OPINION: The death of local control

A Republican lawmaker put out a news release at the end of this year’s legislative session boasting that lawmakers approved more local control and funding flexibility for schools.

Just try to convince members of your local school board that’s the case.

In the wake of a $297 million reduction in education spending statewide, school districts struggle to cut costs without laying off teachers, eliminating programs or shuttering schools. But the minimal leeway they once enjoyed is gone – stripped along with the small percentage of local property tax levy they controlled and handed over to the state in exchange for an increase in the sales-tax rate.

“What local control?” quips Diana Showalter, superintendent of Manchester Community Schools. “When the state assumed control of the general fund, they took control of the major financial source for the schools. … When we can’t control our own destiny through the collection of property taxes, we are setting ourselves up for a difficult time.”