional state funding direct to the poorer schools.
• Mandates from the General Assembly, ordering localities to spend more local dollars on education.
Among the disparities:
• Per-pupil funding; funding—derived mainly from local property taxes—ranges from $3,500 in the poorest districts to more than $8,000 in the wealthiest.
• Teacher salaries. The coalition points out that for the 1988-89 school year, average teacher salaries were more than $15,000 higher in the top five state school districts than the bottom five.
• The state’s share. Twenty years ago, 50 percent of the state government’s general fund budget went to education. Today, that figure is 35 percent.
State education officials have urged the coalition to wait until after the General Assembly approves the state’s 1992 budget early next year before filing suit.
“A lawsuit at this time would be premature,” state Secretary of Education James Dyke said Thursday. One possible solution: increasing the state sales tax from 4.5 to 5 percent to provide more funding. A few years ago, the rate was raised a half percent to 4.5 percent to fund transportation initiatives.
While a lawsuit is not in the best interests of the state, it may well be in the best interests of the state’s children.
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