Three weeks after action was required, the House Education Committee on Tuesday approved a report recommending how public schools should spend more than $3 billion in state funds in the coming fiscal year.
Both the House and Senate Education committees are required by law to approve the educational adequacy report by Nov. 1.
But last month, Democrats on the House committee had balked at recommended funding increases for schools because they considered them too low to ensure an adequate education for the state's students. Republicans didn't have enough committee members present to override, and, as a result, the House Education Committee had no recommendation for its report before the Nov. 1 deadline.
The eight-member Senate Education Committee -- acting independently -- approved its own report recommending raising public-school funding by about $45.6 million in fiscal 2018 and by the same amount again in fiscal 2019. Fiscal 2018 starts July 1. The funding recommendations will be considered in the regular legislative session starting Jan. 9.
The recommendations also include a provision for schools to increase minimum teacher salaries by $400 in each of those two fiscal years, to $31,800. The committees recommend the amount that should be spent in different categories by districts.
The House Education Committee -- with all eight Republicans present -- approved that report Tuesday. The Republicans were joined by three Democrats and one independent. Five Democrats voted no and two Democrats didn't vote.
House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, said he believed that the recommendation funds schools adequately.
"Where we're at right now, based on the information we've received, this meets the needs where we're at, and it puts us in a good position to start the session in January," he said.
He pulled a laminated card out of his front pocket with a breakdown of general revenue spending. Forty-four cents of every dollar goes to kindergarten-through-12th-grade education, according to the card.
"It shows our commitment," Gillam said. "Nearly half of all tax dollars are being spent on K-12 education."
But House Minority Leader Michael John Gray, D-Augusta, said Tuesday that he did not believe that the Senate's recommendation appropriately funds schools.
"There are still some questions on whether this really addresses the achievement gap," said Gray, one of the committee members who voted no.
The recommendation amounts to about a 1 percent funding increase in per-student spending, which, factoring in inflation, concerned several Democrats.
Gray had pushed for more funding directed at the state's poorest students and a proposal to fund transportation based on cost. Rural districts spend more on transportation per student because buses have to drive farther. However, funding to schools is based on a flat, per-student rate regardless of the districts' geographical situations.
Republicans had embraced the transportation proposal -- including House Education Committee Chairman Bruce Cozart, R-Hot Springs -- but Cozart had said the committee ran out of time to delve into the issue because of broader disagreements about funding.
During Tuesday's meeting, Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, called the overall funding recommendations inadequate.
"This does not meet the [Arkansas] Supreme Court's decision or requirements that each school district and school provide each child an adequate and equitable education," he said.
The educational-adequacy report approved Tuesday is required because of laws passed in the aftermath of Arkansas Supreme Court decisions on educating children in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The report recommends how state funding should be spent by districts and whether there should be any increase to ensure an equitable and adequate education for the state's 476,000 public school students, regardless of the districts in which they reside.
The state ranks 31st in the nation for per-student funding. On average, Arkansas spent $9,538 per student in the 2012-13 school year, according to the educational-adequacy report. That number includes contributions from federal, state and local governments.
Metro on 11/23/2016