Will School Transfers Lead To Disaster Of Biblical Proportions?

Is it just me, or does a lot of the conversation lately about school transfers sound a lot like a conversation from the movie “Ghostbusters”?

Peter Venkman: You can accept the fact that [the Normandy and Riverview Gardens School Districts are] headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.

Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”?

Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff!

[Brad Desnoyer: We have done more than give up on the unaccredited districts; we have ensured that they will not regain accreditation absent state intervention.]

Venkman: Exactly.

Stanz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling!

Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes!

Winston Zeddmore: The dead rising from the grave!

[Karl Frank Jr.: Further economic devastation!]

Venkman: Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

Citizens in the area are rightly concerned about the impact thousands of transferring students will have on the unaccredited school districts. However, it is important to keep things in perspective. Normandy and Riverview Gardens receive money to educate students. When those students leave, the money follows those students. When those students go to a district with high tuition rates, Normandy and Riverview Gardens will indeed lose money. However, when students transfer to less expensive districts, they will save money.

As of Aug. 1, there are 2,641 students who have transferred from the two unaccredited districts. They enrolled in 26 area school districts. Using these enrollment figures, I calculated an estimated cost for tuition. These figures were based on each district’s 2012 per-pupil operating expenditures. It is true that Normandy and Riverview Gardens will be out a substantial sum of money, but we must not forget that they also will receive money to educate these students. By my estimates, Riverview Gardens looks to be upside down by approximately $2 million and Normandy might actually come out ahead. Of course, these numbers will be even lower when factoring in the cost of transportation.

While the school transfers most likely won’t result in “mass hysteria,” the two unaccredited districts undoubtedly will be placed in a tough position. There is, however, a solution — tax credit scholarships. If those same students were allowed to attend private schools with scholarships funded by tax credits, the unaccredited districts would actually come out ahead because they would only lose the portion of their funds that they receive from the state or federal government for those students.

In 2012, approximately 31 percent of Riverview Gardens’ and 36 percent of Normandy’s operating expenses came from local property taxes. This is money that would stay in the district. Moreover, the districts would not be liable for tuition because private donations would cover the costs of a tax credit scholarship program. As a result, the districts would actually have more money to spend per pupil. Here is a simple illustration of the savings.

There are few options that expand choice for students and lessen the financial burden on the unaccredited school districts, but tax credit scholarships are one good option.

For more about tax credit scholarships and other private school choice programs, see the links below:

Public Dollars, Private Schools: Examining the Options in Missouri

The Fiscal Effects of a Tuition Tax Credit Program In Missouri